Amended in Senate April 21, 2015

Senate Bill No. 654

Introduced by Senator De León

February 27, 2015

An act to amend Section begin delete 25245 end delete begin insert 25200 end insert of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 654, as amended, De León. Hazardous waste: begin delete facility closure. end delete begin insert facilities permitting. end insert

(1) Existing law, as part of the hazardous waste control law, requires begin delete the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt, and revise when appropriate, standards and regulations to, among other things, specify the financial assurances to be provided by an owner or operator of a hazardous waste facility that are necessary to provide for the cost of closure and subsequent maintenance of the facility. end delete begin insert facilities handling hazardous waste to obtain a permit from the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Existing law requires an owner or operator of a facility intending to renew the facility’s permit to submit a complete Part A application for a permit renewal prior to the expiration of the permit. Existing law requires the owner or operator to submit a complete Part B application when requested by the department. Existing law requires the department to issue a permit if the facility meets specified requirements. end insert A violation of begin delete a regulation adopted pursuant to end delete the hazardous waste control law is a crime.

This bill would begin delete additionally require the standards and regulations to specify the financial assurances to be provided to respond to the cost of closure, cleanup, and subsequent maintenance of the facility. end delete begin insert instead require the owner or operator of a facility to submit complete Part A and Part B applications for a permit renewal at least 2 years prior to the expiration date of the permit. The bill would require the department to issue a final permit decision for an application for permit renewal within 36 months of the expiration of the facility’s permit. The bill would provide that a facility that has not been issued a final permit within 36 months following the expiration of the permit’s fixed term shall be deemed in violation of the hazardous waste control law. end insert Since a violation of begin delete a regulation adopted pursuant to end delete the hazardous waste control law begin delete would be end delete begin insert is end insert a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

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

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

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 25245 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:

25245.  

(a) The department shall adopt, and revise when
appropriate, standards and regulations that shall do both of the
following:

(1) Specify the financial assurances to be provided by the owner
or operator of a hazardous waste facility that are necessary to
respond adequately to damage claims arising out of the operation
of that type of facility and to provide for the cost of closure,
cleanup, and subsequent maintenance of the facility, including,
but not limited to, the monitoring of groundwater and other aspects
of the environment after closure. If the facility is required to obtain
a permit under the federal act, the financial assurance shall be a
trust fund, surety bond, letter of credit, insurance, or any other
mechanism authorized under the federal act and the regulations
adopted pursuant to the federal act. If the facility is not required
to obtain a permit under the federal act, the financial assurance
may include any other equivalent financial arrangement acceptable
to the department.

(2) Provide that every hazardous waste facility can be closed
and maintained for at least 30 years subsequent to its closure in a
manner that protects human health and the environment and
minimizes or eliminates the escape of hazardous waste constituents,
leachate, contaminated rainfall, and waste decomposition products
to ground and surface waters and to the atmosphere.

(b) In adopting regulations pursuant to subdivision (a), to carry
out the purposes of this chapter, the department may specify policy
or other contractual terms, conditions, or defenses that are
necessary or are unacceptable in establishing evidence of financial
responsibility.

(1) If an owner or operator is in bankruptcy pursuant to Title
11 of the United States Code, or where, with reasonable diligence,
jurisdiction in any state or federal court cannot be obtained over
an owner or operator likely to be solvent at the time of judgment,
a claim arising from conduct for which this section requires
evidence of financial responsibility may be asserted directly against
the guarantor who provided the evidence of financial responsibility.

(2) The total liability of any guarantor is limited to the aggregate
amount that the guarantor has provided as evidence of financial
responsibility to the owner or operator under this chapter.

(3) This subdivision does not limit any other state or federal
statutory, contractual, or common law liability of a guarantor to
the owner or operator, including, but not limited to, the liability
of the guarantor for bad faith in either negotiating or in failing to
negotiate the settlement of a claim.

(4) This subdivision does not diminish the liability of any person
under Section 107 or 111 of the federal Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
(42 U.S.C. Secs. 9607 and 9611).

(5) For purposes of this subdivision, “guarantor” means a person,
other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of
financial responsibility for an owner or operator under this section.

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 25200 of the end insert begin insert Health and Safety Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

25200.  

