Article 5. Uses Of The State Account of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.8. >> Article 5.

For response actions taken pursuant to the federal act, only those costs for actions that are consistent with the priorities, guidelines, criteria, and regulations contained in the national contingency plan, as revised and republished pursuant to Section 105 of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9605), shall qualify for appropriation by the Legislature and expenditure by the director pursuant to Sections 25351, 25352, and 25354. For response actions not taken pursuant to the federal act or for response actions taken that are not specifically addressed by the priorities, guidelines, criteria, and regulations contained in the national contingency plan, as revised and republished, the costs thereof shall also qualify for appropriation by the Legislature and expenditure by the department pursuant to Sections 25351, 25352, and 25354 provided they are, to the maximum extent possible, consistent with the priorities, guidelines, criteria, and regulations contained in the national contingency plan for similar releases, situations, or events. No response actions taken pursuant to this chapter by the department or regional or local agencies shall duplicate federal response actions.

(a) A city or county may initiate a removal or remedial action for a site listed pursuant to Section 25356 in accordance with this section. Except as provided in subdivision (d), the city or county shall, before commencing the removal or remedial action, take all of the following actions:
  (1) The city or county shall notify the department of the planned removal or remedial action. Upon receiving this notification, the department shall make a reasonable effort to notify any person identified by the department as a potentially responsible party for the site. If a potentially responsible party is taking the removal or remedial action properly and in a timely fashion, or if a potentially responsible party will commence such an action within 60 days of this notification, the city or county may not initiate a removal or remedial action pursuant to this section.
  (2) If a potentially responsible party for the site has not taken the action specified in paragraph (1), the city or county shall submit the estimated cost of the removal or remedial action to the department, which shall, within 30 days after receiving the estimate, approve or disapprove the reasonableness of the cost estimate. If the department disagrees with the cost estimate, the city or county and the department shall, within 30 days, attempt to enter into an agreement concerning the cost estimate.
  (3) The city or county shall demonstrate to the department that it has sufficient funds to carry out the approved removal or remedial action without taking into account any costs of the action that may be, or have been, paid by a potentially responsible party.
  (b) If the director approves the request of the city or county to initiate a removal or remedial action and a final remedial action plan has been issued pursuant to Section 25356.1 for the hazardous substance release site, the city or county shall be deemed to be acting in place of the department for purposes of implementing the remedial action plan pursuant to this chapter.
  (c) Upon reimbursing a city or county for the costs of a removal or remedial action, the department shall recover these costs pursuant to Section 25360.
  (d) In order for a city or county to be reimbursed for the costs of a removal or remedial action incurred by the city or county from the state account, the city or county shall obtain the approval of the director before commencing the removal or remedial action. The director shall grant an approval only when all actions required by law prior to implementation of a remedial action plan have been taken.

The department shall adopt any regulations necessary to carry out its responsibilities pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to, regulations governing the expenditure of, and accounting procedures for, moneys allocated to state, regional, and local agencies pursuant to this chapter.

Any treatment, storage, transfer, or disposal facility built on the Stringfellow Quarry Class I Hazardous Waste Disposal Site, that was built for the purpose of a remedial or removal action at that site, shall only be used to treat, store, transfer, or dispose of hazardous substances removed from that site.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, Sections 25334.5 and 25356, the department shall place the highest priority on taking removal and remedial actions at the Stringfellow Quarry Class I Hazardous Waste Disposal Site and shall devote sufficient resources to accomplish the tasks required by this section.

Money deposited in the state account may also be appropriated by the Legislature to the department on a specific site basis for the following purposes:
  (a) For all costs incurred in restoring, rehabilitating, replacing, or acquiring the equivalent of, any natural resource injured, degraded, destroyed, or lost as a result of any release of a hazardous substance, to the extent the costs are not reimbursed pursuant to the federal act and taking into account processes of natural rehabilitation, restoration, and replacement.
  (b) For all costs incurred in assessing short-term and long-term injury to, degradation or destruction of, or any loss of any natural resource resulting from a release of a hazardous substance, to the extent that the costs are not reimbursed pursuant to the federal act. No costs may be incurred for any release of a hazardous substance from any facility or project pursuant to subdivision (a) or this subdivision for injury, degradation, destruction, or loss of any natural resource where the injury, degradation, destruction, or loss was specifically identified as an irreversible and irretrievable commitment of natural resources in an environmental impact statement prepared under the authority of the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.), or was identified as a significant environmental effect to the natural resources which cannot be avoided in an environmental impact report prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), and a decision to grant a permit, license, or similar authorization for any facility or project is based upon a consideration of the significant environmental effects to the natural resources, and the facility or project was otherwise operating within the terms of its permit, license, or similar authorization at the time of release.
  (c) Notwithstanding Section 25355, the Governor, or the authorized representative of the state, shall act on behalf of the public as trustee of the natural resources to recover costs expended pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b).

