California Senate Bill SB1249 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1249AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 4, 2014 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2014 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 10, 2014 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2014 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 2014 INTRODUCED BY Senator Hill FEBRUARY 20, 2014 An act to add Sections 25150.9, 25150.9.1, and 25150.9.2 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1249, as amended, Hill. Hazardous waste: shredder waste. (1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 requires materials that require special handling, as defined, to be removed from major appliances and vehicles in which they are contained before crushing for transport or transferring to a baler or shredder for recycling. The hazardous waste control laws prohibit a person who is not a certified appliance recycler from removing materials that require special handling from major appliances and imposes specified requirements regarding transporting, delivering, or selling discarded major appliances to a scrap recycling facility. The  department   Department of Toxic Substances Control  is authorized to grant a variance from the requirements of the hazardous waste control laws, under specified conditions and if the department makes one of specified findings. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2017, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, in consultation with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Water Resources Control Board, and affected local air quality management districts, to adopt regulations establishing alternative management standards for  a  metal shredding  facility   facilities  for hazardous waste management activities within the jurisdiction of the Department of Toxic Substances Control, that would apply in lieu of the hazardous waste management standards if the department performs specified actions. The bill would include among those department actions preparing a preliminary analysis and a final analysis evaluating the hazardous waste management activities to which the alternative management standards would apply. The bill would require the department to provide notice that it proposes to adopt alternative management standards. The bill would prohibit the department from adopting alternative management standards that are less stringent than applicable standards under federal  law and would require treated metal shredder waste to be disposed of in a specified manner. The   law.   The bill would require the disposal of treated metal shredder waste to be regulated pursuant to the hazardous waste control laws, unless the department adopts those alterative management standards and would authorize treated metal shredder waste to be used as alternative daily cover or for beneficial reuse or placed in a specified disposal unit, if the alterative management standards result in the treated metal shredder waste being classified as nonhazardous waste. The  bill would require the department to complete the analysis of the hazardous waste management activities and the subsequent regulatory action before January 1, 2017, and would make all hazardous waste determinations and policies, procedures, or guidance issued by the department before January 1, 2014, relating to metal shredder waste or treated metal shredder waste inoperative once the department has completed that analysis and either rescinds the conditional nonhazardous waste classification of that waste or adopts alternative management standards pursuant to this bill. Because a violation of these requirements would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the department to collect an annual fee from metal shredding facilities at a rate sufficient to cover the costs of the department to implement these provisions. (2) 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. 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. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Before 1984, all metal shredder waste was considered not to be hazardous waste and was disposed of or used as alternative daily cover in municipal solid waste landfills. (b) In 1984, due to the adoption of new state hazardous waste regulations, metal shredder waste was classified as a non-RCRA hazardous waste, or California hazardous waste, due to the presence of lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc at levels above the state's regulatory thresholds, as well as polychlorinated biphenyls in concentrations that, on some occasions, exceeded either the federal or the California regulatory thresholds, or both. (c) Between 1986 and 1992, the Toxic Substances Control Division of the  State  Department of Health Services, which was the predecessor to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), issued conditional nonhazardous waste classifications pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 66260.200 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations, also referred to as "f letters," to seven shredder facilities in California that treated their metal shredder waste to stabilize the metals in the waste and reduce their solubility. Once a facility operator received a nonhazardous waste classification, treated metal shredder waste was no longer regulated as a hazardous waste. (d) In early 2001, DTSC began an initiative to evaluate the adequacy of the metal shredder waste policy and compliance with the conditional nonhazardous waste classifications, which included new sampling and analysis. The draft report from that initiative recommended rescinding the conditional nonhazardous waste classifications. (e) In 2008, DTSC sent letters to operators of metal shredder facilities expressing the department's intention to repeal the conditional authorization that allows metal shredder waste to be classified as a nonhazardous waste. However, DTSC did not rescind the conditional waste classifications. (f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the conditional nonhazardous waste classifications, as documented through the historical "f letters," be revoked and that metal shredding facilities be thoroughly evaluated and regulated to ensure adequate protection of the human health and the environment. SEC. 2. Section 25150.9 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 25150.9. