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