BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 429
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 3, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   SB 429 (Hernandez) - As Amended:  June 6, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                             Environmental  
          Safety       Vote:                            7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY   

          This bill extends the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority  
          (Authority) from July 1, 2017 to July 1, 2030.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible state costs.

          The Authority estimates the ability to extend the operating  
          agreement until 2030 may result in an increase of hundreds of  
          millions of dollars in funding from potentially responsible  
          parties (PRPs) and others for cleanup projects.

           COMMENTS

          1)Rationale.   The San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Act and  
            Authority was established in 1992 to, among other duties,  
            implement groundwater cleanup through a cooperative agreement  
            with the US EPA.   According to the author, PRPs and US EPA  
            continue negotiating settlement agreements to obtain and  
            allocate water treatment and remediation funding.  The Author  
            and the Authority are concerned that PRPs and federal agencies  
            may not be willing to enter final terms and conditions with an  
            agency that may change or sunset in three years.
             
             The Department of Toxic Substance Control and the Los Angeles  
            Regional Water Quality Control Board are also participating in  
            this groundwater clean-up agreement and concur that extending  
            the sunset date will put the Authority in a better negotiating  
            position.  









                                                                  SB 429
                                                                  Page  2

           2)Background.   The San Gabriel Valley is a suburban, portion of  
            Los Angeles County with over one million residents in an  
            approximately 170 square-mile area.  Four areas of groundwater  
            contamination in the San Gabriel Valley have been placed on  
            the US EPA's National Priorities List.  The South El Monte  
            cleanup project is part of the San Gabriel Valley Area 1  
            Superfund Site established to address contaminated groundwater  
            under the cities of South El Monte, El Monte, and Rosemead.    

             The groundwater contamination is the result of decades of  
            improper chemical handling and disposal practices by hundreds  
            of industrial facilities.  Primary chemical contaminants in  
            the Site's groundwater are tetrachloroethene (PERC) and  
            trichloroethene (TCE), both industrial solvents; 1, 4-dioxane,  
            used as a stabilizer in chlorinated industrial solvents; and  
            perchlorate, used in fireworks and rocket fuel.  EPA's ongoing  
            remedy includes extracting and treating contaminated  
            groundwater.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081