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that this section is intended to address the unique circumstances associated with the operation of metal shredding facilities, and the generation and management of wastes generated by metal shredding facilities. The Legislature further declares that this section does not set a precedent applicable to the management, including disposal, of other hazardous wastes. (b) For purposes of this section, "metal shredding facility" means an operation that uses a shredding technique to process end-of-life vehicles, appliances, and other forms of scrap metal to facilitate the separation and sorting of ferrous metals, nonferrous metals, and other recyclable materials from nonrecyclable materials that are components of the end-of-life vehicles, appliances, and other forms of scrap  metal objects.   metal.  "Metal shredding facility" does not include a feeder yard, a metal crusher, or a metal baler, if that facility does not otherwise conduct metal shredding operations. (c) The department, in consultation with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Water Resources Control Board, and affected local air quality management districts, may adopt regulations establishing management standards for metal shredding facilities for hazardous waste management activities within the department's jurisdiction as an alternative to the requirements specified in this chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter, if the department does all of the following: (1) Prepares an analysis of the activities to which the alternative management standards will apply pursuant to subdivision (d). The department shall first prepare the analysis as a preliminary analysis and make it available to the public at the same time that the department gives notice, pursuant to Section 11346.4 of the Government Code, that it proposes to adopt the alternative management standards. The department shall include in the notice a statement that the department has prepared a preliminary analysis and a statement concerning where a copy of the preliminary analysis can be obtained. The information in the preliminary analysis shall be updated and the department shall make the analysis available to the public as a final analysis not less than 10 working days before the date that the regulation is adopted. (2) Demonstrates at least one of the conclusions set forth in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (e). (3) Imposes, as may be necessary, conditions and limitations as part of the alternative management standards that ensure that the hazardous waste management activity to which the alternative management standards will apply will not pose a significant potential hazard to human health or safety or to the environment. (d) Before the department gives notice of a proposal to adopt the alternative management standards pursuant to subdivision (c), and before the department adopts the regulation, the department shall evaluate the operative environmental and public health regulatory oversight of metal shredding facilities, identifying activities that need to be addressed by the alternative management standards, or other advisable regulatory or statutory changes, and shall evaluate the hazardous waste management activities and prepare, as required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), an analysis that addresses all of the following aspects of the activity, to the extent that the alternative management standards can affect these aspects of the activity: (1) The types of hazardous waste and the estimated amounts of each hazardous waste that are managed as part of the activity and the hazards to human health or safety or to the environment posed by reasonably foreseeable mismanagement of those hazardous wastes and their hazardous constituents. The estimate of the amounts of each hazardous waste that are managed as part of the activity shall be based upon information reasonably available to the department. (2) The complexity of the activity, and the amount and complexity of operator training, equipment installation and maintenance, and monitoring that are required to ensure that the activity is conducted in a manner that safely and effectively manages each hazardous waste. (3) The chemical or physical hazards that are associated with the activity and the degree to which those hazards are similar to, or different from, the chemical or physical hazards that are associated with the production processes that are carried out in the facilities that produce the hazardous waste that is managed as part of the activity. (4) The types of accidents that might reasonably be foreseen to occur during the management of particular types of hazardous waste streams as part of the activity, the likely consequences of those accidents, and the reasonably available actual accident history associated with the activity. (5) The types of locations where the activity may be carried out, an estimate of the number of these locations, and the types of hazards that may be posed by proximity to the land uses described in Section 25227. The estimate of the number of locations where the activity may be carried out shall be based upon information reasonably available to the department. (e) The department shall not give notice proposing the adoption of, and the department shall not adopt, a regulation pursuant to subdivision (c) unless it first demonstrates at least one of the following, using the information developed in the analysis prepared pursuant to subdivision (d): (1) The requirements that the alternative management standards replace are not significant or important in either of the following situations: (A) Preventing or mitigating potential hazards to human health or safety or to the environment posed by the activity. (B) Ensuring that the activity is conducted in compliance with other applicable requirements of this chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. (2) A requirement is imposed and enforced by another public agency that provides protection of human health and safety and the environment that is as effective as, and equivalent to, the protection provided by the requirement, or requirements, that the alternative management standards replace. (3) Conditions or limitations imposed as part of the alternative management standards will provide protection of human health and safety and the environment equivalent to the requirement, or requirements, that the alternative management standards replace. (4) Conditions or limitations imposed as part of the alternative management standards accomplish the same regulatory purpose as the requirement, or requirements, that the alternative management standards replace, but at less cost or with greater administrative convenience, and without increasing potential risks to human health