Article 11.9. Pollution Prevention And Hazardous Waste Source Reduction And Management Review Act of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.5. >> Article 11.9.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the
Pollution Prevention and Hazardous Waste Source Reduction and
Management Review Act.
The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Existing law requires the department and the State Water
Resources Control Board to promote the reduction of generated
hazardous waste. This policy, in combination with hazardous waste
land disposal bans, requires the rapid development of new programs
and incentives for achieving the goal of optimal minimization of the
generation of hazardous wastes. Substantial improvements and
additions to the state's hazardous waste reduction program are
required to be made if these goals are to be achieved.
(b) Hazardous waste source reduction provides substantial benefits
to the state's economy by maximizing use of materials, avoiding
generation of waste materials, improving business efficiency,
enhancing revenues of companies that provide products and services in
the state, increasing the economic competitiveness of businesses
located in the state, and protecting the state's precious and
valuable natural resources.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to expand the state's
pollution prevention activities beyond those directly associated with
source reduction evaluation reviews and plans. The expanded program,
which is intended to accelerate pollution prevention, shall include
programs to promote implementation of pollution prevention measures
using education, outreach, and other effective voluntary techniques
demonstrated in California or other states.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature for the department to
maximize the use of its available resources in implementing the
pollution prevention program through cooperation with other entities,
including, but not limited to, CUPAs, small business development
corporations, business environmental assistance centers, and other
regional and local government environmental programs. To the extent
feasible, the department shall utilize cooperative programs with
entities that routinely contact small business to expand its support
of small business pollution prevention activities.
(e) It is the goal of this article to do all of the following:
(1) Reduce the generation of hazardous waste.
(2) Reduce the release into the environment of chemical
contaminants that have adverse and serious health or environmental
effects.
(3) Document hazardous waste management information and make that
information available to state and local government.
(f) It is the intent of this article to promote the reduction of
hazardous waste at its source, and wherever source reduction is not
feasible or practicable, to encourage recycling. Where it is not
feasible to reduce or recycle hazardous waste, the waste should be
treated in an environmentally safe manner to minimize the present and
future threat to health and the environment.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature not to preclude the
regulation of environmentally harmful releases to all media,
including air, land, surface water, and groundwater, and to encourage
and promote the reduction of these releases to air, land, surface
water, and groundwater.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage all state
departments and agencies, especially the State Water Resources
Control Board, the California regional water quality control boards,
the State Air Resources Board, the air pollution control districts,
and the air quality management districts, to promote the reduction of
environmentally harmful releases to all media.
(a) The department's duties to implement this article
are contingent upon, and limited to, the availability of funding.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not eliminate a requirement of this
article that is imposed upon a generator.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Advisory committee" means the California Pollution Prevention
Advisory Committee established pursuant to Section 25244.15.1.
(b) "Appropriate local agency" means a county, city, or regional
association that has adopted a hazardous waste management plan
pursuant to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 25135).
(c) "Business" has the same meaning as defined in Section 25501.
(d) "Hazardous waste management approaches" means approaches,
methods, and techniques of managing the generation and handling of
hazardous waste, including source reduction, recycling, and the
treatment of hazardous waste.
(e) "Hazardous waste management performance report" or "report"
means the report required by subdivision (b) of Section 25244.20 to
document and evaluate the results of hazardous waste management
practices.
(f) "NAICS Code" means the identification number assigned to
specific types of businesses by the North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS) adopted by the United States Census
Bureau.
(g) "Pollution prevention" means the reduction of chemical sources
that have adverse impacts on public health and the environment,
including, but not limited to, source reduction.
(h) "SIC Code" means the identification number assigned to
specific types of businesses by the Standard Industrial
Classification (SIC) system established by the United States
Department of Commerce.
(i) (1) "Source reduction" means one of the following:
(A) An action that causes a net reduction in the generation of
hazardous waste.
(B) An action taken before the hazardous waste is generated that
results in a lessening of the properties that cause it to be
classified as a hazardous waste.
