Amended in Senate September 9, 2013

Amended in Senate September 6, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1383

Introduced by begin delete Committee on Labor and Employment (Roger Hernández (Chair), Alejo, Chau, and Holden) end delete begin insert Assembly Member Roger  end insert begin insert Hernández end insert

March 4, 2013

An act to amend Sections 25199.3 and 25200 of, and to add Sections 25107, 25122.10, 25178.2, 25186.4, and 25199.3.1 to, the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 21151.1 of the Public Resources Code, relating to hazardous waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1383, as amended, begin delete Committee on Labor and Employment end delete   begin insert Roger  Hernández end insert . Hazardous waste: permitting.

(1) Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to post certain information regarding the status of the hazardous waste facilities program on or before January 1 of each odd-numbered year on its Internet Web site.

This bill would define the term “significant noncomplier” and would require the department to develop and maintain a searchable database that contains certain information regarding hazardous waste facilities permits, including information regarding significant noncompliers, for certain hazardous waste facilities.

(2) Existing law requires the department to issue a hazardous waste facilities permit to a facility that, in the judgment of the department, meets specified requirements. The permit is required to be issued for a fixed term and existing law specifies a procedure for the continuation of that term. Existing law also authorizes the department to issue specified permits and grants of authorization to hazardous waste facilities managing specified types of hazardous waste, including standardized permits for hazardous waste facilities that are not subject to the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA). The department is required to issue a written report regarding the issuance of a hazardous waste facilities permit regarding the violations of specified laws or regulations by the applicant.

This bill would prohibit the department from issuing, renewing, or modifying a hazardous waste facilities permit for a hazardous waste facility, as defined, if the applicant, project proponent, or any of its affiliated entities is a significant noncomplier, unless the department makes a specified finding.

(3) Existing law establishes procedures for a land use decision by a local agency concerning a hazardous waste facility project, as defined, including the requirements imposed by the Permit Streamlining Act. An applicant for a hazardous waste facility project is authorized to submit applications for land use decisions and for one or more permits, including a hazardous waste facilities permit, simultaneously. A state agency is prohibited from refusing to issue a permit for a hazardous waste facility on the grounds that the applicant has not been granted a local land use permit.

This bill would require an applicant for a hazardous waste facilities permit for a hazardous waste facility project or for the modification of a hazardous waste facilities permit for a material expansion of a hazardous waste facility to file the application for a hazardous waste facilities permit with the department concurrently with the applications for any land use decisions that a local agency may require for the hazardous waste facility. The bill would require the department to serve as the lead agency for the issuance of the hazardous waste facilities permit pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act and would require any other state agency that is required to issue a permit and any other local agency that is required to issue a land use decision to serve as a responsible agency. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by imposing new duties upon local agencies.

The bill would require the department to take specified actions with regard to holding hearings, providing notice, and making certain environmental documents and other materials related to a hazardous waste facilities permit publicly available on its Internet Web site.

The bill would require the department to prepare and certify an environmental impact report and a health risk assessment for the permit in a specified manner and to either reject the application for the hazardous waste facilities permit or issue a draft hazardous waste facilities permit. The bill would prohibit the department from issuing a final hazardous waste facilities permit until all the local land use decisions for the hazardous waste facility have been issued.

(4) The California Environmental Quality Act requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. Existing law requires the preparation of an EIR, or the modification, addendum, or supplement of an existing environmental impact report, for the initial issuance of a hazardous waste facilities permit to an offsite large treatment facility or for the initial issuance of a hazardous waste facilities permit to a land disposal facility.

This bill would instead require the preparation of an EIR or the modification, addendum, or supplement of an existing EIR for the issuance of a hazardous waste facilities permit, including the initial issuance of a permit to a land disposal facility, or the issuance of a standardized hazardous waste facility permit or the modification of a permit for a facility undergoing a material expansion, as defined.

