BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 274|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 274
Author: Portantino (D)
Amended: 9/4/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 7/6/09
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Ashburn
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-5, 08/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Wolk,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 79-0, 6/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Solid waste: landfills: closure plans
SOURCE : Waste Management, Inc.
DIGEST : This bill creates a fee funded program for the
future cleanup of closed solid waste facilities to go into
effect provided that more than 50 percent of the operators
of solid waste facilities opt to participate in the
program.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/09 make technical correction
and align operative dates for purposes of collection of the
fee.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS : Under existing law, operators of solid waste
facilities are required to pay a per ton "tipping fee" in
an amount established by the Integrated Waste Management
Board (CIWMB) to pay for the state's cost to regulate those
facilities. Owners and operators of solid waste facilities
are also required to plan and provide funds for the closure
and management of a facility after closure, to ensure that
there is no unanticipated impact on the environment from
the contents of the facility. The funding that is arranged
by facility owners for the post-closure period is known as
a financial assurance.
This bill, on and after January 1, 2012, would authorize an
operator of a solid waste disposal facility that is
required to meet financial assurance requirements and is in
operation on July 1, 2011, to elect to participate in the
State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust
Fund created by this bill.
This bill requires that a participating operator pay a fee
of $0.12 per ton per disposal site. This bill requires the
fee to be collected in the same manner as the solid waste
disposal fee described above, and require the board to
fulfill certain administrative reporting requirements to
the state board. This bill also requires that the fee be
deposited in the fund and made available to the board for
expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for
postclosure activities and corrective actions not performed
by any owner or operator of a solid waste landfill when the
owner or operator fails to comply with the board's final
order, the financial assurance mechanisms are inadequate to
fund necessary compliance activities, the solid waste
landfill was operating pursuant to a valid solid waste
facilities permit on or after January 1, 1988, and the
board has first used and exhausted all immediately
available financial assurance mechanism provided by the
operator.
This bill requires that the fee shall not be operative on
and after January 1, 2012, unless the board received, on or
before July 1, 2011, letters of participation in the State
Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund
from landfill operators representing at least 50% of the
total annual waste disposal tonnage in 2010, as determined
AB 274
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by the board. This bill makes conforming changes.
September 1, 2009 amendments eliminates the requirement
that a prospective purchaser of a postclosure landfill
demonstrate that he or she can meet financial assurance
requirements. The amendments modified the allowable uses
of the Trust Fund to allow expenditures for cleanup actions
at any postclosure landfill, not just a landfill whose
owner is a participant in the Trust Fund program. The
amendments changed the start date for collection of the fee
to January 1, 2012. The amendments required the CIWMB to
include information about the program in an existing
report, rather than creating a new reporting requirement.
The amendments also substantially reorganized the bill and
clarify the procedures for collection of the fee by the
Board of Equalization.
According to the author's office, this bill prohibits the
owner or operator of a closed solid waste landfill from
selling any portion of a closed waste management unit
unless the CIWMB determines that the purchaser is able to
comply with the state's stringent financial assurance
requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Fee revenues to ($1,000) ($2,100) Special *
trust fund
Development of $160 $150 Special
**
regulations
Program $270 $520 Special
**
implementation
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* New special fund.
** Integrated Waste Management Account or the new special
fund.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/4/09)
Waste Management, Inc. (source)
Recology
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher,
Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block
TSM:do 9/4/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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