BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2891
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|Author: |Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic |
| |Materials |
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|Version: |5/25/2016 |Hearing |6/15/2016 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Rachel Machi Wagoner |
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SUBJECT: Hazardous waste: funding.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 to provide
a Federal "Superfund" to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned
hazardous waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and
other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants
into the environment.
2) Pursuant to the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous
Substance Account Act, makes available adequate funds in
order to permit the State of California to assure payment
of its 10% share of the costs mandated under federal
Superfund requirements, Section 104(c)(3) of the federal
act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604(c)(3)).
3) Establishes the Toxic Substances Control Account (TSCA),
and allows the DTSC director to expend federal funds in the
TSCA consistent with the requirements specified in Section
114 of CERCLA and defines TSCA as the "State Account."
4) Establishes the Site Remediation Account (SRA), to be
funded by money transferred from the TSCA, and may be
expended by DTSC for direct site remediation costs
consistent with the requirements of Section 114(c) of the
AB 2891 (Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials)
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federal act.
5) Authorizes use of funds from DTSC's State Account to
provide the state share of a removal or remedial action
pursuant to CERCLA if the site is the subject of a final
remedial action plan.
6) Establishes, pursuant to the Johnston-Filante Hazardous
Substance Cleanup Bond Act of 1984, the Orphan Share
Reimbursement Trust Fund to pay specified costs and claims
relating to response actions at hazardous substance release
sites under circumstances in which the share of liability
for those costs is attributable to the activities of
persons who are defunct or insolvent.
This bill: Revises the annual appropriation requirements for
funding federal hazardous waste cleanup requirements.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Deletes legislative intent that not less than $6,750,000
be appropriated in the annual Budget Act each year to the
Site Remediation Account for direct site remediation costs
and replaces with intent to appropriate an amount
sufficient to cover the estimated costs identified by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).
2) Requires DTSC, at the same time as the Governor's
January 10 Budget, and annually thereafter, to report to
the Legislative budget committees an estimate of the
funding needed to meet the state's obligation at federal
Superfund orphan sites and at state-only orphan sites.
Requires the estimate to include projected budget-year and
out-year costs for new and ongoing operations and
maintenance budget obligations at federal Superfund sites,
and new and ongoing remediation, and any other related
orphan site costs.
3) Deletes a requirement that DTSC report to the
Legislature a determination that the state's obligation
under CERCLA will exceed $3,300,000 in any fiscal year.
AB 2891 (Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials)
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Background
1) Superfund. The federal Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as
Superfund, was enacted to address the problem of remediating
abandoned hazardous waste sites. Through CERCLA, the US
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and California were
given power to seek out those parties responsible for any
hazardous waste release and recover costs from financially
viable individuals and companies once cleanup is completed.
According to the Department of Toxic Substances Control
(DTSC), both the US EPA and DTSC have identified sites which
represent an immediate threat to public health and
environment and/or for which no viable responsible parties
have been identified to address these projects. These are
known as National Priorities List (NPL) sites and State
orphan sites.
The state's Site Remediation Account (SRA) funds DTSC's work
at sites on the NPL and at state orphan sites. Sites on the
NPL, also known as the federal Superfund list, are the
nation's worst hazardous substances sites and pose a
significant threat to the environment and public health.
Under federal law, the state is required to provide at a
minimum a 10% match for design and implementation of
remediation, or cleanup. Ultimately, California is also
required to cover 100% of the long-term operation and
maintenance (O&M) for NPL sites where no viable responsible
party has been identified. State orphan sites are not on the
NPL, but also are contaminated by hazardous substances that
pose an environmental or public health threat; the
responsible parties for both types of sites are unknown or
are unwilling or unable to pay for cleanup.
2) The Legislative Analysts' Office (LAO) Report on California
Superfund Site Cost Obligations. The Assembly Environmental
Safety & Toxic Materials Committee requested LAO to complete
a review of DTSC's federal requirements and cost share
obligations under CERCLA as it relates to Superfund cleanup;
the anticipated resource demand for Superfund site cleanup
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and the gap between resource need and resource availability;
and programmatic and/or policy changes that could be made at
DTSC to better manage the growing cleanup demand.
The LAO found that annual combined California costs for
remediation and O&M at federal NPL sites are projected to
range from $2.2 million to $17.3 million between Fiscal Years
2015-2016 and 2020-2021. The funds in the SRA to support
these costs are projected to grow over this period from $10.6
million to $12 million. Under federal regulation, California
is required to pay its share of the NPL site cleanup and O&M
first, which means state-designated orphan sites are second
priority. Given the estimated increases in future state costs
for NPL sites, California will have significantly less
available in the SRA for state orphan sites, and may end up
with no funds for state orphan site cleanup.
Comments
Purpose of Bill. According to the author, US EPA estimates
between 96,000 and 212,000 contaminated sites in California.
DTSC has identified approximately 9,800 contaminated sites
statewide.
The author states that DTSC's Independent Review Panel (IRP)
reported in its January 28, 2016, report that there are
projected shortfalls in DTSC's SRA for funding orphan and
Superfund site cleanup. The report states, "The DTSC currently
spends approximately $10 million per year from the SRA for both:
a) California's operations and maintenance oversight obligations
at federal Superfund NPL sites, and b) California orphan site
clean-ups where there is no responsible party to pay for
clean-up."
According to the author, "the IRP is concerned that this $10
million annual allocation in the SRA is insufficient, since the
State's NPL obligations are projected to grow as more sites are
turned over to California to assume operations and maintenance
oversight obligations. In fact, by Fiscal Year 2020-2021, there
is a concern that no SRA funds will be available for orphan
sites, even though those sites impact groundwater or release
toxic vapors from underground contamination into occupied
buildings."
AB 2891 (Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials)
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The author states, "to address the projected demand on state
resources to meet the state's financial obligations at Superfund
and state-only orphan sites, the LAO recommends the Legislature
require DTSC to prepare an annual estimate of its funding
demand, and adopt legislation to move away from a statutory
funding formula to an annual appropriation as part of the state
budget process, among other recommendations. AB 2891 would
codify those recommendations."
SOURCE: Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety
and Toxic Materials
SUPPORT:
None received
OPPOSITION:
None received
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