BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          Date of Hearing:  June 30, 2015


           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS


                                  Luis Alejo, Chair


          SB  
          612 (Jackson) - As Amended June 23, 2015


          SENATE VOTE:  37-0


          SUBJECT:  Hazardous materials


          SUMMARY:  Modifies the statute related to Certified Unified  
          Program Agencies (CUPA) administration to clarify the provisions  
          of the Health and Safety Code related to CUPAs to provide  
          consistent interpretation of the statute statewide.  
          Specifically, this bill: 


          1)Requires the CUPA to certify to Office of Emergency Services  
            (OES) 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)Provides that any additional map requirements required by a  
            CUPA be adopted pursuant to a local ordinance.



          3)Revises the definition of "aboveground storage tank" to  








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            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)Revises the exception to the plan and inspection requirements  
            to require that the tank facility be operated by, instead of  
            located on, the farm, nursery, logging site, or construction  
            site and requires that the plan address best management  
            practices to prevent petroleum releases, as specified.



          5)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.



          6)Provides a due process for the CUPA enforcement of the Medical  
            Waste Management Act.
          EXISTING LAW:  


          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. 













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          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 statutory 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.



          5)Specifies the contents of the business plan required of the  
            hazardous materials handler and requires the plan to be  








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            submitted to the administering agency.  Requires the  
            administering agency to submit to the OES, the area plan, a  
            plan to conduct onsite inspection, and a plan to institute a  
            data management system.  



          6)Requires the OES to adopt, after 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 plan for emergency response to a release or  
            threatened release of a hazardous material within its  
            jurisdiction.  



          7)Requires a business handling hazardous materials 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 by OES.  Requires the  
            business plan 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 (APSA) 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.










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          9)Requires CUPAs to implement the APSA in accordance with  
            regulations adopted by the OSFM and authorizes the OSFM to  
            adopt these regulations.



          10)Requires, under the APSA, 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.



          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 CUPA.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  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.


          COMMENTS:  


          Need for the bill: According to the California Association of  
          Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA), "SB 612 is the  
          third bill authored by Senator Jackson and co-sponsored by CAEHA  
          and the Fire Chiefs that is intended to help in clarifying the  
          complex codes that govern the seven elements in the "Unified  
          Program".   Like SB 483 and SB 1261, this measure updates,  
          rearranges, and clarifies parts of the law in an attempt to make  
          the requirements clearer for both the regulated community and  








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          the regulators?. SB 612 will improve clarity, reduce  
          inconsistencies and ambiguities, and increase environmental  
          protection by closing gaps in certain regulatory programs.   
          These changes will ensure that the programs under the  
          jurisdiction of CUPAs operate as efficiently as possible, which  
          in turn will facilitate compliance for regulated businesses  
          without reducing the protection of public health, safety and the  
          environment."


          Certified Unified Program Agencies:   The Secretary of Cal/EPA  
          has established a "unified hazardous waste and hazardous  
          materials management" regulatory program (Unified Program).   
          Currently, there are 83 CUPAs in California.  The Unified  
          Program consolidates, coordinates the following six existing  
          programs:


             1)   Hazardous Materials Release Response Plans and  
               Inventories (Business Plans);
             2)   California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP)  
               Program;
             3)   Underground Storage Tank Program;
             4)   Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act;
             5)   Hazardous Waste Generator and Onsite Hazardous Waste  
               Treatment Programs; and,
             6)   California Uniform Fire Code:  Hazardous Material  
               Management Plans and Hazardous Material Inventory  
               Statements.

          Elements of SB 612 - CUPA reforms:  SB 612 is designed to  
          provide technical clarification to both the language of the  
          Unified Program enforcement act as well as operational  
          definitions of hazardous materials management.  The bill  
          contains numerous technical modifications that address the  
          following program elements:


          1)General duty clause:  The objective of the CalARP Program is  








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            to prevent accidental releases and to minimize the  
            consequences of any such release at facilities that fall under  
            the program. The owners and operators of stationary sources  
            producing, processing, handling or storing hazardous materials  
            have a general duty, in the same manner and to the same extent  
            as federal law (§654, Title 29 of the United States Code),  to  
            identify hazards which may result from such releases using  
            appropriate hazard assessment techniques to design and  
            maintain a safe facility taking such steps as are necessary to  
            prevent releases and to minimize the consequences of  
            accidental releases which do occur. 

          2)Additional map requirements:  Concern has been raised by  
            businesses that each CUPA may have additional map requirements  
            for hazardous material business plans.  This poses an extra  
            burden of inconsistency for regulated businesses.  SB 612  
            proposes that if a new local requirement is warranted, it  
            should be substantiated by a governing body action.

