Hazardous waste: facilities: permits: renewals.
This legislation is intended to streamline the permitting process for hazardous waste facilities by reducing bureaucratic delays in permit renewal. An expedited process can facilitate continuous operations at facilities meeting compliance standards, thus aiding in effective waste management and public health protection. However, it places an emphasis on ensuring that facilities cannot exploit this system when they fail to maintain compliance or when public concerns arise during the permitting process.
Assembly Bill 655, introduced by Assembly Member Fong, aims to amend the procedures surrounding hazardous waste facility permit renewals within California's Health and Safety Code. The bill stipulates that the Department of Toxic Substances Control must process permit renewal applications in an expedited manner, provided that specific conditions are met. These conditions include the requirement that the operations of the facility remain unchanged since the last permit approval and that any previous violations have been remedied in a timely manner. Notably, the expedited process is not applicable to land disposal facilities.
The bill has generated discussion and concern regarding environmental oversight and community input. Opponents may argue that fast-tracking permits compromises thorough environmental reviews and diminishes the public's ability to raise concerns regarding hazardous operations. By excluding land disposal facilities from the expedited process, the legislation recognizes the heightened risks associated with those operations, aiming to maintain stricter oversight while still facilitating administrative efficiency for other facility types.