(a) The department shall issue hazardous waste
facilities permits to use and operate one or more hazardous waste
management units at a facility that in the judgment of the
department meet the building standards published in the State
Building Standards Code relating to hazardous waste facilities and
the other standards and requirements adopted pursuant to this
chapter. The department shall impose conditions on each hazardous
waste facilities permit specifying the types of hazardous wastes
that may be accepted for transfer, storage, treatment, or disposal.
The department may impose any other conditions on a hazardous
waste facilities permit that are consistent with the intent of this
chapter.

(b) The department may impose, as a condition of a hazardous
waste facilities permit, a requirement that the owner or operator
of a hazardous waste facility that receives hazardous waste from
more than one producer comply with any order of the director that
prohibits the facility operator from refusing to accept a hazardous
waste based on geographical origin that is authorized to be accepted
and may be accepted by the facility without extraordinary hazard.

(c) (1) (A)  begin delete Any end delete begin insert A end insert hazardous waste facilities permit issued by
the department shall be for a fixed term, which shall not exceed
10 years for any land disposal facility, storage facility, incinerator,
or other treatment facility.

(B)  begin delete Before the fixed term of a permit expires, the end delete begin insert The end insert begin insert end insert owner or
operator of a facility intending to extend the term of the facility’s
permit shall submit begin delete a end delete complete Part A begin delete application end delete begin insert and Part B
applications end insert for a permit begin delete renewal. At any time following end delete begin insert renewal
at least two years prior to end insert the begin delete submittal end delete begin insert expiration date end insert of the begin delete Part
A application, the owner or operator of a facility shall submit a
complete Part B application, or any portion thereof, as well as any end delete
begin insert permit. Any end insert other relevant begin delete information, end delete begin insert information shall be
submitted end insert as and when requested by the department. begin delete To the extent
not inconsistent with the federal act, when a complete Part A
renewal application, and any other requested information, has been
submitted before the end of the permit’s fixed term, the permit is
deemed extended until the renewal application is approved or
denied and the owner or operator has exhausted all applicable
rights of appeal. end delete

begin insert

(C) To the extent not inconsistent with the federal act, for an
owner or operator in compliance with subparagraph (B), the permit
shall be deemed extended until the renewal application is approved
or denied and all applicable rights of appeal have been exhausted.

end insert begin insert

(D) The department shall issue a final permit decision for permit
renewal for a facility within 36 months following the expiration
of the permit’s fixed term. A facility that has not been issued a
final permit within 36 months following the expiration of the
permit’s fixed term shall be deemed in violation of this chapter.

end insert begin delete

(C)

end delete

begin insert (E) end insert  This section does not limit or restrict the department’s
authority to impose any additional or different conditions on an
extended permit that are necessary to protect human health and
the environment.

begin delete

(D)

end delete

begin insert (F) end insert  In adopting new conditions for an extended permit, the
department shall follow the applicable permit modification
procedures specified in this chapter and the regulations adopted
pursuant to this chapter.

begin delete

(E)

end delete

begin insert (G) end insert  When prioritizing pending renewal applications for
processing and in determining the need for any new conditions on
an extended permit, the department shall consider any input
received from the public.

(2) The department shall review each hazardous waste facilities
permit for a land disposal facility five years after the date of
issuance or reissuance, and shall modify the permit, as necessary,
to begin delete assure end delete begin insert ensure end insert that the facility continues to comply with the
currently applicable requirements of this chapter and the regulations
adopted pursuant to this chapter.

(3) This subdivision does not prohibit the department from
reviewing, modifying, or revoking a permit at any time during its
term.

(d) (1) When reviewing begin delete any end delete begin insert an end insert application for a permit renewal,
the department shall consider improvements in the state of control
and measurement technology as well as changes in applicable
regulations.

(2) Each permit issued or renewed under this section shall
contain the terms and conditions that the department determines
necessary to protect human health and the environment.

(e) A permit issued pursuant to the federal act by the
Environmental Protection Agency in the state for which no state
hazardous waste facilities permit has been issued shall be deemed
to be a state permit enforceable by the department until a state
permit is issued. In addition to complying with the terms and
conditions specified in a federal permit deemed to be a state permit
pursuant to this section, an owner or operator who holds that permit
shall comply with the requirements of this chapter and the
regulations adopted by the department to implement this chapter.

SEC. 2.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.