BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2712
Author: Daly (D), et al.
Amended: 8/22/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/18/14
AYES: Hill, Gaines, Fuller, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/24/14
AYES: Jackson, Anderson, Corbett, Lara, Leno, Monning, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-1, 5/27/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Hazardous materials: Orange County Water District:
groundwater
remediation
SOURCE : Orange County Business Council
DIGEST : This bill establishes a process for groundwater
cleanup for the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Act.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/22/14 specify that it is the intent
of the Legislature to clarify and improve the process used by
the OCWD when pursuing cost recovery for remedial actions taken
by the district.
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ANALYSIS : Existing law, under the OCWD Act:
1. Establishes the OCWD, consisting of specified lands in the
Orange County, including the Cities of Anaheim, Fullerton,
and Santa Ana.
2. Authorizes the OCWD to investigate the quality of the surface
and groundwaters within the OCWD to determine whether the
waters are contaminated or polluted and authorizes the OCWD
to expend funds to perform any cleanup, abatement, or
remedial work to prevent, abate, or contain the contamination
of, or pollution to, the surface or groundwaters of the OCWD.
3. Requires the person causing or threatening to cause the
contamination or pollution to be liable to the OCWD for
reasonable costs actually incurred in cleaning up or
containing the contamination or pollution, abating the
effects of the contamination or pollution, or taking other
remedial action.
This bill:
1. Makes the following legislative findings:
A. The OCWD shall adopt a policy that addresses the
process for timely groundwater remediation projects that
include clarity and certainty of the process for all
interested parties; and,
B. The OCWD shall enter into a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) between the OCWD, the Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC), the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality
Control Board, and the Orange County Health Care Agency to
establish a process of review for the district's proposed
groundwater remediation projects.
C. This Act shall improve the process used by the OCWD
when it pursues any cost recovery actions for projects
that involve cleaning up or containing contamination or
pollution.
2. Authorizes the OCWD to conduct any investigations of the
quality of the surface and groundwaters within the OCWD that
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it determines to be necessary and appropriate to determine
whether those waters are contaminated or polluted.
3. Provides that in order for the OCWD to obtain cost recovery
from responsible parties for the costs of cleaning up, or
containing contamination, or taking other removal or remedial
action, the OCWD is required to:
A. Provide prior notice of the cleanup plan to the office
of the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and
the DTSC;
B. Meet and confer with state agencies, and make
reasonable efforts to meet and confer with any responsible
party that is subject to an order or directive of such
administering agency before the district approves the
action; and
C. Comply with the requirements for consistency with the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution
Contingency Plan (NCP) that applies to any county, city,
or water district if it were seeking to recover costs
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response
Compensation and Liability (CERCLA) or the California
Hazardous Substance Account Act.
Background
The OCWD was formed in 1933 by the California State Legislature
enactment of the OCWD Act to protect Orange County's rights to
water in the Santa Ana River. OCWD's primary responsibility is
managing the vast groundwater basin under northern and central
Orange County that supplies water to more than 20 cities and
water agencies, serving more than 2.3 million Orange County
residents.
OCWD primarily recharges the basin with water from the Santa Ana
River and, to a lesser extent, with imported water purchased
from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
OCWD currently holds rights to all Santa Ana River flows
reaching Prado Dam. Water enters the groundwater basin via
settling or percolation ponds in the cities of Anaheim and
Orange. Behind Prado Dam (constructed and owned by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers for flood prevention), OCWD owns 2,400
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acres in Riverside County, which the OCWD uses for water
conservation, water quality improvement, and environmental
enhancement.
OCWD monitors the groundwater taken out each year to ensure that
the basin is not overdrawn, refills the basin, and carries out
an assessment program to pay for operating expenses and the cost
of imported replenishment water. The groundwater basin holds
millions of acre-feet of water (an acre-foot satisfies the needs
of two families for one year). The groundwater basin provides
more than half of all water used within the OCWD. Protection,
safety and enhancement of groundwater are OCWD's highest
priorities. With one of the most sophisticated groundwater
protection programs in the country, OCWD uses more than 700
wells providing more than 1,400 sampling points-from which OCWD
takes more than 18,000 water samples and conducts more than
350,000 analyses every year. OCWD's monitoring program looks
for more than 330 constituents-far more than the 122 required by
the regulatory agencies.
