BILL NUMBER: SB 673 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 8, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lara
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Section 25187.2 of, to add Sections 25200.21 and
25200.23 to, and to add and repeal Article 8.8 (commencing with
Section 25199.20) of Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of, the Health and
Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 673, as amended, Lara. Hazardous waste.
(1) The Hazardous Waste Control Law, among other things,
authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control to regulate the
generation and disposal of hazardous waste.
This bill would establish, until January 1, 2021, the DTSC
California Communities Committee within the department and require
the committee to make recommendations to the department to increase
public participation in, and the transparency of, the department's
decisionmaking. The bill would require the department, by July 1,
2018, to adopt additional criteria, as specified, for use in
determining whether to issue a new or modified hazardous
waste facilities permit or a renewal of a hazardous waste facilities
permit, and to develop and implement programmatic reforms designed to
improve the protectiveness, timeliness, legal defensibility, and
enforceability of the department's permitting program.
(2) Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances
Control to issue an order under the hazardous waste control laws
requiring that a violation be corrected and imposing a civil penalty
to specified persons, including a person who has violated various
provisions regulating hazardous waste or provisions concerning
removal and remedial actions for hazardous substance releases. A
person who is issued that order is required to pay for oversight of
the removal or remedial action. The existing Carpenter-Presley-Tanner
Hazardous Substance Account Act, authorizes the department to take
or oversee removal and remedial actions related to the release of
hazardous substances.
This bill would require a person to pay for oversight of any
corrective action required of the person with respect to hazardous
waste.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25187.2 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
25187.2. If a person is required to take corrective action with
respect to hazardous waste, that person shall pay for oversight of
the corrective action. This section does not prohibit the department
or unified program agency from assessing any other penalty or
recovering any costs for oversight of a removal or remedial action,
pursuant to any other provision. Nothing in this section limits the
due process requirements of Section 25187.
SEC. 2. Article 8.8 (commencing with Section 25199.20) is added to
Chapter 6.5 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
Article 8.8. DTSC California Communities Committee
25199.20. (a) There is hereby established in the department, the
DTSC California Communities Committee composed of 13 members
representing California residents affected by hazardous waste. The
committee members shall not include representatives from the
department or an entity regulated by the department pursuant to this
chapter.
(b) Members of the committees shall be appointed as follows:
(1) Five members appointed by the Secretary for Environmental
Protection, including a designated chair of the committee.
(2) Four members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(3) Four members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(c) Each member of the committee shall serve at the pleasure of
his or her appointing authority.
(d) Beginning March 1, 2016, the committee shall meet with the
Secretary for Environmental Protection or his or her representative,
the director, and department staff at least three times during that
year, then quarterly beginning in the 2017 calendar year on a
schedule as agreed upon by the committee and the director.
(e) The committee shall do both of the following:
(1) Provide information on the concerns of individual communities
impacted by the department's hazardous waste permitting, enforcement,
or remediation activities, and provide input on outreach activities
to increase public participation in those communities.
(2) Make recommendations for changes in policies, procedures, and
standards of the department to increase public participation in, and
the transparency of, the department's decisionmaking, including
providing input to the director on ways to improve the department's
permitting of hazardous waste facilities and enforcement and remedial
actions, particularly with regard to public participation and in
communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 that are burdened by
multiple sources of pollution.
(f) The committee shall, 30 days prior to each meeting, provide
the director with an agenda outlining the topics to be discussed at
the meeting.
(g) Upon receipt of the agenda, the department shall post the
agenda on its Internet Web site.
(h) The department shall provide appropriate meeting space for
meetings of the committee.
(i) Meetings of the committee shall be open to the public and are
subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing
with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2
of the Government Code).
(j) The department shall provide the committee with appropriate
per diem compensation consistent with Section 19822.5 of the
Government Code.
25199.21. This article shall remain in effect only until January
1, 2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. Section 25200.21 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
25200.21. On or before January 1, 2018, the department shall
adopt regulations establishing additional criteria that the
department shall use to determine whether to issue a new or
modified permit or a renewal of a permit pursuant to this
article. These criteria shall include, but are not limited to, all of
the following:
(a) Number and types of past violations that will result in a
denial.
(b) The vulnerability of, and existing health risks to, nearby
populations. Vulnerability and existing health risks shall
be assessed using the CalEnviroScreen tool, local and regional
health risk assessments, the region's federal Clean Air Act
attainment status, and other indicators of community vulnerability,
cumulative impact, and potential risks to health and well-being.
(c) Minimum setback distances from sensitive receptors, such as
schools, child care facilities, residences, hospitals, elder care
facilities, and other sensitive locations.
(d) Evidence of financial responsibility,
responsibility and qualifications of ownership, and
continuity of ownership and operation. ownership.
(e) Provision of financial assurances pursuant to Section 25200.1.
(f) Training of personnel in the safety culture and plans,
emergency plans, and maintenance of operations.
(g) Completion of a health risk assessment.
SEC. 4. Section 25200.23 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
25200.23. On or before July 1, 2018, the department shall develop
and implement programmatic reforms designed to improve the
protectiveness, timeliness, legal defensibility, and enforceability
of the department's permitting program, including strengthening
environmental justice safeguards, enhancing enforcement of public
health protections, and increasing public participation and outreach
activities. In accomplishing these reforms, the department shall do
all of the following:
(a) Establish transparent standards and procedures for permitting
decisions, including those that are applicable to permit revocation
and denial.
(b) Establish terms and conditions on permits to better protect
public health and the environment, including in imminent and
substantial endangerment situations.
(c) Employ consistent procedures for reviewing permit
applications, integrating public input into those procedures, and
making timely permit decisions.
(d) Enhance public involvement using procedures that provide for
early identification and integration of public concerns into
permitting decisions, including concerns of communities identified
pursuant to Section 39711.