BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1674
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AB 1674
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Pedro Nava, Chair
AB 1674 (Saldana) - As Introduced: January 20, 2010
SUBJECT : Underground storage tanks.
SUMMARY : Modifies existing exemptions of underground storage
tanks (UST). Specifically, this bill : would make various
technical changes to existing law pertaining to USTs and
aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) including:
1)Exempts from certain UST design and construction requirements
those USTs for which exterior surfaces of the UST can be
visually monitored (such as those that are in concrete vaults)
and where the USTs meet other regulatory requirements.
2)Eliminates a provision of current law that allows the State
Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to object to a local
agency decision as to whether a tank meets UST regulatory
requirements.
3)Makes various technical changes to existing law pertaining to
ASTs, including deleting the authorization for a local Unified
Program Agency (UPA) to waive a local AST regulatory fee on
state or local government agencies.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires that the SWRCB and local governments regulate the
design, installation and operation of USTs. Imposes standards
for the design and upgrade of tanks, requires that tank owners
obtain permits to operate tanks, prohibits the use of tanks
that have not been upgraded to meet specified standards,
provides for the enforcement of tank requirements, and
requires that appropriate corrective action be taken when
spills occur or underground storage tanks leak.
2)Requires all USTs installed after April 1, 2003 to be
double-contained, both primary and secondary containment to be
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"product tight" (impervious to the liquid and vapor phases of
the substance stored); water intrusion to be prevented,
secondary containment to meet specified volumetric
requirements. Requires the tank to have a continuous leak
monitoring system, pressurized piping to be equipped with leak
detection and the tank to be tested using enhanced leak
detection before it is placed into use.
3)Provides exemption from underground tank design, installation
and operation requirements for tanks if all exterior surfaces,
including connected piping and the floor directly beneath the
tank can be monitored by direct viewing.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS .
1)Need for the bill . According to the sponsors of the bill,
the California Health Officers Association, AB 1674 will
address two enforcement issues involving fuel storage tanks.
Specifically, the bill clarifies that vaulted tanks are not
mandated to meet every requirement placed on underground
storage tanks installed after July 1, 2004. Certain
requirements, such as pressure monitoring between the soil and
the exterior walls of the tanks, are not applicable to tanks
that are below-grade but not buried in the ground.
The bill makes a technical amendment to the Above Ground
Petroleum Storage Act (APSA) to include CUPA oversight of
above ground petroleum storage in federal facilities. This
change will enable the collection of fees that will provide
cost recovery for APSA program implementation.
2)UST design standards . Federal and state laws and regulations
set standards for UST system design, construction,
installation and notification; upgrading of existing UST
systems, general operating requirements, release detection;
reporting and investigation; corrective action and
out-of-service and closed UST systems. Those standards were
enacted to reduce the risk of water contamination by petroleum
products and hazardous and toxic additives such as MTBE that
can leak from USTs.
3)AST fee waiver authority . The sponsors of the bill have
requested clarification on the ability of local governments to
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assess fees on federal facilities. In order to create a
level fee structure that captures the full cost of local
government oversight, the federal agencies have raised
objections to exemption of state and local facilities from
permit fees.
4)Issue . This bill provides a broad exemption for USTs that are
not buried in the ground by also exempting them from other UST
design and construction standards that are necessary to
protect water quality. For example, the bill would exempt
these UST from existing requirements that vent lines, vapor
recovery lines and fill pipes must also have secondary levels
of containment. This type of tank design is important for
preventing USTs from leaking and for reducing the potential of
groundwater contamination from leaking tanks and the USTs that
are not buried in the ground should still remain subject to
these requirements.
The Committee may wish to specify that vent lines, pipes and
vapor recovery standards would still apply to these USTs.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
County of San Diego
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Robert Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965