(2) "Source reduction" includes, but is not limited to, all of the
following:
(A) "Input change," which means a change in raw materials or
feedstocks used in a production process or operation so as to reduce,
avoid, or eliminate the generation of hazardous waste.
(B) "Operational improvement," which means improved site
management so as to reduce, avoid, or eliminate the generation of
hazardous waste.
(C) "Production process change," which means a change in a
process, method, or technique that is used to produce a product or a
desired result, including the return of materials or their
components, for reuse within the existing processes or operations, so
as to reduce, avoid, or eliminate the generation of hazardous waste.
(D) "Product reformulation," which means changes in design,
composition, or specifications of end products, including product
substitution, so as to reduce, avoid, or eliminate the generation of
hazardous waste.
(3) "Source reduction" does not include any of the following:
(A) Actions taken after a hazardous waste is generated.
(B) Actions that merely concentrate the constituents of a
hazardous waste to reduce its volume or that dilute the hazardous
waste to reduce its hazardous characteristics.
(C) Actions that merely shift hazardous wastes from one
environmental medium to another environmental medium.
(D) Treatment.
(j) "Source reduction evaluation review and plan" or "review and
plan" means a review conducted by the generator of the processes,
operations, and procedures in use at a generator's site, in
accordance with the format established by the department pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 25244.16, and that does both of the
following:
(1) Determines any alternatives to, or modifications of, the
generator's processes, operations, and procedures that may be
implemented to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated.
(2) Includes a plan to document and implement source reduction
measures for the hazardous wastes specified in paragraph (1) that are
technically feasible and economically practicable for the generator,
including a reasonable implementation schedule.
(k) "Hazardous waste," "person," "recycle," and "treatment" have
the same meanings as defined in Article 2 (commencing with Section
25110).
(a) This article establishes a program for pollution
prevention, including, but not limited to, hazardous waste source
reduction.
(b) The department shall coordinate the activities of all state
agencies with responsibilities and duties relating to hazardous waste
and shall promote coordinated efforts to encourage the reduction of
hazardous waste. Coordination between the program and other relevant
state agencies and programs shall, to the fullest extent possible,
include joint planning processes and joint research and studies.
(c) The department shall adopt regulations to carry out the
requirements imposed upon generators pursuant to this article.
(d) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), Sections 25244.19,
25244.20, and 25244.21 apply only to generators who, by site,
routinely generate, through ongoing processes and operations, more
than 12,000 kilograms of hazardous waste in a calendar year, or more
than 12 kilograms of extremely hazardous waste in a calendar year.
(2) The department shall adopt regulations to establish procedures
for exempting generators from the requirements of this article where
the department determines that no source reduction opportunities
exist for the generator.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), Sections 25244.19, 25244.20,
and 25244.21 do not apply to any generator whose hazardous waste
generating activity consists solely of receiving offsite hazardous
wastes and generating residuals from the processing of those
hazardous wastes.
(a) The California Pollution Prevention Advisory
Committee is hereby created and consists of the following members:
(1) The Executive Director of the State Air Resources Board, as an
ex officio member.
(2) The Executive Director of the State Water Resources Control
Board, as an ex officio member.
(3) The Director of Toxic Substances Control, as an ex officio
member.
(4) The Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery, as an ex
officio member.
(5) The Chairperson of the California Environmental Policy Council
established pursuant to Section 71017 of the Public Resources Code,
as an ex officio member.
(6) The Director of Pesticide Regulation, as an ex officio member.
(7) Ten public members with experience in pollution prevention as
appointed by the department. These public members shall include all
of the following:
(A) Two representatives of local governments from different
regions of the state.
(B) One representative of a publicly owned treatment works.
(C) Two representatives of industry.
(D) One representative of small business.
(E) One representative of organized labor.
(F) Two representatives of statewide environmental advocacy
organizations.
(G) One representative of a statewide public health advocacy
organization.
