BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 812
Author: De León (D)
Amended: 8/22/14
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 1/15/14
AYES: Hill, Corbett, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Fuller, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-1, 1/23/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Gaines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 4-1, 8/28/14
( Pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10)
AYES: Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NOES: Fuller
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Hancock
SENATE FLOOR : 27-7, 1/28/14
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De
León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill,
Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Liu, Mitchell, Monning, Padilla,
Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Fuller, Huff, Knight, Vidak, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Lieu, Nielsen, Walters, Wright,
Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-23, 8/27/14 - See last page for vote
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SUBJECT : Hazardous waste: facilities permitting
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Toxic Substance
Controls (DTSC) to adopt regulations by January 1, 2017, to
specify conditions for new permits and the renewal of existing
permits, as specified, and establishes deadlines for the
submission and processing of facility applications, as
specified.
Assembly Amendments revise and recast the DTSC permitting
process and public participation requirements for hazardous
waste facilities including: require the owner or operator of a
facility to submit complete Part A and Part B applications for a
permit renewal at least two years prior to the expiration date
of the permit; require the DTSC, under specified circumstances,
to request an owner or operator of a hazardous waste facility to
submit to the DTSC for review and approval, a written cost
estimate to cover activities associated with a corrective
action, as specified; require a person to pay for oversight of
any corrective action required of the person with respect to
hazardous waste; establish, until January 1, 2020, the DTSC
Community Oversight Committee within the DTSC; and make other
conforming changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Requires facilities handling hazardous waste to obtain a
permit from the DTSC. Requires an owner or operator of a
facility intending to renew the facility's permit to submit a
complete Part A application for a permit renewal prior to the
expiration of the permit.
2. Requires the owner or operator to submit a complete Part B
application when requested by the DTSC. Requires the DTSC to
issue a permit if the facility meets specified requirements.
3. Requires the DTSC, in the case of a release of hazardous
waste or constituents into the environment from a hazardous
waste facility that is required to obtain a permit, to pursue
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available remedies, including the issuance of an order for
corrective action, before using available legal remedies,
except in specified circumstances.
4. Authorizes, under the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous
Substance Account Act (Act), the DTSC to take or oversee
removal and remedial actions related to the release of
hazardous substances.
5. Authorizes the Attorney General (AG) to recover from the
liable person, as defined, the costs incurred by the DTSC or
a California regional water quality control board in carrying
out the Act and requires that any monetary obligation owed to
the DTSC pursuant to the Act or the hazardous waste control
laws be subject to a specified rate of interest earned in the
Surplus Money Investment Fund.
This bill:
1. Requires the owner or operator of a facility to submit
complete Part A and Part B applications for a permit renewal
at least two years prior to the expiration date of the
permit.
2. Requires the DTSC to issue a final permit decision for an
application for permit renewal within 36 months of the
expiration of the facility's permit. Deems an application
for permit renewal be denied if a final permit decision has
not been issued for the application within that time period
3. Requires the DTSC, under specified circumstances, to request
an owner or operator of a hazardous waste facility to submit
to the DTSC for review and approval a written cost estimate
to cover activities associated with a corrective action based
on available data, history of releases, and site activities,
as specified.
4. Requires the owner or operator to submit the corrective
action cost estimate within 60 days of the DTSC's request.
Requires the owner or operator, within 90 days of the
approval of the corrective action cost estimate, to fund the
cost estimate or enter into a schedule of compliance for
assurances of financial responsibility for completing the
corrective action.
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5. Requires a person to pay for oversight of any corrective
action required of the person with respect to hazardous
waste, and authorizes the recovery by the AG of costs
incurred with regard to carrying out or overseeing a removal
action, a remedial action, or a corrective action under the
Act or under the hazardous waste control laws.
6. Requires any monetary obligation owed to the DTSC under the
Act or these laws to accrue interest at the same rate as the
modified adjusted rate per annum imposed for underpayments of
sales and use taxes to the state.
7. Establishes, until January 1, 2020, the DTSC Community
Oversight Committee (Committee) within the DTSC and requires
the Committee to make recommendations to the DTSC to increase
public participation in, and the transparency of, the DTSC's
decision making, and to serve as a resource and liaison for
communities and residents in communication with the DTSC.
8. Requires the Committee to be comprised of thirteen members
appointed by California Environmental Protection Agency (five
members), Senate Rules Committee (four members) and Speaker
of the Assembly (four members). Members of the Committee
receive per diem and serve at the pleasure of the respective
appointing authorities.
9. Requires the DTSC, by July 1, 2017, to develop and implement
programmatic reforms designed to improve the protectiveness,
timeliness, legal defensibility, and enforceability of the
DTSC's permitting program.
Background
DTSC Permitting Renewal Process . Title 22, California Codes of
Regulations, Section 66270.10(h) requires "Any hazardous waste
management facility with an effective permit shall submit a new
application at least 180 days before the expiration date of the
effective permit, unless permission for a later date has been
granted by the DTSC. DTSC shall not grant permission for
applications to be submitted later than the expiration date of
the existing permit." To ensure completion of the permit
renewal application at least 180 days before the expiration date
of the effective permit, it is recommended that the renewal
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application be submitted at least one year before the expiration
date of the permit. Current applicants who apply to renew
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act permits, where the
renewal application contains significant changes in the
facility's operation (equal to a Class 3 Permit modification),
must hold an informal preapplication meeting. Permit renewals
must meet all of the land use and permitting requirements for
obtaining a new permit.
