California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2894

Introduced by Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials (Assembly Members Alejo (Chair), Gonzalez, McCarty, and Ting)

February 29, 2016

An act to amend Sections 25390.1, 25390.3, and 25390.6 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2894, as introduced, Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. Hazardous waste: Orphan Share Reimbursement Trust Fund.

Existing law establishes 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. Existing law requires moneys expended from the fund for those purposes to be recoverable by the Attorney General, at the request of the administrator of the fund, from any liable person or persons who have not entered into, or are not in compliance with, a written cleanup agreement for the completion of all response actions necessary at the hazardous release site, as specified. Existing law provides that any potentially responsible party who withholds information required to be submitted, or who submits false information, is subject to a civil penalty of up to $25,000 for each piece of information withheld or for each piece of false information submitted.

This bill would subject a potentially responsible party to that civil penalty only if the party knowingly and willfully withholds information required to be submitted or knowingly and willfully submits false information. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes to related provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 25390.1 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

25390.1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) This article, which establishes an Orphan Share
Reimbursement Trust Fund, operates in conjunction with the
federal liability scheme under the federal act begin insert (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601
et seq.) end insert as in effect on July 1, 1998, for the recovery of response
costs expended by government agencies.

(b) Under federal liability, at sites where there are insolvent or
defunct parties that cannot contribute to the cost of cleanup, viable
responsible parties pay the share of liability for that cleanup that
may be attributable to insolvent and defunct parties.

(c) The Orphan Share Reimbursement Trust Fund is created to
mitigate the payment of an insolvent or defunct party’s liability
share by viable responsible parties, to the extent money in the fund
is available, and to encourage responsible parties to quickly and
efficiently remediate contamination.

SEC. 2.  

Section 25390.3 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

25390.3.  

(a) The Orphan Share Reimbursement Trust Fund is
hereby created in the State Treasury.

(b) The administrator of the fund may expend begin delete the money end delete begin insert moneys end insert
deposited in the fund as provided in this article, upon appropriation
by the Legislature. The administrator of the fund shall act in a
fiduciary capacity, shall prudently administer the fund, and shall
protect the fund from any unreasonable or unjustified claims,
including any unreasonable or unjustified determinations of the
orphan share percentage.

(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d) and subdivision (b)
of Section 25358.7.2, the administrator of the fund may expend
begin delete the money end delete begin insert moneys end insert in the fund for all of the following purposes:

(1) To pay claims for reimbursement of all, or any part of, the
orphan share at a site paid by the responsible party filed pursuant
to Section 25390.4.

(2) For the costs of implementing this article.

(3) To pay the reasonable costs of the department and the
regional board for performance of its duties under this article,
including, but not limited to, its participation in the orphan share
determination process set forth in Section 25390.5, unless those
costs are paid by a potentially responsible party under an agreement
specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 25390.4.
The expenditures from the fund for purposes of this paragraph
shall not exceed 5 percent of the total amount appropriated from
the fund in the annual Budget Act for purposes of this subdivision
for that fiscal year.

(4) To pay the portion of costs attributable to the orphan share
incurred by the department and the regional boards to oversee
actions of potentially responsible parties, unless those costs are
paid by a potentially responsible party under an agreement
specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 25390.4.

(d) If an appropriation from the General Fund is made to the
fund in any fiscal year and an amount greater than five million
dollars ($5,000,000) in unexpended funds, beyond any amount
approved by the administrator of the fund to pay claims pursuant
to this article from that General Fund appropriation, begin delete remain end delete begin insert remains end insert
in the fund at the end of that fiscal year, and if the department
determines that additional funding for orphan sites beyond that
appropriated from the Toxic Substances Control Account is
required for the next fiscal year, the administrator may expend the
amount in excess of five million dollars ($5,000,000) from the
General Fund appropriation to pay for response costs incurred by
the department or the regional boards under this chapter at sites
listed pursuant to Section 25356 where no viable responsible parties
exist.

SEC. 3.  

Section 25390.6 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

25390.6.  

(a) Any costs paid from the fund pursuant to
paragraphs (1) and (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 25390.3 shall
be recoverable by the Attorney General, at the request of the
administrator of the fund, from any liable person or persons who
have not entered into, or are not in compliance with, a written
cleanup agreement entered into pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) of Section 25390.4 that provides for the completion
of all response actions necessary at the site under the oversight
and at the direction of the department or the regional board.

(b)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert potentially responsible party who begin insert knowingly and
willfully end insert withholds information required to be submitted under this
section, or who begin insert knowingly and willingly end insert submits false information,
begin delete is end delete begin insert shall be end insert subject to a civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000) for each piece of information withheld or for
each piece of false information submitted.