SESSION OF 2025
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SENATE BILL NO. 184
As Amended by Senate Committee on
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Brief*
SB 184, as amended, would amend the Kansas
Drycleaner Environmental Response Act (Act) to modify
certain fees and penalties for violation of the Act.
[Note: The Act is administered by the Bureau of
Environmental Remediation of the Kansas Department of
Health and Environment (KDHE) which addresses facility
registration, pollution, and soil and groundwater
contamination at retail drycleaning facilities. The Act was
passed by the 1995 Legislature.]
Drycleaning Facility Release Trust Fund Information and
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The bill would state that nothing should be interpreted to
prevent KDHE from sharing information or advertising the
Drycleaning Facility Release Trust Fund (Fund) or from
responding to complaints or related information that the
agency may obtain that indicates a problem with water quality
or other human health concerns related to drycleaning
facilities.
[Note: The Fund requires payment of a deductible, but
covers the cost of qualified environmental cleanups, up to
$5.0 million.]
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*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
https://klrd.gov/ Payment of Costs of Corrective Action
The bill would clarify that whenever a release poses a
threat to human health or the environment, KDHE will expend
moneys available in the Fund to provide for the payment of
costs of corrective action conducted by KDHE or other
entities that have received approval by KDHE to conduct the
corrective action, as set out in a corrective action plan.
Deductible
The bill would require, on and after July 1, 2025, any
owner or other person applying for reimbursement from the
fund the Fund for costs incurred or anticipated to be incurred
for performing corrective actions to submit a $10,000
deductible due with submission of an application to KDHE.
[Note: The current deductible is $5,000.]
Environmental Surcharge Rate
Under continuing law, an environmental surcharge is
imposed in the form of a gross receipts tax for the privilege of
engaging in the business of laundering and drycleaning
garments and other household fabrics in the state. The bill
would increase the surcharge from 2.5 percent to 5.0 percent.
The bill would require the Secretary of Revenue to
report any delinquency in paying the tax to the Secretary of
Health and Environment (Secretary) at least once per
calendar year.
The bill would authorize the Secretary, or the Director of
the Division of Environment (Director), to collect any
delinquent taxes assessed pursuant to the Act, including any
interest or penalty assessed, upon issuing an order requiring
payment of the amount due.
2- 184 Violations and Penalties
Upon a finding that a person has violated the Act
regarding the tax payments or acquisition of drycleaning
solvent by any owner of a drycleaning facility, the bill would
authorize the Secretary or Director to impose a penalty, in
addition to any other penalty provided by law.
The penalty could not exceed $10,000 per violation; the
bill would require the penalty to constitute an actual and
substantial economic deterrent to the violation for which it is
assessed. In the case of a continuing violation, every month
that the violation continues would be deemed a separate
violation.
Technical and Conforming Amendments
The bill would also make technical and conforming
amendments.
Background
The bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on
Agriculture and Natural Resources at the request of Senator
Peck on behalf of the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment (KDHE).
Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources
In the Senate Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by the Deputy Director of Environment, KDHE,
who stated the agency has a list of 198 drycleaning sites in
the Fund that must be addressed. The Deputy Director stated
that since 2007, Fund revenue has dropped from around $1.4
million to below $800,000. The recent average annual
revenue was approximately $695,000, which results in less
funding available for site clean-ups.
3- 184 No other testimony was provided.
The Senate Committee amended the bill to:
●Restore law regarding a fine for every violation that
was proposed to be deleted by the bill, as
introduced;
●Restore law regarding a prohibition on KDHE
seeking contaminated sites and add clarifying
language regarding what information the agency
may share;
●Clarify the Secretary’s and Director’s role in the
collection of taxes assessed pursuant to the Act;
and
●Clarify language regarding payment of corrective
actions.
Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, KDHE and the
Department of Revenue state enactment of the bill would
increase annual revenue to the Drycleaning Facility Release
Trust Fund by $613,000 to $710,000 beginning in FY 2026.
The bill would increase the environmental surcharge in the
form of a gross receipts tax for the privilege of engaging in
the business of laundering and drycleaning garments and
other household fabrics from 2.5 percent to 5.0 percent. The
deductible for corrective actions would also increase, from
$5,000 to $10,000. Revenues would be deposited to the
Drycleaning Facility Release Trust Fund and there would be
no impact the State General Fund.
KDHE states enactment of the bill would result in an
overall net zero fiscal effect for the agency. The agency
reports that program expenditures are based on actual
revenues and are used to address the numerous backlog
4- 184 sites needing assessment, remediation, and monitoring.
KDHE states that revenue would be used for site-related
costs for addressing environmental contamination,
compliance inspections, registering operating facilities, and
normal program administration.
The Department of Revenue anticipates increased
expenditures related to implementation of the bill would total
$11,258, including administrative costs of $3,258 and
management report expenses of $8,000 (for 160 hours).
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of the bill is
not reflected in The FY 2026 Governor’s Budget Report.
Kansas Drycleaner Environmental Response Act; deductible; corrective actions;
environmental surcharge rate; solvent fee; delinquency penalty
5- 184