BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 666
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 5, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 666 (Jeffries) - As Amended: March 8, 2011
SUBJECT : Public lands: State Public Works Board.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the State Public Works Board (SPWB) to
acquire a specified parcel of land from the Jurupa Area
Recreation and Park District (Park District) and requires the
SPWB to transfer that land to the Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC). Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations, including stating
that the purpose of the bill is to authorize the SPWB to
acquire the designated 30 acres of land for transfer to DTSC.
2)Authorizes the SPWB to acquire from the Park District the
designated 30 acres of land. This land is in Riverside County
in the Jurupa Mountains and sits adjacent to two state-owned
parcels that are part of the Stringfellow Acid Pits
Contamination Site.
3)Requires the SPWB to transfer the designated 30 acres of land
to DTSC.
4)Takes effect immediately as an urgency measure.
EXISTING LAW :
Federal law : Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as
Superfund:
1)Provides broad federal authority to respond directly to
releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that
may endanger public health or the environment.
2)Establishes prohibitions and requirements concerning closed
and abandoned hazardous waste sites.
3)Provides for liability of persons responsible for releases of
hazardous waste at these sites.
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4)Authorizes response actions, including long-term remedial
response actions that permanently and significantly reduce the
dangers associated with releases or threats of releases of
hazardous substances that are serious, but not immediately
life threatening. These actions can be conducted only at
sites listed on the United States Environmental Protection
Agency's (US EPA's) National Priorities List.
State law :
1)Authorizes the Director of Finance to approve and accept gifts
of real property to the State.
2)Requires that all land and other real property to be acquired
by or for a State agency, other than by or for specifically
listed agencies, be acquired by the SPWB.
3)Requires that the jurisdiction over real property acquired by
the SPWB remains with the Department of General Services (DGS)
until the property is needed for the purpose for which it was
acquired.
4)Authorizes the Director of DGS to transfer the jurisdiction of
property between State agencies.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Purpose of the bill : According to the author's office, "The
Stringfellow Acid Pits is a project under DTSC where they have
taken legal responsibility to clean up a former toxic disposal
site in the Jurupa Mountains in Riverside County. The DTSC
currently owns only a portion of the land for which is
responsible for, and they operate on lands which they have no
legal right to be on. The Jurupa Area Parks and Recreation
District is currently purchasing a parcel of land which includes
30 acres which have been contaminated and where DTSC currently
operates. The Jurupa Parks District has no interest in keeping
this land and wants to gift it to the State for DTSC's uses?
?This bill is necessary to ensure the State Public Works Board
has the authority to accept this land within the time period of
the transaction. In the long term if the gift is not accepted
the land would likely need to be purchased by the State, at a
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cost to the State, in the future due to DTSC's legal
responsibility to clean up the land."
Stringfellow Superfund Site : The Stringfellow Superfund site
(Site), also known as the Stringfellow Acid Pits, is located in
Pyrite Canyon, near the community of Glen Avon in Riverside
County, California. Originally operated by the Stringfellow
Quarry Company as a rock quarry, the 17-acre site was operated
as a hazardous waste facility from 1956 until 1972 under the
name of the Stringfellow Hazardous Waste Facility. During this
time, more than 34 million gallons of liquid industrial waste,
primarily from metal finishing, electroplating, and pesticide
production, were deposited in unlined evaporation ponds on the
Site.
Over the years, the evaporation ponds have overflowed and
contaminated the nearby Pyrite Creek, and the Santa Ana Regional
Water Quality Control Board authorized additional releases to
prevent more overflows. Moreover, contaminants from the Site
have migrated into Glen Avon area groundwater, preventing the
use of private drinking water supply wells. The original
disposal area is now covered by a clay cap, fenced, and guarded
by security services.
Contamination at the Site : Groundwater contamination at the
Site includes various volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
perchlorate, and heavy metals such as cadmium, nickel, chromium,
and manganese. Soil in the original disposal area is
contaminated with pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
sulfates, and heavy metals.
Management of the Site : The Stringfellow Hazardous Waste
Facility was one of the first sites listed on the Superfund
National Priorities List and it also earned the dubious
distinction of being selected as the first federal Superfund
site in California. After years of complicated litigation on
the Site, the State of California was ultimately named as the
100% responsible party. DTSC has been designated as the lead
agency and is conducting remediation of the site under the
direction of US EPA.
Transfer of ownership of the Site to the State : According to
the Riverside Land Conservancy (RLC), the RLC has been working
with local citizen groups for over 5 years to develop an
acquisition strategy and to negotiate with willing landowners to
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purchase property on Jurupa Mountain for conservation. The
owner of the 162 acre Standard Dredging parcel is willing to
sell the property in this area at a discounted price to the Park
District, and funds from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the
County of Riverside have been identified to secure the purchase.
The western portion of the Standard Dredging parcel includes
the 30 acres of the Stringfellow Acid Pits that are affected by
this bill. The Park District intends to donate this 30 acre
parcel to the State.
To facilitate administrative approval of the transfer of this
parcel, according to DGS, DTSC has submitted a request for real
estate services at DGS. Currently DGS staff, in conjunction
with a Business Service Officer (BSO) at DTSC, is performing the
real estate business functions necessary (reviewing titles,
CEQA, land agreements, legal documents, Brownfield documents,
etc.) to accept the Stringfellow property gift offer. After the
initial real estate documents are analyzed, cost engineers
review the fiscal issues and costs involved. After DGS
completes this portion of the analysis, the request moves to the
SPWB for final approval. The administrative process for the
transfer looks to be on track to be completed in July.
Unnecessary legislation : California Government Code
Section11005 et seq. authorizes the State to approve and accept
gifts of real property and the Park District is currently
working with DTSC and DGS to pursue transfer of the designated
30 acre parcel through an administrative effort. According to
the author, "The intent of AB 666 is to ensure that there is no
question of statutory authority for the State Public Works Board
to accept the gift of land from the Jurupa Area Recreation and
Parks District when the transfer of land occurs this July
without a delay in the process. Due to the legislative
calendar, I am moving this bill forward to address any problems
that arise this summer and create a roadblock in the transfer
process."
Support : According to the Jurupa Area Recreation and Park
District, "The Jurupa Area Recreation and Park District is
purchasing a parcel of land in the Jurupa Mountain in Riverside
County. The majority of the land will be preserved through
coordination of the Jurupa Area Recreation and Park District,
the Riverside Land Conservancy and the Jurupa Mountain Cultural
Center. The goal is to preserve the Jurupa Mountains as an open
space and expand accessibility to the public. A small portion
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of the parcel being purchasing is a part of the Stringfellow
Acid Pits. This land has been contaminated by toxins and DISC
has the legal responsibility to handle the cleanup. DTSC
already operates extraction and monitoring wells on the thirty
acres soon to be purchased by the Jurupa Parks. The Jurupa Area
Recreation and Park District has no interest in owning the
portion of land associated with the Stringfellow Acid Pits and
intends to donate the land to the State to further their cleanup
process. To benefit both the Jurupa Area Recreation and Park
District and the Department of Toxic Substance Control we
support AB 666 which will ease the transfer of land by
authorizing the State Public Works Board to accept the land
donation."
Double-referred : This bill passed the Assembly Business and
Professions Committee on a 9-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Jurupa Area Recreation and Park District
Riverside Land Conservancy
Opposition
None received.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965