(a) Except as provided in (b), the department may not expend funds from the state account for a removal or remedial action with respect to a hazardous substance release site owned or operated by the federal government or a state or local agency at the time of disposal to the extent that the federal government or the state or local agency would otherwise be liable for the costs of that action, except that the department may expend those funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to oversee the carrying out of a removal or remedial action at the site by another party.
  (b) Except as provided in subdivision (f), the department may expend funds from the state account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to take a removal or remedial action at a hazardous substance release site which was owned or operated by a local agency at the time of release, if all of the following requirements are met:
  (1) The department has substantial evidence that a local agency is not the only responsible party for the site.
  (2) The department has issued a cleanup order to, or entered into an enforceable agreement with, the local agency pursuant to Section 25355.5 and has made a final determination that the local agency is not in compliance with the order or enforceable agreement.
  (c) The department shall recover any funds expended pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) to the maximum possible extent pursuant to Section 25360.
  (d) If a local agency is identified as a potentially responsible party in a remedial action plan prepared pursuant to Section 25356.1, and the department expends funds pursuant to this chapter to pay for the local agency's share of the removal and remedial action, the expenditure of these funds shall be deemed to be a loan from the state to the local agency. If the department determines that the local agency is not making adequate progress toward repaying the loan made pursuant to this section, the State Board of Equalization shall, upon notice by the department, withhold the unpaid amount of the loan, in increments from the sales and use tax transmittals made pursuant to Section 7204 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, to the city or county in which the local agency is located. The State Board of Equalization shall structure the amounts to be withheld so that complete repayment of the loan, together with interest and administrative charges, occurs within five years after a local agency has been notified by the department of the amount which it owes. The State Board of Equalization shall deposit any funds withheld pursuant to this section into the state account.
  (e) The department may not expend funds from the state account for the purposes specified in Section 25352 where the injury, degradation, destruction, or loss to natural resources, or the release of a hazardous substance from which the damages to natural resources resulted, has occurred prior to September 25, 1981.
  (f) The department may not expend funds from the state account for a removal or remedial action at any waste management unit owned or operated by a local agency if it meets both of the following conditions:
  (1) It is classified as a class III waste management unit pursuant to Subchapter 15 (commencing with Section 2510) of Chapter 3 of Title 23 of the California Administrative Code.
  (2) It was in operation on or after January 1, 1988.

(a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 12439 of the Government Code, the Controller may not eliminate any direct or indirect position that provides oversight and related support of remediation and hazardous substance management at a military base, including a closed military base, that is funded through an agreement with a party responsible for paying the department's costs, and may not eliminate any direct or indirect position that is funded by a federal grant that does not require a state match funded from the General Fund.
  (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including Section 4.10 of the Budget Act of 2003, for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 fiscal years, the Director of Finance may not eliminate any direct or indirect position that provides oversight and related support of remediation and hazardous substance management at a military base, including a closed military base, that is funded through an agreement with a party responsible for paying the department's costs, and may not eliminate any direct or indirect position that is funded by a federal grant that does not require a state match funded from the General Fund.
  (b) Neither the Controller nor the Department of Finance may impose any hiring freeze or personal services limitations, including any position reductions, upon any direct or indirect position of the department that provides oversight and related support of remediation and hazardous substance management at a military base, including a closed military base, that is funded through an agreement with a party responsible for paying the department's costs, or on any direct or indirect position that is funded by a federal grant that does not require a state match funded from the General Fund.
  (c) The Controller and Department of Finance shall exclude, from the department's base for purposes of calculating any budget or position reductions required by any state agency or any state law, the specific amounts and direct or indirect positions that provide oversight and related support of remediation and hazardous substance management at a military base, including a closed military base, that are funded through an agreement with a party responsible for paying the department's costs, and shall exclude the specific amounts and any direct or indirect positions that are funded by a federal grant that does not require a state match funded from the General Fund.
  (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the Controller nor the Department of Finance may require the department to reduce authorized positions or other appropriations for other department programs, including personal services, to replace the reductions precluded by subdivisions (a), (b), and (c).
  (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon the request of the department, and upon review and approval by the Department of Finance, the Controller shall augment any Budget Act appropriations, except for appropriations from the General Fund, necessary to implement this section.
  (f) (1) This section does not apply to any department appropriation or expenditure of General Fund moneys.
  (2) This section does not limit the authority of the Department of Finance to eliminate a position when funding for the position, through an agreement with a party or by a federal grant, is no longer available.

