BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1456
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Byron D. Sher, Chairman
2003-2004 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1456
AUTHOR: Kuehl
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: No HEARING DATE: May 3, 2004
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Kip Lipper
SUBJECT : SANTA SUSANNA FIELD LABORATORY; CLEANUP
STANDARDS
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1)Requires sellers and transferors of real property to meet
specified conditions and to make specified disclosures prior
to the transfer of those properties.
2)Establishes conditions under which the Department of Health
Services (DHS) may grant licenses for the receipt of
radioactive material for disposal on land and prohibits the
burial, throwing away, or disposing of radioactive waste
except in a manner that will result in no significant
radioactive contamination of the environment.
This bill :
1)Prohibits an owner or operator of the Santa Susana Field
Laboratory site in Ventura County from using, selling,
transferring, or leasing any part of that site for
residential use unless the US Environmental Protection
Agency (US EPA) finds that radioactive contamination at the
site has been surveyed and remediated in accordance with the
federal Comprehensive Environment Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act of 1980 (also known as CERCLA or the
federal "Superfund" Law).
2)Makes legislative findings and declarations that a special
law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of
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the California Constitution because of the unique legal
status and circumstances regarding radioactivity at the
Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Ventura County.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of Bill . According to the author's office, the
Santa Susanna Field Laboratory (SSFL), on the border between
Ventura and Los Angeles Counties was contaminated by both
radioactive and chemical releases beginning in the 1950's.
The site has been used for rocket engine testing and nuclear
reactor research. The site is primarily controlled by the
Department of Energy (DOE).
Because it is a defense facility, the cleanup standards are
set by DOE, although US EPA did serve in an advisory
capacity. The DOE, however, has refused to follow US EPA
cleanup standards, and the US EPA has now ceased efforts to
work with the DOE. EPA issued a public statement last year
indicating that the proposed cleanup effort by the DOE will
leave the site unsafe for any use other than recreation day
use, or other open space preservation. This bill states
that the site may not be used for residential purposes
unless the site is cleaned up to US EPA standards for
residential use properties.
2)Supporters State Bill Is Long Overdue Improvement To Cleanup
Standards for Santa Susanna Laboratory . Supporters of this
measure state that the bill is a long overdue improvement to
the cleanup standards for the SSFL. Supporters note that
the site was the location of a partial nuclear meltdown in
the 1950's and subsequently of other nuclear reactor
incidents. Supporters state that the US EPA itself has
issued a formal finding that the site was cleaned up
inadequately and that further remediation should be
undertaken to protect public health and the environment.
One proponent states:
"It is baffling to us that this bill is necessary and that
Senator Kuehl is required to continue her fight to bring
some sanity to the management of the Rocketdyne site - a
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former nuclear testing facility that is heavily contaminated
with radioactivity and other industrial chemicals and that,
by the U.S. EPA's own formal findings, has not been
adequately cleaned up to allow the land to be sold or
transferred for residential use or any other unrestricted
use. Notwithstanding this formal finding, it is our
understanding that Rocketdyne, the site operator, intends to
open the site to uses that could include unrestricted
residential use, without cleaning up the site or even
adequately characterizing the contamination to the
satisfaction of U.S. EPA [and that] U.S. EPA has no
authority to block such unrestricted uses.
"If the U.S. Congress will not give the EPA the authority to
prohibit residential and other unrestricted uses on a site
contaminated with nuclear radioactivity, even after the EPA
has formally declared the site to be unsafe for such uses,
we hope the California Legislature will demonstrate the
necessary wisdom, common sense, and concern for public
health to do so."
3)Opponents State Bill Inequitably Singles Out One Site and
Represents Overkill Given Risks and Cleanup Levels Used At
Site . Opponents state this measure singles out one site for
special, and more stringent, cleanup requirements and
imposes unreasonable requirements on the site given the
actual risks to public health and the environment.
