BILL ANALYSIS
SB 524
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 524
AUTHOR: Correa
AMENDED: March 31, 2009
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: April 27, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Caroll
Mortensen
SUBJECT : AUTO SHEDDER RESIDUE
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1) Pursuant to the Health and Safety Code, defines "hazardous
waste" as a waste that meets any of the criteria for the
identification of a hazardous waste adopted by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).
2) Pursuant to the California Integrated Waste Management Act
of 1989, requires the Integrated Waste Management Board
(IWMB) to evaluate the use of recycling residue for use as
solid waste landfill cover materials or for use as
extenders for currently used cover materials.
3) Pursuant to the Act, excludes from the definition of "solid
waste", hazardous waste and thus prohibits its disposal in
a solid waste landfill.
4) Pursuant to Title 27, Division 2, Subdivision 1, Chapter 3,
Subchapter 4, Article 2, Section 20690 of the California
Code of Regulations, authorizes the use of auto shredder
residue as alternative daily cover (ADC) for solid waste
landfills if treated as specified and is limited to a
minimum compacted thickness of six inches and average
compacted thickness of less than 24 inches.
This bill :
1) Makes extensive findings and declaration relating to auto
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shredder residue or "fluff".
2) Requires, on or before February 1, 2010, the California
Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to establish an
auto shredder residue working group, comprised of
representatives of IWMB, DTSC, the Air Resources Board
(ARB), the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB),
members of the auto shredder industry, and other interested
stakeholders.
3) Requires the working group to do all of the following:
a) Review and evaluate the existing practice of using
treated auto shredder residue as ADC, including
identifying the beneficial economic and environmental
aspects of that use.
b) Determine the environmental and economic effects of
DTSC's proposed revocation of the current regulatory
classification of treated auto shredder residue and
resulting prohibitions on its use as ADC.
c) Determine whether the current regulatory
classification of treated auto shredder residue poses a
significant threat to human health or the environment.
d) Recommend changes to statute, regulation, or agency
practice, if any, based on the results of the working
group's analysis.
4) Requires, on or before December 1, 2010, CalEPA to report
to the Legislature on the findings and recommendations of
the auto shredder residue working group.
5) Prohibits DTSC from altering the current regulatory status
quo authorizing the use of auto shredder residue as ADC
pending the issuance of the report required above.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, for the past two
decades, DTSC and its predecessor agency the Department of
Health Services (DHS) have allowed treated auto shredder
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residue to be managed as a nonhazardous waste in
California, under certain prescribed conditions. On
September 29, 2008, DTSC sent a letter to the shredders
notifying them that they were repealing the shredders'
declassification letters and would require all shredders in
California to register as hazardous waste generators.
According to the author, this determination was made
without adequate justification or evidence supporting this
dramatic change in DTSC's 20 plus year policy. Since a
change in the disposal of auto shredder residue will affect
the IWMB, SWRCB, and the ARB regulations, it is imperative
that a study be conducted prior to any revocation of the
auto shredders' declassification letters.
2) Background: How could something called "fluff" be
hazardous? The shredding of automobiles and major
household appliances produces a waste consisting of
primarily non-metallic materials that remain after the
recyclable metals have been removed. In California, the
waste produced at metal shredding facilities large enough
to shred an automobile has been referred to as "automobile
shredder waste", "auto shedder residue" or affectionately,
"fluff" as these facilities shred a variety of recyclable
metals.
According to DTSC, since 1984 "fluff" has been regulated as
a non-Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
hazardous waste in California due to the presence of lead,
cadmium, copper, and zinc at levels above the State's
regulatory thresholds for those metals. Shredder waste has
been found to contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at
concentrations which occasionally exceed the federal and
State regulatory threshold of 50 ppm. Shredder waste is
both a hazardous waste and a recyclable material subject to
California's Hazardous Waste Control Law and the
regulations that apply to hazardous wastes.
Between 1986 and 1992, California's DHS and subsequently
DTSC, issued conditional nonhazardous waste classifications
to seven shredder facilities in California who successfully
treated their shredder waste to nonhazardous levels using
similar metals fixation treatment technologies. DHS also
determined that if the treatment of shredder waste was
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"in-line" with the shredding operation, authorization for
hazardous waste treatment was not required.
3)Draft Report from DTSC; "California's Automobile Shredder
Waste Initiative" . This report includes findings from the
Initiative that was financed with grant funds provided by
the United States Environmental Protection Agency through
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The goals of
the Initiative were three fold: evaluate the adequacy of
DTSC's automobile shredder waste policy; affirm the
regulatory status of the automobile shredders operating in
California; and ensure compliance by the automobile
shredders with the existing statutes and regulations. In
early 2000, DTSC initiated a comprehensive review of its
past policies to ensure that the policies conform to current
laws and regulations, and are still valid considering
current scientific knowledge. One of the policies that came
under review was Policy and Procedure 88-6 entitled "Auto
Shredder Waste Policy and Procedures" and addressing DTSC's
regulation of both untreated and treated shredder waste. As
part of reviewing the subject policy and meeting the other
goals of the Initiative, it was determined that on-site
surveys would provide the most up-to-date information
regarding the current status of California's shredder
industry. The draft report recommended that DTSC:
Rescind DTSC Policy and Procedure 88-6 entitled "Auto
Shredder Waste Policy and Procedures",
Require facilities that wish to continue treating
their shredder waste on site to obtain the appropriate
authorization within a specified period of time; and
Rescind all previously issued nonhazardous waste
classifications for treated shredder waste.
On September 29, 2008, DTSC sent a letter to the shredders
notifying them that the Department was repealing the
shredders' declassification letters and would require all
shredders in California to register as hazardous waste
generators.
4)Policy Considerations . The role of DTSC is to ensure that
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hazardous wastes are accurately identified and appropriately
managed in California. It is imperative that hazardous
wastes are not disposed of in a solid waste landfill.
However, there are some concerns that the proposed action by
DTSC could seriously disrupt current recycling, ADC, and
disposal practices and it would be beneficial to examine
potential changes.
It is also important to note, that the automobiles are being
built differently today than twenty years ago, thus what is
found in "fluff" twenty years is also different. This,
coupled with the fact that the exemption has been in place
for many years, points to the importance of DTSC and the
auto shedder industry staying abreast of the changing
composition of automobiles to help to reduce the amount of
hazardous materials that actually end up in the "fluff".
5)Amendments Needed . To address the issues raised above,
amendments are needed to clarify and focus the bill.
Specifically:
a) Remove the statements in the bill that pre-dispose the
outcome of the work of the stakeholder group and the
report to the Legislature.
b) Remove section (d) on page 4 that prohibits DTSC from
taking action on this issue until the working group has
issued its report and replace with language that states
DTSC shall not alter its regulatory status without
considering input from the working group.
c) Include language to specify the working group should
also identify constituents in "fluff" that could cause
environmental or public health threats.
d) Include language to require the working group to
identify approaches to work with auto manufacturers to
reduce hazardous materials in automobiles.
SOURCE : Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
SUPPORT : Republic Services, Inc.
SA Recycling
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OPPOSITION : None on file