BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2893
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
AB 2893
(Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials) - As
Introduced February 29, 2016
SUBJECT: Department of Toxic Substances Control: enforcement
SUMMARY: Makes conforming changes to the statutes governing the
Department of Toxic Substances Control's (DTSC) cost recovery
authorities. Specifically, this bill:
1) Modifies and adds terms to strengthen consistency
between DTSC's governing statutes;
2) Requires that any person required to furnish information
to DTSC pay any costs of photocopying or transmitting the
information; and,
3) Makes other technical, conforming changes to clean up
the codes.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Establishes DTSC to protect California against threats
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to public health and degradation to the environment and to
restore properties degraded by past environmental
contamination. Requires DTSC to regulate management of
hazardous wastes, clean up existing contamination, and
prevent pollution by working with businesses to reduce
their hazardous waste and use of toxic materials. (Health
& Safety Code (H&S) § 25360.1, et seq.)
2) Authorizes DTSC to incur direct cleanup costs and
oversight costs in remediating contaminated properties, and
authorizes DTSC to recover those costs from responsible
parties. (H&S § 25360, et seq.)
3) Permits DTSC or any local officer or agency authorized
to enforce the Hazardous Waste Control Law to require
specified parties to furnish and transmit certain
information relating to hazardous substances, hazardous
wastes, and hazardous materials, and requires any person
that is managing or has managed hazardous waste, including
those that have applied for a permit, to provide
information to DTSC regarding the ability of those persons
to pay for or perform a cleanup. (H&S § 25185.6)
4) Authorizes, pursuant to the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner
Hazardous Substance Account Act, authorizes DTSC to require
any potentially responsible party, or any person who has,
or may have acquired certain information relating to
hazardous substances and hazardous substance release sites
in the course of a commercial, ownership, or contractual
relationship with a potentially responsible party to
furnish that information, and authorizes DTSC to require a
person who has or may have information or documents
relevant to the ability of a responsible party or liable
person to pay for or perform a cleanup, consistent with
Section 104 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
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Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). (H&S § 25358.1)
5) Authorizes DTSC to disclose the information under
certain circumstances to authorized representatives,
contractors, or government agencies, including the United
States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). (H&S §
25185.6)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
Background on AB 276: Assembly Bill 276 (Chapter 459, Statutes
of 2015) gave DTSC authority to ask certain parties for
information related to the party's finances that could
demonstrate the party's ability to pay for or perform cleanup.
Providing this statutory authority aligned state law with
federal law, which, under CERCLA, permits the US EPA to request
financial information from potential responsible parties.
Having the authority to compel parties to submit pertinent
financial information now allows DTSC to identify those
potentially responsible parties who genuinely lack the ability
to pay for cleanup and no longer require DTSC to first sue these
parties to obtain the relevant financial information. This
authority could expedite the cost recovery process by obviating
the need for costly litigation, thus increasing DTSC's ability
to recover costs effectively.
Need for the bill: The primary goal of AB 276 was to provide
DTSC authority consistent with the US EPA's authority to
retrieve financial information. The secondary goal of AB 276, as
well as the package of bills it was enacted with in 2015 (AB 273
(Chapter 456), AB 274 (Chapter 457), and AB 275 (Chapter 458)),
was to conform Health & Safety Code Chapters 6.5 and 6.8 by
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clarifying terms used to eliminate obfuscating terminology,
create better consistency between the two chapters, and
eliminate the possibility of confusion during implementation.
The purpose of AB 2893 is to further conform terms used in those
statutes that govern DTSC's hazardous waste cleanup and cost
recovery authorities. Specifically, the goal is to conform
DTSC's statutes governing their authority to request financial
information from potentially responsible parties when assessing
costs of hazardous waste cleanup.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Paige Brokaw / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965
AB 2893
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