BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1715
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1715
AUTHOR: Smyth
AMENDED: June 20, 2012
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: July 2, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rachel
Wagoner/
Joanne Roy
SUBJECT : UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS: TANK CASE CLOSURE
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1) Requires the Secretary of the California Environmental
Protection Agency to establish a unified hazardous waste
and hazardous materials management regulatory program,
known as the Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA), as a
means of consolidating the local rules or local ordinances
relating to the generation or handling of hazardous waste
or hazardous materials (Health and Safety Code �25404 et
seq.).
2) Requires an underground storage tank (UST) owner or
operator to take corrective action in response to a leaking
UST in order to protect human health, safety, and the
environment. (�25296.10)
3) Requires the local agency or Regional Water Quality Control
Board (RWQCB) to give the owner or operator of a UST that
is subject to corrective action a closure letter once the
UST site is deemed in compliance and that no further
corrective action is required. (�25296.10)
4) Establishes the Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank
Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989 (Act), as a means for
petroleum UST owners and operators to meet federal and
state financial responsibility requirements, provide
financial assistance by reimbursing costs of cleanup for
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unauthorized releases from petroleum USTs, and provide
reimbursement for damages awarded to third parties who are
injured by unauthorized releases of petroleum from USTs.
(�25299.10 et seq.) Pursuant to the Act:
a) Establishes the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund
(Fund) to assist with the costs of cleaning up
contaminated soil and groundwater caused by leaking
petroleum tanks. (�25299.50)
b) Authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB), an RWQCB, or a local agency to take corrective
action for a leaking UST. (�25299.36)
c) Requires the Fund Manager to annually review the case
history of all claims having a Letter of Commitment
active for more than five years unless the owner or
operator objects. Authorizes the Fund manager to
recommend closure of a case to SWRCB. (�25299.39.2)
d) Limits reimbursement to $10,000 for incurred
corrective actions that occur after the manager
recommends closing a UST case unless SWRCB decides that
closure-related corrective actions will exceed $10,000
or that further corrective action is necessary for
cleanup. (�25299.39.2)
e) Defines "corrective action" as including, "but not
limited to, evaluation and investigation of an
unauthorized release, initial corrective action
measures, as specified in the federal act, and any
actions necessary to investigate and remedy any residual
effects remaining after the initial corrective action.
Except as provided in the federal act, 'corrective
action' does not include actions to repair or replace a
UST or its associated equipment." (�25299.14)
This bill :
1) States legislative intent that SWRCB should process UST
closure cases expediently while ensuring adequate
protection of public health and safety.
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2) Requires the Fund Manager to determine whether a UST case
should be closed based on the annual review mandated in
�25299.39.2(a)(1).
3) Requires the Fund Manager to provide a summary report to
the appropriate RWQCB and local agency stating the reasons
for determining that closure of a case is appropriate.
4) Requires the Fund Manager to give the appropriate RWQCB and
local agency the opportunity to comment on the summary
report.
5) Prohibits an RWQCB or local agency from mandating
additional or enforcing existing corrective actions after
the Fund Manager provides the summary report, unless:
a) The oversight agency demonstrates imminent threat to
human health, safety, or the environment;
b) The oversight agency demonstrates that other
site-specific needs warrant additional action during the
time SWRCB is considering case closure;
c) The Fund Manager determines that case closure is not
warranted; or,
d) The oversight agency closes the case but action is
needed to carry out case-closure activities.
6) Specifies that subsequent corrective action costs that are
eligible for reimbursement up to $10,000 (pursuant to
�25299.39.2(a)(2)), include groundwater monitoring.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . The author states, "Under �SWRCB's]
five-year review process, the Fund Manager may determine
that case closure is appropriate based on evidence and
review of the case. This bill seeks to place a reasonable
relief period on local enforcement action during the
five-year review until �SWRCB] issues a decision on case
closure. The relief period would not occur in unsuitable
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cases (e.g., there is a demonstrated imminent threat to
human health, safety, or the environment)."
2) UST Five-Year Review Case Closure . SWRCB states that there
are currently over 3,000 claims in the Fund that received
their first LOC five or more years ago. Since
re-implementing the five-year review process in 2007, the
Fund has completed such reviews for approximately 2,500
claims.
According to SWRCB, the Fund Manager is required to annually
review the case history of all claims having a Letter of
Commitment active for more than five years unless the owner
or operator objects. The purpose of the review is to
determine whether recommendation for case closure is in
order. The review provides a third-party check on the
progress of the case relative to the expenditure of funds
and reduces the chance that the responsible party will run
out of funds before the case is cleaned up. It also
provides an opportunity for the Fund to detect fraud and
abuse if funds are used at sites that warrant closure.
3) Groundwater Monitoring . In order to ensure that human
health, safety and the environment remain protected as well
as to address concerns regarding the potential loss of data
during the period between the Fund Manager issuing a
summary report and SWRCB deciding on closure, groundwater
monitoring should take place at the UST site. AB 1715
specifies that groundwater monitoring is a reimbursable
subsequent corrective action cost.
4) Related legislation . AB 1566 (Wieckowski) expands the
types of tanks regulated as aboveground storage tanks and
requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to provide
oversight to unified program agencies carrying out the
Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act (Health and Safety Code
�25270 et seq.). The Senate Environmental Quality
Committee will hear this bill July 2, 2012.
AB 1701 (Wieckowski) provides for state certification of
cities and counties to oversee the cleanup of USTs. The
Senate Environmental Quality Committee will hear this bill
July 2, 2012.
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5) Previous legislation . AB 358 (Smyth) Chapter 571, Statutes
of 2011, revised the UST program to expedite case closures.
AB 1188 (Ruskin) Chapter 649, Statutes of 2009, increased
the petroleum storage fee by $0.006 per gallon, between
January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2011, and AB 291
(Wieckowski) Chapter 569, Statutes of 2011, extended this
sunset to January 1, 2014.
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.
SOURCE : California Independent Oil Marketers
Association
SUPPORT : None on file
OPPOSITION : None on file