BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1329
                                                                  Page 1

          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
          AB 1329 (V. Manuel Pérez)
          As Amended  June 27, 2013
          Majority vote
           
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          |ASSEMBLY:  |53-24|(May 30, 2013)  |SENATE: |27-10|(September 3,  |
          |           |     |                |        |     |2013)          |
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           Original Committee Reference:    E.S. & T.M  .

           SUMMARY  :
           
           1)Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to  
            prioritize enforcement activities in environmental justice  
            concerns in communities as identified by the California  
            Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA).  

           2)Prohibits a person from transporting hazardous waste, as  
            specified, if the final destination of the transported  
            hazardous waste is a domestic facility on tribal lands outside  
            the jurisdiction of the state unless certain conditions apply  
            to the facility, including whether the facility is subject to  
            a cooperative agreement.  

          The Senate amendments  remove the provisions of the bill  
          requiring the inclusions of an enforceable environmental justice  
          component to the state's hazardous waste plan (plan) and added  
          priority enforcement by DTSC for environmental justice  
          activities.

           EXSISITNG LAW  :

          1)Requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research to be  
            the coordinating agency in state government for environmental  
            justice programs.

          2)Requires CalEPA to develop a model environmental justice  
            mission statement for boards, departments, and offices within  
            the CalEPA.

          3)Requires, pursuant to the federal Resource Conservation and  
            Recovery Act (RCRA), any person who owns or operates a  
            facility where hazardous waste is treated, stored, or disposed  








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            to have a RCRA hazardous waste permit issued by the U.S.  
            Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).

          4)Requires any person who stores, treats or disposes of  
            hazardous waste as described in the Hazardous Waste Control  
            Law (Health and Safety Code, Division 20, Chapter 6.5) to  
            obtain a permit or a grant of authorization from DTSC.

           AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill revised the requirement for  
          the DTSC to prepare and adopt a plan to reduce the prevalence  
          and impacts of hazardous waste facilities in low-income  
          communities.  The proposed plan modification included the  
          following elements:

          1)Defined "environmental justice" as the fair treatment of  
            people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the  
            development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of  
            environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

          2)Revised the requirements for the preparation and adoption of a  
            plan to focus on addressing matters of environmental justice  
            in the management of the state's hazardous waste.

          3)Required the plan to serve as a comprehensive and enforceable  
            planning document, instead of as a "useful informational  
            source" as is currently provided in statute, to ensure that  
            minority populations and low-income populations are not  
            disproportionately impacted by the adverse human health,  
            social, economic, and environmental effects of hazardous waste  
            management, including disposal.
            .
          4)Added a citizen suit provision that authorizes a person to  
            commence a civil action on that person's own behalf against a  
            person who is alleged to be in violation of the regulations  
            adopted pursuant to the plan.

          5)Required DTSC to adopt regulations to implement the plan to  
            ensure that minority populations and low-income populations  
            are not disproportionately impacted by the adverse health,  
            social, economic, and environmental effects of the hazardous  
            waste.

          6)Added California's jurisdiction and compacts entered into for  
            hazardous waste management facilities on tribal lands to the  
            list of facilities exempted from the provisions prohibiting  








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            transport and delivery of hazardous waste.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations  
          Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.  


           COMMENTS  :  This bill is intended to address problems of the  
          permitting and operation of hazardous waste treatment and  
          disposal facilities in or near low income communities.   
          According to the author, "Low-income communities are  
          disproportionately home to the state's hazardous disposal  
          facilities.  While these facilities sometimes bring jobs to  
          disenfranchised areas, they also place those communities at risk  
          for the accidental releases of toxic waste, including ground  
          water and air contamination.  These risks become all the more  
          serious when disposal facilities are allowed to continue  
          operating on expired permits or even expand despite not  
          instituting a corrective action previously ordered by the  
          state."

          Environmental justice refers to the fair treatment of people of  
          all races, cultures, and income with respect to the development,  
          implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws,  
          regulations, and policies.  Fair treatment implies that no  
          person, or group of people, should bear a disproportionate share  
          of negative environmental impacts such as exposure to air  
          pollutants, hazardous facilities, and other forms of  
          environmental pollution.
           
          A number of factors exist in identifying an environmental  
          justice issue.  Factors include a concentration of environmental  
          hazards in an affected area because of the lack of public  
          participation, a lack of adequate protection under health and  
          environmental laws, and unusual vulnerability of a community to  
          hazards.  Examples of environmental justice problems include  
          inadequate stormwater protection in a predominately minority  
          populated section of a city compared to systems in other parts  
          of the city, siting a landfill in a community with an  
          over-concentration of other hazards, and placement of a highway  
          through a low-income and minority community.

          DTSC is responsible for the review of RCRA and non-RCRA  
          hazardous waste permit applications to ensure safe design and  
          operation; issuance or denial of operating permits; issuance of  
          postclosure permits; approval or denial of permit modifications;  








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          issuance or denial of emergency permits; review and approval of  
          closure plans; closure oversight of approved closure plans;  
          issuance or denial of variances; assistance to regulated  
          industry on permitting matters; and to provide for public  
          involvement.

          There are currently 118 DTSC permitted hazardous waste  
          facilities in California.  These facilities include:  44 storage  
          sites, 43 treatment facilities, 3 disposal sites, and 28  
          postclosure sites.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Bob Fredenburg/ E.S. & T.M. / (916)  
          319-3965


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