(5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 25107 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

25107.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Hazardous waste facilities provide a valuable and necessary
service in California, and the regulation of hazardous waste
facilities allows these facilities to provide this valuable and
necessary service begin insert , at the same time, end insert while also ensuring protection
of the environment and general welfare.

(b) Central to the regulation of hazardous waste facilities is
ensuring that the environmental impacts of those facilities are
adequately considered during the permitting process, and the
standardization within the department of this environmental review
is desirable.

(c) Also central to the regulation of hazardous waste facilities
is ensuring that entities that operate these facilities comply with
applicable laws and regulations, and that entities that frequently
fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations are not given
new or renewed hazardous waste facilities permits.

SEC. 2.  

Section 25122.10 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

25122.10.  

(a) “Significant noncomplier” means a facility, an
owner, or an operator that is required pursuant to the federal act
to obtain a hazardous waste facilities permit, in accordance with
Section 25200, and for which the department finds either of the
following conditions:

(1) The facility is owned or is operated by a person that, together
with its affiliates and predecessors, or the owner or operator is a
person that, has had three separate Class I violations, that have
been formally noticed, and have not been rescinded or classified
by the department as a violation other than a Class I violation, in
the previous 10-year period.

(2) The facility, owner, or operator chronically and without
reasonable basis, deviates from the terms of a permit, order,
settlement document, or decree issued pursuant to this chapter by
failing to perform work as required by the terms of the permit,
order, settlement document, or decree so that the deviation or
failure may be considered willful recalcitrance.

(b) For purposes of determining whether a facility, an owner,
or an operator is a significant noncomplier, the department shall
not include a violation or other noncompliance that occurred before
the date of acquisition of all, or a portion of, the facility, through
a bona fide, arms-length transaction, as defined by the department
pursuant to regulation.

SEC. 3.  

Section 25178.2 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

25178.2.  

(a) For purposes of this section “hazardous waste
facilities permit” means a permit issued pursuant to Section 25200
for a facility that is required to obtain a hazardous waste facility
permit pursuant to the federal act.

(b) The department shall develop and maintain a searchable
database that contains all of the following information:

(1) All persons or facility operators subject to, or seeking, a
hazardous waste facilities permit pursuant to this chapter.

(2) All hazardous waste facilities permits issued pursuant to this
chapter.

(3) All pending applications for hazardous waste facilities
permits, including relevant status information.

(4) The identification of each hazardous waste facility, owner,
or operator that the department determines is a significant
noncomplier.

(5) All Class I violations issued to hazardous waste facilities in
the previous 10 years and whether the violations have been
corrected.

(c) On or before June 1, 2014, the department shall make the
searchable database required by this section available to the public
by posting it on its Internet Web site, and the department shall
keep the database regularly updated thereafter.

SEC. 4.  

Section 25186.4 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

25186.4.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the
department shall not issue, renew, or modify a hazardous waste
facilities permit for a hazardous waste facility that is required to
obtain a permit pursuant to the federal act if the department finds
the applicant, project proponent, or affiliated entity is a significant
noncomplier, including an application for a new, renewed, or
modified hazardous waste facilities permit that is pending as of
January 1, 2014. The department shall determine whether an
applicant, project proponent, or any affiliated entity, that has filed
an application for a new, renewed, or modified hazardous waste
facilities permit that is pending as of January 1, 2014, is a
significant noncomplier.

(b) The department may issue, renew, or modify a hazardous
waste facilities permit, including modifying a hazardous waste
facilities permit to reflect acquisition by a new person or a change
in ownership or operational control, if the current owner or operator
of the hazardous waste facility is a significant noncomplier if the
department finds both of the following:

(1) The person that acquired all, or a portion of, the interests of
the owner or operator of the hazardous waste facility that is a
significant noncomplier, does not qualify as a significant
noncomplier.

(2) The person that acquired all, or a portion of, the interests of
the owner or operator of the hazardous waste facility that is a
significant noncomplier, acquired that entity through a bona fide,
arms-length transaction, as defined by the department pursuant to
regulation.