(8) The department may appoint up to two additional public
members with experience in pollution prevention and detailed
knowledge of one of the priority categories of businesses selected in
accordance with Section 25244.17.1.
(b) The advisory committee shall select one member to serve as
chairperson.
(c) The members of the advisory committee shall serve without
compensation, but each member, other than officials of the state,
upon request, shall be reimbursed for all reasonable expenses
incurred in the performance of his or her duties, as authorized by
the department.
(d) When convened by the department, the advisory committee shall
provide a public forum for discussion and deliberation on matters
pertaining to the implementation of this chapter.
(e) The advisory committee's responsibilities shall include, but
not be limited to, the following:
(1) Reviewing and providing consultation and guidance in the
preparation of the work plan authorized by Section 25244.22.
(2) Evaluating the performance and progress of the department's
pollution prevention program.
(3) Making recommendations to the department concerning program
activities and funding priorities, and legislative changes, if
needed.
(4) Making recommendations to the department concerning strategies
to more effectively align its pollution prevention program with the
goals of the department's green chemistry program, including the
implementation of Article 14 (commencing with Section 25251).
The department shall do both of the following:
(a) Adopt a format to be used by generators for completing the
review and plan required by Section 25244.19, and the report required
by Section 25244.20. The format shall include at least all of the
factors the generator is required to include in the review and plan
and the report. The department may include any other factor
determined by the department to be necessary to carry out this
article. The adoption of a format pursuant to this subdivision is not
subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(b) Establish a data and information system to be used by the
department for processing and evaluating the source reduction and
other hazardous waste management information submitted by generators
pursuant to Section 25244.18. In establishing the data and
information system, the department shall do all of the following:
(1) Establish methods and procedures for appropriately processing
or managing hazardous waste source reduction and management
information.
(2) Use the data management expertise, resources, and forms of
already established environmental protection programs, to the extent
practicable.
(3) Establish computerized data retrieval and data processing
systems, including safeguards to protect trade secrets designated
pursuant to Section 25244.23.
(4) Identify additional data and information needs of the program.
The department may establish a technical and research
assistance program to assist businesses in identifying and applying
methods of pollution prevention. The program shall emphasize
assistance to smaller businesses that have inadequate technical and
financial resources for obtaining information, assessing pollution
prevention methods, and developing and applying pollution prevention
techniques. The program be carried out by the department pursuant to
this section may include, but is not limited to, each of the
following:
(a) Programs by private or public consultants, including onsite
consultation at sites or locations where hazardous waste is
generated, to aid those generators requiring assistance in developing
and implementing the review and plan, the plan summary, the report,
and the report summary required by this article.
(b) Seminars, workshops, training programs, and other similar
activities to assist businesses to evaluate pollution prevention
alternatives and to identify opportunities for pollution prevention.
(c) Assembling, cataloging, and disseminating information about
pollution prevention methods, available consultant services, and
regulatory requirements.
(d) The identification of a range of generic and specified
technical pollution prevention solutions that can be applied by
particular types of businesses.
The department may establish a technical assistance and
outreach program to promote implementation of model pollution
prevention measures in priority business categories.
(a) In the work plan described in Section 25244.22, the department
may, in consultation with the advisory committee, identify priority
categories of businesses by SIC or NAICS Code. At least one selected
category of businesses shall be a category that consists primarily of
small businesses. At least one selected category of businesses shall
be a category that consists primarily of businesses affected by an
action taken by the department pursuant to Article 14 (commencing
with Section 25251).
(b) For each selected priority business category, the department
may implement a cooperative pollution prevention technical assistance
and outreach program that includes the following elements:
(1) Effective pollution prevention measures for each business
category.
(2) The most effective technical assistance and outreach methods
to promote implementation of the pollution prevention measures
identified in paragraph (1).
(3) Appropriate measures for evaluating the effectiveness of the
technical assistance and outreach measures, including quantitative
measures when feasible.
