California Senate Bill SB955 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 955INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Huff FEBRUARY 4, 2010 An act to amend Section 17210 of the Education Code, relating to school facilities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 955, as introduced, Huff. School facilities: schoolsites. Existing law sets forth various definitions for purposes of certain provisions of existing law dealing with the acquisition of schoolsites. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those definition provisions. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 17210 of the Education Code is amended to read: 17210. As used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings: (a) "Administering agency" means any agency designated pursuant to Section 25502 of the Health and Safety Code. (b) "Environmental assessor" means a class II environmental assessor registered by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment pursuant to Chapter 6.98 (commencing with Section 25570) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, a professional engineer registered in this state, a geologist registered in this state, a certified engineering geologist registered in this state, or a licensed hazardous substance contractor certified pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 7000) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code. A licensed hazardous substance contractor shall hold the equivalent of a degree from an accredited public or private college or university or from a private postsecondary educational institution approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education with at least 60 units in environmental, biological, chemical, physical, or soil science; engineering; geology; environmental or public health; or a directly related science field. In addition,  any   a  person who conducts phase I environmental assessments shall have at least two years' experience in the preparation of those assessments and  any   a  person who conducts a preliminary endangerment assessment shall have at least three years' experience in conducting those assessments. (c) "Handle" has the meaning the term is given in Article 1 (commencing with Section 25500) of Chapter 6.95 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code. (d) "Hazardous air emissions" means emissions into the ambient air of air contaminants that have been identified as a toxic air contaminant by the State Air Resources Board or by the air pollution control officer for the jurisdiction in which the project is located. As determined by the air pollution control officer, hazardous air emissions also means emissions into the ambient air from any substance identified in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, of Section 44321 of the Health and Safety Code. (e) "Hazardous material" has the meaning the term is given in subdivision (d) of Section 25260 of the Health and Safety Code. (f) "Operation and maintenance," "removal action work plan," "respond," "response," "response action," and "site" have the meanings those terms are given in Article 2 (commencing with Section 25310) of  the state act   Chapter 6.8 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code  . (g) "Phase I environmental assessment" means a preliminary assessment of a property to determine whether there has been or may have been a release of a hazardous material, or whether a naturally occurring hazardous material is present, based on reasonably available information about the property and the area in its vicinity. A phase I environmental assessment may include, but is not limited to, a review of public and private records of current and historical land uses, prior releases of a hazardous material, data base searches, review of relevant files of federal, state, and local agencies, visual and other surveys of the property, review of historical aerial photographs of the property and the area in its vicinity, interviews with current and previous owners and operators, and review of regulatory correspondence and environmental reports. Sampling or testing is not required as part of the phase I environmental assessment. A phase I environmental assessment conducted pursuant to the requirements adopted by the American Society for Testing and Materials for due diligence for commercial real estate transactions and that includes a review of all reasonably available records and data bases regarding current and prior gas or oil wells and naturally occurring hazardous materials located on the site or located where they could potentially effect the site, satisfies the requirements of this article for conducting a phase I environmental assessment unless and until the Department of Toxic Substances Control adopts final regulations that establish guidelines for a phase I environmental assessment for purposes of schoolsites that impose different requirements from those imposed by the American Society for Testing and Materials. (h) "Preliminary endangerment assessment" means an activity that is performed to determine whether current or past hazardous material management practices or waste management practices have resulted in a release or threatened release of hazardous materials, or whether naturally occurring hazardous materials are present, which pose a threat to  children's   the health  of children  ,  children's   the  learning abilities  of children , public health  ,  or the environment. A preliminary endangerment assessment requires sampling and analysis of a site, a preliminary determination of the type and extent of hazardous material contamination of the site, and a preliminary evaluation of the risks that the hazardous material contamination of a site may pose to  children's   the  health  of children  , public health, or the environment, and shall be conducted in a manner that complies with the guidelines published by the Department of Toxic Substances Control entitled "Preliminary Endangerment Assessment: Guidance Manual," including any amendments that are determined by the Department of Toxic Substances Control to be appropriate to address issues that are unique to schoolsites. (i) "Proposed schoolsite" means real property acquired or to be acquired or proposed for use as a schoolsite, prior to its occupancy as a school. (j) "Regulated substance" means any material defined in subdivision (g) of Section 25532 of the Health and Safety Code. (k) "Release" has the same meaning the term is given in Article 2 (commencing with Section 25310) of Chapter 6.8 of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, and includes a release described in subdivision (d) of Section 25321 of the Health and Safety Code. (l) "Remedial action plan" means a plan approved by the Department of Toxic Substances Control pursuant to Section 25356.1 of the Health and Safety Code. (m) "State act" means the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act (Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 25300) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code).