In 1989, Section 8 of the OCWD Act was amended to allow OCWD to
recover from parties, who contaminate groundwater, the OCWD's
costs in remediating contamination.
Groundwater Contamination in Orange County . Key contaminants of
concern for the Orange County Basin include: total dissolved
solids, nitrate, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), perchlorate,
colored water, and N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). The nitrate
and VOC contaminants are located in shallow aquifers. In many
portions of the groundwater basin, shallow water is prevented
from migrating into deeper aquifers due to aquitards (impervious
formations).
NOTE: For information on the North Basin and South Basin
lawsuits and their current dispositions, refer to the
Senate Environmental Quality Committee analysis of
4/23/14.
The NCP process . The NCP defines the organizational structure
and procedures for preparing for and responding to discharges of
oil and releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and
contaminants. The NCP was developed by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in response to CERCLA
amendments of 1980, and by Section 311(d) of the Clean Water
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Act.
The NCP outlines a process for investigating and remediating
federal National Priority List Sites (i.e., federal Superfund
Sites). This process has also been adopted by California EPA
DTSC for State "Superfund" Sites.
The NCP process involves investigating the nature and extent of
contamination (remedial Investigation); conducting a Human
Health Risk Assessment; conducting a Feasibility Study, which
includes developing and evaluating several remedial
alternatives; selecting a proposed remedy; preparing a Proposed
Remedial Action Plan (Proposed Plan); soliciting public and
government agency review and comment on the Proposed Plan; final
remedy selection; and then Remedial Design and Remedial Action
(construction and long-term operation and maintenance).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, unknown, but
likely no more than $140,000 annually (General/special fund) for
the DTSC or the regional board to provide oversight for
groundwater clean-up activities. Costs are likely recoverable
from OCWD through a MOU.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/22/14)
Orange County Business Council (source)
Advanced Medical Technology Association
Anaheim Chamber of Commerce
Association of California Insurance Companies
California Apartment Association
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
California Business Roundtable
California Chamber of Commerce
California Healthcare Institute
Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce
Fullerton Chamber of Commerce
Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce
Irvine Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Orange County Auto Dealers Association
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Orange County Technology Action Network
Orange County Water District
Personal Care Products Council
Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership
South Orange County Economic Coalition
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/22/14)
Navy Region Southwest (unless amended)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The support argues that this bill is
needed to ensure that scarce resources intended for cleaning up
contaminated water supplies do not end up being wasted on
needless litigation.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Navy Region Southwest writes in
opposition, "The Department of the Navy has two major
groundwater remediation projects ongoing in Orange County at the
former Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro and MCAS Tustin.
Both of these are Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) facilities
where the remediation of soil and groundwater is fundamental to
major urban infill projects vital to the local, regional and
state economy.
"These cleanups are well into their third decade and represent a
combined Navy expenditure of $250 million to date. These
cleanups are being done in close cooperation with local, state
and federal agencies and the public. For MCAS El Toro, a
Federal Facility Agreement (FFA) was signed in September 1990.
For MCAS Tustin, a Federal Facility Site Remediation Agreement
(FFSRA) was signed in May 1999. These agreements contain
specific procedures that govern the cleanup including
substantial public participation.
"AB 2712 could introduce a new process affecting these
established cleanups. We are concerned that any possible
efforts to reopen these cleanups through this process could
result in costly delays both in time, money, and impact to the
reuse process."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-1, 5/27/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
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Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande,
Olsen, Pan, Perea, John A. P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk,
Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Gatto
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Lowenthal, Patterson, Quirk-Silva,
Skinner, Vacancy
RM:d 8/25/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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