BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1456
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 15, 2004
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
John Laird, Chair
SB 1456 (Kuehl) - As Introduced: February 19, 2004
SENATE VOTE : 22-16
SUBJECT : Santa Susana Field Laboratory: Cleanup standards.
SUMMARY : Prohibits an owner or operator of the Santa Susana
Field Laboratory (SSFL) site in Ventura County from using,
selling, transferring, or leasing any part of that site for
residential use unless the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(US EPA) finds, in writing, that radioactive contamination at
the site has been surveyed and remediated in accordance with
federal law. Specifically, this bill :
1)Prohibits an owner or operator of the SSFL site in Ventura
County from using, selling, transferring, or leasing any part
of that site for residential use unless the 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 the
California Constitution because of the unique legal status and
circumstances regarding radioactivity at SSFL in Ventura
County.
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.
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FISCAL EFFECT : None.
COMMENTS :
1)Background on radiation exposure : According to the National
Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, the U.S.
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 one in five deaths that occur in the United States are
from all types of cancer, the estimated risk of dying from
natural background radiation (principally radon) in a lifetime
is roughly one 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 one in 3,000.
2)Background on federal cleanup standards : 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, while NRC has a responsibility to regulate
civilian uses of nuclear materials.
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, 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.
US EPA requires, under CERCLA, "Superfund" sites to be
remediated to a level resulting in between one in 15,000 and
one in 1,500,000 additional premature cancer deaths.
According to the author's office, sites such as SSFL, are
under the jurisdiction of NRC which has low-level waste
standards allowing for a level of residual contamination
resulting in an increased theoretical risk of cancer death of
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one 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 U.S. General Accounting Office, agencies' calculation
methods often differ, reflecting a major difference of
philosophy and giving different results.
3)According to the author's office, 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 for approximately 40 years. Cleanup
operations have been taking place for over a dozen years and
are expected to be completed in 2007.
4)Because SSFL is a defense facility, the cleanup standards are
set by the Department of Energy (DOE), which serves as the
lead agency for cleanup. US EPA has served in an advisory
capacity to DOE on this facility.
5)On December 5, 2003, US EPA issued a public statement
indicating that ongoing cleanup operations at SSFL are
inconsistent with federal environmental regulations, and leave
too much radioactivity behind to allow future development at
the site or even unrestricted recreational uses. The cleanup
standards at the facility do not meet US EPA criteria because
they are based strictly on radioactive levels rather than the
cancer risk they pose. US EPA disagrees with DOE over the
cleanup efforts, but has no legal authority to enforce US EPA
regulatory standards on this site. DOE, has refused to follow
US EPA cleanup standards, and US EPA has ceased its oversight
efforts.
6)Opponents contend this bill inequitably singles out one site
and represents overkill given risks and cleanup levels used at
the site. They raise the issue that the 15 millirem/year soil
cleanup standard imposed within Area IV is already more
restrictive than the 25 millirem/year standard required by
NRC. Opposition, Boeing, states that it has complied with all
federal and state laws and regulations to ensure the safety of
any future residents on-site, as well as of residents in the
surrounding community.
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7)Supporters state that this bill is a long overdue improvement
to the cleanup standards for SSFL. Residents of the
communities near SSFL have struggled for years to obtain full
cleanup of the radioactive contamination on the site, which
experienced a partial nuclear metldown in 1959. A proponent,
Sierra Club California, contends that although this bill
cannot solve all of the site's problems, it does address the
strange difference in cleanup standards among agencies. It
further states, "A cancer death is a cancer death, regardless
of its source, and radiation should not be allowed to kill
more people than chemical contamination does."
8)In light of the findings of the US EPA letter dated December
5, 2003, this bill prohibits SSFL to be used for residences
unless the site is cleaned up to US EPA standards for
residential use properties. This bill would allow continued
use or sale of the site for commercial/industrial purposes.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Americans for a Safe Future
Clean Water Action
Committee to Bridge the Gap
Concerned Citizens to Stop Outside Dumping
Environment CA
Environmental Working Group
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural
Implement Workers of America (UAW)
Planning and Conservation League
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles
Physicians for Social Responsibility, San Francisco Bay Area
Chapter
Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition
Sierra Club CA
Southern CA Federation of Scientists
Susana Knolls Homeowners Association, Inc.
Ventura Coastkeeper
Wishtoyo Foundation
Opposition
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Anaheim Chamber of Commerce
CA Council for Environmental and Economic Balance
CA Healthcare Institute
CA Manufacturers & Technology Association
CA Radioactive Materials Management Forum
Central City Association
Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc.
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce
Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce
Southern California Edison
The Boeing Company
Wyle Laboratories
Analysis Prepared by : Joanne Wong / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965