BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 231|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 231
Author: Lowenthal (D)
Amended: 6/22/10
Vote: 21
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/27/09
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Ashburn
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 5/11/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Hancock, Leno, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Runner, Wyland
SENATE FLOOR : 22-17, 5/26/09
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Florez, Hancock, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal,
Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Romero, Simitian, Steinberg,
Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ashburn, Benoit, Cogdill, Correa, Cox,
Denham, Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff, Maldonado,
Negrete McLeod, Runner, Strickland, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Hazardous waste: generator fees
SOURCE : Author
CONTINUED
SB 231
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DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Department of Toxic
Substance Control to annually adjust the Hazardous Waste
Generator Fee.
Assembly Amendments set the base fee rate at $3,949 for the
2010 calendar year, and authorize the Department of Toxic
Substances Control to adjust the base fee rate annually as
specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1. Under existing law, the Health and Safety Code imposes
various hazardous waste fees on the generation,
transportation, transfer, storage, treatment, and
disposal of hazardous wastes. These fees are collected
by either the Board of Equalization (BOE) or the
Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). Revenues
from the hazardous waste fees are used to fund DTSC's
administration of the hazardous waste regulatory program
and the state Superfund program.
2. Requires the generator of hazardous waste to pay BOE a
generator fee for each generator site for each calendar
year, with certain exceptions and conditions, based on
tiers of rates calculated according to the amount of
waste generated during the prior calendar year.
Existing law sets the base fee rate at $2,748 for the
1997 calendar year and requires BOE to adjust the base
fee rate annually to reflect changes in the cost of
living.
This bill:
1. Establishes the base rate for the Hazardous Waste
Generator Fee at $3,949 per year.
2. Replaces the current cost-of-living adjustment based on
the changes to the Consumer Price Index with the
authority for the DTSC to annually adjust the base rate
fee by no more that five percent to reflect the
increased or decreased hazardous waste regulatory
program cost to DTSC.
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3. Provides that the annual adjustment to the base rate fee
shall not be increased if there is a reserve balance in
the Hazardous Waste Control Account greater than
one-third of the annual revenue generated from the fee.
4. Provides that the annual adjustment to the base rate fee
may not be made if there is an outstanding loan from the
Hazardous Waste Control Account to the General Fund.
Background
According to the author's office, this bill is designed to
increase the flexibility of the state in adjusting annual
fees on hazardous waste generators to pay for the state's
regulation of hazardous waste disposal. The current rate
setting process is based only on the changes to the
Consumer Price Index and fails to consider the changes in
programmatic costs. This bill updates a 13 year old fee
standard and increases DTSC's ability to make minor
adjustments to the base fee rate.
Comments
According to the Assembly Third Reading analysis, the
Hazardous Waste Control Account generated annual revenue
ranging from about $44 million to just over $62 million,
with annual revenues averaging approximately $49 million.
During that same period, account expenditures ranged from
$46 million to $57 million and averaged about $51 million.
Expenditures exceeded revenues in four of the five years.
While the account always carried a balance, in 2007-08 the
fund balance fell to four percent of program expenditures.
In only one year, 2006-07, did the fund balance exceed
one-third of program expenditures. There were no loans
from the fund to the General Fund during this period.
Despite the maintenance of past fund balances, DTSC fears
future shortfalls. According to DTSC, the economic downturn
means a reduction in activities that generate hazardous
waste and which, therefore, produce program revenue. Yet
many program costs result from "legacy" activities, past
waste generation and disposal that do not correspond to
current economic activity. For this reason, DTSC projects
fund shortfalls by 2014-15, absent adequate fee increases.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
potential increased annual revenue to the Hazardous Waste
Control Account, possibly in the millions of dollars, to
the extent program needs, as determined by DTSC, exceed
changes in the cost-of-living, as measured by the Consumer
Price Index.
TSM:nl 8/26/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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