BILL NUMBER: SB 521 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 816
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 9, 1997
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 1997
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 1997
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 1997
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 1997
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 3, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 22, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 1997
INTRODUCED BY Senators Mountjoy, Haynes, Johannessen, Knight, and
Monteith
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Frusetta, House, Margett,
McClintock, Richter, and Woods)
FEBRUARY 24, 1997
An act to to add Sections 25299.37.1 and 116366 to the Health and
Safety Code, and to add Section 13285 to the Water Code, relating to
gasoline, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 521, Mountjoy. Gasoline: MTBE.
(1) Existing regulations adopted by the State Department of Health
Services pursuant to the California Safe Drinking Water Act require
monitoring to collect data on the frequency and levels of occurrence
of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) in drinking water.
This bill would enact the MTBE Public Health and Environmental
Protection Act of 1997. The bill would appropriate $500,000 from the
Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund to the
University of California for a specified study and assessment of the
human health and environmental risks and benefits, if any, of MTBE,
to be submitted to the Governor by January 1, 1999. The bill would
require the Governor to take prescribed actions, including certifying
whether there is a risk to human health or the environment of using
MTBE in gasoline, and taking appropriate action to protect public
health and the environment if there is such a risk.
(2) Existing law provides for the issuance of a specified closure
letter relative to the completion of an investigation and remedial
action for an underground storage tank.
This bill would prohibit the issuance of such a closure letter
unless the soil or groundwater, or both, where applicable, have been
tested for MTBE, as specified.
(3) The bill would require the cleanup of MTBE discharges to
water, as specified, and would provide that no public water system,
or its customers, shall be responsible for remediation or treatment
costs of water contained by MTBE or a product containing MTBE, as
specified.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the MTBE
Public Health and Environmental Protection Act of 1997.
SEC. 2. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the purpose
of this act is to provide the public and the Legislature with a
thorough and objective evaluation of the human health and
environmental risks and benefits, if any, of the use of methyl
tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), as compared to ethyl tertiary-butyl
ether (ETBE), tertiary amyl methyl ether (TAME) and ethanol, in
gasoline, and to ensure that the air, water quality, and soil impacts
of the use of MTBE are fully mitigated.
SEC. 3. (a) The sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) is
hereby appropriated from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the
Transportation Tax Fund to the University of California to conduct an
independent study and assessment of the human health and
environmental risks and benefits, if any, associated with the use of
MTBE, as compared to ETBE, TAME, and ethanol.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that this study be
undertaken by the University of California to assure that the results
will be objective and academically sound, and that the report will
reflect the high standards expressed in the university's Policy on
Integrity in Research.
(c) The assessment shall commence immediately upon the university'
s agreement and shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following components:
(1) An assessment of the risks and benefits to human health and
the environment of MTBE and its combustion byproducts found in air,
water, and soil, and a comparison of those risks and benefits to
ETBE, TAME, and ethanol that could be used in lieu of MTBE in
gasoline.
(2) An assessment of available research and data on the impact of
MTBE on human health and the environment in each state where MTBE
has been used in gasoline at levels of 10 percent or greater, by
volume, within the last five years.
(3) An assessment of the risks to human health and the environment
associated with MTBE leaking from underground and aboveground
storage tanks, from surface watercraft and other sources of MTBE
pollution in surface water bodies, and from oceangoing tankers in
coastal waterways of this state.
(4) An analysis of current levels of MTBE in the state's drinking
water, reservoirs, lakes, and streams.
(5) An evaluation of the costs and effectiveness of treatment
technologies available to remove MTBE from surface waters,
groundwaters, and drinking water.
(6) An assessment of the impact of MTBE on vehicle parts and the
efficient operation of vehicles.
(7) An assessment of the corrosive effects of MTBE on the
structural integrity of fiberglass storage tanks, which may be
undertaken in consultation with the California Fire Chiefs
Association and other recognized experts on the matter.
(8) A comparison of the incidence of asthma before and after the
level of MTBE was increased in California gasoline, considering
appropriate factors relating to a nexus between any change in the
incidence of asthma and the actual introduction of MTBE into
California gasoline.
(9) Identification and quantification of all of the combustion
byproducts of MTBE in California's reformulated oxygenated fuel and
the type of analytical methods used and their sensitivity.
(10) An evaluation of the scientific peer-reviewed research and
literature on the human health and environmental effects of MTBE, as
well as any original research necessary to provide the information
specified in paragraphs (1) to (9), inclusive.
(11) A focused assessment of the subjects provided for in
paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), and (8) for the Lake Tahoe Basin.
