BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 812|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 812
Author: De León (D)
Amended: 1/17/14
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 1/15/14
AYES: Hill, Corbett, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Fuller, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-1, 1/23/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SUBJECT : Hazardous waste: facilities permitting
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill establishes deadlines for the submission of
applications for hazardous waste facility permits as well as
deadlines for the processing of such applications.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Requires the facilities handling hazardous waste to obtain a
permit from the Department of Toxic Substances Control
(DTSC).
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2. Requires an owner or operator of the facility intending to
renew the facility's permit to submit a complete Part A
application for a permit renewal prior to the expiration of
the permit.
3. Requires the owner or operator to submit a complete Part B of
the application when requested by DTSC.
4. Authorizes a hazardous waste facility in existence on a
specified date or on the effective date of any statute or
regulation that subjects the facility to the hazardous waste
permitting requirements to continue to operate under a grant
of interim status pending the review and decision of DTSC on
the permit application.
This bill:
1. Makes various findings and declarations stating that the
Legislature finds that California's current hazardous waste
management regulatory system provides limited protection for
affected communities and that there are loopholes in the
permitting system that need to be fixed to address this
limited protection.
2. Requires that Part A and Part B applications for hazardous
waste facility permits be submitted at least two years prior
to the expiration date of the permit.
3. Requires DTSC to approve or deny the permit renewal
application within 36 months or the permit is deemed denied.
4. Requires, for permits that expire prior to January 1, 2015,
DTSC to approve or deny the permit renewal application by
January 1, 2018.
5. Provides that interim status granted on or after January 1,
2015, terminates five years from the date the interim status
is granted or on the date DTSC took final action on the
application for a permit, whichever is earlier.
Background
DTSC Permitting Renewal Process . Title 22, California Codes of
Regulations, Section 66270.10(h) requires "Any hazardous waste
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management facility with an effective permit shall submit a new
application at least 180 days before the expiration date of the
effective permit, unless permission for a later date has been
granted by the DTSC. DTSC shall not grant permission for
applications to be submitted later than the expiration date of
the existing permit." To ensure completion of the permit
renewal application at least 180 days before the expiration date
of the effective permit, it is recommended that the renewal
application be submitted at least one year before the expiration
date of the permit. Current applicants who apply to renew
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permits, where the
renewal application contains significant changes in the
facility's operation (equal to a Class 3 Permit modification),
must hold an informal preapplication meeting. Permit renewals
must meet all of the land use and permitting requirements for
obtaining a new permit.
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 baghouses, dust
collectors, and filters for reducing dust and metals; and
scrubbers, mist eliminators, and an afterburner, which remove
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
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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.
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.
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The South Coast Air Quality Management District 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.
Related Legislation
SB 712 (Lara) establishes deadlines for DTSC to take final
action on permit applications from hazardous waste facilities
operating under an interim status grant.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Approximately $1M from Hazardous Waste Control Account
(special) in 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-7 for six additional
positions at DTSC for the processing of continued permits.
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 1/27/14)
Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
City of Los Angeles
Coalition for Clean Air
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Natural Resources Defense Council
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this
bill establishes deadlines by which final permit decisions must
be made by DTSC for facilities that handle the most serious and
dangerous hazardous waste, thereby limiting the amount of time a
facility can operate on an expired or interim permit.
RM:d 1/27/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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