(a) (1) The department may provide pollution prevention
training and resources to CUPAs, small business development
corporations, business environmental assistance centers, and other
regional and local government environmental programs so that they can
provide technical assistance to businesses in identifying and
applying methods of pollution prevention.
(2) The activities conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
emphasize activities necessary to implement Sections 25244.17 and
25244.17.1.
(b) As part of implementing the program authorized by this
section, the department may develop a California Green Business
Program that provides support and assistance to programs operated by
local governments to meet the requirement of subdivision (c) and that
would voluntarily certify small businesses that adopt
environmentally preferable business practices, including, but not
limited to, increased energy efficiency, reduced greenhouse gas
emissions, promotion of water conservation, and reduced waste
generation. The department's California Green Business Program may do
any or all of the following:
(1) Assist the network of statewide local government programs in
implementing guidelines and structures that establish and promote a
level of consistency among green business programs across the state.
(2) Support, through staffing and contracts, the development and
maintenance of a statewide database to register small businesses
granted green business certification, or its equivalent, pursuant to
a local government program, and track measurable pollution reductions
and cost savings.
(3) Solicit participation of additional local programs and
facilitate the startup of new local programs.
(4) Develop technical guidance on pollution prevention measures,
conduct industry studies and pilot projects, and provide policy
coordination for the participating local programs.
(5) Collaborate with relevant state agencies that operate small
business efficiency and economic development programs, including, but
not limited to, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery,
the Public Utilities Commission, the State Energy Resources
Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources
Board, and the Department of Water Resources.
(c) The department may provide support and assistance to a local
government program to enable the program to meet all of the following
requirements:
(1) The program will be operated by a local government or its
designee.
(2) The program will adopt industry-specific standards for green
business certification, or its equivalent, in consultation with the
other participants in the California Green Business Program.
(3) The program will grant a small business that voluntarily
applies to the program a green business certification or its
equivalent, only upon a determination by the program operator or
designee that the business is a small business, as determined by the
program, and complies with the industry-specific standards for green
business certification adopted pursuant to paragraph (2).
(4) The program will grant a green business certification, or its
equivalent, to small businesses, as determined by the program, in
accordance with all of the following requirements:
(A) Before the program grants green business certification or its
equivalent, the program conducts an evaluation to verify compliance
with the appropriate green business certification standards adopted
pursuant to paragraph (2).
(B) A green business certification or its equivalent is granted
only to an individual location of a small business.
(C) A green business certification or its equivalent is granted to
an individual small business only for a limited time period, and,
after the elapse of that time period, the small business is required
to reapply for that certification.
(D) Compliance with applicable federal, state, and local
environmental laws and regulations is required as a condition of
receiving a green business certification or its equivalent.
(d) The department may determine, in consultation with the
advisory committee, the most effective methods to promote
implementation of pollution prevention education programs by CUPAs,
small business development corporations, business environmental
assistance centers, and other regional and local government
environmental programs. Program elements may include, but are not
limited to, all of the following:
(1) Sponsoring workshops, conferences, technology fairs, and other
training events.
(2) Sponsoring regional training groups, such as the regional
hazardous waste reduction committees.
(3) Developing and distributing educational materials, such as
short descriptions of successful pollution prevention projects and
materials explaining how pollution prevention has been used by
businesses to achieve compliance with environmental laws enforced by
local governments.
(4) Developing site review checklists, training manuals, and
technical resource manuals and using those resources to train CUPAs,
small business development corporations, business environmental
assistance centers, and other regional and local government
environmental programs.
(5) Preparing and distributing resource lists such as lists of
vendors, consultants, or providers of financial assistance for
pollution prevention projects.
(6) Serving as an information clearinghouse to support telephone
and onsite consultants with local governments.
(a) The department or the unified program agency may
request from any generator, and the generator shall provide within 30
days from the date of the request, a copy of the generator's review
and plan or report conducted and completed pursuant to Section
25244.19 or 25244.20. The department or the unified program agency
may evaluate any of those documents submitted to the department or
the unified program agency to determine whether it satisfies the
requirements of this article.