SEC. 5.  

Section 25199.3 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

25199.3.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, but
except as provided in Section 25199.3.1, an applicant for a
hazardous waste facility project may submit applications for a land
use decision and for one or more permits to the appropriate public
agencies simultaneously. Unless a state agency is prohibited by
statute from approving a permit before the granting of a local land
use decision, the state agency shall not refuse to issue a permit for
a hazardous waste facility project on the grounds that the applicant
has not been granted a land use permit, except that the state agency
may provide that the permit shall not become effective until the
applicant is granted a local land use permit.

(b) Any public agency may request another public agency to
jointly review applications for a permit or land use decision for a
hazardous waste facility project. A public agency may consolidate,
with other public agencies, public meetings and hearings permitted
or required by law or regulation for the issuance of a permit or the
making of a land use decision for a hazardous waste facility project.

(c) The department shall coordinate the technical review of
applications for permits for hazardous waste facility projects that
are received by state agencies.

(d) Upon the request of a local agency, the department, and any
other state agency that is authorized to issue a permit for a
hazardous waste facility project, shall provide technical assistance
to a local agency that is reviewing an application for a land use
decision for the project.

SEC. 6.  

Section 25199.3.1 is added to the Health and Safety
Code, to read:

25199.3.1.  

(a) Notwithstanding subdivision (l) of Section
25199.1, for purposes of this section, “material expansion” means
the expansion of an existing hazardous waste facility’s treatment,
storage, or disposal capacity by 10 percent or more.

(b) The requirements of this section apply to the issuance of a
hazardous waste facilities permit for a hazardous waste facility
project or the modification of a hazardous waste facilities permit
for a material expansion of a hazardous waste facility.

(c) (1) An applicant for a hazardous waste facilities permit or
modification shall file the application for a hazardous waste
facilities permit with the department concurrently with the
applications for any land use decisions that a local agency may
require for the hazardous waste facility. The department shall post
all hazardous waste facilities permit applications and applications
for a land use decision on the department’s Internet Web site.

(2) The department shall serve as the lead agency for the
issuance of the hazardous waste facilities permit pursuant to the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing
with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code). Any other
state agency that is required to issue a permit and any other local
agency that is required to issue a land use decision shall serve as
a responsible agency.

(d) The department shall prepare an environmental impact report
and a health risk assessment for any hazardous waste facilities
permit for a new facility and for any amendment to, or modification
of, the hazardous waste facilities permit for a material expansion
of the existing facility. The health risk assessment shall meet the
same requirements as a health risk assessment prepared pursuant
to subdivision (b) of Section 25356.1.5.

(e) The department shall take both of the following actions to
provide for public participation and environmental review of the
hazardous waste facilities permit or modification, when required
to give notice pursuant to this section:

(1) The department shall mail or deliver notice to all owners of
all real property as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll
within 1,000 feet, for nonresidential property, or 2,000 feet, for
residential property, of the real property that is the subject of the
application for a hazardous waste facilities permit. In lieu of using
the assessment roll, the department may use records of the county
assessor or tax collector that contain more recent information than
the assessment roll.

(2) The department shall provide notice by placing a display
advertisement of at least one-eighth page in at least one newspaper
of general circulation for the city, or if the proposed facility is not
located in a city, the county in which the real property that is the
subject of the application for a hazardous waste facilities permit
is located.

(f) (1) The department shall coordinate with the city, or if the
proposed facility is not located in a city, the county, in which the
real property that is the subject of the application for a hazardous
waste facilities permit is located.

(2) The department shall hold at least one public scoping
meeting, as described in Section 21083.9 of the Public Resources
Code, in the jurisdiction of the city or county specified in paragraph
(1) before taking any action pursuant to the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code).

