BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 712
          Author:   Lara (D)
          Amended:  1/17/14
          Vote:     21


           SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE  :  8-0, 1/15/14
          AYES:  Hill, Gaines, Corbett, Fuller, Hancock, Jackson, Leno,  
            Pavley
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Vacancy

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-0, 1/21/14
          AYES:  De León, Gaines, Hill, Padilla, Steinberg
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Walters, Lara


           SUBJECT  :    Hazardous waste facility:  permitting:  interim  
          status

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires the Department of Toxic Substances  
          Control (DTSC), on or before December 31, 2015, to take final  
          action on an application for a hazardous waste facilities permit  
          that is submitted by a facility operating under a grant of  
          interim status on or before January 1, 1986, by either issuing a  
          final permit or a final denial of the application.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

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          1.Under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act  
            (RCRA) of 1976, governs the disposal hazardous waste:

             A.   Through regulation, sets standards for the treatment,  
               storage, transport, tracking and disposal of hazardous  
               waste in the United States.

             B.   Authorizes states to carry out many of the functions of  
               the federal law through their own hazardous waste laws if  
               such programs have been approved by the U.S. Environmental  
               Protection Agency (U.S. EPA).

          2.Under the California Hazardous Waste Control Act (HWCA) of  
            1972:

             A.   Establishes the Hazardous Waste Control program.

             B.   Regulates the appropriate handling, processing and  
               disposal of hazardous and extremely hazardous waste to  
               protect the public, livestock, and wildlife from hazards to  
               health and safety.

             C.   Implements federal tracking requirements for the  
               handling and transportation of hazardous waste from the  
               point of waste generation to the point of ultimate  
               disposition.

             D.   Establishes a system of fees to cover the costs of  
               operating the hazardous waste management program.

             E.   Authorizes DTSC to enforce federal law and regulations  
               under RCRA.

             F.   Requires DTSC to grant and review permits and enforce  
               HWCA requirements for hazardous waste treatment, storage  
               and disposal facilities.

          This bill:  

          1.Makes various findings and declarations stating that the  
            Legislature intends to identify and protect overburdened  
            communities that suffer from asthma, cancers and other  
            illnesses born from heavy industrial pollution and ensure  
            increased public participation from affected communities in  

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            governmental decision making processes.

          2.Requires DTSC to take final action prior to December 31, 2015  
            on an application for a hazardous waste facilities permit by  
            any facility operating under interim permit status issued  
            prior to January 1, 1986.

          3.Provides that interim status granted for a hazardous waste  
            facility after January 1, 1986 but prior to January 1, 2015  
            shall terminate on January 1, 2020.
          4.Provides that any interim status granted for a hazardous waste  
            facility shall terminate five years from the date on which the  
            status was granted.

          5.Allows DTSC to temporarily suspend the operation of a facility  
            operating under a continued permit or an interim status grant  
            in order to protect public health or safety or the  
            environment.  DTSC will have specified timelines to notify the  
            owner and operator of the facility, set a hearing to consider  
            the suspension, and to make a final determination.  The  
            temporary suspension will be lifted if DTSC fails to meet  
            these time limits.

           Background
           
          Exide Technologies  .  Exide Technologies is an American  
          manufacturer of lead-acid batteries, including automotive  
          batteries and industrial batteries. Its four global business  
          groups (Transportation Americas, Transportation Europe and Rest  
          of World, Industrial Power Americas, and Industrial Power Europe  
          and Rest of World) provide stored electrical energy products and  
          services.

          Exide's global headquarters are located in Milton, Georgia.  It  
          has both manufacturing and recycling plants.

          Equipment used in the battery recycling process includes  
          machines to break batteries apart and separate different  
          materials, furnaces and kettles to melt metals, and  
          miscellaneous equipment including storage tanks, conveying  
          equipment, and engines.  Exide operates numerous pieces of  
          control equipment to reduce pollution including bag houses, dust  
          collectors, and filters for reducing dust and metals; and  
          scrubbers, mist eliminators, and an afterburner, which remove  

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          pollution from gases.

          Exide has five "secondary lead" smelters or recyclers, only two  
          of which - Forest City, Missouri, and Muncie, Indiana - are  
          operating.