(b) (1) If the department or the unified program agency
determines that a generator has not completed the review and plan in
the manner required by Section 25244.19, or the report in the manner
required by Section 25244.20, the department or the unified program
agency shall provide the generator with a notice of noncompliance,
specifying the deficiencies in the review and plan or report
identified by the department. If the department or the unified
program agency finds that the review and plan does not comply with
Section 25244.19, the department or the unified program agency shall
consider the review and plan to be incomplete. A generator shall file
a revised review and plan or report correcting the deficiencies
identified by the department or the unified program agency within 60
days from the date of the receipt of the notice. The department or
the unified program agency may grant, in response to a written
request from the generator, an extension of the 60-day deadline, for
cause, except that the department or the unified program agency shall
not grant that extension for more than an additional 60 days.
(2) If a generator fails to submit a revised review and plan or
report complying with the requirements of this article within the
required period, or if the department or unified program agency
determines that a generator has failed to implement the measures
included in the generator's review and plan for reducing the
generator's hazardous waste, in accordance with Section 25244.19, the
department or the unified program agency may impose civil penalties
pursuant to Section 25187, in an amount not to exceed one thousand
dollars ($1,000) for each day the violation of this article
continues, notwithstanding Section 25189.2, seek an order directing
compliance pursuant to Section 25181, or enter into a consent
agreement or a compliance schedule with the generator.
(c) If a generator fails to implement a measure specified in the
review and plan pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of
Section 25244.19, the generator shall not be deemed to be in
violation of Section 25244.19 for not implementing the selected
measure if the generator does both of the following:
(1) The generator finds that, upon further analysis or as a result
of unexpected consequences, the selected measure is not technically
feasible or economically practicable, or if the selected approach has
resulted in any of the following:
(A) An increase in the generation of hazardous waste.
(B) An increase in the release of hazardous chemical contaminants
to other media.
(C) Adverse impacts on product quality.
(D) A significant increase in the risk of an adverse impact to
human health or the environment.
(2) The generator revises the review and plan to comply with the
requirements of Section 25244.19.
(d) When taking enforcement action pursuant to this article, the
department or the unified program agency shall not judge the
appropriateness of any decisions or proposed measures contained in a
review and plan or report, but shall only determine whether the
review and plan or report is complete, prepared, and implemented in
accordance with this article.
(e) In addition to the unified program agency, an appropriate
local agency that has jurisdiction over a generator's site may
request from the generator, and the generator shall provide within 30
days from the date of that request, a copy of the generator's
current review and plan and report.
(f) In carrying out this article, the department shall not
disseminate information determined to be a trade secret pursuant to
Section 25244.23.
(a) On or before September 1, 1991, and every four years
thereafter, each generator shall conduct a source reduction
evaluation review and plan pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the source reduction
evaluation review and plan required by subdivision (a) shall be
conducted and completed for each site pursuant to the format adopted
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25244.16 and shall include, at
a minimum, all of the following:
(1) The name and location of the site.
(2) The SIC Code of the site.
(3) Identification of all routinely generated hazardous waste
streams that annually weigh 600 kilograms or more and that result
from ongoing processes or operations and exceed 5 percent of the
total yearly weight of hazardous waste generated at the site, or, for
extremely hazardous waste, that annually weigh 0.6 kilograms or more
and exceed 5 percent of the total yearly weight of extremely
hazardous waste generated at the site. For purposes of this
paragraph, a hazardous waste stream identified pursuant to this
paragraph shall also meet one of the following criteria:
(A) It is a hazardous waste stream processed in a wastewater
treatment unit that discharges to a publicly owned treatment works or
under a national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES)
permit, as specified in the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as
amended (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 and following).
(B) It is a hazardous waste stream that is not processed in a
wastewater treatment unit and its weight exceeds 5 percent of the
weight of the total yearly volume at the site, less the weight of any
hazardous waste stream identified in subparagraph (A).
