BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1674
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1674 (Saldana)
As Amended August 11, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |68-4 |(May 13, 2010) |SENATE: |32-3 |(August 23, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: E.S. & T.M.
SUMMARY : Provides exemptions for specified underground
petroleum storage tanks (UST) from current construction and
monitoring requirements.
The Senate amendments provide an exemption from the UST
construction and monitoring requirements for USTs located in a
below-grade structure and connected to an emergency generator
tank system.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires all USTs installed after April 1, 2003 to be
double-contained, both primary and secondary containment to be
"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.
2)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.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, the 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)
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill may result in annual costs to state
agencies. State agencies operate ASTs and this bill deletes
local agencies' ability to waive fees on such state agencies.
The actual cost of this bill depends on: 1) the number of ASTs
operated by state agencies; and, 2) the amount of fees local
agencies charge those state agencies that the local agencies
otherwise would have waived.
COMMENTS :
1)Need for the bill. According to the sponsors of the bill, the
California Health Officers Association, AB 1674 will address
enforcement issues involving fuel storage tanks.
Specifically, the bill clarifies that vaulted tanks are not
mandated to meet every requirement placed on USTs 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.
According to the California Council for Environmental and
Economic Balance telecommunication and other utilities are
required by federal law to maintain back-up electrical power
generating systems to ensure that services are not interrupted
in the event that grid power is unavailable. In many
instances, these systems are located in the basements of
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buildings housing vital equipment. Typically, these systems
are powered by diesel engines that have small attached fuel
tanks that may be manually inspected to assure that the escape
of petroleum.
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Robert Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN: 0005476