BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 673
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 673
(Lara) - As Amended July 8, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill revises the Department of Toxic Substance Control's
(DTSC) permitting process and creates an oversight committee.
Specifically, this bill:
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1)Establishes the DTSC California Communities Committee
(Committee) within DTSC and requires the Committee to make
recommendations to increase public participation and the
transparency of the decision making process, Requires the
Committee to serve as a resource and liaison for communities
and residents in communication with DTSC. Sunsets the
Committee on January 1, 2021.
2)Requires the Committee to be comprised of thirteen members
appointed by: California Environmental Protection Agency (five
members); Senate Rules Committee (four members); and Speaker
of the Assembly (four members). Provides Committee members
may receive per diem and serve at the pleasure of the
respective appointing authorities.
3)Requires DTSC, by July 1, 2018, to adopt additional criteria
for use in determining whether to issue a new or modified
hazardous waste facilities permit or a renewal of a hazardous
waste facilities permit. Requires DTSC to develop and
implement programmatic reforms designed to improve the
protectiveness, timeliness, legal defensibility, and
enforceability of DTSC's permitting program.
4)Requires DTSC to consider vulnerable communities in making
permit decisions 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.
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5)Requires DTSC to consider minimum facility setback distances
from sensitive receptors, such as schools, child care
facilities, residences, hospitals, elder care facilities, and
other sensitive locations when making permit decisions.
6)Requires DTSC to establish criteria for the completion of a
health risk assessment associated with facility permit
reviews.
7)Requires a person to pay for oversight of any corrective
action required of the person with respect to hazardous waste.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Increased one-time cost of $600,000 for DTSC to revise
permitting regulations (Hazardous Waste Control Account).
2)Increased ongoing annual costs of $300,000 to staff the CA
Communities Committee (Hazardous Waste Control Account).
COMMENTS:
1)Rationale. An external peer review of permit reforms
undertaken by DTSC found significant dissatisfaction with the
performance of the department, and in particular, a perception
that the office is not responsive to community concerns. That
report also recommended that clear and objective permitting
criteria should be developed to establish when permits should
be revoked or not renewed.
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Additionally, recent high profile cases involving permitted
facilities such as the Exide Technologies battery recycling
facility in Vernon, CA, and the Kettleman Hills Hazardous
Waste Facility in Kings County have raised significant
concerns from the communities surrounding the facilities and
have led to criticism of the department's permitting
procedures and responsiveness to community concerns.
This bill addresses DTSC shortcomings raised by peer reviews
and community reactions.
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
further, possibly causing increased environmental damage and
public exposure.
3)Permit Process Review and Analysis. DTSC entered into a
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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 654 (de Leon) requires a complete
permit renewal application to be submitted by a regulated
facility at least two years prior to the expiration of the
permit. This bill requires DTSC to approve or deny the permit
renewal application within 36 months of the permit's
expiration or the facility would be deemed in violation of the
California Hazardous Waste Control Act. SB 654 is pending in
this committee.
5)Prior Legislation. The committee established by this bill is
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substantially similar to the committee that was proposed by SB
812 (De León, 2014) which was vetoed by the Governor.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081