(4) For each hazardous waste stream identified in paragraph (3),
the review and plan shall include all of the following information:
(A) An estimate of the quantity of hazardous waste generated.
(B) An evaluation of source reduction approaches available to the
generator that are potentially viable. The evaluation shall consider
at least all of the following source reduction approaches:
(i) Input change.
(ii) Operational improvement.
(iii) Production process change.
(iv) Product reformulation.
(5) A specification of, and a rationale for, the technically
feasible and economically practicable source reduction measures that
will be taken by the generator with respect to each hazardous waste
stream identified in paragraph (3). The review and plan shall fully
document any statement explaining the generator's rationale for
rejecting any available source reduction approach identified in
paragraph (4).
(6) An evaluation, and, to the extent practicable, a
quantification, of the effects of the chosen source reduction method
on emissions and discharges to air, water, or land.
(7) A timetable for making reasonable and measurable progress
towards implementation of the selected source reduction measures
specified in paragraph (5).
(8) Certification pursuant to subdivision (d).
(9) A generator subject to this article shall include in its
source reduction evaluation review and plan four-year numerical goals
for reducing the generation of hazardous waste streams through the
approaches provided for in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4), based
upon its best estimate of what is achievable in that four-year
period.
(10) A summary progress report that briefly summarizes and, to the
extent practicable, quantifies, in a manner that is understandable
to the general public, the results of implementing the source
reduction methods identified in the generator's review and plan for
each waste stream addressed by the previous plan over the previous
four years. The report shall also include an estimate of the amount
of reduction that the generator anticipates will be achieved by the
implementation of source reduction methods during the period between
the preparation of the review and plan and the preparation of the
generator's next review and plan.
(c) If a generator owns or operates multiple sites with similar
processes, operations, and waste streams, the generator may prepare a
single multisite review and plan addressing all of these sites.
(d) Every review and plan conducted pursuant to this section shall
be submitted by the generator for review and certification by an
engineer who is registered as a professional engineer pursuant to
Section 6762 of the Business and Professions Code and who has
demonstrated expertise in hazardous waste management, by an
individual who is responsible for the processes and operations of the
site, or by an environmental assessor who has demonstrated expertise
in hazardous waste management. The engineer, individual, or
environmental assessor shall certify the review and plan only if the
review and plan meet all of the following requirements:
(1) The review and plan addresses each hazardous waste stream
identified pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b).
(2) The review and plan addresses the source reduction approaches
specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (b).
(3) The review and plan clearly sets forth the measures to be
taken with respect to each hazardous waste stream for which source
reduction has been found to be technically feasible and economically
practicable, with timetables for making reasonable and measurable
progress, and properly documents the rationale for rejecting
available source reduction measures.
(4) The review and plan does not merely shift hazardous waste from
one environmental medium to another environmental medium by
increasing emissions or discharges to air, water, or land.
(e) At the time a review and plan is submitted to the department
or the unified program agency, the generator shall certify that the
generator has implemented, is implementing, or will be implementing,
the source reduction measures identified in the review and plan in
accordance with the implementation schedule contained in the review
and plan. A generator may determine not to implement a measure
selected in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) only if the generator
determines, upon conducting further analysis or due to unexpected
circumstances, that the selected measure is not technically feasible
or economically practicable, or if attempts to implement that measure
reveal that the measure would result in, or has resulted in, any of
the following:
(1) An increase in the generation of hazardous waste.
(2) An increase in the release of hazardous chemicals to other
environmental media.
(3) Adverse impacts on product quality.
(4) A significant increase in the risk of an adverse impact to
human health or the environment.
(f) If the generator elects not to implement the review and plan,
including, but not limited to, a selected measure pursuant to
subdivision (e), the generator shall amend its review and plan to
reflect that election and include in the review and plan proper
documentation identifying the rationale for that election.
