BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                               SB 1249
                                                                       

                        SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
                                Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
                                2013-2014 Regular Session
                                             
           BILL NO:    SB 1249
           AUTHOR:     Hill
           AMENDED:    April 22, 2014
           FISCAL:     Yes               HEARING DATE:     April 30, 2014
           URGENCY:    No                CONSULTANT:       Rachel Machi
                                                           Wagoner
            
           SUBJECT  :    HAZARDOUS WASTE:  SHREDDER WASTE
           
            SUMMARY  :    
           
            Existing law  :

           1) Under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)  
              of 1976, governs the disposal of 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 United States  
                 Environmental Protection Agency (US 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.  










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

              e)    Authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control  
                 (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.

           3) Under the Integrated Waste Management Act, requires materials  
              that require special handling, as defined, to be removed from  
              major appliances and vehicles in which they are contained before  
              crushing for transport or transferring to a baler or shredder  
              for recycling.

           This bill  :

           1) Requires DTSC to conduct a preliminary analysis and a final  
              analysis evaluating the hazardous waste management activities of  
              metal shredding facilities. 

           2) Authorizes DTSC, in consultation with other state entities, to  
              adopt regulations establishing alternative management standards  
              for a metal shredding facility, including activities conducted  
              within the boundaries of a metal shredding facility, and for the  
              generation, storage, transportation, and disposal of metal  
              shredder residue and treated metal shredder residue, as defined,  
              that would apply in lieu of the hazardous waste management  
              standards if DTSC performs specified actions.

           3) Requires DTSC to provide notice that it proposes to adopt  
              alternative management standards. 

           4) Prohibits DTSC from adopting management standards that are less  
              stringent than applicable standards under federal law and would  
              require metal shredder residue and treated metal shredder  
              residue to be disposed of in a specified manner.

           5) Makes all hazardous waste determinations and policies,  
              procedures, or guidance issued by the department before January  
              1, 2014, inoperative on January 1, 2017.










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           6) Authorizes DTSC to collect an annual fee from metal shredding  
              facilities at a rate sufficient to cover the costs of the  
              department relating to metal shredding facilities, metal  
              shredder residue, or treated metal shredder residue, as  
              specified.

            COMMENTS  :

            1)Purpose of Bill  .  The author argues that metal and recycling  
             facilities operating in California pose a distinct risk to public  
             health and the environment and the hazards associated with these  
             operations are not adequately regulated.  Many of these  
             facilities are located in highly populated areas and have been  
             found to have contaminated air and water surrounding their  
             facilities.

           The author states that six fires have broken out at metal shredding  
             and recycling facilities in the Bay Area since 2007, five of them  
             at facilities owned by Sims Metal Management LTD.  Three occurred  
             at the company's facility in Redwood City, causing plumes of  
             smoke to billow over the city impacting the health of the  
             residents of Redwood City.   The Counties of San Mateo, Alameda  
             and Santa Clara had to issue health advisories because of the  
             smoke and school districts were forced to keep students inside  
             because of the poor air quality. 

           The author asserts that after the last two fires in November and  
             December of 2013, Redwood City leaders called on regulators to do  
             more to help protect residents from future incidents.

           The author further states that in 2011, US EPA inspectors  
             discovered PCBs, mercury, lead, copper and zinc in Redwood Creek  
             and San Francisco Bay around the Redwood City Sims plant.  US EPA  
             found levels of toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) in Redwood  
             Creek were 10,000 times what would be expected normally in soil,  
             while lead and copper were 10 to 15 times greater than acceptable  
             levels.  The recycling company was also cited by the Bay Area Air  
             Quality Management District after a 2007 fire.

           In 2011, the US Fish and Wildlife Service investigated Sims for  
             allowing fibrous automobile shredder residue to blow or drift  
             into wetlands around Bair Island, 800 feet downwind of the  
             facility.









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           The author asserts that there have been numerous other incidents at  
             facilities across California, which have created similar public  
             health and environmental harm.

           The author believes that these incidents provide clear evidence  
             that this industry is not currently adequately regulated.

           However, DTSC has failed to revoke the nonhazardous waste  
             classifications for treated shredder waste granted decades ago to  
             the metal shredding industry despite a 2001 legal opinion by DTSC  
             attorneys, which called the exemption "outdated and legally  
             incorrect," and warnings from the department's scientists that  
             this waste could become hazardous during the shredding process. 