(3) The department shall give public notice pursuant to
subdivision (e) of a scoping meeting at least 30 days before holding
the scoping meeting. The scoping meeting shall be held as close
as practicable to the location of the proposed facility and shall be
held more than two miles from the proposed facility location only
when there is not a publicly accessible meeting location within
two miles of the proposed facility location.

(g) The department shall prepare a draft environmental impact
report and draft a health risk assessment. The department shall
allow at least a 45-day public comment period on the draft
environmental impact report and the draft health risk assessment,
and the department shall hold at least one public hearing during
the public comment period in the city, or if the proposed facility
is not located in a city, in the county in which the hazardous waste
facility is proposed to be located. The department shall give public
notice of the public hearing pursuant to subdivision (e) at least 30
days before the public hearing.

(h) The department may certify the final environmental impact
report and approve the health risk assessment only at a public
hearing. The department shall give public notice of the public
hearing and of the public availability of the final environmental
impact report and health risk assessment pursuant to subdivision
(e) at least 10 days before the public hearing to certify the
environmental impact report and approve the health risk
assessment.

(i) (1) After the department certifies the environmental impact
report and approves the health risk assessment pursuant to
subdivision (h), the department shall either reject the application
for the hazardous waste facilities permit or issue a draft hazardous
waste facilities permit that is revised to take into account the results
of the final environmental impact report and the health risk
assessment.

(2) A draft hazardous waste facilities permit issued pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall be known as a “revised draft permit.”

(3) The department shall give public notice of the availability
of the revised draft permit pursuant to subdivision (e) and take
public comments on the revised draft permit for at least 60 days.
The department shall not issue a final hazardous waste facilities
permit until all of the local land use decisions that a local agency
may require for the hazardous waste facility have been issued.

(j) After all local land use decisions have been issued for a
hazardous waste facility project and after the 60-day public
comment period on the revised draft permit has ended, the
department may issue the final hazardous waste facilities permit
at a public hearing. The department shall give public notice of the
public hearing pursuant to subdivision (e) at least 30 days before
holding the public hearing to approve the final hazardous waste
facilities permit.

(k) The department shall make all environmental documents,
application materials, public comments, responses, and technical
documents related to a hazardous waste facilities permit subject
to this section publicly available on its Internet Web site.

(l) The requirements in this section are in addition to those
contained in other applicable laws, including, but not limited to,
the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).

SEC. 7.  

Section 25200 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

25200.  

(a) (1) The department shall issue hazardous waste
facilities permits to use and operate one or more hazardous waste
management units at a facility that in the judgment of the
department meets both of the following requirements:

(A) Meets the building standards published in the California
Building Standards Code relating to hazardous waste facilities.

(B) Complies with the other standards and requirements adopted
pursuant to this chapter.

(2) The department shall impose conditions on each hazardous
waste facilities permit specifying the types of hazardous wastes
that may be accepted for transfer, storage, treatment, or disposal.
The department may impose any other condition on a hazardous
waste facilities permit that is consistent with the intent of this
chapter.

(3) The department shall not issue a hazardous waste facilities
permit to a significant noncomplier, as specified in Section
25186.4.

(b) The department may impose, as a condition of a hazardous
waste facilities permit, a requirement that the owner or operator
of a hazardous waste facility that receives hazardous waste from
more than one producer comply with an order of the director that
prohibits the facility operator from refusing to accept a hazardous
waste based on geographical origin that is authorized to be accepted
and may be accepted by the facility without extraordinary hazard.

(c) (1) (A) A hazardous waste facilities permit issued by the
department shall be for a fixed term, which shall not exceed 10
years for a land disposal facility, storage facility, incinerator, or
other treatment facility.

(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), before the fixed
term of a permit expires, the owner or operator of a facility
intending to extend the term of the facility’s permit shall submit
a complete Part A application for a permit renewal. At any time
following the submittal of the Part A application, the owner or
operator of a facility shall submit a complete Part B application,
or any portion thereof, as well as any other relevant information,
as and when requested by the department. To the extent not
inconsistent with the federal act, when a complete Part A renewal
application, and any other requested information, has been
submitted before the end of the permit’s fixed term, the permit is
deemed extended until the renewal application is approved or
denied and the owner or operator has exhausted all applicable
rights of appeal.