Opponents state:
"The U.S. Department of Energy and the California Department
of Health Services exercise regulatory jurisdiction over
portions of the Santa Susana site. These agencies are
perfectly capable of overseeing completion of the clean up,
decommissioning, and release of the site in a manner that
will protect the public health and safety. No portion of
the Santa Susana site is a Superfund site, therefore CERCLA
is not applicable.
"CERCLA uses hypothetical risk estimates which attempt to
extrapolate
dose/response relationships observed at high doses at high
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dose-rates to low doses at low dose-rates. The U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) and every other state use
numerical dose standards plus the As Low As Reasonably
Achievable (ALARA) standard for remediation decommissioning,
and release of facilities where radioactive materials have
been used.
"By agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and the
Boeing Company, the numerical dose standard being used for
decommissioning and release at the Santa Susana facility is
lower than the standard required by the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission. This decommissioning process has
been underway for many years.
"SB 1456 would disrupt and delay this process by attempting to
change regulatory jurisdiction and imposing procedures that
are not compatible with NRC requirements - all without any
benefit to the public health and safety."
4)Background on Radiation Exposure and Federal Clean-up
Standards . According to the National Council on Radiation
Protection and Measurements, the US population receives a
radiation dose of a little more than one-third of a rem a
year, mostly from background radiation. Although exposure
to small amounts of radiation is believed to cause fatal
cancer or hereditary defects in human beings, verification
of this causal relationship is difficult. While roughly 1
in 5 deaths that occur in the US are from all types of
cancer, the estimated risk of dying from natural background
radiation (principally radon) in a lifetime is roughly 1 in
100.
According to the International Commission on Radiological
Protection, the estimated lifetime risk of cancer death
resulting from exposure to human-generated sources of
radiation (including medical sources) is much
smaller-estimated at 1 in 3,000. Various federal laws and
regulations/standards have been developed and administered
by US EPA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and
other agencies. US EPA has a mandate to regulate
environmental contamination-including radioactive
contamination-while NRC has a responsibility to regulate
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civilian uses of nuclear materials.
The NRC issues licenses, and, in some cases, maintains
agreements with signatory states by which those states
regulate possession of certain radioactive materials for
certain uses (e.g., research and medical). In California,
the Department of Health Services (DHS) issues all of the
licenses except for all federal facilities and those
facilities that exceed a specified critical mass of special
nuclear materials. These licenses include those issued for
diagnostic and therapeutic medical use, biomedical
applications, research, and other purposes.
Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA),
"Superfund" sites are required to be remediated by the US
EPA to a level resulting in between 1 in 15,000 and 1 in
1,500,000 additional premature cancer deaths. According to
the author, sites such as the Santa Susanna Field
Laboratory, located on the border of the author's district,
are under the jurisdiction of NRC which has low-level waste
standards allowing for a level of residual contamination
resulting in a increased theoretical risk of cancer death
of 1 in 1,000.
The exposure limits and risks associated with federal
radiation standards and guidelines established by these two
agencies differ in part due to a lack of interagency
agreement on the technical assumptions underlying various
standards. According to the US General Accounting Office,
agencies' calculation methods often differ, reflecting a
major difference of philosophy and giving different
results.
SOURCE : Senator Kuehl
SUPPORT : Americans for a Safe Future, California League
of Conservation Voters, Clean Water Action,
Committee to Bridge the Gap, Concerned Citizens
to Stop Outside Dumping, Environment
California, Environmental Working Group,
Environment California, Natural Resources
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Defense Council, Physicians for Social
Responsibility-Los Angeles, Physicians for
Social Responsibility-San Francisco Bay Area
Chapter, Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition, Sierra
Club California, Southern California Federation
of Scientists, Susana Knolls Homeowners
Association, Inc., Wishtoyou Foundation/Ventura
Coastkeeper
OPPOSITION : BIOCOM, California Chamber of Commerce,
California Manufacturers and Technology
Association, California Radioactive Materials
Management Forum (Cal Rad Forum), California
Space Authority, Southern California Edison,
The Boeing Company