BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                    Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                                                208 (Kuehl)
          Hearing Date:  05/29/03              Amended:  
          5/8/03+RN0312795         
          Consultant:     Miriam Barcellona Ingenito    Policy Vote:  
          EQ 5-2        
          ____________________________________________________________ 
          ___
          BILL SUMMARY:  As proposed to be amended, SB 208 would  
          direct the Department of Health Services (DHS) to direct  
          the owner of any parcel of land at the Santa Susana Field  
          Laboratory (SSFL) in Ventura County to do the following if  
          it determines that a partial or full reactor meltdown has  
          occurred on the site: (1) establish and use thorough and  
          rigorous monitoring of the site, as specified, to provide  
          assurance that all residual radioactive contamination is  
          identified; (2) ensure that monitoring is consistent with  
          measures provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection  
          Agency (US EPA); (3) ensure that the monitoring measures at  
          the site consist of at least 80 percent of the surface and  
          subsurface soil samples identified by the US EPA in a  
          specified document; and (4) explicitly state that nothing  
          in this bill requires DHS to conduct monitoring on the site  
          in excess of that called for under existing regulation or  
          current practice.

          SB 208 also would (1) prohibit the sale, transfer, or lease  
          of the site for any subsequent land use unless DHS  
          certifies that the radioactive contamination has been  
          remediated; and (2) require that radioactive contaminants  
          are disposed of only at a facility licensed by DHS, the  
          Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or the Department of Energy,  
          or at a site pursuant to the Low Level Radioactive Waste  
          Policy Act. 

          SB 208 has provisions that would require Department of  
          Toxic Substances Control to implement the provisions of  
          this bill if SB 201 (Romero) is enacted and becomes  
          effective on or before January 1, 2004.

                              Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
           Major Provisions        2003-04             2004-05               2005-06   
           Fund  
           DHS costs                    minor                                    
                                      SF*
          *Radiation Control Fund










          
          STAFF COMMENTS: Suspense  

          SB 208 would impose a more restrictive standard than DHS  
          currently uses to evaluate the cleanup of radioactively  
          contaminated sites.  There is serious disagreement about  
          what DHS would have to do to ensure that the more  
          restrictive standard is met.  According to DHS, it would  
          need to acquire more sophisticated equipment to ensure that  
          the new standards of SB 208 could be met.   As proposed to  
          be amended, SB 208 would explicitly state that nothing in  
          SB 208 requires DHS to conduct monitoring on the site in  
          excess of that called for under existing regulation or  
          current practice.