BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 812
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          SENATE THIRD READING
          SB 812 (DeLeón)
          As Amended  August 18, 2014
          Majority vote 

           SENATE VOTE  :27-7  
           
           ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY         5-1APPROPRIATIONS      12-5        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Alejo, Bloom, Gomez,      |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra,         |
          |     |Lowenthal, Ting           |     |Bradford,                 |
          |     |                          |     |Ian Calderon, Campos,     |
          |     |                          |     |Eggman, Gomez, Holden,    |
          |     |                          |     |Pan, Quirk,               |
          |     |                          |     |Ridley-Thomas, Weber      |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Donnelly                  |Nays:|Bigelow, Donnelly, Jones, |
          |     |                          |     |Linder, Wagner            |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           SUMMARY  :  Revises the Department of Toxic Substance Control's  
          (DTSC) permitting process and public participation requirements  
          for hazardous waste facilities.  Specifically,  this bill  : 

          1)Requires DTSC to adopt regulations by January 1, 2016, to  
            specify conditions for new permits and the renewal of existing  
            permits as specified.  Establishes deadlines for the  
            submission and processing of facility applications as  
            specified.  Requires DTSC to adopt regulations by January 1,  
            2016, to specify the necessary financial assurance required to  
            receive a permit.

          2)Terminates an interim status granted for a facility on or  
            after January 1, 2015, five years from the date it was granted  
            or on the date DTSC takes a final action, whichever is  
            earlier.

          3)Requires DTSC to contract with an independent third party for  
            testing and verification that a hazardous waste release is  
            abated and the site is remediated.

          4)Establishes the DTSC Citizens Oversight Committee to receive  








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            and review allegations of misconduct from the public, and  
            establishes the Bureau of Internal Affairs to oversee DTSC and  
            investigate department conduct.  

          5)Requires the Secretary of California Environmental Protection  
            Agency  to appoint the director of the Bureau of Internal  
            Affairs.  Requires the Citizens Oversight Committee to be  
            comprised of 13 members appointed by the Governor (five  
            members), Senate Rules Committee (four members) and Speaker of  
            the Assembly (four members.)   Members of the Citizens  
            Oversight Committee receive per diem and serve at the pleasure  
            of the respective appointing authorities.

          6)Requires the Citizens Oversight Committee to review  
            allegations of misconduct from the Bureau of Internal Affairs.  
             Requires the Bureau of Internal Affairs to forward the  
            disposition of allegations to the Citizens Oversight  
            Committee, as well as post on the Web site.

           

          FISCAL EFFECT  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee:

          1)Increased costs to DTSC from the HWCA of approximately $2.8  
            million to administer and staff the Bureau of Internal  
            Affairs.  This bill requires the Bureau to operate  
            independently from DTSC.

          2)Increased costs to DTSC from the HWCA of approximately $1.2  
            million to administer and staff the Citizens Oversight  
            Committee.  This bill requires the Committee to operate  
            independently from DTSC.

          3)Increased costs to DTSC from the HWCA of approximately $1.1  
            million to meet permit renewal processing deadlines.

          4)Increased costs to DTSC from the HWCA of approximately  
            $600,000 to develop permit criteria regulations and financial  
            assurance regulations.

          5)Increased costs to DTSC from the HWCA of approximately  
            $450,000 to post expanded information on the Web site  
            (English) and provide pre-permit public notice and comment  








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            periods.

          6)Increased minor costs of approximately $50,000 to DTSC from  
            the HWCA for third-party testing.

           COMMENTS  :   

          Need for the bill:  According to the author, "SB 814 will  
          strengthen the hazardous waste regulatory system, beginning with  
          addressing when final permit decisions must be made by the  
          Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).  We are not going  
          to let hazardous waste facilities continue to pollute vulnerable  
          neighborhoods anymore.  Some facilities are emitting toxic  
          hazardous waste, including lead, mercury, and arsenic.  Many of  
          them have been operating under expired permits for decades.   
          Facilities not in compliance with public health and  
          environmental standards will be shut down."

          Permitting hazardous waste storage, treatment, and disposal  
          facilities:  DTSC is responsible for the review of Resource  
          Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and non-RCRA hazardous  
          waste permit applications to ensure safe design and operation;  
          issuance/denial of operating permits; issuance of post-closure  
          permits; approval/denial of permit modifications;  
          issuance/denial of emergency permits; review and approval of  
          closure plans; provide closure oversight of approved closure  
          plans; issuance/denial of variances; provide assistance to  
          regulated industry on permitting matters; and provide for public  
          involvement provide.

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



          Criticism of the DTSC hazardous waste facility permitting  
          process:  A report entitled Golden Wasteland, prepared by a  
          consumer advocacy organization, issued in February of 2013, was  
          critical of DTSC hazardous waste permitting and enforcement  
          process.  According the report, DTSC settled cases out of court  
          with facility operators, levies ineffective fines, and fails to  
          develop and refer cases for prosecution.  It was asserted that  








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          the DTSC often awards permits without environmental review, and  
          it has not revoked the permit of a serial violator of  
          environmental laws in more than 15 years, the report found.


           DTSC has undertaken a review of permitting and enforcement  
          processes for hazardous waste facilities.  To do this, DTSC has  
          contracted for an outside program evaluation by CPS HR  
          Consulting that provided a review of the DTSC permit process to  
          develop a standardized process with decision criteria and  
          corresponding standards of performance.  The DTSC process will  
          review and assess the current timeliness of decisions, and  
          evaluate the adequacy of program staffing.  It will make  
          recommendations for process improvement.  DTSC is currently  
          taking action on the specific recommendations through the review  
          process for permit process changes.  The program changes have  
          been included with the Governor's Budget for fiscal year  
          2014-2015.

           

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


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