BILL NUMBER: AB 2712INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Daly (Principal coauthor: Senator Correa) FEBRUARY 21, 2014 An act to add Chapter 6.655 (commencing with Section 25268.1) to Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous materials. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2712, as introduced, Daly. Hazardous materials: Orange County Water District. (1) Under existing law, the Site Designation Committee in the California Environmental Protection Agency is authorized to designate an administering agency for oversight of a remedial action to a hazardous substance release. Existing law requires the administering agency to supervise the site investigation and remedial action conducted by the responsible party and, upon determining that the site investigation and remedial action has been satisfactorily completed, to issue a certificate of completion to the responsible party. This bill would impose requirements on the Orange County Water District when conducting a remediation project at a hazardous waste release site located in the district and would prohibit the district from implementing a remediation project unless the plan for the proposed remediation project is approved pursuant to the specified procedures. The bill would require the district to develop a plan for a proposed remediation project and to submit the plan, for review and approval, to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, a California regional water quality control board, or a certified unified program agency, as specified. If the regulatory agency does not approve the plan, the bill would allow the district to submit the plan to the site designation committee for review. The site designation committee would be required to disapprove the plan, approve the plan, or conditionally approve the plan. If the regulatory agency disapproves the plan and the plan is not submitted for review, or if the site designation committee disapproves the plan, the bill would prohibit the district from seeking cost recovery from a responsible party for the hazardous materials release site pursuant to specified state and local laws. The bill would also prohibit the district from seeking that cost recovery with regard to the parts of a conditionally approved plan that were revised or deleted by the site designation committee. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by requiring the district and a certified unified program agency to take specified actions. (2) The bill would declare that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution. (3) 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 6.655 (commencing with Section 25268.1) is added to Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, to read: CHAPTER 6.655. ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT REMEDIATION 25268.1. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (a) "CUPA" means a certified unified program agency certified to implement the unified program pursuant to Chapter 6.11 (commencing with section 25404). (b) "Department" means the Department of Toxic Substances Control. (c) "District" means the Orange County Water District, established pursuant to the Orange County Water District Act (Chapter 924 of the Statutes of 1933). (d) "Hazardous materials release site" has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 25260. (e) "Plan" means the plan for the proposed remediation project submitted to the regulatory agency pursuant to Section 25268.2. (f) "Regional board" means a California regional water quality control board. (g) "Regulatory agency" or "appropriate regulatory agency" means the department, or the CUPA or the regional board that is responsible for overseeing the implementation of a remediation project by the district. (h) "Remediation project" means a project that consists of either, or both, of the following: (1) A remedial action, as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 25260. (2) A site investigation, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 25260. (i) "Responsible party" means a person described in subdivision (a) of Section 25323.5 of this code or subdivision (a) of Section 13304 of the Water Code. (j) "Site designation committee" means the committee established pursuant to Section 25261. 25268.2. (a) The district shall comply with the requirements of this chapter when conducting a remediation project at a hazardous materials release site located in the district and shall not implement a remediation project unless the plan for the proposed remediation project is approved by the appropriate regulatory agency pursuant to this section or by the site designation committee pursuant to Section 25268.3. (b) If the board of the district elects to implement a remediation project, the board shall approve the remediation project and notify the appropriate regulatory agency that will be overseeing the district's implementation of the remediation project. (c) The district shall develop a plan for the proposed remediation project and shall submit the plan for the proposed remediation project to the appropriate regulatory agency, for review and approval by the appropriate regulatory agency. (d) (1) If the regulatory agency does not approve the plan, the regulatory agency and the district shall promptly meet and confer to resolve the regulatory agency's objections. (2) If, after conducting the meeting specified in paragraph (1), the regulatory agency does not approve the plan, the district may submit the plan for the proposed remediation project to the site designation committee for review pursuant to Section 25268.3. (3) If the district does not submit the disapproved plan to the site designation committee, the district shall not seek cost recovery from a responsible party for the hazardous materials release site pursuant to the provisions specified in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive of subdivision (a) of Section 25268.4. 25268.3. (a) The site designation committee shall review a plan submitted to it for a proposed remediation project pursuant to the procedures specified in this section. (b) The district and the regulatory agency may present any relevant information to the site designation committee and shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard. (c) After reviewing the plan, the site designation committee shall take one of the following actions, impartially and by a majority vote: (1) Disapprove the plan. (2) Approve the plan. (3) Conditionally approve the plan. The proposed conditions may require the district to revise the plan to delete any part of the plan to which the regulatory agency objected. 25268.4. (a) If the site designation committee disapproves the plan pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 25268.3, the district shall not seek cost recovery from a responsible party for the hazardous materials release site pursuant to any of the following: (1) Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code. (2) Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 25280), Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10), or Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 25300). (3) Any other state or local law imposing liability for cleanup of releases of hazardous materials. (b) If the site designation committee deletes any part of the plan as a condition for approval, pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 25268.3, and the district proceeds with the project as conditionally approved, the district shall not seek cost recovery from a responsible party for the hazardous materials release site pursuant to the provisions specified in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a), with regard to the parts of the plan that were revised or deleted by the site designation committee. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the California regional water quality control board, and the certified unified program agency for the County of Orange have provided and continue to provide oversight for groundwater cleanups at many sites in north and central Orange County, and the Orange County Water District has undertaken investigations and planning for several potential groundwater cleanup projects covering large parts of those same areas, creating the potential for conflicting and inconsistent regulation of businesses and landowners in those parts of Orange County that may be responsible for conducting groundwater investigations and cleanups at their sites. SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district because, in that regard, a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code. However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.