BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1566|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1566
Author: Wieckowski (D)
Amended: 8/21/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-1, 7/2/12
AYES: Simitian, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal,
Pavley
NOES: Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/16/12
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price,
Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/30/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Aboveground storage tanks: enforcement
SOURCE : California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Office of the State
Fire Marshal to regulate the Aboveground Petroleum Storage
Act (APSA) and makes conforming changes to the APSA.
ANALYSIS : The APSA defines an "aboveground storage tank"
as a tank that has the capacity to store 55 gallons or more
of petroleum and that is substantially or totally above the
surface of the ground, except as specified. Existing law
requires every county to apply to the Secretary for
CONTINUED
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Environmental Protection to be certified to implement the
unified hazardous waste and hazardous materials management
regulatory program (unified program) and allows a city or
local agency to implement the unified program. Existing
law requires the unified program agencies (UPAs) to
implement the APSA.
This bill:
1. Redefines "aboveground storage tank" (AST) or
"storage tank" as a tank that has the capacity to store
55 gallons or more of petroleum and that is
substantially or totally above the surface of the
ground including a tank located in an underground area.
2. Defines "tank in an underground area," including
specifying requirements for the structure in which the
tank is located, secondary containment, physical
location, and tank contents.
3. Requires the State Fire Marshal to establish an
advisory committee that includes representatives from
regulated entities, appropriate trade associations,
fire service organizations, federal, state and local
organizations, including UPAs, and other interested
parties.
4. Requires the State Fire Marshal to ensure consistency
with state law and federal enforcement guidance issued
by federal agencies and to provide outreach to
regulated persons regarding compliance with local,
state and federal regulations relevant to the APSA.
5. Exempts from the definition of "underground storage
tank" (UST) a tank, and associated piping, in an
underground area that is subject to the APSA.
6. Authorizes the State Fire Marshal to adopt
regulations to implement the APSA. Requires the State
Fire Marshal to provide interpretation of the APSA to
the Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPAs), and to
oversee the implementation of the APSA by the CUPAs.
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7. Requires regulations adopted by the State Fire
Marshal pursuant to the APSA to ensure consistency with
the requirements for spill prevention, control, and
countermeasure (SPCC) plans under the U.S. Code of
Federal Regulations (40 C.F.R. part 112), and to
include any more stringent requirements necessary to
implement the APSA.
8. Establishes, for violation of the APSA, an
administrative penalty of no more than $5,000 for each
day on which the violation continues. Authorizes, if
the owner or operator commits a second or subsequent
violation, an administrative penalty to be imposed of
not more than $10,000 for each day on which the
violation continues.
9. Requires the administrative penalties assessed by a
CUPA to be deposited into a unified program account
established by the CUPA for the purpose of carrying out
the functions of the unified program.
10. Provides that the penalties specified in this section
are in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
11. Provides that a person who knowingly violates the
APSA, after reasonable notice of the violation, is,
upon conviction, guilty of a misdemeanor.
12. Clarifies that this section does not preempt any
other applicable criminal or civil penalties.
13. Increases the maximum cumulative capacity of
specified tanks exempted from requirements imposed on
underground storage tanks from 1,100 gallons to 1,320
gallons.
14. Makes other conforming changes.
Comments
Statewide oversight . As established in 1988, the APSA
required Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCBs) to
oversee inspections of AST facilities to ensure that a
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federally mandated SPCC plan was in place, that tanks were
not leaking, and that a monitoring program was undertaken,
if necessary. It also required owners and operators of
ASTs to submit documents and fees to the State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The APSA also required
CUPAs to enforce the requirements of the APSA regarding the
SPCCs.
According to the SWRCB, in fiscal year 2002-03, due to the
state's fiscal crisis, the funding authority and positions
for the AST inspection program were eliminated from the
SWRCB's and RWQCBs' budgets. As a result, the SWRCB and
the RWQCBs discontinued the AST inspection program. While
the intent of the budget change was to transfer the
inspection program to the CUPAs, complementary statutory
changes were not made and no inspections by any agency were
conducted. AB 1130 (Laird), Chapter 626, Statutes of 2007,
attempted to repair the AST program by transferring the
responsibility for the implementation, enforcement, and
administration of the APSA from the SWRCB and RWQCBs to
local environmental health and fire departments sanctioned
under law as CUPAs.
According to the sponsor, the California Association of
Environmental Health Administrators, currently the APSA is
the only local environmental health program lacking state
oversight. Because there are 83 CUPAs, at times they
differ in their interpretation of the APSA. Therefore,
this bill provides statewide consistency and one point of
contact for the AST program by assigning regulatory
authority of the program to the State Fire Marshal. The
State Fire Marshal was selected as the appropriate
oversight agency because many of the aspects of AST
regulations are similar to other regulatory programs
implemented by the State Fire Marshal, such as fire codes
and pipeline safety.
Penalty provisions . Current AST law provides for civil
penalties, but does not explicitly authorize administrative
or criminal penalties. In contrast, UST law, in addition to
providing for civil penalties, provides for criminal
penalties for specified violations. Also, CUPAs are
authorized to impose an administrative penalty for
specified violations of UST law. This bill makes AST
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penalty provisions consistent with the other laws
consolidated in the Unified Program, including UST law, by
authorizing CUPAs to levy criminal penalties and
administrative penalties.
Conformance with federal law . According to the sponsor,
currently there are more than 1,000 facilities with
lubricating oil and used oil tanks able to be visually
inspected in basements or underground areas statewide that
fall under the definition of an UST. Because UST
requirements are designed for monitoring buried tanks,
applying UST rules to tanks in underground areas is
typically an expensive engineering challenge combined with
the difficulty of meeting varying and inconsistent CUPA
requirements. Further, because authority for the federal
SPCC program is not delegated to the CUPAs, enforcement is
confused. This bill redefines aboveground storage tanks in
California law in order to align state statute with the
Code of Federal Regulations and to better streamline
oversight and enforcement of the AST program.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, $225,000
to $300,000 annually to the Unified Program Account for the
State Fire Marshal to oversee local implementation of the
aboveground storage tank (AST) program, provide outreach,
establish and administer an advisory committee, and adopt
regulations, if necessary.
Costs to the State Fire Marshal are offset an existing
annual surcharge paid by regulated parties.
Minor, if any, penalty revenue split between the local
certified unified program agency (CUPA) and the district
attorney.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/20/12)
California Association of Environmental Health
Administrators (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Association of
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Environmental Health Administrators, states that "this
measure will clarify the definition of what is commonly
referred to a 'vaulted tank' and will establish the �OSFM]
as the oversight agency for the aboveground tank program
element within the Unified Program. There exists tension
and confusion over exactly how these below-grade but not
'underground' or 'in-the-ground' tanks should be regulated.
This bill clarifies the distinction between these two
types of petroleum storage tanks. Furthermore, AB 1566
designates the �OSFM] as the State oversight agency for the
aboveground tank program element that was transferred from
SWRCB to the certified unified program agencies (CUPAs)
some years back. As in all the other elements of the
Unified Program, the State oversight agencies assist in
providing training and offering interpretation in program
implementation - thus enhancing consistency and
coordination in program management."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/30/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, 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, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Davis, Fletcher, Valadao
DLW:n 8/21/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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