(1) Existing law provides that the Department of Toxic Substances Control regulates the handling and management of hazardous substances, materials, and waste. Existing law requires the department to, among other things, issue hazardous waste facilities permits to facilities handling hazardous waste and to enforce the requirements of the hazardous waste control laws.
This bill would create the Board of Environmental Safety in the California Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would provide requirements for the membership of the board and would require the board to conduct no less than 6 public meetings per year. The bill would provide for the duties of the board, which would include, among others, reviewing specified policies, processes, and programs within the hazardous waste control laws; proposing statutory, regulatory, and policy changes; and hearing and deciding appeals of hazardous waste facility permit decisions.
(2) Existing law requires the department to prepare and adopt a state hazardous waste management plan with certain elements, to be reviewed annually and revised at least every 3 years. Existing law requires the plan to be prepared in conjunction with, and to take into account, hazardous waste management plans adopted by counties and regional councils of governments. Existing law requires the department to conduct at least 2 public workshops, as provided, as part of the preparation and adoption of the plan.
This bill would require the department to prepare the plan and present it to the board for approval. The bill would revise and add to the elements required to be in the plan, would repeal the requirement described above relating to hazardous waste management plans adopted by counties and regional councils of governments, and would require the department to conduct at least 3 public workshops, as provided.
The bill would require the department, on or before March 1, 2020, to post on its internet website the Spatial Prioritization Geographic Information Tool in order to provide the public with information on the location of contaminated groundwater in the state.
(3) Existing law imposes various fees, including a disposal fee, generator fee, and facility fee, that are deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account and that, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the department, are authorized to be expended for, among other things, the administration and implementation of the hazardous waste control laws.
Existing law establishes the Toxic Substances Control Account in the General Fund and requires that specified funds be deposited in that account, including the charge imposed on organizations that use, generate, store, or conduct activities in this state related to hazardous materials, and penalties imposed pursuant to the hazardous waste control laws or the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act. Existing law authorizes the appropriation of funds from the Toxic Substances Control Account to the department for specified purposes, including, among other things, site remediation and response costs.
This bill would require the Secretary for Environmental Protection to convene a fee task force with specified membership to review the existing fee structure supporting the Hazardous Waste Control Account and the funding structure supporting the Toxic Substances Control Account. The bill would require the Secretary to provide recommendations to the Legislature by January 10, 2021, as part of the Governor's Budget, on a fee system for the Hazardous Waste Control Account and a funding structure for the Toxic Substances Control Account, as provided.
(4) Existing law requires a facility handling hazardous waste to obtain a hazardous waste facilities permit from the department. Existing law requires the department to impose certain conditions on each hazardous waste facilities permit and authorizes the department to impose other conditions on a hazardous waste facilities permit, as specified. Existing law prohibits department from issuing or renewing a permit to operate a hazardous waste facility unless the owner or operator of the facility establishes and maintains financial assurances.
This bill would require the department to review, at least once every 5 years, the financial assurances required to operate a hazardous waste facility and the cost estimates used to establish the amount of financial assurances required. If the department's review finds that the cost estimates forming the basis for the financial assurances for a facility are inadequate, the bill would require the department to notify the owner or operator of the facility and would require the owner or operator to update the cost estimates and to adopt adequate financial assurances using the updated cost estimates within 90 days of notification from the department.
(5) Existing law 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. Existing law requires the owner or operator to submit a complete Part B application when requested by the department. Existing law, when a complete Part A renewal application, and any other requested information, has been submitted before the end of a permit's fixed term, deems the permit extended until the renewal application is approved or denied and the owner or operator has exhausted all applicable rights of appeal. Existing law requires the department to issue a permit if the facility meets specified requirements.
This bill would require the department to issue a final decision on a permit within 12 months of the expiration of the permit, or within 5 years of the expiration of a permit that expires between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2021, and for which an application for renewal was submitted at least 180 days before the expiration of the permit. If the department has not issued a final permit decision by the applicable deadline, the bill would require the department to, among other things, issue a report, to be released publicly, that includes the reasons why the final permit decision was not made on time and a proposed schedule for issuing the final permit decision. The bill would require the department, after preparation of a report, to do certain things, including requesting that the board schedule a hearing for the department to present the report.