(a) There is hereby continuously appropriated from the state account to the department the sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for each fiscal year as a reserve account for emergencies, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code. The department shall expend moneys available in the reserve account only for the purpose of taking immediate corrective action necessary to remedy or prevent an emergency resulting from a fire or an explosion of, or human exposure to, hazardous substances caused by the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance.
  (b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may enter into written contracts for corrective action taken or to be taken pursuant to subdivision (a).
  (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may enter into oral contracts, not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in obligation, when, in the judgment of the department, immediate corrective action is necessary to remedy or prevent an emergency specified in subdivision (a).
  (3) The contracts made pursuant to this subdivision, whether written or oral, may include provisions for the rental of tools or equipment, either with or without operators furnished, and for the furnishing of labor and materials necessary to accomplish the work.
  (4) If the department finds that the corrective action includes the relocation of individuals, the department may contract with those individuals for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in moving for an amount of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
  (c) The department shall include in the biennial report specified in Section 25178 an accounting of the moneys expended pursuant to this section. Once the appropriation made pursuant to subdivision (a) is fully expended, the director may file a report with the Legislature if it is in session or, if it is not in session, with the Committee on Rules of the Assembly and the Senate as to the moneys expended pursuant to this section. The Legislature may appropriate moneys from the state account, in addition to those moneys appropriated pursuant to subdivision (a), to the department for the purpose of taking corrective action pursuant to subdivision (a).
  (d) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the amount deposited in the reserve account and appropriated pursuant to this section shall not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000) in any fiscal year. On June 30 of each year, the unencumbered balance of the reserve account shall revert to and be deposited in the state account.

(a) A state or local law enforcement officer or investigator or other law enforcement agency employee who, in the course of an official investigation or enforcement action regarding the manufacture of an illegal controlled substance, comes in contact with, or is aware of, the presence of a substance that the person suspects is a hazardous substance at a site where an illegal controlled substance is or was manufactured, shall notify the department for the purpose of taking removal action, as necessary, to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage that might otherwise result from the release or threatened release of the hazardous substance, except for samples required under Section 11479.5 to be kept for evidentiary purposes.
  (b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon receipt of a notification pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall take removal action, as necessary, with respect to a hazardous substance that is an illegal controlled substance, a precursor of a controlled substance, a material intended to be used in the unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, and a container for the material, a waste material from the unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, or any other item contaminated with a hazardous substance used or intended to be used in the manufacture of a controlled substance. The department may expend funds appropriated from the Illegal Drug Lab Cleanup Account created pursuant to subdivision (f) to pay the costs of removal actions required by this section. The department may enter into oral contracts, not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in obligation, when, in the judgment of the department, immediate corrective action to a hazardous substance subject to this section is necessary to remedy or prevent an emergency.
  (2) The department shall, as soon as the information is available, report the location of a removal action that will be carried out pursuant to paragraph (1), and the time that the removal action will be carried out, to the local environmental health officer within whose jurisdiction the removal action will take place, if the local environmental officer does both of the following:
  (A) Requests, in writing, that the department report this information to the local environmental health officer.
  (B) Provides the department with a single 24-hour telephone number to which the information can be reported.
  (c) (1) For purposes of Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), Chapter 6.9.1 (commencing with Section 25400.10), or this chapter, a person who is found to have operated a site for the purpose of manufacturing an illegal controlled substance or a precursor of an illegal controlled substance is the generator of a hazardous substance at, or released from, the site that is subject to removal action pursuant to this section.
  (2) During the removal action, for purposes of complying with the manifest requirements in Section 25160, the department, the county health department, the local environmental health officer, or their designee may sign the hazardous waste manifest as the generator of the hazardous waste. In carrying out that action, the department, the county health department, the local environmental health officer, or their designee shall be considered to have acted in furtherance of their statutory responsibilities to protect the public health and safety and the environment from the release, or threatened release, of hazardous substances, and the department, the county health department, the local environmental health officer, or their designee is not a responsible party for the release, or threatened release, of the hazardous substances.
  (3) The officer, investigator, or agency employee specified in subdivision (a) is not a responsible party for the release, or threatened release, of hazardous substances at, or released from, the site.
  (d) The department may adopt regulations to implement this section in consultation with appropriate law enforcement and local environmental agencies.
  (e) (1) The department shall develop sampling and analytical methods for the collection of methamphetamine residue.
  (2) The department shall, to the extent funding is available, develop health-based target remediation standards for iodine, methyl iodide, and phosphine.
  (3) To the extent that funding is available, the department, using guidance developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, may develop additional health-based target remediation standards for additional precursors and byproducts of methamphetamine.
  (4) On or before October 1, 2009, the department shall adopt investigation and cleanup procedures for use in the remediation of sites contaminated by the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine. The procedures shall ensure that contamination by the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine can be remediated to meet the standards adopted pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3), to protect the health and safety of all future occupants of the site.
  (5) The department shall implement this subdivision in accordance with subdivision (d).
  (f) The Illegal Drug Lab Cleanup Account is hereby created in the General Fund and the department may expend any money in the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to carry out the removal actions required by this section and to implement subdivision (e), including, but not limited to, funding an interagency agreement entered into with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to provide guidance services. The account shall be funded by moneys appropriated directly from the General Fund.
  (g) The responsibilities assigned to the department by this section apply only to the extent that sufficient funding is made available for that purpose.