(d) On or before January 1, 1999, the university shall submit a
draft report on the assessment conducted pursuant to this section to
the Governor. Upon receiving the draft report, the Governor shall
take all of the following actions:
(1) Immediately transmit the draft report without any alteration
to the United States Geological Survey and to the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry at the Centers for Disease Control
for their comments, which shall be part of the public record. The
comment period shall be approximately six weeks.
(2) Issue a notice of intent to hold two public hearings, and hold
those hearings, one in northern California and one in southern
California, on dates that are not more than 30 days from the date of
receipt of the comments from the United States Geological Survey and
the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, for the purpose
of accepting public testimony on the assessment and report.
(e) Within 10 days from the date of the completion of the public
hearings held pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d), the
Governor shall issue a written certification as to the human health
and environmental risks of using MTBE in gasoline in this state. The
certification shall be based solely upon the assessment and report
submitted pursuant to this section and any testimony presented at the
public hearings. The certification shall state either of the
following conclusions:
(1) That, on balance, there is no significant risk to human health
or the environment of using MTBE in gasoline in this state.
(2) That, on balance, there is a significant risk to human health
or the environment of using MTBE in gasoline in this state.
(f) If the Governor makes the certification described under
paragraph (2) of subdivision (e), then, notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the Governor shall take appropriate action to
protect public health and the environment.
SEC. 4. (a) If the sale and use of MTBE in gasoline is
discontinued pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 3 of this act,
the state shall not thereafter adopt or implement any rule or
regulation that permits or requires the use of MTBE in gasoline.
(b) If the sale and use of MTBE is to be discontinued pursuant to
subdivision (f) of Section 3 of this act, the State Air Resources
Board shall immediately notify the Environmental Protection Agency
that the use of MTBE in gasoline in this state will be discontinued.
SEC. 5. Section 25299.37.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
25299.37.1. No closure letter pursuant to this chapter shall be
issued unless the soil or groundwater, or both, where applicable, at
the site have been tested for MTBE and the results of that testing
are known to the regional board.
SEC. 6. Section 116366 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
116366. (a) No public water system, or its customers, shall be
responsible for remediation or treatment costs associated with MTBE,
or a product that contains MTBE, provided, however, that the public
water system shall be permitted as necessary to incur MTBE
remediation and treatment costs and to include those costs in its
customer rates and charges, necessary to comply with drinking water
standards or directives of the State Department of Health Services or
other lawful authority. Any public water system that incurs MTBE
remediation or treatment costs may seek recovery of those costs from
parties responsible for the MTBE contamination, or from other
available alternative sources of funds.
(b) If the public water system has included the costs of MTBE
treatment and remediation in its customer rates and charges, and
subsequently recovers all or a portion of its MTBE treatment and
remediation costs from responsible parties or other available
alternative sources of funds, it shall make an adjustment to its
schedule of rates and charges to reflect the amount of funding
received from responsible parties or other available alternative
sources of funds for MTBE treatment or remediation.
(c) Subdivision (a) shall not prevent the imposition of liability
on any person for the discharge of MTBE if that liability is due to
the conduct or status of that person independently of whether the
person happens to be a customer of the public water system.
SEC. 7. Section 13285 is added to the Water Code, to read:
13285. (a) Any discharge from a storage tank, pipeline, or other
container of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), or of any pollutant
that contains MTBE, that poses a threat to drinking water, or to
groundwater or surface water that may reasonably be used for drinking
water, or to coastal waters shall be cleaned up to a level
consistent with subdivision (b) of Section 25299.37 of the Health and
Safety Code.
(b) (1) No public water system, or its customers, shall be
responsible for remediation or treatment costs associated with MTBE,
or a product that contains MTBE, provided, however, that the public
water system shall be permitted as necessary to incur MTBE
remediation and treatment costs and to include those costs in its
customer rates and charges, necessary to comply with drinking water
standards or directives of the State Department of Health Services or
other lawful authority. Any public water system that incurs MTBE
remediation or treatment costs may seek recovery of those costs from
parties responsible for the MTBE contamination, or from other
available alternative sources of funds.
(2) If the public water system has included the costs of MTBE
treatment and remediation in its customer rates and charges, and
subsequently recovers all or a portion of its MTBE treatment and
remediation costs from responsible parties or other available
alternative sources of funds, it shall make an adjustment to its
schedule of rates and charges to reflect the amount of funding
received from responsible parties or other available alternative
sources of funds for MTBE treatment or remediation.
(3) Paragraph (1) shall not prevent the imposition of liability on
any person for the discharge of MTBE if that liability is due to the
conduct or status of that person independently of whether the person
happens to be a customer of the public water system.