The bill would require, for a hazardous waste facilities permit that will expire on or before January 1, 2022, the owner or operator of a facility intending to extend the term of that permit to submit a Part A and Part B application for a permit renewal at least 6 months before the fixed term of the permit expires. The bill would require, for a hazardous waste facilities permit that will expire after January 1, 2022, the owner or operator to submit a Part A and Part B application for a permit renewal at least 2 years before the fixed term of the permit expires. The bill would provide that, if a Part A and Part B renewal application and any other requested information has been submitted in accord with these requirements, the permit is deemed extended until the application is approved or denied and the owner has exhausted all applicable rights of appeal.
The bill would require the department, no later than 90 days after receiving an application for a hazardous waste facilities permit, to post on its internet website a timeline with the estimated dates of key milestones in the application review process, to note on its internet website that these dates are estimates, and to update the dates as needed. The bill would require the department, on or before March 31, 2020, to post a timeline with those estimated dates for a hazardous waste facility permit application under review as of January 1, 2020.
(6) Existing law requires an applicant for a final hazardous waste facilities permit who receives a notice of deficiency from the department concerning the permit application to submit the information specified in the notice of deficiency by a specified date.
The bill would require that an applicant not be required to submit a full application, but only that information that is required within the department's notice of deficiency, when submitting information pursuant to a notice of deficiency. The bill would require the department to review the information and determine if it is complete within 60 days of receipt of the information.
(7) Existing law requires the department, in the case of a release of hazardous waste or hazardous waste constituents into the environment from a hazardous waste facility that is required to obtain a permit, to pursue available remedies, including the issuance of an order for corrective action, before using available legal remedies, except in specified circumstances. A violation of the hazardous waste control law is a crime.
This bill would require the department, under specified circumstances, to request an owner or operator of a hazardous waste facility to submit to the department 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. The bill would require the owner or operator to submit the corrective action cost estimate within 60 days of the department's request. The bill would require the owner or operator, within 90 days of the approval of the imposition of a corrective action cost estimate, as specified, to fund the cost estimate or enter into a schedule of compliance for assurances of financial responsibility for completing the corrective action. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(8) Existing law establishes the Hazardous Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Treatment Research and Demonstration Act of 1985 and requires the department to establish a Hazardous Waste Technology, Research, Development, and Demonstration Program, consisting of specified elements, including, among other things, contracting with, and providing grants to, universities, governmental agencies, and private organizations for the research and development of hazardous waste reduction, recycling, or treatment technologies. Existing law provides that the department's duty to implement the act is contingent upon, and limited to, the availability of funding, except for a certain requirement imposed on generators of hazardous waste.
This bill would repeal the provision making implementation of the act contingent upon, and limited to, the availability of funding on January 1, 2022.
(9) Existing law establishes the Pollution Prevention and Hazardous Waste Source Reduction and Management Review Act and creates the California Pollution Prevention Advisory Committee, with specified membership and duties. The act authorizes the department to establish a technical and research program to assist businesses in identifying and applying pollution prevention methods, to establish a technical assistance and outreach program to promote implementation of model pollution prevention measures for priority business categories, and to provide pollution prevention and training resources. Existing law provides that the department's duty to implement the act is contingent upon, and limited to, the availability of funding, except for requirements in the act imposed on generators.
This bill would repeal the provision making implementation of the act contingent upon, and limited to, the availability of funding on January 1, 2022.
(10) Existing law, as part of the hazardous waste control laws, requires a facility handling hazardous waste to apply for and obtain a hazardous waste facilities permit from the department. Existing law requires a person who applies for, or requests, among other things, a hazardous waste facilities permit or a renewal of an existing hazardous waste facilities permit, to enter into a written agreement with the department to reimburse the department for the costs incurred by the department in processing the application or responding to the request, as provided. Existing law requires that agreement to provide for at least 25% of the reimbursement to be made in advance of the processing of the application or the response to the request.
This bill would exempt from that requirement relating to advanced reimbursement an agreement entered into by a facility operated by a federal agency.
(11) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Statutes affected:
AB995: 25135.9 HSC, 25200 HSC, 25200.8 HSC, 25205 HSC, 25205.7 HSC, 25244.01 HSC, 25244.13.1 HSC
02/21/19 - Introduced: 25135.9 HSC, 25200 HSC, 25200.8 HSC, 25205 HSC, 25205.7 HSC, 25244.01 HSC, 25244.13.1 HSC
05/16/19 - Amended Assembly: 25135.9 HSC, 25200 HSC, 25200.8 HSC, 25205 HSC, 25205.7 HSC, 25244.01 HSC, 25244.13.1 HSC
09/06/19 - Amended Senate: 25135.9 HSC, 25200 HSC, 25200.8 HSC, 25205 HSC, 25205.7 HSC, 25244.01 HSC, 25244.13.1 HSC