BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 868
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 868 (Davis) - As Introduced: February 16, 2011
SUBJECT : Hazardous waste: Transportation: Public utilities
SUMMARY : Revises the condition for exempting manifest and
transporter requirements pertaining to hazardous waste to an
increased maximum weight of 10,000 pounds (an increase from the
currently allowable 2,500 pounds or 275 gallons) and increases
the maximum 1,600 gallon hazardous wastewater exception for
utility generators to a maximum of 5,000 gallons.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
to regulate hazardous waste using both the federal Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) rules as well as
additional state requirements. California-specific
requirements include rules for generators, transporters,
hazardous waste treatment storage and disposal facilities,
used oil handlers, and universal waste.
2)Requires shipments of hazardous waste to be accompanied by a
hazardous waste manifest and be transported by a hazardous
waste hauler registered with DTSC.
3)Exempts shipments of hazardous waste from the manifest and
registered hauler requirements if the waste is transported
from a "remote site" to a "consolidation site," both of which
are owned by the generator, the transport of the waste is not
federally regulated and the generator meets specified
requirements relating to personnel, training, transport
vehicles, liability, shipping papers, and packaging. An
exempted shipment may not exceed 275 gallons in volume or
2,500 pounds in weight, except that public utilities, local
publicly owned utilities and municipal utility districts may
transport up to 1,600 gallons of hazardous wastewater pumped
from utility vaults and up to 500 gallons of other liquid
hazardous wastes.
4)Authorizes up to 5,000 gallons of waste mineral oil
(dielectric fluid) to be taken from electrical equipment that
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utilities may transport from remote sites to a consolidation
site without meeting the hazardous waste manifest/registered
hauler requirements. This authorization does not apply to
mineral oil that contains levels of polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) that would cause the mineral oil to be otherwise
classified as a hazardous waste.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill would change from 1,600 gallons to 5,000
gallons the amount that a utility tanker truck can transport of
hazardous waste water; it will also increase from 2,500 pounds
to 10,000 pounds the amount of hazardous solid waste that a
utility dump truck can transport.
Background : In general, hazardous waste can only be transported
on public highways and railroads if the transporter possesses
the appropriate manifest and is registered to transport
hazardous waste by the DTSC. Further, existing law
conditionally exempts from these manifest and registration
requirements persons who collect a hazardous waste from a remote
site and transport it to a consolidation operated by the
generator of the waste. Among other conditions that must be
satisfied to qualify for the exemption, the hazardous waste must
not be regulated as such by the federal government (i.e. the
material cannot have the characteristics of a federal hazardous
waste), the remote site and the consolidation site must both be
appropriately operated, relevant personnel must be appropriately
trained, and the waste must not be held at the consolidation
site for more than a few hours. For most generators, no more
than 275 gallons or 2,500 pounds of hazardous waste can be
transported in a single shipment from remote site to the
consolidation site. Utilities, however, can transport in a
single shipment up to 1,600 gallons of hazardous wastewater
generated from utility vaults and up to 500 gallons of any other
liquid hazardous waste. While these loads are exempted from the
formal manifest requirements, the transporter must still carry a
shipping paper containing several pieces of relevant information
about the particular load.
According to the author, "many utilities have invested in larger
capacity vacuum trucks and dump trucks. Currently, utilities
frequently need to make multiple trips with only a partial load
in their vehicles. This results in delays and other issues. An
increase in the allowable volume of contaminated water, as in
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the amount of solid hazardous waste would benefit the public in
the following ways:
1)Decrease in the amount of time in which streets near an
electrical vault have to be closed while the vault is having
the water removed.
2)Decrease the number of trucks on the road which will reduce
the greenhouse emissions produced by these vehicles.
3)Decrease in the amount of time it will take the utility to
restore a service interruption caused by a flooded vault."
Regulating hazardous wastes in California : Similar to
California's more rigorous air quality standards than the rest
of the nation, this state has broader and more specific
definitions for waste than do the federal requirements. In
addition to the listed and characteristic wastes under the
federal rules and California's non-RCRA hazardous wastes, the
state also adds extremely hazardous wastes and special wastes.
Also, California has not adopted all of the federal waste and
hazardous waste exclusions, which makes its waste determination
rules stricter than the federal determination. Wastes can be
hazardous if they are either listed or if they are a mixture of
a listed hazardous waste and other wastes.
Despite California's stricter regulation of hazardous waste,
there remain potentially significant gaps in regulation,
primarily due to the fact that so little is known about toxicity
of so many waste streams. Moreover, since the determination of
toxicity is subject to somewhat vague criteria (e.g. the
hazardous waste "exhibits" a characteristic of toxicity), the
state is operating within a context of considerable uncertainty.
While this bill does nothing to alter the existing architecture
to regulate hazardous wastes, the integrity of public health and
environmental protections afforded by these waste laws deserve
further scrutiny.
Support : Writing is support of this bill and as its sponsor,
the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance
indicate that "Today, hazardous waste transportation vehicles
have a greater volume capacity then several years ago. Current
statute allows 1600 gallons for oily water from vaults and for
non-RCRA hazardous waste solids the limit is 2500 pounds.
Because these transportation limits are low, multiple trips are
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required with partial loads resulting in additional vehicles
miles traveled, road congestion, diesel emission and fuel
consumption. Utilities should be provided this operation
flexibility in order to reduce environmental impacts, save
ratepayer dollars, and operate more efficiently with all the
concomitant benefits."
Opposition : Writing in opposition to the bill, the Sierra Club
California contends that "Transportation is one of the riskiest
activities conducted with hazardous wastes. Spills can pollute
neighborhoods - - most at risk are low-income communities and
communities of color where waste generators seem to concentrate.
Also at risk are natural resources - - it only takes moments
from a hazardous waste transportation vehicle accident's waste
to flow through a storm drain into a creek. Expanding this
exemption as proposed (increasing the solid waste volume by a
factor of 4, and the hazardous wastewater by more than a factor
of 3) would greatly increase the harm that could be caused by
it. Therefore, we oppose the expansion of this loophole, which
should never have been enacted in the first place."
Author's amendments : The author proposes to amend the bill in
committee to allay the concerns of the opposition.
Related bills : SB 466 (Oropeza, 2009) a similar bill, died in
the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
SB 1922 (Romero) Chapter 327, Statutes of 2002, exempts a public
utility, local publicly owned
utility, or municipal utility that transports a single shipment
of up to 5,000 gallons of mineral oil from those manifest and
registration requirements, if the oil does not meet a toxicity
test under
specified regulations.
SB 470 (Sher) Chapter 605, Statutes of 2001, authorizes a higher
load limit (1600 gallons) for remote site shipments but only for
hazardous wastewater pumped from utility vaults.
AB 1448 (Rainey) Chapter 1194, Statutes of 1994, provides an
exemption from the hazardous waste manifest/registered hauler
requirements for shipments of certain hazardous wastes from
remote sites to a consolidation site. Imposes the 500
gallon/load limit on utilities that now applies to mineral oil
shipments.
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Double-referral : This bill has also been referred to the
Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance
(sponsor)
Opposition
Sierra Club California
Analysis Prepared by : Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093