BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 274
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 22, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

               AB 274 (Portantino) - As Introduced:  February 12, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Natural  
          ResourcesVote:9-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires that an owner of a closed solid waste  
          landfill that is subject to a closure or postclosure maintenance  
          plan may not sell any portion of the landfill unless the  
          potential buyer demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the  
          Integrated Waste Management Board (IWMB), the buyer's ability to  
          meet closure/postclosure financial assurance requirements. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

             1)   About $150,000 per year in 2010-11 and 2011-12 to  
               develop the criteria and regulations required by the bill.  
               (IWMA.)

             2)   About $50,000 ongoing, starting in 2011-12, to implement  
               and administer program activities required by the bill.  
               (IWMA.)

           COMMENTS  

              1)   Rationale.   A recent IWMB report identified a  
               significant financial risk to the state, based on the  
               potential need for the state to repair or remediate  
               failures at landfills in closure or postclosure when owners  
               cannot afford the remediation.  The author contends that  
               this bill will better ensure that landfill owners are  
               financially able to maintain closed landfills as required  
               by law, thereby lessening the financial risk to the state.

              2)   Existing law.   Current law requires owners and operators  
               of solid waste landfills to maintain the landfill for 30  








                                                                  AB 274
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               years following the landfill's closure.  Current law also  
               requires the owner or operator of a landfill to submit to  
               IWMB evidence of the owner or operator's financial ability  
               to maintain the landfill for 30 years following closure.   
               However, current law does not require that a buyer of a  
               landfill subject to closure or postclosure maintenance  
               requirements demonstrate the buyer's ability to maintain  
               the landfill as required by law.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2583