(a) On or before September 1, 1991, and every four years
thereafter, each generator shall prepare a hazardous waste management
performance report documenting hazardous waste management approaches
implemented by the generator.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the hazardous waste
management performance report required by subdivision (a) shall be
prepared for each site in accordance with the format adopted pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 25244.16 and shall include all of the
following:
(1) The name and location of the site.
(2) The SIC Code for the site.
(3) All of the following information for each waste stream
identified pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section
25244.19:
(A) An estimate of the quantity of hazardous waste generated and
the quantity of hazardous waste managed, both onsite and offsite,
during the current reporting year and the baseline year, as specified
in subdivision (c).
(B) An abstract for each source reduction, recycling, or treatment
technology implemented from the baseline year through the current
reporting year, if the reporting year is different from the baseline
year.
(C) A description of factors during the current reporting year
that have affected hazardous waste generation and onsite and offsite
hazardous waste management since the baseline year, including, but
not limited to, any of the following:
(i) Changes in business activity.
(ii) Changes in waste classification.
(iii) Natural phenomena.
(iv) Other factors that have affected either the quantity of
hazardous waste generated or onsite and offsite hazardous waste
management requirements.
(4) The certification of the report pursuant to subdivision (e).
(c) For purposes of subdivision (b), the following definitions
apply:
(1) The current reporting year is the calendar year immediately
preceding the year in which the report is to be prepared.
(2) The baseline year is either of the following, whichever is
applicable:
(A) For the initial report, the baseline year is the calendar year
selected by the generator for which substantial hazardous waste
generation, or onsite or offsite management, data is available prior
to 1991.
(B) For all subsequent reports, the baseline year is the current
reporting year of the immediately preceding report.
(d) If a generator owns or operates multiple sites with similar
processes, operations, and waste streams, the generator may prepare a
single multisite report addressing all of these sites.
(e) Every report completed pursuant to this section shall be
submitted by the generator for review and certification by an
engineer who is registered as a professional engineer pursuant to
Section 6762 of the Business and Professions Code and who has
demonstrated expertise in hazardous waste management, by an
individual who is responsible for the processes and operations of the
site, or by an environmental assessor who has demonstrated expertise
in hazardous waste management. The engineer, individual, or
environmental assessor shall certify the report only if the report
identifies factors that affect the generation and onsite and offsite
management of hazardous wastes and summarizes the effect of those
factors on the generation and onsite and offsite management of
hazardous wastes.
(a) Every generator shall retain the original of the
current review and plan and report, shall maintain a copy of the
current review and plan and report at each site, or, for a multisite
review and plan or report, at a central location, and upon request,
shall make it available to any authorized representative of the
department or the unified program agency conducting an inspection
pursuant to Section 25185. If a generator fails, within five days, to
make available to the inspector the review and plan or report, the
department, the unified program agency, or any authorized
representative of the department, or of the unified program agency,
conducting an inspection pursuant to Section 25185, shall, if
appropriate, impose a civil penalty pursuant to Section 25187, in an
amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day the
violation of this article continues, notwithstanding Section 25189.2.
(b) If a generator fails to respond to a request for a copy of its
review and plan or report made by the department or a unified
program agency pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25244.18, or by
a local agency pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 25244.18,
within 30 days from the date of the request, the department or
unified program agency shall, if appropriate, assess a civil penalty
pursuant to Section 25187, in an amount not to exceed one thousand
dollars ($1,000) for each day the violation of this article
continues, notwithstanding Section 25189.2.
(c) (1) A person may request the department to certify that a
generator is in compliance with this article by having the department
certify that the generator has properly completed the review and
plan and report required pursuant to Sections 25244.19 and 25244.20.
The department shall respond within 60 days to a request for
certification. Upon receiving a request for certification, the
department shall request from the generator, who is the subject of
the request, a copy of the generator's review and plan and report,
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25244.18, if the department
does not have these documents. The department shall forward a copy of
the review and plan and report to the person requesting
certification, within 10 days from the date that the department
receives the request for certification or receives the review and
plan and report, whichever is later. The department shall protect
trade secrets in accordance with Section 25244.23 in a review and
plan or report, requested to be released pursuant to this
subdivision.
