BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 654  


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          Date of Hearing:  August 19, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          SB 654  
          (De León) - As Amended June 2, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  YesReimbursable:   
          No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill revises the permitting process for hazardous waste  
          facilities permitted by the Department of Toxic Substance  
          Control (DTSC).  Specifically, this bill: 








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          1)Requires the owner or operator of a facility to submit a  
            complete application for a permit renewal at least 2 years  
            prior to the expiration date of the permit.  



          2)Provides that when a complete renewal application has been  
            submitted before the end of a permit's fixed term, the permit  
            is deemed extended for a period not to exceed 36 months, until  
            the renewal application is approved or denied.  



          3)Requires the 36 month time period extension to include any  
            applicable rights to appeal the DTSC action on a permit. 



          4)Provides an alternative timeline to apply to renew permits  
            that expire before January 1, 2019.
          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)Increased ongoing DTSC costs of approximately $1.2 million  
            (Hazardous Waste Control Account) for staffing necessary to  
            make permit decisions within the required timeframes.


          2)Increased ongoing DTSC costs of approximately $880,000 to  
            extend one-time funding to address the current backlog and  
            ensure all permits are up to date in the future (Hazardous  
            Waste Control Account).


          3)Increased one-time DTSC costs of approximately $65,000  
            (Hazardous Waste Control Account) to revise existing  
            regulations.








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          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  According to the author, DTSC has a long-standing  
            failure to protect California's disadvantaged communities  
            through its lack of enforcement and oversight of its hazardous  
            waste facilities permitting process.  The drawn out process  
            has created de facto permitted facilities without adequate  
            review of the permits or operations.


            This bill provides early submittal of permit renewal  
            applications and provides that if the process is not complete,  
            the facility will be in violation of the Hazardous Waste  
            Control Act.


          2)Background.  Under the California Hazardous Waste Control Act,  
            facilities that treat, store, handle, and/or dispose of  
            hazardous waste are required to be permitted by the DTSC. The  
            hazardous waste facility permit specifies specific  
            requirements for the facility to ensure safe operation. There  
            are currently 117 facilities permitted by DTSC. While these  
            permits expire after 10-years, the facility is allowed to  
            continue to operate past this date while DTSC considers their  
            permit renewal application. These permits are referred to as  
            "continued permits." 
            DTSC currently has a backlog of 24 permits operating as  
            "continued permits" with pending permit renewal applications.   
            The backlog is anticipated to grow to 34 pending applications  
            by 2017.  Facilities operating under continued permits are  
            held to the standards in the original permit and do not have  
            the advantage of the most recent technologies, practices, and  
            safeguards to prevent releases of hazardous waste into the  
            environment. In addition, assessments to identify releases of  
            hazardous waste from the facility will not have been  
            conducted, potentially allowing contaminants to migrate  








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            further, possibly causing increased environmental damage and  
            public exposure.


          3)Permit Process Review and Analysis.  DTSC entered into a  
            contract with CPS HR Consulting to conduct a Permitting  
            Process Review and Analysis.  CPS HR was asked to review the  
            existing permitting program and develop a recommended  
            standardized process with clear decision criteria and  
            corresponding standards of performance. 
            


            CPS HR was also asked to document the changes in the  
            permitting process over the past five years based primarily on  
            the records obtained from past internal review, and to obtain  
            perspectives of designated subject matter experts, including  
            representatives from the environmentalist, environmental  
            justice, and industry communities. 





            The CPS review found that the overall average permitting  
            process time, which was 5.0 years prior to 2003, improved to a  
            3.2 year average for the period from 2003 to 2007, before  
            increasing to 4.3 years in the most recent time period.  While  
            there was an improvement from the oldest period studied to the  
            most recent, the current trend is towards longer processing  
            times again.





          4)Related Legislation.  SB 673 (Lara) revises DTSC permitting  
            process and public participation requirements for hazardous  
            waste facilities by creating the Community Oversight Committee  








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            and by revising the statutes related to permitting regulation.  
             This measure is pending in this committee. 






          Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081