BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1107|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1107
Author: Kehoe (D)
Amended: 4/26/10
Vote: 21
SENATE FOOD AND AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE : 3-1, 4/6/10
AYES: Florez, Hancock, Wolk
NOES: Hollingsworth
NO VOTE RECOREDED: Maldonado
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 4-2, 4/19/10
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Strickland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-3, 5/3/10
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Leno, Price, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alquist
SUBJECT : Water quality: interceptor and trap grease
SOURCE : San Diego Coastkeeper
DIGEST : This bill enacts the Interceptor and Trap Grease
Transportation Act of 2010 which prohibits on and after
January 1, 2012, any person or entity from engaging in the
transportation of interceptor and trap grease, unless that
person or entity is registered with, and possesses a valid
registration certificate issued by State Water Resources
CONTINUED
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Control Board, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1. Pursuant to the Food and Agriculture Code:
A. Defines "inedible kitchen grease" as any fat
or used cooking greases and oils obtained from
any source.
B. Establishes standards for transporters of
inedible kitchen grease including a registration
system and tracking system.
C. Establishes a registration fee of $100 for
transporters and grants authority to California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to
charge an additional fee of not more than $300
per year per vehicle and not more than $3,000 per
year per registered transporter to cover the
costs of administering the program.
D. Requires licensed transporters of inedible
kitchen grease to maintain records for two years.
The records shall include the name and address
of each location from which the transporter
obtained the material, the quantity of material
received, and the date the material was obtained.
2. Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act:
A. Establishes the State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB) and regional water quality control
boards in the California Environmental Protection
Agency, which must be "the principal state agencies
with primary responsibility for the coordination
and control of water quality".
B. Provides that it is unlawful for any person to
knowingly or negligently introduce into a sewer
system or into a publicly-owned treatment works any
pollutant or hazardous substance that the person
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knew or reasonably should have known could cause
personal injury or property damage, or to introduce
any pollutant or hazardous substance into a sewer
system or into a publicly-owned treatment works,
except in accordance with any applicable
pretreatment requirements, which pollutant or
hazardous substance causes the treatment works to
violate waste discharge requirements.
C. Provides that any person who knowingly
introduces a hazardous substance into a sewer, as
specified, and who knows at the time that the
person thereby places another person in imminent
danger of death or serious bodily injury, on the
first offense it must be punishable by a fine of
not more than $250,000 or imprisonment in the state
prison for not more than 15 years, or both. A
second or subsequent offense will be punishable by
a fine of not more than $500,000 or imprisonment in
the state prison of not more than 30 years, or
both. If the crime is committed by an
organization, on the first offense it must be
subject to a fine of not more than $1 million. A
second or subsequent offense must be punishable by
a fine of not more than $2 million.
D. Pursuant to a SWRCB order on May 2, 2006,
established a statewide waste discharge requirement
for sanitary sewer systems. The Sanitary Sewer
Order requires public agencies that own or operate
sanitary sewer systems to develop and implement
sewer system management plans and report all
sanitary sewer overflows to the SWRCB's database.
These overflows are defined as any overflow, spill,
release, discharge or diversion of untreated or
partially treated wastewater from a sanitary sewer
system, and often contain high levels of suspended
solids, pathogenic organisms, toxic pollutants,
nutrients, oil, and grease.
This bill:
1. Establishes the Interceptor and Trap Grease
Transportation Act to be overseen by the SWRCB:
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2. Defines Interceptor and Trap Grease (ITG) as grease from
food preparation, processing or waste that does not
include inedible kitchen grease (yellow grease).
3. Establishes a registration process for ITG haulers
including specified performance requirements and payment
of a fee by ITG haulers.
4. Requires ITG haulers to maintain and submit to SWRCB an
ITG waste tracking document, as prescribed by SWRCB,
which accounts for the amounts and locations of ITG that
is picked up and its final disposition.