(2) This subdivision does not prohibit any person from directly
requesting from a generator a copy of the review and plan or report.
Solely for the purposes of responding to a request pursuant to this
subdivision, the department shall deem the review and plan or report
to be a public record subject to Section 25152.5, and shall act in
compliance with that section.
(a) The department may, on a periodic basis, prepare and
make available for public review a draft work plan for the department'
s operations and activities in carrying out this article. The
department shall prepare the work plan in consultation with the
advisory committee and with other interested parties, including local
government, industry, labor, health, and environmental
organizations. The department shall hold a public meeting of the
advisory committee to discuss the draft work plan before finalizing
the work plan. This work plan shall include an outline of the
department's proposed operations and activities under this article.
The department shall use the data summary analysis prepared pursuant
to subdivision (b) to develop criteria for the selection of targets
for pollution prevention efforts. When identifying activities for
inclusion in the work plan, the department shall consider potential
benefits to human health and the environment, available resources,
feasibility of applying pollution prevention techniques, and
availability of related resources from other entities, such as other
states, the federal government, local governments, and other
organizations.
(b) The department may periodically prepare, and make available
to the public on its Internet Web site, a summary analysis of readily
available data on the state's hazardous waste generation and
management patterns. The analysis may include information from
various data sources including hazardous waste manifests, biennial
generator reports, and United States Environmental Protection Agency
Toxics Release Inventory reports. The department shall estimate the
quantities of hazardous waste generated in the state, by hazardous
waste stream, the amounts of hazardous waste generated in the state
by industry SIC or NAICS Code, and the amounts of hazardous waste
state generators sent offsite for management, by management method.
(a) (1) The department shall adopt regulations to ensure
that trade secrets designated by a generator in all or a portion of
the review and plan or the report required by this article are
utilized by the director, the department, the unified program agency,
or the appropriate local agency only in connection with the
responsibilities of the department pursuant to this article, and that
those trade secrets are not otherwise disseminated by the director,
the department, the unified program agency, or any authorized
representative of the department, or the appropriate local agency,
without the consent of the generator.
(2) Any information subject to this section shall be made
available to governmental agencies for use in making studies and for
use in judicial review or enforcement proceedings involving the
person furnishing the information.
(3) As provided by Section 25159.5, the regulations adopted
pursuant to this subdivision shall conform with the corresponding
trade secret regulations adopted by the Environmental Protection
Agency pursuant to the federal act, except that the regulations
adopted by the department may be more stringent or more extensive
than the federal trade secret regulations.
(4) "Trade secrets," as used in this section, may include, but are
not limited to, any formula, plan, pattern, process, tool,
mechanism, compound, procedure, production data, or compilation of
information that is not patented, that is known only to certain
individuals within a commercial concern who are using it to
fabricate, produce, or compound an article of trade or a service
having commercial value, and that gives its user an opportunity to
obtain a business advantage over competitors who do not know or use
it.
(b) The department, the unified program agency, and the
appropriate local agency shall protect from disclosure any trade
secret designated by the generator pursuant to this section. The
department shall make available information concerning pollution
prevention approaches that have proved successful, and that do not
constitute a trade secret, when carrying out subdivision (c) of
Section 25244.17.
(c) This section does not permit a generator to refuse to disclose
the information required pursuant to this article to the department,
the unified program agency, or the appropriate local agency, an
officer or employee of the department, the unified program agency, or
the appropriate local agency, in connection with the official duties
of that officer or employee under this article.
(d) Any officer or employee of the department, the unified program
agency, or the appropriate local agency, or any other person, who,
because of his or her employment or official position, has possession
of, or has access to, confidential information, and who, knowing
that disclosure of the information to the general public is
prohibited by this section, knowingly and willfully discloses the
information in any manner to any person not entitled to receive it,
is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
punished by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months,
by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both
the fine and imprisonment.