BILL ANALYSIS
SB 208
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Byron D. Sher, Chairman
2003-2004 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 208
AUTHOR: Kuehl
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: April 7, 2003
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Kip Lipper
SUBJECT : RADIATION: SANTA SUSANNA FIELD LABORATORY
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1) Under the federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and the
Low-level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (42 U.S.C.A. Section
2014-2114), generally vests the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) with the authority to regulate radioactive
materials and wastes, and provides that the NRC may
delegate authority over low-level radioactive materials and
wastes (LLRW) (essentially all radioactive wastes other
than spent nuclear fuel rods and the like) to "agreement
states" such as California.
2) Under Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of the
Health and Safety Code requires the Department of Toxic
Substance Control (DTSC) to establish standards and
regulations for the management of hazardous wastes to
protect against the hazards to public health, domestic
livestock, wildlife and the environment.
3) Under Chapter 8 (Commencing with Section 114960) of the
Health and Safety Code, requires the Department of Health
Services (DHS) to regulate the handling and use of ionizing
radiation (essentially all radioactive wastes other than
high-level wastes which are regulated by the NRC) for the
protection of public health and safety.
4) Under the California Integrated Waste Management Act
(Division 30 commencing with Section 40000) of the Public
Resources Code, provides that the Integrated Waste
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Management Board shall establish standards for the
certification of local solid waste enforcement agencies
(LEAS) and that the board shall have no jurisdiction over
facilities that accept both hazardous wastes and
radioactive waste and that such facilities shall be
regulated by DTSC and DHS pursuant to the statutes
referenced above.
This bill :
1)Requires the owner of any parcel of land at the Santa
Susanna Field Laboratory in Ventura County to do the
following if the Department of Health Services (DHS)
determines that a partial or full reactor meltdown has
occurred on the site:
a) To use thorough and rigorous monitoring of the site
using best available monitoring technology, equipment,
and methods to provide a high assurance that any residual
contamination is identified.
b) To ensure that the monitoring is consistent with
measures provided in the US EPA's September 2001 Scoping
Document for Development of Workplan for a Soil Radiation
Survey of Santa Susanna Field Laboratory Area IV.
c) To ensure that the monitoring measures at the site
consist of at least eighty percent of the subsurface soil
samples identified in that document.
2)Prohibits an owner of a parcel of land referenced above from
selling, transferring, or leasing the site unless the site
cleanup meets the radiation dose cleanup standards provided
in Section 15 of the "Guidance for Cleanup of Radioactivity
on Closing Military Bases for Unrestricted Public Use of
Property" issued by the Radiological Health Branch of the
department on April 5, 1994.
3)Requires any person removing material from a site described
under (a) above to dispose of it only at a facility
specifically licensed to accept that type of waste by DHS,
the NRC, DOE or pursuant to a multi-state compact adopted
pursuant to the LLRW Policy Act.
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4)Defines terms used in the bill such as "background,"
"naturally occurring radioactive material," "radioactive
waste," " radioactive material," and "TENORM," and provides
that the provisions of the bill are severable.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of Bill . According to the author's office, this
measure is intended to ensure that the Santa Susanna Field
Laboratory (the site of a nuclear reactor meltdown in the
1950's) is properly monitored for residual radioactive
materials, that it not be sold or redeveloped without being
properly cleaned up, and that any materials containing
low-level radioactive wastes are properly disposed at a
facility expressly licensed to accept those wastes.
2)Recent History of Radioactive Waste Contamination at Santa
Susana Laboratory Described . The general subject of subject
of radioactive waste cleanup and disposal, as well as the
specific concerns about cleanup and reuse at the Santa
Susana Laboratory have become of a matter of increasing
legislative interest and concern in recent years.
The lab, located on 2,800 acres in the hills near the Cities
of Chatsworth and Simi Valley, is owned by the Boeing
Company and was the site for various nuclear defense-related
activities in the 1950's. It apparently suffered a
meltdown of a nuclear reactor on the site during that time.
The site is now in the process of being cleaned up; the
cleanup, and the subsequent disposition of the land, has
been the subject of controversy since it began.
More broadly, the proper disposal of LLRW has been the subject
of recent controversy when DHS proposed deregulating the
disposal of such wastes, thereby allowing them to be sent to
solid waste landfills and used for other purposes.