(a) The Governor is responsible for the coordination of all state response actions for sites identified in Section 25356 in order to assure the maximum use of available federal funds.
  (b) The director may initiate removal or remedial action pursuant to this chapter unless these actions have been taken, or are being taken properly and in a timely fashion, by any responsible party.
  (c) (1) At least 30 days before initiating removal or remedial actions, the department shall make a reasonable effort to notify the persons identified by the department as potentially responsible parties and shall also publish a notification of this action in a newspaper of general circulation pursuant to the method specified in Section 6061 of the Government Code. This subdivision does not apply to actions taken pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 25358.3 or immediate corrective actions taken pursuant to Section 25354. A responsible party may be held liable pursuant to this chapter whether or not the person was given the notice specified in this subdivision.
  (2) (A) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 25317, any person may voluntarily enter into an enforceable agreement with the department pursuant to this subdivision that allows removal or remedial actions to be conducted under the oversight of the department at sites with petroleum releases from sources other than underground storage tanks, as defined in Section 25299.24.
  (B) If the department determines that there may be an adverse impact to water quality as a result of a petroleum release, the department shall notify the appropriate regional board prior to entering into the enforceable agreement pursuant to subparagraph (A). The department may enter into an enforceable agreement pursuant to subparagraph (A) unless, within 60 days of the notification provided by the department, the regional board provides the department with a written notice that the regional board will assume oversight responsibility for the removal or remedial action.
  (C) Agreements entered into pursuant to this paragraph shall provide that the party will reimburse the department for all costs incurred including, but not limited to, oversight costs pursuant to the enforceable agreement associated with the performance of the removal or remedial actions and Chapter 6.66 (commencing with Section 25269).
  (d) The department shall notify the owner of the real property of the site of a hazardous substance release within 30 days after listing a site pursuant to Section 25356, and at least 30 days before initiating a removal or remedial action pursuant to this chapter, by sending the notification by certified mail to the person to whom the real property is assessed, as shown upon the last equalized assessment roll of the county, at the address shown on the assessment roll. The requirements of this subdivision do not apply to actions taken pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 25358.3 or to immediate corrective actions taken pursuant to Section 25354.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the department or the regional board shall require any responsible party who is required to comply with operation and maintenance requirements as part of a response action, to demonstrate and to maintain financial assurance in accordance with this section. The responsible party shall demonstrate financial assurance prior to the time that operation and maintenance activities are initiated and shall maintain it throughout the period of time necessary to complete all required operation and maintenance activities.
  (b) (1) For purposes of subdivision (a), the responsible party shall demonstrate and maintain one or more of the financial assurance mechanisms set forth in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
  (2) As an alternative to the requirement of paragraph (1), a responsible party may demonstrate and maintain financial assurance by means of a financial assurance mechanism other than those listed in paragraph (1), if the alternative financial assurance mechanism has been submitted to, and approved by, the department or the regional board as being at least equivalent to the financial assurance mechanisms specified in paragraph (1). The department or the regional board shall evaluate the equivalency of the proposed alternative financial assurance mechanism principally in terms of the certainty of the availability of funds for required operation and maintenance activities and the amount of funds that will be made available. The department or the regional board shall require the responsible party to submit any information necessary to make a determination as to the equivalency of the proposed alternative financial assurance mechanism.
  (c) The department or the regional board shall waive the financial assurance required by subdivision (a) if the department or the regional board makes one of the following determinations:
  (1) The responsible party is a small business and has demonstrated all of the following:
  (A) The responsible party cannot qualify for any of the financial assurance mechanisms set forth in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
  (B) The responsible party financially cannot meet the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
  (C) The responsible party is not capable of meeting the eligibility requirements set forth in subdivision (e) of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
  (2) The responsible party is a small business and has demonstrated that the responsible party financially is not capable of establishing one of the financial assurance mechanisms set forth in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations while at the same time financing the operation and maintenance requirements applicable to the site.
  (3) The responsible party is not separately required to demonstrate and maintain a financial assurance mechanism for operation and maintenance activities at a site because of all of the following conditions:
  (A) The site is a multiple responsible party site.
  (B) Financial assurance that operation and maintenance activities at the site will be carried out is demonstrated and maintained by a financial assurance mechanism established jointly by all, or some, of the responsible parties.
  (C) The financial assurance mechanism specified in subparagraph (B) meets the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b).
  (4) The responsible party is a federal, state, or local government entity.
  (d) The department or the regional board shall withdraw a waiver granted pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (c) if the department or the regional board determines that the responsible party that obtained the waiver no longer meets the eligibility requirements for the waiver.
  (e) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5 of the Government Code, on or before January 15, 2001, the department shall report to the Legislature all of the following:
  (1) The number of requests the department and the regional boards have received for waivers from the financial assurance requirements of this section during the period between May 26, 1999, and January 1, 2001.
  (2) The disposition of the requests that were received and the reasons for granting the waivers that were allowed and rejecting the waivers that were disallowed.
  (3) The total number of businesses or other entities that were required by this section to demonstrate and maintain financial assurance, the number of businesses or other entities that were able to comply with the requirement, the number that were unable to comply and the reasons why they could not or did not comply, and the history of compliance with this chapter and Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) by responsible parties that requested waivers.
  (4) Financial assurance mechanisms other than the financial assurance mechanisms referenced in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) that may be available to responsible parties.
  (f) For purposes of this section, "small business" is a business that meets the requirements set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 14837 of the Government Code.

