BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 483
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 483
AUTHOR: Jackson
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: April 3, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rachel Machi
Wagoner
SUBJECT : HAZARDOUS MATERIALS: BUSINESS AND AREA PLANS
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1)Requires the Secretary for the California Environmental
Protection Agency (CalEPA) to adopt regulations and implement
a unified hazardous waste and hazardous materials management
regulatory program.
2)Establishes the respective responsibilities of unified program
agencies, designated to implement that unified program,
locally, and requires the Secretary to establish a statewide
information management system for purposes of receiving data
collected by unified program agencies.
3)Establishes the responsibility of a local administering agency
authorized to implement and enforce provisions that require
(a) the administering agency to establish area plans for
emergency response to a release or threatened release of a
hazardous material and (b) a business that handles a hazardous
material to establish and implement a business plan for such a
response. Existing law authorizes a unified program agency to
implement and enforce these provisions as an administering
agency, as specified.
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4)Specifies the contents of the business plan required of the
hazardous materials handler and requires the plan to be
submitted to the administering agency. Existing law requires
the administering agency to submit to the Office of Emergency
Services, the area plan, a plan to conduct onsite inspection,
and a plan to institute a data management system. A violation
of the business plan requirements is a misdemeanor.
This bill :
1)Revises and recasts the area and business plan requirements
and, among other things, requires instead that a unified
program agency enforce these requirements.
2)Requires the inspection program that is part of the unified
program to include the onsite inspections of businesses and
would delete the requirement to institute a data management
system. The bill would require the unified program agency to
provide to agencies that have certain shared responsibilities
access to information collected in the statewide information
management system and would require handlers to submit certain
information to that system, as specified.
3)Deletes obsolete provisions and makes general conforming
changes.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, this is a
technical bill that updates, rearranges and clarifies the
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Health and Safety Code. The author states that the purpose
of this bill is to modernize the provisions of this section,
which addresses the unified hazardous and hazardous materials
management regulatory program to ensure that the program
functions more efficiently and effectively.
2) Background . SB 1082 (Calderon), Chapter 418, Statutes of
1993 required the Secretary of the CalEPA to establish a
"unified hazardous waste and hazardous materials management"
regulatory program (Unified Program) by January 1, 1996.
Currently, there are 83 Certified Unified Program Agencies
(CUPAs) in California. All counties have been certified by
the Secretary. The Unified Program consolidates, coordinates,
and makes consistent the following six existing programs:
Hazardous Materials Release Response Plans and
Inventories (Business Plans).
California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP)
Program.
Underground Storage Tank Program.
Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act.
Hazardous Waste Generator and Onsite Hazardous
Waste Treatment (tiered permitting) Programs.
California Uniform Fire Code: Hazardous Material
Management Plans and Hazardous Material Inventory
Statements.
A local agency, such as a county or city, applies to CalEPA
for certification as the Unified Program Agency, responsible
for implementing the Unified Program within its jurisdiction.
A Certified Unified Program Agency must establish a program
which consolidates, coordinates and makes consistent the
administrative requirements, permits, inspection activities,
enforcement activities, and hazardous waste and hazardous
materials fees. The implementation of the Unified Program
must not result in more fragmentation between jurisdictions
than existed before the Unified Program, and the Unified
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Program must be consistent throughout the entire county.
1) Amendments . Per Senate Engrossing and Enrolling, the bill
needs to be amended to address several drafting errors.
SOURCE : California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators
California Fire Chiefs Association
SUPPORT : None on file
OPPOSITION : None on file