          However, at the Muncie, Indiana plant, Exide settled a notice of  
          violation and signed an agreed order with the Indiana Department  
          of Environmental Management that calls for fines if it does not  
          meet specified cleanup conditions involving brown-colored, lead  
          contaminated water along a storage area and rail spur near a  
          ditch leading to a stormwater outfall.

          Exide closed its smelter in Frisco, Texas, in 2012 after a  
          lengthy battle by the city and residents over lead and arsenic  
          pollution coming from the site.  The plant ceased operations  
          November 30, 2012, as part of an agreement with the city.  The  
          agreement calls for the City of Frisco to purchase about 170  
          acres of buffer land from Exide for $45 million.  Exide will  
          keep the 90 acres used for its operations.  The deal is  
          contingent on complete cleanup.  Preliminary estimates peg  
          cleanup costs at anywhere from $15 million to more than $130  
          million.  However, over a year after the plant closed, Exide has  
          not fully characterized the extent of the contamination or  
          cleanup.  An article by the Dallas Morning News, states that  
          "efforts the past year have been complicated by Exide's  
          bankruptcy filing in June."

           Exide, Vernon, California  .  The Exide facility in Vernon,  
          California is one of two secondary lead smelting facilities in  
          California which recovers lead from recycled automotive  
          batteries.  It has over 100 employees.  It recycles 23,000 to  
          41,000 batteries daily and has an average production of 100,000  
          to 120,000 tons of lead per year.  This is equivalent to  
          recycling approximately 11 million car batteries, which is about  
          the same number of used batteries generated in California  
          annually.

          Battery recycling recycles 97% of the battery lead to be  
          recycled.

          Exide also recovers lead from lead bearing plant scrap and  
          secondary materials, primarily from lead-acid battery  
          manufacturers.

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          This facility is regulated by various local and state regulatory  
          agencies.

          DTSC regulates companies that handle hazardous waste under  
          federal and state hazardous waste laws.  DTSC permits and  
          inspects facilities, issues violations of hazardous waste rules,  
          and monitors corrective action at sites.

          The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD)  
          regulates Exide's air emissions, in part with what is called a  
          Title V permit, which allows the company to release pollutants  
          into the air up to certain levels.

          The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB)  
          is responsible for protecting water quality.  Exide has  
          wastewater treatment systems, and a stormwater system that  
          includes a retention basin.  LARWQCB with the State Water  
          Resources Control Board set and enforce standards for water that  
          flows away from Exide's property into the sewer.

          The City of Vernon issues health and other permits to Exide.

           The history of the Exide hazardous waste permit  .  The facility  
          in Vernon has been operating with an interim hazardous waste  
          facility permit since 1981.  However, it has had several owners  
          prior to Exide Technologies.
          The facility has been used for a variety of metal fabrication  
          and metal recovery operations since 1922.  Previous owners have  
          included Morris P. Kirk & Sons, Inc., NL Industries, Gould Inc.,  
          and GNB Inc.

          Gould Inc. filed a RCRA Part A notification on November 19,  
          1980, as a treatment and storage facility.  This Part A  
          identified storage of spent lead-acid batteries and other  
          lead-bearing material prior to treatment and recycling, and a  
          wastewater treatment system.

          Gould Inc. was issued an Interim Status Document (ISD) by the  
          California Department of Health Services (DHS), DTSC's  
          predecessor agency, on December 18, 1981.

          The U.S. EPA rescinded the facility's Treatment and Storage  
          Facility classification by returning Gould Inc.'s original RCRA  

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          Part A application, after Gould Inc. eliminated its waste pile,  
          claimed that the smelters do not require a permit, and requested  
          reclassification to generator status. 

          The ISD was subsequently rescinded by DHS in 1982.

          GNB, Inc. purchased the facility and filed a revised Part A  
          application on July 5, 1985. 

          On September 3, 1986, DHS determined that a hazardous waste  
          facilities permit was necessary. 

          GNB, Inc. submitted the first RCRA Part B application on  
          November 8, 1988.

          On December 13, 1999, DTSC approved a Class 2 Interim Status  
          modification for Supplemental Environmental Projects as a result  
          of an enforcement case settlement. 

          On June 30, 2000, DTSC approved a Class 2 Interim Status  
          modification, for replacement of the Waste Water Treatment Plant  
          and to provide secondary containment.

