Assigned to NREW FOR COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, Second Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2410
environmental programs; amendments
Purpose
Alters and repeals specified programs administered by the Arizona Department of
Environmental Quality (ADEQ). Conveys specified land from ADEQ to the Arizona Department
of Administration (ADOA).
Background
ADEQ must administer various programs, including: 1) the Dust-Free Developments
Program, which provides a voluntary certification process to recognize persons and entities that
demonstrate exceptional commitment to airborne dust reduction in specified counties; and 2) a
program to improve air quality through promoting technological development, innovation, testing
and certification (A.R.S. §§ 49-457.02 and 49-554).
ADEQ also issues permits. A general permit for disposal in vadose zone injection wells of
storm water mixed with reclaimed wastewater, groundwater or both from man-made bodies of
water associated with golf courses, parks and residential common areas, provided that, among
other requirements, the injection wells are registered as a dry well. A vadose zone is the zone
between the ground surface and any aquifer (A.R.S. §§ 49-201 and 49-245.02). Underground
injection is the subsurface emplacement of fluids by well injection, excluding the underground
injection of natural gas for purposes of storage and the underground injection of fluids or propping
agents, other than diesel fuels, pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas or
geothermal production activities (42 U.S.C. § 300h). A dry well is a well which is a bored, drilled
or driven shaft or hole whose depth is greater than its width and is designed and constructed
specifically for the disposal of storm water. Dry wells do not include class 1 through class 4
injection wells. A person who brings a dry well into operation or owns an existing dry well that is
or has been used for disposal must register the well with ADEQ and pay a registration fee (A.R.S.
§§ 49-331 and 49-332).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this
legislation.
Provisions
Wells
1. Requires, for a general permit to be issued for disposal in a vadose zone injection well, the well
to be inventoried pursuant to the Underground Injection Control Program under federal
regulations or state rules approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA),
rather than being registered as a dry well. FACT SHEET
H.B. 2410
Page 2
2. Stipulates that wells are not subject to the requirement that all aquifers in Arizona be classified
for drinking water protected use if the well is authorized by:
a) rule;
b) a permit issued pursuant to underground injection control statute; or
c) a permit issued by the U.S. EPA.
Conveyance of Land from ADEQ to ADOA
3. Conveys, from ADEQ to ADOA, clear title to a specified square mile of real property in
Maricopa County.
4. Requires ADEQ and ADOA to execute documents and take other actions reasonably necessary
to complete the conveyance of ownership of the real property.
5. Stipulates that statute relating to the acquisition of real property does not apply to the
conveyance from ADEQ to ADOA.
Air Quality
6. Allows, rather than requires, ADEQ to develop a program to improve air quality through
vehicle emissions reduction by:
a) expediting testing and certification of technological developments;
b) developing incentives to encourage development and innovation of technologies; and
c) establishing a board with technical expertise to assist developers of promising technologies
with emission certification processes of the California Air Resources Board and U.S. EPA.
7. Removes the Governor's Energy Office from the entities that assist ADEQ in the development
of the air quality improvement program.
8. Allows, rather than requires, ADEQ to adopt rules for air pollution emission standards in
counties with a population of more than 1,200,000 persons for:
a) off-road vehicles and engines marketed in Arizona beginning with the 1999 model year;
and
b) golf cart engines.
9. Removes the specification that the 1,200,000 minimum population for the requirement of
ADEQ air pollution emission standards be determined according to the most recent U.S.
decennial census.
Conditional Effective Date (Retroactive to June 30, 2022)
10. Delays, from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2024, the conditional effective date for legislation that
would allow gasoline, to meet requirements for use in counties with 1,200,000 or more persons
to:
a) be a blend other than a gasoline-ethanol blend; and
b) contain at least 2.7 percent by weight of oxygen but less than the maximum percentage of
oxygen allowed by provisions of a waiver issued or other limits established by the U.S.
EPA. FACT SHEET
H.B. 2410
Page 3
11. Delays, from October 1, 2022, to October 1, 2024, the deadline by which the ADEQ Director
must notify the Arizona Legislative Council Director:
a) of the date on which the conditional effective date was met; or
b) that the condition was not met.
Contaminant and Waste Management
12. Specifies that, to require a property owner who has left contamination on the owner's property
that exceeds residential standards to record a declaration of environmental use restriction, the
property must be at a site remediated under programs, settlements or orders administered by
ADEQ.
13. Removes the requirement that the Hazardous Waste Management Fund be used for:
a) reimbursing appropriations received for FY 1992 to the state General Fund; and
b) remediating properties that have been reported to the State Board of Technical Registration
before August 6, 2016, if there is evidence that the property owner did not comply with
Arizona law for removal of the gross contamination on the property.
Statutory Repeals
14. Repeals the Dust-Free Developments Program.
15. Repeals statute pertaining to dry wells that:
a) requires a person to bring a dry well into operation or who owns an existing dry well that
is or has been used for 3disposal to register the well with, and pay a fee to, ADEQ;
b) allows dry well registration fees to be used through the Water Quality Fee Fund;
c) outlines requirements and permissive authorities of the ADEQ Director pertaining to dry
well registration and establishment;
d) outlines requirements for the installation, construction or modification of a dry well;
e) prohibits dry wells from being used for the disposal of hazardous substances or oil;
f) outlines enforcement procedures for violations of dry well requirements;
g) exempts dry wells used in conjunction with golf course maintenance from dry well
registration requirements; and
h) defines related terms.
16. Repeals statute pertaining to the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel that:
a) allows a person or entity to use the fuel in vehicles that are retrofitted with oxidation
catalysts and particulate filters in the person or entity's fleet in defined areas;
b) outlines requirements of ADEQ pertaining to the fuel's use; and
c) defines ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel.
17. Repeals session law that:
a) requires, by December 31, 2003, the ADEQ Director to establish a daily visibility index
for evaluating and reporting current visibility conditions and progress toward visibility
improvement goals in specified areas of Maricopa County, Pinal County and Yavapai
County;
b) outlines requirements for, and the purposes of, the visibility index; and
c) defines blue sky day. FACT SHEET
H.B. 2410
Page 4
Miscellaneous
18. Makes technical and conforming changes.
19. Becomes effective on the general effective date, with retroactive provisions as noted.
House Action
NREW 2/15/22 DPA 12-0-0-0
3
rd
Read 2/23/22 59-0-1
Prepared by Senate Research
March 7, 2022
RC/slp