BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2891 (Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials)
- Hazardous waste: funding
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|Version: May 25, 2016 |Policy Vote: E.Q. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Narisha Bonakdar |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 2891 revises the annual appropriation requirements
for funding federal hazardous waste cleanup requirements.
Fiscal
Impact: Cost pressures in the millions of dollars to
appropriate funds necessary to meet demonstrated need. (See
staff comments)
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
AB 2891 (Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials)
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an immediate threat to public health and the 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, respectively.
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 a match of
at least 10% for design and implementation of remediation, or
cleanup. Ultimately, California is also required to cover 100%
of the long-term operation and maintenance 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.
The Legislative Analysts' Office Report on California Superfund
Site Cost Obligations. At the request of the Assembly
Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials Committee, the
Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) reviewed DTSC's cost share
obligations under CERCLA; the gap between anticipated resource
demand and availability for Superfund site cleanup; 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 operations and maintenance 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 operations and maintenance before using funds
for state-designated orphan sites. Given the estimated lack of
resources and requirement that the state prioritize NPL sites
for funding, California may end up with no funds for state
orphan site cleanup.
Proposed Law:
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This bill:
1.Revises the annual appropriation requirements for funding
federal hazardous waste cleanup requirements.
2.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 DTSC.
3.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.
4.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.
5.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.
Staff
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
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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."
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."
Staff notes that this bill changes DTSC current "funding
formula" for SRA allocation to cleanup NPL and state orphan
sites. That is, the current statutory floor and ceiling will be
removed and instead replaced with an annual report outlining
DTSC's estimated costs that must be considered throughout the
annual budget process. While no requirement for funding or
specific appropriation is made in this bill. It is likely
intended to ensure sufficient funds are appropriated for site
cleanup.
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