BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 371
Page 1
( Without Reference to File )
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 371 (Salas)
As Amended January 30, 2014
Majority vote
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 4-1 APPROPRIATIONS 12-1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Alejo, Stone, Ting, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Chesbro | |Bradford, |
| | | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Holden, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Bloom |Nays:|Allen |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY :
1)Provides that the State Water Resources Control Board (State
Board) shall require the testing of sewage sludge or other
biological solids applied on properties in unincorporated
areas of Kern County where sewage sludge or other biological
solids are imported from another California county.
2)The testing of the Kern County sewage sludge shall take place
between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2016, and includes,
but is not limited to:
a) Potential for groundwater contamination;
b) Pathogens;
c) Endotoxins; and,
d) Other hazards that may adversely affect human health
originating in sewage sludge or other biological solids.
3)The sewage sludge testing shall take place two times per year.
AB 371
Page 2
4)Results for the sewage sludge testing shall be submitted after
each test to the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic
Materials Committee, the Senate Environmental Quality
Committee, and the Kern County Board of Supervisors.
5)Provides that the testing requirements do not restrict or
prohibit the existing authority of the State Board or regional
boards to test and regulate waste discharge requirements of
biosolids, including sewage sludge.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Under the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989,
each city or county must show that the city or county will
divert from landfills 50% of solid waste generated in the
jurisdiction. The Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery is responsible to ensure that by January 1, 2020, 75%
of the solid waste generated in California is source reduced,
recycled, or composted.
2)Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act, provides that the
State Board and the nine California regional water quality
control boards (Regional Boards) are the principal state
agencies with responsibility for the coordination and control
of water quality in California.
3)Requires the State Board or each Regional Board to prescribe
general waste discharge requirements (WDRs) for dischargers of
dewatered, treated, or chemically-fixed sewage sludge and
other biological solids, and specifies that their prescription
shall be considered to be ministerial.
4)Requires the general WDR to set minimum standards for
agronomic applications of sewage sludge and other biological
solids. The WDRs require that the use of sludge and those
other solids in agriculture, forestry, and surface mining
reclamation must mitigate significant environmental impacts or
potential public health hazards.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would result in a cost to the State Board
(Waste Discharge Permit Fund) for reviewing reports submitted by
the Los Angeles Sanitation District and reporting to the
Legislature, likely in the range of $200,000 over a two-year
AB 371
Page 3
period.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill . According the author, "AB 371 will fill gaps
in government testing of sewage sludge being dumped in Kern
County. This bill will fill the gaps that exist in our testing,
and let science shape our approach to finding a solution that
will hopefully lead to discontinuing the dumping of harmful
sewage sludge in Kern County. The new testing requirement will
address the dumping of sewage (sludge) and the effects it has on
the health, safety, and water quality in rural areas of Kern
County. It is our responsibility to insure that rural
communities are protected from unfairly being targeted and
dumped on - literally. Uncontrolled dumping of sewage sludge
threatens our water and the public health of our communities."
Sewage sludge . According to the US Environmental Protection
Agency (US EPA), "sewage sludge" refers to the solids separated
during the treatment of municipal wastewater. The definition
includes domestic sewage. "Biosolids" refers to treated sewage
sludge that meets the EPA pollutant and pathogen requirements
for land application and surface disposal. The most common
treatment of sewage sludge in the western region of the U.S. is
by anaerobic digestion to "Class B" pathogen reduction levels.
Approximately 1/3 of the biosolids receive further treatment to
"Class A" pathogen reduction levels, by means such as
composting, solar air-drying, alkali treatment, thermophilic
digestion, pasteurization, or heat drying. Many small treatment
plants use methods of treatment other than anaerobic digestion,
such as air drying, aerobic digestion, or lime treatment. Under
certain conditions, these processes meet "Class B" pathogen
reduction.
Public health and sewage sludge . According to a 2002, National
Research Council report entitled, Biosolids Applied to Land:
Advancing Standards and Practices, "Toxic chemicals, infectious
organisms, and endotoxins or cellular material may all be
present in biosolids. There are anecdotal reports attributing
adverse health effects to biosolids exposures, ranging from
relatively mild irritant and allergic reactions to severe and
chronic health outcomes. Odors are a common complaint about
AB 371
Page 4
biosolids, and greater consideration should be given to whether
odors from biosolids could have adverse health effects.
However, a causal association between biosolids exposures and
adverse health outcomes has not been documented. To date,
epidemiological studies have not been conducted on exposed
populations, such as biosolids appliers, farmers who use
biosolids on their fields, and communities near land application
sites."
Imported sewage sludge in Kern County . The City of Los Angeles,
Orange County Sanitation District, Los Angeles County Sanitation
District No. 2, and others have sent hundreds of thousands of
tons of sewage sludge to land applications in Kern County. The
land disposal has taken place at Green Acres Farm, which the
City of Los Angeles owns, and the privately owned Honey Bucket
Farms and Tule Ranch in Kern County. The City of Los Angles
currently applies 80,000 tons of sewage sludge annually to their
Green Acres facility.
Kern County action on sewage sludge . In 2006, the voters of
Kern County approved Measure E to ban the importation of sewage
sludge into Kern County. It is sometimes called "the
anti-sludge ordinance," since it bans the importation into Kern
County of sludge (sewage) from other counties. The ballot
question read, "Shall the ordinance prohibiting the land
application of biosolids in the unincorporated area of Kern
County be adopted?"
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN: 0003035