Exide Technologies . Exide Technologies is an American
manufacturer of lead-acid batteries, including automotive
batteries and industrial batteries. Its four global business
groups (Transportation Americas, Transportation Europe and Rest
of World, Industrial Power Americas, and Industrial Power Europe
and Rest of World) provide stored electrical energy products and
services.
Exide's global headquarters are located in Milton, Georgia. It
has both manufacturing and recycling plants.
Equipment used in the battery recycling process includes
machines to break batteries apart and separate different
materials, furnaces and kettles to melt metals, and
miscellaneous equipment including storage tanks, conveying
equipment, and engines. Exide operates numerous pieces of
control equipment to reduce pollution including baghouses, dust
collectors, and filters for reducing dust and metals; and
scrubbers, mist eliminators, and an afterburner, which remove
pollution from gases.
Exide has five "secondary lead" smelters or recyclers, only two
of which - Forest City, Missouri, and Muncie, Indiana - are
operating.
However, at the Muncie, Indiana plant, Exide settled a notice of
violation and signed an agreed order with the Indiana Department
of Environmental Management that calls for fines if it does not
meet specified cleanup conditions involving brown-colored, lead
contaminated water along a storage area and rail spur near a
ditch leading to a stormwater outfall.
Exide closed its smelter in Frisco, Texas, in 2012 after a
lengthy battle by the city and residents over lead and arsenic
pollution coming from the site. The plant ceased operations
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November 30, 2012, as part of an agreement with the city. The
agreement calls for the City of Frisco to purchase about 170
acres of buffer land from Exide for $45 million. Exide will
keep the 90 acres used for its operations. The deal is
contingent on complete cleanup. Preliminary estimates peg
cleanup costs at anywhere from $15 million to more than $130
million. However, over a year after the plant closed, Exide has
not fully characterized the extent of the contamination or
cleanup. An article by the Dallas Morning News, states that
"efforts the past year have been complicated by Exide's
bankruptcy filing in June."
Exide, Vernon, California . The Exide facility in Vernon,
California is one of two secondary lead smelting facilities in
California which recovers lead from recycled automotive
batteries. It has over 100 employees. It recycles 23,000 to
41,000 batteries daily and has an average production of 100,000
to 120,000 tons of lead per year. This is equivalent to
recycling approximately 11 million car batteries, which is about
the same number of used batteries generated in California
annually.
Battery recycling recycles 97% of the battery lead to be
recycled.
Exide also recovers lead from lead bearing plant scrap and
secondary materials, primarily from lead-acid battery
manufacturers.
This facility is regulated by various local and state regulatory
agencies.
DTSC regulates companies that handle hazardous waste under
federal and state hazardous waste laws. DTSC permits and
inspects facilities, issues violations of hazardous waste rules,
and monitors corrective action at sites.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District regulates
Exide's air emissions, in part with what is called a Title V
permit, which allows the company to release pollutants into the
air up to certain levels.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB)
is responsible for protecting water quality. Exide has
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wastewater treatment systems, and a stormwater system that
includes a retention basin. LARWQCB with the State Water
Resources Control Board set and enforce standards for water that
flows away from Exide's property into the sewer.
The City of Vernon issues health and other permits to Exide.
Related Legislation
SB 712 (Lara) establishes deadlines for DTSC to take final
action on permit applications from hazardous waste facilities
operating under an interim status grant.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
Increased costs to DTSC from the Hazardous Waste Control
Account (HWCA) of approximately $1.2 million to administer and
staff the Citizens Oversight Committee. This bill requires
the Committee to operate independently from DTSC.
Increased costs to DTSC from the HWCA of approximately $1.1
million to meet permit renewal processing deadlines.
Increased costs to DTSC from the HWCA of approximately
$600,000 to implement financial assurance provisions.
Increased costs to DTSC from the HWCA of approximately
$450,000 to post expanded information on the Web site
(English) and provide pre-permit public notice and comment
periods.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/28/14)
California Environmental Justice Alliance
Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
City of Los Angeles
Coalition for Clean Air
Communities for a Better Environment
Concerned Neighbors of Wildomar
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
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Environmental Working Group
Natural Resources Defense Council
Neighbors Against Phibro-Tech
People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights
People's Senate
Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles
Residents Against Phibro-Tech
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/28/14)
California Business Properties Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
California Metals Coalition
Chemical Industry Council of California
Clean Harbors
Consumer Specialty Products Association
Industrial Environmental Association
Metal Finishing Association of No Cal
Metal Finishing Association of So Cal
Western Plant Health Association
Western States Petroleum Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-23, 8/27/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez,
Gonzalez, Gordon, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer,
Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Pan, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Donnelly, Fox,
Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Jones, Linder, Logue,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk-Silva,
Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Buchanan, Dahle, Daly, Frazier, Gray, Harkey,
Perea, Rodriguez, Vacancy
RM:d 8/28/14 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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