           SB 1249 rescinds all previously issued nonhazardous waste  
             classifications for treated shredder waste for facilities that  
             deal with vehicle shredder waste and requires DTSC to analyze,  
             classify and develop regulations to ensure that storage,  
             treatment, transport and disposal are done in a manner that  
             protects public health and the environment, as appropriate.  The  
             author believes that this legislation will provide for better  
             DTSC oversight of the industry to prevent contamination,  
             explosions or other risks to California communities.


            2)Auto/Metal Shredding and Recycling  .  The shredding of automobiles  
             and major household appliances is a process where a hammer mill  
             grinds the materials fed into it to fist-size pieces. The  
             shredding of automobiles results in a mixture of ferrous metal,  
             non-ferrous metal (e.g. alloys of copper and aluminum) and  
             shredder waste, referred to as automobile shredder waste (ASW).  


           This waste is composed of the plastics, rubber, foam, residual  
             metal pieces, paper, fabric, glass, wire, hoses, rubber gaskets,  
             sand, dirt and other non-metallic waste that remains from  
             recycled automobiles, trucks, buses, and household appliances.   
             ASW contains heavy metals (lead, copper, zinc and cadmium),  
             chlorine and PCBs, as well as other hazardous chemicals.

           After shredding, some ASW is treated using metals fixation  
             treatment technologies, coating the waste in cement to "fix" the  









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             hazardous constituents in the waste.  It is referred to as  
             "fluff" and distributed to landfills across the state to be used  
             as alternative daily cover.

           Roughly 700,000 tons of this waste -- also called fluff -- is  
             disposed of in the state's landfills each year.  According to the  
             California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery  
             (CalRecycle) records, 6,056,026 tons of ASW has been disposed in  
             California landfills between 1998 and 2007. 


            3)ASW as Hazardous Waste  .  Prior to 1984, all ASW was considered  
             not to be hazardous waste and was disposed of or used as  
             alternative daily cover in municipal solid waste landfills.


           In 1984, California deemed ASW as a non-RCRA hazardous waste (or  
             California hazardous waste) due to the presence of lead, cadmium,  
             copper and zinc at levels above the state's regulatory  
             thresholds, as well as PCBs at concentrations which on some  
             occasions exceeded either/both the federal and California  
             regulatory thresholds.

           Between 1986 and 1992, California's Department of Health Services  
             (DHS) Toxic Substances Control Division (predecessor to DTSC)  
             issued conditional nonhazardous waste classifications (also  
             referred to as "f letters") to seven shredder facilities in  
             California who treated their ASW to fix the hazardous components  
             into the waste.  Once facility operators received a nonhazardous  
             waste classification, treated ASW was no longer regulated as a  
             hazardous waste.

           In 1988, California's regulation of ASW was formalized in  
             Department of Health Services Policy and Procedure 88-6.

           In early 2001, DTSC began an initiative to evaluate the adequacy of  
             the ASW policy, which included new sampling and analysis.  The  
             report from that initiative recommended rescinding the  
             conditional nonhazardous waste classifications.  However, DTSC  
             took no further action.


            4)Environmental and Public Health Incidents caused by Shredder  









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             Facilities  .  In 2002, DTSC issued an "imminent and substantial  
             endangerment" order against Pacific Steel, because dust blowing  
             from contaminated piles of waste stored out in the open, which  
             contained PCBs and toxic metals such as lead, zinc and copper,  
             polluted and threatened to pollute the air and water near the  
             facility.   In 2011, DTSC issued a remedial action order against  
             Pacific Steel to clean up the site.


           In 2011, DTSC settled an enforcement action against the Sims Metal  
             West and S.A. Recycling facility in Anaheim for $2.9 million.   
             The action alleged that S.A. Recycling violated air pollution  
             laws when an explosion at its San Pedro facility at Terminal  
             Island destroyed its air pollution control system in May 2007 and  
             the company continued operating for weeks without proper  
             equipment.  As a result, approximately 4.4 tons of toxic  
             particulates were released to the air, and migrated to bay waters  
             and the community of Wilmington, putting local residents and the  
             environment at risk.

           At a 13-acre bay front site in Redwood City, Sims Metal Management  
             shreds about 300,000 automobiles a year, along with appliances  
             and other metal products, and loads the materials via huge  
             conveyor belts onto ships bound for China, Korea and other  
             countries, where they are made into new products.  