or safety or to the environment. (f) The department shall not adopt alternative management standards pursuant to this section if those standards are less stringent than the standards that would otherwise apply under the federal act. (g) Nothing in the alternative management standards authorized by this section is intended to duplicate or conflict with other laws, rules, or regulations adopted by other state agencies or affected local air quality management districts. The department shall, as much as possible, align the alternative management standards with the laws, rules, and regulations of other state agencies or affected local air quality management districts. (h) The owner or operator of a metal shredding facility that may be subject to the alternative management standards shall provide to the department all information and data determined by the department to be relevant to the evaluation and preparation of the analysis required by paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (d). (i) The alternative management standards adopted by the department pursuant to this section may, to the extent it is consistent with the standards that would otherwise apply under the federal act, allow for treated metal shredder waste to be classified and managed as nonhazardous waste, provided that the analysis prepared pursuant to subdivision (d) demonstrates that classification and management as hazardous waste is not necessary to prevent or mitigate potential hazards to human health or safety or to the environment posed by the treated metal shredder waste. (j) (1) The disposal of treated metal shredder waste shall be regulated pursuant to this chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter, unless alternative management standards are adopted by the department pursuant to this section. (2) If the alternative management standards adopted by the department pursuant to this section result in treated metal shredder waste being classified as nonhazardous waste, the material may be managed in either of the following manners: (A) It may be used as alternative daily cover or for beneficial reuse pursuant to Section 41781.3 of the Public Resources Code and the regulations adopted to implement that section. (B) It may be placed in a unit that meets the waste discharge requirements issued pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code that allow for discharges of designated waste, as defined in Section 13173 of the Water Code, or of treated metal shredder waste. (3) This section does not limit the  disposal or  use of treated metal shredder waste as alternative daily cover pursuant to Section 41781.3 of the Public Resources Code and the regulations adopted to implement that section, or for other authorized beneficial uses if  that use   that disposal or use is at a facility meeting the requirements of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2),  is made under the authority of the hazardous waste determinations governing metal shredder waste issued by the department before January 1, 2014, and  that use  is  made  before the department does either of the following: (A) Rescinds the conditional nonhazardous waste classifications issued pursuant to  Section 25143   subdivision (f) of Section 66260.200 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations  with regard to treated metal shredder waste. (B) Completes the adoption of alternative management standards pursuant to this section. (k) The department shall complete the analysis described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) and subsequent regulatory action before January 1, 2017. All hazardous waste determinations and policies, procedures, or guidance issued by the department before January 1, 2014, governing or related to the generation, treatment, and management of metal shredder waste or treated metal shredder waste shall be inoperative and have no further effect once the department completes its analysis pursuant to subdivision (c) and takes one of the following actions: (1) Rescinds the conditional nonhazardous waste classifications issued pursuant to  Section 25143   subdivision (f) of Section 66260.200 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations  with regard to that waste. (2) Adopts alternative management standards pursuant to this section. (l) The authority of the department to adopt original regulations pursuant to this section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017, unless a later enacted statute, which is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date. This subdivision does not invalidate any regulation adopted pursuant to this section before the expiration of the department's authority. (m) A regulation adopted pursuant to this section on or before January 1, 2017, shall continue in force and effect after that date, until repealed or revised by the department. SEC. 3. Section 25150.9.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 25150.9.1. The department is authorized to collect an annual fee from all metal shredding facilities that are subject to the requirements of this chapter or to the alternative management standards adopted pursuant to Section 25150.9. The department shall establish and adopt by regulation a fee schedule that is set at a rate sufficient to reimburse the department's costs to implement this chapter as applicable to metal shredder facilities. The fee schedule established by the department may be updated periodically as necessary and shall provide for the assessment of no more than the reasonable costs of the department to implement this chapter. SEC. 4. Section 25150.9.2 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read: 25150.9.2. Treated metal shredder waste that  meets both of the following conditions shall be deemed to be a solid waste for the purposes of this chapter and Section 40191 of the Public Resources Code:   (a) The waste is accepted by a solid waste landfill for disposal or for use as alternative daily cover or other beneficial uses.   (b)     The management of that waste complies with the alternative management standards adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25150.9.   is managed in accordance with the alternative management standards adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25150.9 and that is accepted by a solid waste landfill or other authorized location for disposal or for use as alternative daily cover or other beneficial use shall thereafter be deemed to be a solid waste for purposes of this chapter and Section 40191 of the Public Resources Code.  SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.