BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 673
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
673 (Lara)
As Amended July 8, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 21-14
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Environmental |5-1 |Alejo, Gonzalez, |Gallagher |
|Safety | |Gray, McCarty, Ting | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |12-5 |Gomez, Bloom, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Calderon, Nazarian, |Gallagher, Jones, |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo |Wagner |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Weber, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Revises the Department of Toxic Substances Control's
(DTSC) permitting process and public participation requirements
SB 673
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for hazardous waste facilities. Specifically, this bill:
1)Establishes, until January 1, 2021, the DTSC Community
Oversight Committee within DTSC and requires it to make
recommendations to DTSC to increase public participation in,
and the transparency of, the department's decision making
process, and to serve as a resource and liaison for
communities and residents in communication with DTSC.
2)Requires the Community Oversight Committee is 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 that the members of the Community Oversight Committee
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, and 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 CalEnviro Screen 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.
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.
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6)Requires DTSC to establish criteria of 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: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would have an increased one-time cost of
$600,000 for DTSC to revise permitting regulations as well as an
ongoing annual cost of $300,000 to staff the California
Communities Committee.
COMMENTS:
Need for this bill: According to the author, "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 environmental justice concerns from the
communities surrounding the facilities and have led to criticism
of the department's permitting procedures and responsiveness to
community concerns.
An external peer review of permit reforms undertaken by DTSC
found that there has been 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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Permitting hazardous waste storage, treatment, and disposal
facilities: DTSC is responsible for the review of Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and non-RCRA hazardous
waste permit applications to ensure the safe design and
operation; for issuance/denial of operating permits; issuance of
post closure permits; approval/denial of permit modifications;
issuance/denial of emergency permits; review and approval of
closure plans; closure oversight of approved closure plans;
issuance/denial of variances; assistance to regulated industry
on permitting matters; public involvement.
DTSC external peer review of permit reforms: DTCS has
undertaken a review of permitting and enforcement processes for
hazardous waste facilities. To do this, DTSC contracted for an
outside program evaluation by CPS HR Consulting that provided a
review of the DTSC permit process to develop a standardized
process with decision criteria and corresponding standards of
performance.
The program evaluation of the DTSC permitting process found that
there has been significant dissatisfaction with the performance
of the permitting office, directed at the cost and length of
time in completing the permit process and a perception that the
office does not deny or revoke permits as often as it should to
address community concerns.
DTSC Permitting Enhancement Work Plan (PEWP): In 2014, DTSC
developed PEWP to improve DTSC's permitting program and to
ensure that the problems of the past do not resurface in the
future. The PEWP will serve as a comprehensive work plan for
DTSC's efforts to improve the permitting program's ability to
issue protective, timely, and enforceable permits using more
transparent standards and consistent procedures.
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Analysis Prepared by:
Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965
FN:
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