5. Authorizes SWRCB to suspend, deny, revoke, or refuse to
issue a registration at any time if the applicant
disposed of interceptor grease at an unapproved
facility; reintroduced grease into a sanitary sewer or
storm drain without authority; commingled interceptor
grease with other forms of liquid waste; failed to
maintain and submit required tracking reports; failed to
fully pump all grease, water, greasy liquid, and solids
from the grease interceptor or trap; took interceptor
and trap grease from an unregistered hauler; or violated
or aided any violation of statute, regulation, or order
relating to interceptor and trap grease.
6. Establishes the ITG Fund to receive the fees paid by the
ITG haulers and to be used by SWRCB to implement these
new requirements.
7. Makes conforming changes to the Food and Agriculture
Code and the Public Resources Code.
8. Makes findings and declarations regarding the management
of ITG.
Background
Scope of the Problem . Interceptor grease entering sewers
is a pervasive problem, causing clogs and resulting in
sewage spills. Grease in sewers is a major cause of sewer
spills on our streets and into our bays and beaches. In a
May 2009 report, SWRCB reported that since 2006 19 percent
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of all reported sanitary sewer overflows were caused by
grease deposition. Sewage spills can contaminate the public
water supply, endanger public health in water recreational
areas, and damage the environment. In 2004, the California
District Attorneys Association authored a report entitled
"Grease: The Prosecutors' Perspective," which concludes
that a major cause of sewer spills that contaminate
drinking water supplies and pollute rivers, streams, and
coastal waters is the improper handling and disposing of
grease from commercial establishments. The improper
management of fat, oil, and grease wastes causes
environmental and public health damage.
CDFA currently oversees the transportation of grease,
however that program lacks a tracking system that mandates
that haulers demonstrate where they finally deposit or
dispose of what they pick up. Thus leaving a loophole in
tracking the final destination.
In 2004 with the veto of AB 2633 (Frommer), a similar bill,
the Governor instructed CDFA to review and upgrade its
existing system to improve the tracking and enforcement of
laws governing disposal of restaurant grease. It has been
five years since the governor's message, and CDFA has yet
to implement regulations on an improved tracking system.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
Water Board enforcement $390 $830$2,130
Special *
* New special fund - Interceptor and Trap Grease Fund.
Fully offset by fee revenues.
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis,
the SWRCB estimates that it's ongoing costs to implement
the program, including auditing haulers and enforcing the
bills provisions, will be over $2 million per year, once
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the program is fully operational. Under the bill, those
costs would be paid for with fees charged to waste haulers.
The SWRCB estimates that there are about 350 haulers that
would be subject to the requirements of the bill. Annual
fees are estimated to be about $6,000 per year.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/4/10)
San Diego Coastkeeper (source)
Association of California Water Agencies
California Coastkeeper Alliance
Clean Water Action
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Heal the Bay
Liquid Environmental Solutions
Orange County Coastkeeper
Russian Riverkeeper
San Francisco Baykeeper
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/4/10)
California Grain and Feed Association
City of Camarillo
Pacific Coast Rendering Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters of this bill contend
that the current system is lacking and that a system that
places oversight with an agency with jurisdiction over
quality is necessary. They cite that the situations with
sewer spills and the resulting environmental contamination
and threat to public health are not improving and action
must be taken.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents state the problem of
illegal dumping of interceptor grease into the sewer system
is currently illegal and a violation of current law. They
argue that if the illegal dumping of interceptor grease is
widespread, SWRCB would be able to cite those violators
under current law. They also feel that the current
regulatory system provides a comprehensive approach,
regulating renderers, dead animal haulers, and kitchen
grease transporters including interceptor grease haulers.
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Moving one element of this program to SWRCB will create
challenges, including the need to train additional state
employees with little expertise in the grease hauling
industry, increase in regulatory costs, and potential
reduction in effectiveness of the existing program.
TSM:do 5/4/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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