(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), no money shall be expended from the state account for removal or remedial actions on any site selected for inclusion on the list established pursuant to Section 25356, unless the department first takes both of the following actions:
  (1) The department issues one of the following orders or enters into the following agreement:
  (A) The department issues an order specifying a schedule for compliance or correction pursuant to Section 25187.
  (B) The department issues an order establishing a schedule for removing or remedying the release of a hazardous substance at the site, or for correcting the conditions that threaten the release of a hazardous substance. The order shall include, but is not limited to, requiring specific dates by which necessary corrective actions shall be taken to remove the threat of a release, or dates by which the nature and extent of a release shall be determined and the site adequately characterized, a remedial action plan shall be prepared, the remedial action plan shall be submitted to the department for approval, and a removal or remedial action shall be completed.
  (C) The department enters into an enforceable agreement with a potentially responsible party for the site that requires the party to take necessary corrective action to remove the threat of the release, or to determine the nature and extent of the release and adequately characterize the site, prepare a remedial action plan, and complete the necessary removal or remedial actions, as required in the approved remedial action plan. Any enforceable agreement entered into pursuant to this section may provide for the execution and recording of a written instrument that imposes an easement, covenant, restriction, or servitude, or combination thereof, as appropriate, upon the present and future uses of the site. The instrument shall provide that the easement, covenant, restriction, or servitude, or combination thereof, as appropriate, is subject to the variance or removal procedures specified in Sections 25233 and 25234. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an easement, covenant, restriction, or servitude, or any combination thereof, as appropriate, executed pursuant to this section and recorded so as to provide constructive notice runs with the land from the date of recordation, is binding upon all of the owners of the land, their heirs, successors, and assignees, and the agents, employees, or lessees of the owners, heirs, successors, and assignees, and is enforceable by the department pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 25180) of Chapter 6.5.
  (2) The department determines, in writing, that the potentially responsible party or parties for the hazardous substance release site have not complied with all of the terms of an order issued pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) or an agreement entered into pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1). Before the department determines that a potentially responsible party is not in compliance with the order or agreement, the department shall give the potentially responsible party written notice of the proposed determination and an opportunity to correct the noncompliance or show why the order should be modified. After the department has made the final determination that a potentially responsible party is not in compliance with the order or agreement, the department may expend money from the state account for a removal or remedial action.
  (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply, and money from the state account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for removal or remedial actions, if any of the following conditions apply:
  (1) The department, after a reasonable effort, is unable to identify a potential responsible party for the hazardous substance release site.
  (2) The department determines that immediate corrective action is necessary, as provided in Section 25354.
  (3) The director determines that removal or remedial action at a site is necessary because there may be an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or to the environment.
  (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department may expend funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the state account to conduct activities necessary to verify that an uncontrolled release of hazardous substances has occurred at a suspected hazardous substance release site, to issue an order or enter into an enforceable agreement pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), and to review, comment upon, and approve or disapprove remedial action plans submitted by potentially responsible parties subject to the orders or the enforceable agreement.
  (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department may expend funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the state account, to provide for oversight of removal and remedial actions, or, if the site is also listed on the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604(c)(3)), to provide the state's share of a removal or remedial action.
  (e) A responsible party who fails, as determined by the department in writing, to comply with an order issued pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), or to comply with all of the terms of an enforceable agreement entered into pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), shall be deemed, for purposes of subdivision (b) of Section 25355, to have failed to take action properly and in a timely fashion with respect to a hazardous substance release or a threatened release.

(a) The State Water Resources Control Board or a California regional water quality control board that has jurisdiction over a hazardous substance release site pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code may refer the site to the department as a candidate for listing pursuant to Section 25356. After determining that the site meets the criteria adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25356, the department may place the site on the list of sites subject to this chapter and establish its priority ranking pursuant to Section 25356.
  (b) If a hazardous substance release site is referred to the department and is listed pursuant to subdivision (a), the department may expend money from the state account for removal or remedial action at the site, upon appropriation by the Legislature, without first issuing an order or entering into an agreement pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 25355.5, if all of the following apply:
  (1) The State Water Resources Control Board or a California regional water quality control board has issued either a cease and desist order pursuant to Section 13301 of the Water Code or a cleanup and abatement order pursuant to Section 13304 of the Water Code to the potentially responsible party for the site.
  (2) The State Water Resources Control Board or the California regional water quality control board has made a final finding that the potentially responsible party has not complied with the order issued pursuant to paragraph (1).
  (3) The State Water Resources Control Board or the California regional water quality control board has notified the potentially responsible party of the determination made pursuant to paragraph (2) and that the hazardous substance release site has been referred to the department pursuant to subdivision (a).
  (c) If a hazardous substance release site is referred to the department pursuant to subdivision (a), and the department makes either of the following determinations, the department shall notify the appropriate California regional water quality control board and the State Water Resources Control Board:
  (1) The department determines that the site does not meet the criteria established pursuant to subdivision (a) and the site cannot be placed, pursuant to Section 25356, on the list of sites subject to this chapter.
  (2) The department determines that a removal or remedial action at the site will not commence for a period of one year from the date of listing due to a lack of funds or the low priority of the site.
  (d) If a California regional water resources control board or the State Water Resources Control Board receives a notice pursuant to subdivision (c), the regional board or state board may take any further action concerning the hazardous substance release site which the regional board or state board determines to be necessary or feasible, and which is authorized by this chapter or Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code.