          On January 5, 2001, DTSC approved a Class 1 Interim Status  
          modification, for change of ownership and operational control to  
          Exide Corporation.

          On November 16, 2001, DTSC approved a Class 1 Interim Status  
          modification, for a name change from Exide Corporation to Exide  
          Technologies.
          In 2006, Exide submitted a completed application and DTSC  
          circulated for public hearing, a draft permit for the Vernon  
          Exide facility.

          In mid-2006, DTSC received significant comments from the SCAQMD  
          and the public in regards to three specific areas:  (1) the risk  
          assessment prepared by the contractor used proprietary software,  
          which was not accessible by the public to verify parameters and  
          assumptions used in the risk assessment model.  The risk  
          assessment model for the air emissions model was not an approved  
          model by SCAQMD; (2) the environmental impact report (EIR)  
          lacked significant alternative analysis to mitigate the  
          environmental impacts; and (3) the Part B application had not  
          adequately assessed the secondary containment, tank systems, and  

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          closure of former tank systems.

          As a result DTSC took the following actions:  (1) worked closely  
          with SCAQMD to require Exide to prepare a risk assessment (AQMD  
          required risk assessment for air emissions); (2) prepared a  
          revised EIR; and (3) required Exide to submit a revised Part B  
          application addressing comments received during comment period.

          In 2010, the risk assessment indicated high arsenic emissions  
          prompting Exide to petition SCAQMD to redo the source testing  
          (data required for the risk assessment) in order to prepare a  
          revised risk assessment.  [Note:  source testing is an expensive  
          process that can cost up to $1 million].

          In January 2013, Exide provided DTSC and SCAQMD with a revised  
          risk assessment.  The risk assessment showed high risks to  
          potential receptors (workers and residents).

          In April 2013, DTSC issued an administrative suspension order  
          because it was concerned about the releases of hazardous waste  
          (leaking stormwater pipes) and air emissions into the  
          environment.

          In May 2013, Exide requested a hearing with the Office of  
          Administrative Hearings (OAH).  A hearing was held in June 2013  
          by OAH.

          In June 2013, the Los Angeles Superior Court granted Exide's ex  
          parte application and issued a temporary restraining order which  
          stayed the Order for Temporary Suspension and prevented DTSC  
          from enforcing it until the hearing and determination on the  
          order to show cause regarding the preliminary injunction was  
          concluded.

          In October 2013, DTSC and Exide signed a Stipulation and Order.   
          The Stipulation and Order resolves the administrative suspension  
          order that DTSC issued against Exide in April 2013 and resolves  
          a legal action that Exide filed against DTSC in June 2013.  The  
          Stipulation and Order sets out conditions that Exide must meet  
          and timelines for completing them.  There are automatic  
          penalties in place if the timelines are not met as specified in  
          the Stipulation and Order.

          October 2013 - Present:  Exide is in the process of implementing  

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          the requirements set forth in the Stipulation and Order.

          Note:  For the history of the environmental impact and  
               enforcement at the Exide facility in Vernon, refer to the  
               Senate Environmental Quality Committee analysis of 1/6/14.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

           No costs in 2014-15 and 2015-16 for permitting one facility  
            operating on an interim status grant.

           Unknown, but likely insignificant, costs from the Hazardous  
            Waste Control Account (special), for permitting facilities on  
            an interim status grant in the long-term future.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  1/22/14)

          City of Bell, Mayor Violeta Alvarez
          City of Bell, Vice Mayor Ana Maria Quintana
          City of Bell, Councilmember Alicia Romero
          City of Bell, Councilmember Nestor Enrique Valencia
          City of Los Angeles
          Coalition for Clean Air
          Florence Firestone Merchants Association
          Lynwood Mayor Aide Castro
          Lynwood Councilmember José Luis Solache

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The City of Los Angeles states, "Exide  
          Technologies has operated a facility under an interim permit  
          since 1981, and has never been issued a final permit by the  
          DTSC.  In April of 2013, the facility was closed by the DTSC to  
          determine if there was an imminent danger to public health after  
          tests conducted by the SCAQMD showed unsafe levels of arsenic in  
          air emissions and dangerous levels of lead contamination from  
          the facility."

          This bill "will serve the public by requiring the DTSC to reach  
          a final permitting decision on facilities that operate under  
          interim permits."



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          RM:ke  1/22/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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