BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1489
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1489
AUTHOR: Smyth
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: July 6, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Anand Parikh
(Rachel Machi Wagoner)
SUBJECT : HAZARDOUS MATERIALS: METHAMPHETAMINE
LABORATORIES
SUMMARY :
Existing law , under the Methamphetamine Contaminated Property
Cleanup Act of 2005:
1) Requires that the Department of Toxic Substances Control
(DTSC), in consultation with the Office of Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA), adopt a health-based target remediation
standard for methamphetamine in order to determine when a
property that was previously used as a clandestine
methamphetamine laboratory is fit for human occupation.
2) Establishes interim standards of 0.1 micrograms per 100
square centimeters for methamphetamine, 20 micrograms per
square foot of lead and 50 nanograms per cubic meter for
mercury until such time that DTSC in consultation with
OEHHA adopts a health-based target remediation standard.
This bill :
1) Replaces the interim standards with a health-based target
remediation standard developed by OEHHA. OEHHA has
recommended that the current standard of 0.1 micrograms per
100 square centimeters be replaced with one of 1.5
micrograms per 100 square centimeters. This number would
be the maximum level of residue from methamphetamine that
could be present and still render a property habitable.
2) Removes any reference of mercury and lead remediation
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standards when assessing the habitability of a property
previously used for methamphetamine production.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "Currently,
local health officers must use a cleanup standard of 0.10
micrograms per 100 square centimeters for methamphetamine
when determining if a methamphetamine contaminated property
is safe for human occupancy. This current standard,
specified in statute, has been shown through extensive
research to be overly conservative and that a standard of
1.5 micrograms per 100 square centimeters would be
sufficiently protective to make properties safe for human
occupancy. Continued use of the existing standard requires
local health officers to post properties as unsafe when
they are not, and requires property owners to do much more
cleanup work and incur higher cost than is necessary to
protect public health. In turn, this unnecessary cleanup
expense raises the cost of housing that may otherwise be
affordable to those with lower incomes. Given this new
health information, local governments also face a potential
liability for requiring properties to remain vacant pending
unnecessary cleanup as required by the present statutory
standard."
2) Standards for Lead and Mercury . The health-based target
remediation standards for lead and mercury have been
removed from the bill. According to OEHHA, the use of lead
or mercury in methamphetamine production has become very
rare in the last several years so the remediation standards
were seen as unnecessary. Nevertheless, it might be
precedent to leave the interim standard established by AB
1078 (Keene) Chapter 570, Statutes of 2005, in statute in
case a situation does arise whereby either lead or mercury
remediation is necessary.
3) Future research . The spread of clandestine methamphetamine
laboratories has meant that states have had to quickly
develop standards for remediation. However, because of the
rapid rise of methamphetamine usage many of these standards
were hastily adopted to protect public health. The first
standards for methamphetamine remediation were developed by
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the state of Washington, and California merely adopted
those standards. However, these standards were developed
from scientific findings related to the smallest detectible
amount of methamphetamine residue rather than the smallest
amount of methamphetamine which poses a public health risk.
AB 1078 (Keene) Chapter 570, Statutes of 2005, requires
DTSC in consultation with OEHHA to develop a standard that
is safe for human occupancy. While the suggested standards
developed by OEHHA have been peer reviewed and reflect a
conservative estimate of remediation standards safe for
human occupancy, there are other states completing studies,
notably one by Colorado's Department of Public Health and
Environment. These studies might suggest that the standard
be altered in the future. Therefore, amendments should
allow DTSC to adopt more stringent standards should new
public health information be made available to them.
4) Related Legislation . AB 1078 (Keene) Chapter 570, Statutes
of 2005, required DTSC in consultation with OEHHA to
develop health-based target remediation standards for
methamphetamine, lead and mercury and set interim standards
until DTSC has developed a science-based standard. The
bill also established who was liable for the costs of
remediation. SB 536 (Bowen) Chapter 587, Statutes of 2005,
directed DTSC to develop remediation standards for
methamphetamine precursors and byproducts. AB 2587 (Liu)
Chapter 789, Statutes of 2006, establishes liability for
remediation costs when a clandestine methamphetamine
laboratory is situated in a mobile home, mobile home park
or recreational vehicle.
SOURCE : California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators
SUPPORT : California Apartment Association
OPPOSITION : None on file