(C) If the owner or operator of the hazardous waste facility is
a significant noncomplier, the owner or operator is subject to
Section 25186.4.

(D) This section does not limit or restrict the department’s
authority to impose any additional or different conditions on an
extended permit that are necessary to protect human health and
the environment.

(E) In adopting new conditions for an extended permit, the
department shall follow the applicable permit modification
procedures specified in this chapter and the regulations adopted
pursuant to this chapter.

(F) When prioritizing pending renewal applications for
processing and in determining the need for any new conditions on
an extended permit, the department shall consider any input
received from the public.

(2) The department shall review each hazardous waste facilities
permit for a land disposal facility five years after the date of
issuance or reissuance, and shall modify the permit, as necessary,
to assure that the facility continues to comply with the currently
applicable requirements of this chapter and the regulations adopted
pursuant to this chapter.

(3) This subdivision does not prohibit the department from
reviewing, modifying, or revoking a permit at any time during its
term.

(d) (1) When reviewing an application for a permit renewal,
the department shall consider improvements in the state of control
and measurement technology as well as changes in applicable
regulations.

(2) Each permit issued or renewed under this section shall
contain the terms and conditions that the department determines
necessary to protect human health and the environment.

(e) A permit issued pursuant to the federal act by the
Environmental Protection Agency in the state for which no state
hazardous waste facilities permit has been issued shall be deemed
to be a state permit enforceable by the department until a state
permit is issued. In addition to complying with the terms and
conditions specified in a federal permit deemed to be a state permit
pursuant to this section, an owner or operator who holds that permit
shall comply with the requirements of this chapter and the
regulations adopted by the department to implement this chapter.

SEC. 8.  

Section 21151.1 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

21151.1.  

(a) Notwithstanding paragraph (6) of subdivision (b)
of Section 21080, or Section 21080.5 or 21084, or any other
provision of law, except as provided in this section, a lead agency
shall prepare or cause to be prepared by contract, and certify the
completion of, an environmental impact report or, if appropriate,
a modification, addendum, or supplement to an existing
environmental impact report, for a project involving any of the
following:

(1) The burning of municipal wastes, hazardous waste, or
refuse-derived fuel, including, but not limited to, tires, if the project
is either of the following:

(A) The construction of a new facility.

(B) The expansion of an existing facility that burns hazardous
waste that would increase its permitted capacity by more than 10
percent.

(2) The issuance of a hazardous waste facilities permit pursuant
to Section 25200 of the Health and Safety Code, including, but
not limited to, the initial issuance of a hazardous waste facilities
permit to a land disposal facility, as defined in subdivision (d) of
Section 25199.1 of the Health and Safety Code, and the issuance
of a standardized hazardous waste facility permit pursuant to
Section 25201.6 of the Health and Safety Code to a new hazardous
waste facility or the modification of such a permit for a facility
undergoing a material expansion, as defined in Section 25199.3.1
of the Health and Safety Code.

(3) A base reuse plan as defined in Section 21083.8.1. The
Legislature hereby finds that no reimbursement is required pursuant
to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for an
environmental impact report for a base reuse plan if an
environmental impact report is otherwise required for that base
reuse plan pursuant to any other provision of this division.

(b) For purposes of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a), the amount of expansion of an existing facility
shall be calculated by comparing the proposed facility capacity
with whichever of the following is applicable:

(1) The facility capacity authorized in the facility’s hazardous
waste facilities permit pursuant to Section 25200 of the Health and
Safety Code or its grant of interim status pursuant to Section
25200.5 of the Health and Safety Code, or the facility capacity
authorized in a state or local agency permit allowing the
construction or operation of a facility for the burning of hazardous
waste, granted before January 1, 1990.

