BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1458
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 17, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
SB 1458 (Committee on Environmental Quality) - As Amended:
June 12, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 35-0
SUBJECT : Hazardous substances.
SUMMARY : Makes technical and non-substantive corrections to
the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) and State Water
Resources Control Board (State Water Board) program authority
for hazardous waste regulation and underground storage tank
programs. Specifically, this bill :
1)Updates references to deleted code sections regarding areas of
sensitive land use. Reinstates language inadvertently removed
in 2012 that prohibits the holding or transfer of hazardous
waste within 500 feet of a home, school, hospital, or day care
center.
2)Deletes hazardous waste exemption statute that sunsetted on
January 1, 2008, and grandfathers in any regulations adopted
prior to 2008.
3)Deposits money received as compensation for investigation or
enforcement expenses and money recovered from an overpaid
expense into the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund.
4)Allows the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund to pay for
loans and specified associated costs for replacing, removing,
or upgrading underground storage tanks to conform to a sunset
clause.
5)Clarifies the types of staff decisions for which a claimant
may seek administrative review under the Underground Storage
Tank Cleanup Fund Act.
6)Exempts field tests, including color, odor, and temperature
from analysis in a laboratory.
7)Makes technical modifications to clean up existing code,
including correcting drafting errors and department
SB 1458
Page 2
reorganizations.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes standards for management and control of hazardous
waste, and authorizes the DTSC to exempt some low risk
hazardous waste management activity from certain permit
conditions.
2)Authorizes a person to apply to the DTSC for a written
variance from a land use restriction imposed on hazardous
waste property if certain requirements are met, including
providing a statement containing information supporting the
grant of a variance.
3)Provides for the regulation of underground storage tanks by
the State Water Board, including a loan and grant program to
assist small businesses in upgrading, replacing, or removing
tanks meeting applicable local, state, or federal standards.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill . SB 1458 is the Senate Environmental Quality
Committee's annual omnibus measure. This bill makes various
technical, non-controversial changes to the governing statute
for hazardous waste control, underground storage tank cleanup,
and water quality. This bill reinstates limits on hazardous
waste management activities in close proximity to homes,
schools, hospitals, and day care centers. It corrects a mistake
made in the 2012 resources trailer bill.
The significant technical changes included in SB 1458 include
the following:
1)In SB 1012 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 39,
Statutes of 2012), repealed provisions of the Health and
Safety Code that were unused and relating to hazardous waste
property and border zone property designations. Remaining
statute contained cross references to sections of the repealed
statute that inadvertently were not amended at the same time.
This is a problem because the repealed section defined certain
"sensitive uses" (homes, schools, hospitals, and day care
SB 1458
Page 3
centers) which are incorporated by reference in other
statutes, thereby creating ambiguity.
The sections of law that reference the repealed statute are
Health and Safety Code (HSC) section 25123.3 (which identifies
transporter transfer activities that can occur without a
hazardous waste facility permit) and section 25150.6 (which
authorizes the DTSC to exempt, by regulation, hazardous waste
management activities from hazardous waste management
requirements). The reference to the repealed section limits
the use of those two sections so that they cannot impact
sensitive land uses. The cross reference also appears in an
enforcement section (� 25196) which, on closer review, should
have been proposed for repeal.
2)Amendments to HSC Section 25299.50 articulate existing law
permitting the deposit of recovered moneys into the
Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund.
3)Amendments to HSC Section 25299.56 clarify the types of staff
decisions for which a claimant may seek administrative review
under the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund Act.
4)Amendments to HSC Section 13176 exempt certain materials,
including dissolved oxygen, chlorine, turbidity, pH, and
temperature, from having to be analyzed by a certified
laboratory. These proposed exemptions in the bill target
field measurements that cannot be readily performed in a
laboratory, which corrects an unintended consequence in the
original language.
5)The 1991 Governor's Reorganization Plan Number One established
the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)
and dictated that environmental risk assessment functions
should be transferred from the (then) Department of Health
Services to OEHHA under the California Environmental
Protection Agency. Although the reorganization went forward,
the Legislature never formally adopted the reorganization or
codified the change in agency responsibility. This bill
codifies that transfer of authority.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
SB 1458
Page 4
None received.
Opposition
None received.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965