           In January 2012, Sims Metal Management in Redwood City was cited by  
             US EPA for polluting the San Francisco Bay.  Inspectors found the  
             company had unlawfully discharged PCBs, lead, copper, mercury and  
             zinc into Redwood Creek, a tributary of San Francisco Bay.  US  
             EPA found PCB levels of 195 times accepted levels and more than  
             10 times accepted levels of lead in sediment near where the  
             shredding yard meets the Redwood Creek.  This enforcement action  
             was resolved in 2013.

           Additionally, there have been several fires in the last several  
             years at the Sims Redwood City facility that have caused the Bay  
             Area Air Quality Management District to ask residents to stay  
             inside.  Two fires occurred in November and December of 2013,  
             raising concerns about the proximity of this facility to  
             residents.

           In the fire in December 2013, no one was reported injured by the  









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             smoke or fire, which was limited to a debris pile about 900  
             square feet in area and 30 feet tall, but the noxious odor  
             produced by the blaze was detected as far south as South San Jose  
             and across the bay in Oakland and Berkeley. 

           The company's recycling facilities in Hayward and San Francisco  
             experienced fires in 2009 and 2010 respectively, according to  
             records from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. 


            5)ASW Regulatory Review  .  In 2002, DTSC conducted an auto shredder  
             initiative that found both treated and untreated shredder waste  
             exceeded state regulatory thresholds for lead, zinc and cadmium.   
             The report recommended that the DTSC policy and procedure that  
             allowed the exemption for this waste be rescinded and the waste  
             stream be regulated as hazardous waste.  No action was taken at  
             that time.


             In 2008, DTSC sent letters to shredders expressing the  
             department's intention to rescind Policy and Procedure 88-6 and  
             repeal the conditional authorization that allows ASW to be  
             classified as non-hazardous waste.  However, DTSC has not to date  
             rescinded the conditional waste classifications.


             In a 2009, the California Integrated Waste Management Board (now  
             CalRecycle) issued the "Alternative Daily Cover White Paper."    
             The paper states that:

             "Staff with DTSC have indicated that ASW treatment is not  
             effective, the material should be considered hazardous, and ASW  
             should be required to be disposed in Class I landfills.  DTSC  
             staff also indicates that ASW feedstocks are variable and have  
             changed in the last 20 years (more electronic components, white  
             goods, chlorinated plastics), sampling is costly, and it is  
             difficult to obtain representative samples of ASW.  Automobile  
             Recycling Fluff in Ohio is considered unsuitable for [alternative  
             daily cover] due to concerns regarding fire hazards, wind-driven  
             scattering, dispersal outside the working face by landfill  
             equipment, and the potential for contamination by asbestos, PCBs,  
             and mercury (from switches)."










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             DTSC is currently reviewing technical data about current and  
             potential chemical treatments of metal shredder residue in order  
             to reevaluate its prior waste classification decisions.  In  
             addition, DTSC is inviting input from the public.  DTSC will  
             develop a course of action based on the findings of this process.  


             SB 1249 rescinds all previously issued nonhazardous waste  
             classifications for treated shredder waste for facilities that  
             deal with vehicle shredder waste and requires DTSC to analyze,  
             classify and develop regulations to ensure that storage,  
             treatment, transport and disposal are done in a manner that  
             protects public health and the environment, as appropriate.  The  
             author believes that this legislation will provide for better  
             DTSC oversight of the industry to prevent contamination,  
             explosions or other risks to California communities.


            6)Opposition  .  The West Coast Chapter of the Institute of Scrap  
             Recycling Industries (ISRI) strongly oppose to SB 1249, as  
             currently drafted, stating that "the bill in its current form  
             would threaten the economic viability of large, well-established  
             metal shredding facilities in California. These facilities have  
             provided safe and environmentally responsible recycling services  
             to the citizens of the State of California for over four decades  
             and are responsible for thousands of good jobs across the state.   
             Without the ability to safely and effectively recycle the huge  
             quantities of scrap metal that are produced by our society on a  
             daily basis, our landfills, roadsides, back yards, alley ways and  
             open space would be littered with discarded automobiles,  
             household appliances and the endless variety of other discarded  
             metal products that are recycled by metal shredding facilities.  
             The legislature must consider the impact of proposed legislation  
             on this vital industry."

            SOURCE  :        Author  

           SUPPORT  :       None on file  

           OPPOSITION  :    Republic Services
                          Waste Management
                          West Coast Chapter of the Institute of Scrap  
                          Recycling Industries









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