BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 358
Author: Smyth (R)
Amended: 8/15/11 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 06/27/11
AYES: Simitian, Strickland, Blakeslee, Hancock, Lowenthal,
Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Kehoe
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 06/02/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Hazardous substances: underground storage
tanks
SOURCE : Independent Oil Marketers Association
DIGEST : This bill (1) requires the owner or operator of
an underground storage tank (UST) to send specified
information to the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB) regarding an unauthorized release of hazardous
substances in USTs to local agencies on a written or
electronic form developed by the board, (2) requires each
regional board and local agency to submit a report to SWRCB
for all unauthorized releases using the board's
Internet-accessible database, (3) allows SWRCB to adopt
regulations to specify reporting requirements to implement
the provisions of the bill, including electronic submission
CONTINUED
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requirements for these reports and requires the regulations
to be adopted as emergency regulations and exempts the
adoption of these regulations from certain requirements
regarding review by the Office of Administrative Law, (4)
allows a person required to perform corrective action under
certain federal laws to apply to the board for payment of a
claim, and (5) changes made by this bill only become
operative if AB 291 (Wieckowski) is chaptered.
ANALYSIS :
According to the author, the goal of this bill is to ensure
that all local agencies that perform UST project oversight
and remediation have the same lines of responsibility and
review in following state policies on closure of UST sites.
This stems from the fact that there are two variations of
local agency oversight obligation which is a remnant of the
Legislature creating Certified Unified Permitting Agencies
in the late 1990's. The author contends that the Local
Implementing Agencies have substandard closure rates and
this bill significantly improve those rates.
UST reforms ongoing
SWRCB is working with stakeholders to make improvements in
administration of the fund. The 2010 Budget contained
Supplemental Report language that directed SWRCB to
provided updates on its progress in implementation of
findings from a February 2010 audit of the Fund. That
audit contained many findings, including that there is a
lack of incentive to get cases cleaned up quickly and
efficiently. The lack of closure incentive applied to all
three major parties: the responsible party or claimant,
whose site cleanup bills are paid by the Fund; the
consultant, who can continue to bill hours as long as the
case is active; and the regulator, who generally prefers to
close only cases that have minimal or no risk associated
with the site closure. Due, in part, to these
disincentives, over 43 percent of the active claims have
been open for ten years or more. The SWRCB directed staff
to undertake specific steps to get cases to closure more
quickly and efficiently.
As part of the solution, SWRCB established two stakeholder
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task forces to review both the regulatory side and the
payment side of the UST Program, and make suggestions for
improvements or changes. They are also working on a "low
risk" closure policy that is likely to expedite the closure
process as well. The changes in this bill are consistent
with the audit recommendations and do not appear to
conflict with the proposed low-risk closure policy
currently under review.
Related Legislation
AB 291 (Wieckowski) of 2011, proposes a two-year extension
on the Fund fee increase and is presently on the Senate
Floor.
AB 1188 (Ruskin) Chapter 649, Statutes of 2009, increased
the specified petroleum storage fee by $0.006 per gallon of
petroleum stored, between January 1, 2010, and December 31,
2011.
SB 1161 (Lowenthal) Chapter 616, Statutes of 2008, extended
the sunset date for the UST fund to January 1, 2016,
changed the definition of "tank" to include components
attached to the tank, and allocated funding to brownfield
cleanups.
AB 2729 (Ruskin) Chapter 644, Statutes of 2008, as it
relates to USTs, allocated $10 million to schools and
revises the priority ranking used by the SWRCB by
prioritizing large school districts, above otherwise
un-ranked tank owners and operators to receive financial
awards for claims submitted to the SWRCB for UST
remediation costs.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/17/11)
Independent Oil Marketers Association (source)
CORE Environmental Reform, Inc.
California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez,
Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza,
Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen,
Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Conway, Gorell, Hall
DLW:nl 8/17/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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