(2) The facility capacity authorized in the facility’s original
hazardous waste facilities permit, grant of interim status, or a state
or local agency permit allowing the construction or operation of
a facility for the burning of hazardous waste, granted on or after
January 1, 1990.

(c) For purposes of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the issuance
of a hazardous waste facilities permit does not include the issuance
of a closure or postclosure permit pursuant to Chapter 6.5
(commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 of the Health
and Safety Code.

(d) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) does not apply to a project
that does any of the following:

(1) Exclusively burns digester gas produced from manure or
any other solid or semisolid animal waste.

(2) Exclusively burns methane gas produced from a disposal
site, as defined in Section 40122, that is used only for the disposal
of solid waste, as defined in Section 40191.

(3) Exclusively burns forest, agricultural, wood, or other biomass
wastes.

(4) Exclusively burns hazardous waste in an incineration unit
that is transportable and that is either at a site for not longer than
three years or is part of a remedial or removal action. For purposes
of this paragraph, “transportable” means any equipment that
performs a “treatment” as defined in Section 66216 of Title 22 of
the California Code of Regulations, and that is transported on a
vehicle as defined in Section 66230 of Title 22 of the California
Code of Regulations, as those sections read on June 1, 1991.

(5) Exclusively burns refinery waste in a flare on the site of
generation.

(6) Exclusively burns in a flare methane gas produced at a
municipal sewage treatment plant.

(7) Exclusively burns hazardous waste, or exclusively burns
hazardous waste as a supplemental fuel, as part of a research,
development, or demonstration project that, consistent with federal
regulations implementing the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq.), has been
determined to be innovative and experimental by the Department
of Toxic Substances Control and that is limited in type and quantity
of waste to that necessary to determine the efficacy and
performance capabilities of the technology or process. However,
a facility that operated as a research, development, or demonstration
project and for which an application is thereafter submitted for a
hazardous waste facility permit for operation other than as a
research, development, or demonstration project shall be considered
a new facility for the burning of hazardous waste and shall be
subject to subdivision (a).

(8) Exclusively burns soils contaminated only with petroleum
fuels or the vapors from these soils.

(9) Exclusively treats less than 3,000 pounds of hazardous waste
per day in a thermal processing unit operated in the absence of
open flame, and submits a worst-case health risk assessment of
the technology to the Department of Toxic Substances Control for
review and distribution to the interested public. This assessment
shall be prepared in accordance with guidelines set forth in the Air
Toxics Assessment Manual of the California Air Pollution Control
Officers Association.

(10) Exclusively burns less than 1,200 pounds per day of
medical waste, as defined in Section 117690 of the Health and
Safety Code, on hospital sites.

(11) Exclusively burns chemicals and fuels as part of firefighter
training.

(12) Exclusively conducts open burns of explosives subject to
the requirements of the air pollution control district or air quality
management district and in compliance with the regulations
adopted by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) or by the Division of Occupational Safety
and Health (Cal-OSHA) of the Department of Industrial Relations.

(13) Exclusively conducts onsite burning of less than 3,000
pounds per day of fumes directly from a manufacturing or
commercial process.

(14) Exclusively conducts onsite burning of hazardous waste
in an industrial furnace that recovers hydrogen chloride from the
flue gas if the hydrogen chloride is subsequently sold, distributed
in commerce, or used in a manufacturing process at the site where
the hydrogen chloride is recovered, and the burning is in
compliance with the requirements of the air pollution control
district or air quality management district and the Department of
Toxic Substances Control.

(e) Paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) does not apply to a project
for which the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission has assumed jurisdiction under Chapter
6 (commencing with Section 25500) of Division 15.

(f) This section does not exempt a project from any other
requirement of this division.

(g) For purposes of this section, offsite facility means a facility
that serves more than one generator of hazardous waste.

SEC. 9.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.