The department and the State Water Resources Control Board concurrently shall establish policies and procedures consistent with this chapter that the department's representatives shall follow in overseeing and supervising the activities of responsible parties who are carrying out the investigation of, and taking removal or remedial actions at, hazardous substance release sites. The policies and procedures shall be consistent with the policies and procedures established pursuant to Section 13307 of the Water Code, and shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
  (a) The procedures the department will follow in making decisions as to when a potentially responsible party may be required to undertake an investigation to determine if a hazardous substance release has occurred.
  (b) Policies for carrying out a phased, step-by-step investigation to determine the nature and extent of possible soil and groundwater contamination at a site.
  (c) Procedures for identifying and utilizing the most cost-effective methods for detecting contamination and carrying out removal or remedial actions.
  (d) Policies for determining reasonable schedules for investigation and removal or remedial action at a site. The policies shall recognize the dangers to public health and the environment posed by a release and the need to mitigate those dangers, while taking into account, to the extent possible, the financial and technical resources available to a responsible party.

(a) The department shall not agree to oversee the preparation of, or to review, a preliminary endangerment assessment for property if action is, or may be, necessary to address a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance, and the department shall not issue a letter stating that no further action is necessary with regard to property, unless the person requesting the department action does either of the following:
  (1) Provides the department with all of the following:
  (A) Proof of the identity of all current record owners of fee title to the property and their mailing addresses.
  (B) Written evidence that the owners of record have been sent a notice that describes the actions completed or proposed by the requesting person.
  (C) An acknowledgment of the receipt of the notice required in subparagraph (B), from the property owners or proof that the requesting person has made reasonable efforts to deliver the notice to the property owner and was unable to do so.
  (2) Proof of the identity of all current record owners of fee title to the property and proof that the requesting person has made reasonable efforts to locate the property owners and was unable to do so.
  (b) The department shall take all reasonable steps necessary to accommodate property owner participation in the site remediation process and shall consider all input and recommendations received from the owner of property which is the subject of the proposed action.
  (c) This section only applies to instances where a person requests the department to oversee the preparation of, or to review, a preliminary endangerment assessment, or requests the department to issue a letter stating that no further action is necessary with regard to property. Nothing in this section imposes a condition upon, limits, or impacts in any way, the department's authority to compel any potentially responsible party to take any action in response to a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance or to recover costs incurred from any potentially responsible party.