          7)Business or facility amendments: Previous legislative actions  
            (SB 1261 (Jackson) Chapter 715, Statutes of 2014) made  
            numerous changes to the terms "facility" and "business."  Some  
            of these changes remain confusing to both local regulators and  
            businesses. SB 612 proposes to make consistent distinctions  
            between facilities and business.

          8)Used Oil Collection Centers (UOCC):  For several years, the  
            Hazardous Waste Technical Advisory Group of the CUPA Board has  
            identified an issue related to the regulatory responsibility  
            of UOCC and the need to provide clear authority for CUPAs to  
            inspect and regulate these types of facilities.  The ambiguity  
            in the law was raised by a UOCC who argued that the facility  
            was not under the UPA regulatory authority. This amendment  
            will provide such authority.  

          9)Hazardous waste counting: The amount of hazardous waste  
            generated by a business determines their generator status.   
            Businesses that generate more waste have additional  
            requirements for emergency preparedness, employee training,  








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            inspection frequency, disposal frequency, state/federal  
            reporting and more.  Larger generators are expected to pay for  
            their disposal through pickup by a registered transporter and  
            may be subject to professional engineer's assessments of tank  
            systems.  Smaller generators have less training and  
            documentation requirements, and may be allowed to take small  
            quantities of their own waste to a collection event.   

            There is no clear law or regulation that explains how to count  
            hazardous waste to determine generator status.  A survey of  
            the CUPAs showed they generally do not count wastes that have  
            an alternative set of management standards towards the  
            hazardous waste generator standards, such as universal wastes,  
            treated wood wastes and automotive batteries.  This bill  
            addresses hazardous material counting by directing DTSC to  
            provide guidance through regulations.


          10)Above ground storage tanks and underground storage tanks:  SB  
            612 increases environmental protection in California by  
            closing gaps in regulatory programs and rationalizing the  
            regulatory requirements among the APSA, Underground Storage  
            Tank (UST) law and Hazardous Waste Control Law.  Compliance  
            with one set of rules is easier for regulated facilities to  
            achieve and regulatory agencies to enforce.   Specifically,  
            the changes to the UST and APSA in SB 612  provide the  
            following:

             a)   Align the California laws governing the aboveground  
               storage of petroleum and the underground storage of  
               petroleum for a tank in an underground area;
             b)   Require tanks in underground areas, and associated  
               piping, to be visually inspected by direct viewing or have  
               secondary containment and leak detection with environmental  
               equivalence options for existing tanks used for emergency  
               systems and for hazardous waste tanks required to be in  
               compliance with the tank standards specified in Title 22,  
               California Code of Regulations; 









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             c)   Provide facilities, with an aggregate petroleum storage  
               capacity of less than 1,320 gallons, the option to manage  
               their tanks containing petroleum in underground areas,  
               currently regulated as USTs, as aboveground storage tanks;


             d)   Close a gap in the regulatory scheme by regulating tanks  
               that collect or treat hazardous waste in underground areas  
               as hazardous waste tanks.  


             e)   Require the regulations to be developed in order for the  
               statutory change related to tanks in underground areas to  
               become effective; and,


             f)   Align APSA with recent changes in the federal Oil Spills  
               Prevention and Preparedness Regulations (SPCC) that provide  
               exemptions for farms from the SPCC regulations with the  
               exemptions for farms under APSA.


          11)Due process for Medical Waste Management Act:  Twenty five  
            counties and one city have been delegated with the authority  
            by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to  
            administer the Medical Waste Management Act in their local  
            jurisdictions.  CDPH has not adopted regulations specifying  
            the existing administrative penalty process that is available  
            to local enforcement agencies.  SB 612 provides administrative  
            enforcement procedures established for the enforcement of the  
            Unified Program consistent with the Medical Waste Management  
            Act in these provisions will establish the necessary due  
            process and enhance regulatory consistency.  

          Related legislation:


          1)AB 1620 (Wieckowski, Chapter 190, Statutes of 2012).  Modified  








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            the definition of hazardous waste treatment so that various  
            types of activities that often take place when hazardous  
            wastes are accumulated or stored are exempted from the  
            regulatory requirements that apply to hazardous waste  
            treatment facilities.  



          2)SB 483 (Jackson, Chapter 419, Statutes of 2013).  Made various  
            changes to update, rearrange, and clarify provisions of the  
            Health and Safety Code related to CUPAs.



          3)SB 1261 (Jackson, Chapter 715, Statutes of 2014). Revised and  
            recasted the area and business plan requirements for CUPAs.
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          California Association of Environmental Health Administrators 
          California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance  
           California Fire Chiefs Association 


          Opposition


          None on file.




          Analysis Prepared by:Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)  
          319-3965








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