A Sacramento Superior Court judge's ruling in 2001 challenging
the state's easing of rules for dumping of low-level nuclear
waste in landfills resulted in a temporary halt to shipments
of radioactive material from the lab (see Comment 4). It
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was subsequently revealed that materials from the site had
been dumped at the Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley for much
of the past decade, leading to an outcry from regulators,
environmental groups, and elected officials.
3)Governor's Actions In 2002 on LLRW Summarized . While
vetoing most measures which reached his desk on the subject
of LLRW, the Governor issued an executive order which did
all of the following:
Imposed a moratorium on the disposal of all
decommissioned materials with emissions above background
levels in public landfills (Class III) and unclassified
waste management facilities and directed the State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to begin implementation
of the moratorium within the next 30 days.
Directed the DHS to develop regulations for
decommissioning licensed facilities utilizing the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process and
as part of that process, to include an assessment of the
public health and environmental risk factors regarding
disposal of decommissioned material and to make
recommendations at the conclusion of this review.
Stated that if further restrictions are recommended by
DHS based on sound scientific evidence, that the Governor
would "act on those recommendations.
Stated that the moratorium on disposal of
decommissioned materials above background levels in
public landfills will be in place until the Department
completes its assessment and the regulations take effect,
at which time a new Executive Order or legislation may be
considered.
1)Recent Actions By DHS on LLRW in Response to Governor's
Executive Orders Described . Last month, several new actions
regarding the development of regulations for low-level
radioactive materials were announced by DHS. The actions
were taken in response to the executive order issued by the
Governor September 30, 2002, and to the court order last
year requiring the California Department of Health Services
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(CDHS) to comply with the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) in establishing regulations for the termination
of radioactive material licenses
DHS announced that it was entering into an inter-agency
agreement with the California Environmental Protection
Agency (Cal-EPA) to consult with it on how to fulfill the
legal and procedural requirements for completing the CEQA
process. (It should be noted that the Resources Agency and
the Governor's Office of Planning and Research, and not
CAL-EPA, are the lead agencies in state government for CEQA
compliance.)
DHS also announced the creation of an advisory panel that will
provide it with expertise on environmental policy issues
related to the CEQA process. The advisory panel members will
include legal counsel from Cal-EPA and the Resources Agency,
and environmental experts from Caltrans and DTSC.
2)SWRCB's Report Shows "Unusually High" Levels of
Radioactivity at Solid Waste Landfills . Last month, the
SWRCB announced the preliminary results of testing it had
done at fifty or so local solid waste disposal sites in the
state to determine radioactivity levels. The report found
that twenty-two of the landfills had "unusually high levels"
of radiation. It was unclear from these results (which
sampled only about 10% of the state's landfills) how
extensive radioactive contamination was in these facilities
and how well it had been contained due to liners and other
containment systems at the facilities. Groundwater
monitoring adjacent to six of the landfills (all of which
were unlined) showed elevated levels of radioactive
materials in the groundwater.
3)Opponents Argue Bill Unfairly Singles Out Boeing Site and
"Changes Rules in the Middle of the Game ." Opponents to
this measure, principally the Boeing Company and business
groups, state that the bill unfairly singles out the Santa
Susanna Field Laboratory site as the sole entity that must
comply with its provisions. The opponents state that the
owner of the site has complied with all applicable state and
federal laws and that the bill would change the rules in the
middle of the game by setting new cleanup standards that do
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not provide any additional protection to the community or
the environment.
4)Technical Amendments Needed: Bill Needs Cleaning Up and
Needs to Be reconciled with SB 13 (Romero) . This measure
could withstand several technical amendments simply to state
more clearly the author's intent. First, and as a general
matter, instead of enacting generic definitions and
operative provisions, the bill could be recast so that it
simply states that its requirements apply to the subject
site. Second, the bill references several apparently
concentric monitoring requirements that could be simplified
and unified. Third, the bill references two administrative
documents; those references could be clarified and tightened
up.
SOURCE : Senator Kuehl
SUPPORT : Americans for a Safe Future, Committee to
Bridge the Gap, Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition,
Sierra Club California, Southern California
Federation of Scientists, Susana Knolls
Homeowners Association, Inc.
OPPOSITION : California Chamber of Commerce, California
Council for Environmental and Economic Balance,
California Manufacturers and Technology
Association, Southern California Edison, The
Boeing Company