BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 612|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 612
Author: Jackson (D)
Amended: 4/6/15
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/15/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Gaines, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Hazardous materials
SOURCE: The California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators
The California Fire Chiefs Association
DIGEST: This bill updates, rearranges and clarifies the statute
related to certified unified program agencies (CUPA)
administration. The CUPA forum board has been meeting with
business stakeholders to clarify the provisions of the health
and safety code related to CUPAs to better provide consistent
interpretation of the statute statewide for all 83 CUPAs.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1) Provides, under the Hazardous Waste Control Act (HWCA), for
the registration, licensure and permitting of hazardous waste
generators, transporters and storage, transfer and disposal
facilities.
2) Requires the Secretary for the California Environmental
Protection Agency (CalEPA) to adopt regulations and implement
a unified hazardous waste and hazardous materials management
regulatory program.
3) Establishes the respective responsibilities of CUPAs,
designated to implement that unified program, locally, and
requires the Secretary of CalEPA to establish a statewide
information management system for purposes of receiving data
collected by CUPAs.
4) Establishes the responsibility of a local administering
agency authorized to implement and enforce provisions that
require (a) the administering agency to establish area plans
for emergency response to a release or threatened release of
a hazardous material and (b) a business that handles a
hazardous material to establish and implement a business plan
for such a response. Authorizes a CUPA to implement and
enforce these provisions as an administering agency, as
specified.
5) Specifies the contents of the business plan required of the
hazardous materials handler and requires the plan to be
submitted to the administering agency. Requires the
administering agency to submit to the Office of Emergency
Services (OES), the area plan, a plan to conduct onsite
inspection, and a plan to institute a data management system.
A violation of the business plan requirements is a
misdemeanor.
6) Requires the OES to adopt, after public hearing and
consultation with the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM)
and other appropriate public entities, regulations for
minimum standards for business plans and area plans, and
requires all business plans and area plans to meet the
standards adopted by OES. Requires a CUPA, in consultation
with local emergency response agencies, to establish an area
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plan for emergency response to a release or threatened
release of a hazardous material within its jurisdiction. A
CUPA is required to submit a proposed area plan to the OES,
and OES is required to notify the CUPA whether the area plan
is adequate and meets the standards adopted by OES in
regulations. Requires a CUPA to certify to OES every three
years that it has conducted a complete review of its area
plan and has made any necessary revisions and, if a
substantial change is made to its area plan, to forward the
changes to the office within 14 days after the changes have
been made.
7) Requires a business handling hazardous materials, as
specified, to establish and implement a business plan for
emergency response to a release or threatened release of a
hazardous material in accordance with the standards
prescribed in the regulations adopted by OES. The business
plan is required to contain specified information, including
a site map that contains north orientation, loading areas,
internal roads, adjacent streets, storm and sewer drains,
access and exit points, emergency shutoffs, evacuation
staging areas, hazardous material handling and storage areas,
and emergency response equipment.
8) Defines, under the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act, for
purposes of the Act, an "aboveground storage tank" as a tank
that has the capacity to store 55 gallons or more of
petroleum and that is substantially or totally above the
surface of the ground and a tank in an underground area, as
defined, except as specified.
9) Requires CUPAs to implement the Aboveground Petroleum
Storage Act in accordance with regulations adopted by the
OSFM and authorizes the OSFM to adopt these regulations.
10)Requires, under the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act, each
owner or operator of a storage tank at a tank facility to
prepare a spill prevention control and countermeasure plan
and to conduct periodic inspections of the storage tank,
except for certain tank facilities located on a farm,
nursery, logging site, or construction site.
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11)Regulates the storage of hazardous substances in underground
storage tanks and requires underground storage tanks that are
used to store hazardous substances and that are installed
after January 1, 1984, to meet certain requirements and
obtain a permit from the Unified Program Agency (UPA).
12)Provides for CUPA enforcement of HWCA violations.