(a) (1) The department shall adopt, by regulation, criteria for the selection of hazardous substance release sites for a response action under this chapter. The criteria shall take into account pertinent factors relating to public health, safety and the environment, which shall include, but are not necessarily limited to, potential hazards to public health, safety or the environment, the risk of fire or explosion, and toxic hazards, and shall also include the criteria established pursuant to Section 105(8) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9605(8)).
  (2) The criteria adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) may include a minimum hazard threshold, below which sites shall not be listed pursuant to this section, if the sites are subject to the authority of the department to order a response action, or similar action, pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100).
  (b) (1) The department shall publish and revise, at least annually, a listing of the hazardous substance release sites selected for, and subject to, a response action under this chapter. The department shall list the sites based upon the criteria adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) and the extent to which deferral of a response action at a site will result, or is likely to result, in a rapid increase in response costs at the site or in a significant increase in risk to human health or safety or the environment.
  (2) The list of sites established pursuant to this subdivision shall be published by the department and made available to the public or any interested person upon request and without cost. The department shall list sites alphabetically within each priority tier, as specified in subdivision (c), and shall update the list of sites at least annually to reflect new information regarding previously listed sites or the addition of new sites requiring response actions.
  (c) The department shall assign each site listed pursuant to subdivision (b) to one of the following priority tiers for the purpose of informing the public of the relative hazard of listed sites:
  (1) "Priority tier one" shall include any site that the department determines, using the criteria described in subdivision (b), meets any of the following conditions:
  (A) The site may pose a known or probable threat to public health or safety through direct human contact.
  (B) The site may pose a substantial probability of explosion or a fire or a significant risk due to hazardous air emissions.
  (C) The site has a high potential to contaminate or to continue to contaminate groundwater resources that are present or possible future sources of drinking water.
  (D) There is a risk that the costs of a response action will increase rapidly or risks to human health or safety or the environment will increase significantly if response action is deferred.
  (2) "Priority tier two" shall include any site that poses a substantial but less immediate threat to public health or safety or the environment and any site that will require a response action, but presents only a limited and defined threat to human health or safety or the environment. Priority tier two may contain sites previously listed in priority tier one if the department determines that direct threats to human health or safety have been removed and if physical deterioration of the site has been stabilized so that threats to the environment are not significantly increasing.
  (d) Hazardous substance release sites listed by the department pursuant to subdivision (b) are subject to this chapter and all actions carried out in response to hazardous substance releases or threatened releases at listed sites shall comply with the procedures, standards, and other requirements set forth in this chapter or established pursuant to the requirements of this chapter.
  (e) (1) The adoption of the minimum hazard threshold pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the department's development and publication of the list of sites pursuant to subdivision (b), and the assignment of sites to a tier pursuant to subdivision (c), including the classification of a site as within a minimum threshold pursuant to subdivision (c), are not subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
  (2) The adoption of the criteria used by the department pursuant to subdivision (b) to determine the extent to which deferral of a response action at a site will result, or is likely to result, in a rapid increase in response costs at a site or in a significant increase in risk to human health or safety or the environment is subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
  (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the department shall expend all funds appropriated to the department for any response action pursuant to this chapter, and shall take all response action pursuant to this chapter, in conformance with the assignment of sites to priority tiers pursuant to subdivision (c).
  (2) The department may expend funds appropriated for a response action and take a response action, without conforming to the listing of sites by tier pursuant to subdivision (c), or at a site that has not been listed pursuant to subdivision (b), if any of the following apply:
  (A) The department is monitoring a response action conducted by a responsible party at a site listed pursuant to subdivision (b) or at a site that is not listed but is being voluntarily remediated by a responsible party or another person.
  (B) The expenditure of funds is necessary to pay for the state share of a response action pursuant to Section 104(c)(3) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604(c)(3)).
  (C) The department is assessing, evaluating, and characterizing the nature and extent of a hazardous substance release at a site for which the department has not been able to identify a responsible party, the responsible party is defunct or insolvent, or the responsible party is not in compliance with an order issued, or an enforceable agreement entered into, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25355.5.
  (D) The department is carrying out activities pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (b) of, or subdivision (c) or (d) of, Section 25355.5.
  (3) The department may, at any one time, expend funds and take a response action at more than one site on the list established pursuant to subdivision (b). In addition, the department may, at any one time, oversee the performance of any activities conducted by a responsible party on more than one site on the list established pursuant to subdivision (b).
  (g) This section does not require the department to characterize every site listed pursuant to subdivision (b) before the department begins response actions at those sites.
  (h) The department, or, if appropriate, the California regional water quality board, is the state agency with sole responsibility for ensuring that required action in response to a hazardous substance release or threatened release at a listed site is carried out in compliance with the procedures, standards, and other requirements set forth in this chapter, and shall, as appropriate, coordinate the involvement of interested or affected agencies in the response action.