This bill:
1) Requires the CUPA to certify to OES Services every three
years that it has conducted a review of its area plan and has
made any necessary revisions or that no substantial changes
have been made.
2) Requires the site map to include additional map requirements
required by UPA pursuant to an ordinance.
3) Revises the definition of "aboveground storage tank" to
include a tank or container that has the capacity to store 55
gallons or more of petroleum, including drums, intermediate
bulk containers, totes, mobile refuelers, oil-filled
operational equipment, and oil-filled manufacturing
equipment, and that is substantially or totally above the
surface of the ground and a tank in an underground area.
4) Requires OSFM to adopt the regulations pursuant to Existing
law #9.
5) Revises the exception as described in Existing law #10 to
the plan and inspection requirements to instead require that
the tank facility be operated by, instead of located on, the
farm, nursery, logging site, or construction site. Requires
that the plan address best management practices to prevent
petroleum releases, as specified.
6) Revises the definition of "storage" and "store" for purposes
of the regulation of the storage of hazardous substances in
underground storage tanks, to exempt storage that is in
compliance with specified alternative laws for the regulation
of hazardous materials.
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7) Makes consistent the CUPA enforcement of the Medical Waste
Management Act with HWCA.
8) Makes other technical changes to the hazardous materials
laws.
9) Makes additional legislative findings and declarations
relative to the unified program.
Background
SB 1082 (Calderon, Chapter 418, Statutes of 1993) required the
Secretary of the CalEPA to establish a "unified hazardous waste
and hazardous materials management" regulatory program (Unified
Program) by January 1, 1996. Currently, there are 83 CUPAs in
California. All counties have been certified by the Secretary.
The Unified Program consolidates, coordinates, and makes
consistent the following six existing programs:
Hazardous Materials Release Response Plans and Inventories.
California Accidental Release Prevention Program.
Underground Storage Tank Program.
Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act.
Hazardous Waste Generator and Onsite Hazardous Waste Treatment
(tiered permitting) Programs.
California Uniform Fire Code: Hazardous Material Management
Plans and Hazardous Material Inventory Statements.
A local agency, such as a county or city, applies to CalEPA for
certification as the UPA, responsible for implementing the
Unified Program within its jurisdiction. A CUPA must establish
a program which consolidates, coordinates and makes consistent
the administrative requirements, permits, inspection activities,
enforcement activities, and hazardous waste and hazardous
materials fees. The implementation of the Unified Program must
not result in more fragmentation between jurisdictions than
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existed before the Unified Program, and the Unified Program must
be consistent throughout the entire county.
Comments
Purpose of the bill. According to the author, "SB 612 is a
technical bill that makes a number of changes to various
sections of the Health and Safety Code. These provisions deal
with area plans for emergency response to a release or
threatened release of a hazardous material, the Accidental
Release Prevention Program, used oil collection centers, the
Above Ground Petroleum Storage Act, the Underground Storage Tank
Act and the Hazardous Waste Control Act."
The author states that "the purpose of the bill is to bring
clarity to certain provisions, reduce inconsistencies and
ambiguities and increase environmental protection by closing
gaps in regulatory programs. These changes will ensure that the
programs specified above function more efficiently and
effectively."
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 1261(Jackson, Chapter 715, Statutes of 2014) revised and
recasts the area and business plan requirements for CUPA.
SB 483 (Jackson, Chapter 419, Statutes of 2013) revised and
recasts the area and business plan requirements in existing law,
which authorizes a CUPA to implement and enforce specified
provisions.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, first-year
costs of $150,000 and $100,000 ongoing from the UPA (special) to
the State Fire Marshall for additional responsibilities under
the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act.
SB 612
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SUPPORT: (Verified 5/28/15)
The California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators (co-source)
The California Fire Chiefs Association (co-source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/28/15)
None received
Prepared by:Rachel Machi Wagoner / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
5/31/15 12:25:36
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