(a) For purposes of this section, "regional board" means a California regional water quality control board and "state board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
  (b) Except as provided in subdivision (h), the department, or, if appropriate, the regional board shall prepare or approve remedial action plans for the sites listed pursuant to Section 25356.
  (c) A potentially responsible party may request the department or the regional board, when appropriate, to prepare or approve a remedial action plan for a site not listed pursuant to Section 25356, if the department or the regional board determines that a removal or remedial action is required to respond to a release of a hazardous substance. The department or the regional board shall respond to a request to prepare or approve a remedial action plan within 90 days of receipt. This subdivision does not affect the authority of a regional board to issue and enforce a cleanup and abatement order pursuant to Section 13304 of the Water Code or a cease and desist order pursuant to Section 13301 of the Water Code.
  (d) All remedial action plans prepared or approved pursuant to this section shall be based upon Section 25350, Subpart E of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40 C.F.R. 300.400 et seq.), and any amendments thereto, and upon all of the following factors, to the extent that these factors are consistent with these federal regulations and do not require a less stringent level of cleanup than these federal regulations:
  (1) Health and safety risks posed by the conditions at the site. When considering these risks, the department or the regional board shall consider scientific data and reports which may have a relationship to the site.
  (2) The effect of contamination or pollution levels upon present, future, and probable beneficial uses of contaminated, polluted, or threatened resources.
  (3) The effect of alternative remedial action measures on the reasonable availability of groundwater resources for present, future, and probable beneficial uses. The department or the regional board shall consider the extent to which remedial action measures are available that use, as a principal element, treatment that significantly reduces the volume, toxicity, or mobility of the hazardous substances, as opposed to remedial actions that do not use this treatment. The department or the regional board shall not select remedial action measures that use offsite transport and disposal of untreated hazardous substances or contaminated materials if practical and cost-effective treatment technologies are available.
  (4) Site-specific characteristics, including the potential for offsite migration of hazardous substances, the surface or subsurface soil, and the hydrogeologic conditions, as well as preexisting background contamination levels.
  (5) Cost-effectiveness of alternative remedial action measures. In evaluating the cost-effectiveness of proposed alternative remedial action measures, the department or the regional board shall consider, to the extent possible, the total short-term and long-term costs of these actions and shall use, as a major factor, whether the deferral of a remedial action will result, or is likely to result, in a rapid increase in cost or in the hazard to public health or the environment posed by the site. Land disposal shall not be deemed the most cost-effective measure merely on the basis of lower short-term cost.
  (6) The potential environmental impacts of alternative remedial action measures, including, but not limited to, land disposal of the untreated hazardous substances as opposed to treatment of the hazardous substances to remove or reduce its volume, toxicity, or mobility prior to disposal.
  (e) A remedial action plan prepared pursuant to this section shall include the basis for the remedial action selected and shall include an evaluation of each alternative considered and rejected by the department or the regional board for a particular site. The plan shall include an explanation for rejection of alternative remedial actions considered but rejected. The plan shall also include an evaluation of the consistency of the selected remedial action with the requirements of the federal regulations and the factors specified in subdivision (d), if those factors are not otherwise adequately addressed through compliance with the federal regulations. The remedial action plan shall also include a nonbinding preliminary allocation of responsibility among all identifiable potentially responsible parties at a particular site, including those parties which may have been released, or may otherwise be immune, from liability pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of law. Before adopting a final remedial action plan, the department or the regional board shall prepare or approve a draft remedial action plan and shall do all of the following:
  (1) Circulate the draft plan for at least 30 days for public comment.
  (2) Notify affected local and state agencies of the removal and remedial actions proposed in the remedial action plan and publish a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by the draft remedial action plan. The department or the regional board shall also post notices in the location where the proposed removal or remedial action would be located and shall notify, by direct mailing, the owners of property contiguous to the site addressed by the plan, as shown in the latest equalized assessment roll.
  (3) Hold one or more meetings with the lead and responsible agencies for the removal and remedial actions, the potentially responsible parties for the removal and remedial actions, and the interested public, to provide the public with the information that is necessary to address the issues that concern the public. The information to be provided shall include an assessment of the degree of contamination, the characteristics of the hazardous substances, an estimate of the time required to carry out the removal and remedial actions, and a description of the proposed removal and remedial actions.
  (4) Comply with Section 25358.7.
  (f) After complying with subdivision (e), the department or the regional board shall review and consider any public comments, and shall revise the draft plan, if appropriate. The department or the regional board shall then issue the final remedial action plan.
  (g) (1) A potentially responsible party named in the final remedial action plan issued by the department or the regional board may seek judicial review of the final remedial action plan by filing a petition for writ of mandate pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure within 30 days after the final remedial action plan is issued by the department or the regional board. Any other person who has the right to seek judicial review of the final remedial action plan by filing a petition for writ of mandate pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall do so within one year after the final remedial action plan is issued. No action may be brought by a potentially responsible party to review the final remedial action plan if the petition for writ of mandate is not filed within 30 days of the date that the final remedial action plan was issued. No action may be brought by any other person to review the final remedial action plan if the petition for writ of mandate is not filed within one year of the date that the final remedial action plan was issued. The filing of a petition for writ of mandate to review the final remedial action plan shall not stay any removal or remedial action specified in the final plan.
  (2) For purposes of judicial review, the court shall uphold the final remedial action plan if the plan is based upon substantial evidence available to the department or the regional board, as the case may be.
  (3) This subdivision does not prohibit the court from granting any appropriate relief within its jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, enjoining the expenditure of funds pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 25385.6.
  (h) (1) This section does not require the department or a regional board to prepare a remedial action plan if conditions present at a site present an imminent or substantial endangerment to the public health and safety or to the environment or, if the department, a regional board, or a responsible party takes a removal action at a site and the estimated cost of the removal action is less than two million dollars ($2,000,000). The department or a regional board shall prepare or approve a removal action work plan for all sites where a nonemergency removal action is proposed and where a remedial action plan is not required. For sites where removal actions are planned and are projected to cost less than two million dollars ($2,000,000), the department or a regional board shall make the local community aware of the hazardous substance release site and shall prepare, or direct the parties responsible for the removal action to prepare, a community profile report to determine the level of public interest in the removal action. Based on the level of expressed interest, the department or regional board shall take appropriate action to keep the community informed of project activity and to provide opportunities for public comment which may include conducting a public meeting on proposed removal actions.
  (2) A remedial action plan is not required pursuant to subdivision (b) if the site is listed on the National Priority List by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal act, if the department or the regional board concurs with the remedy selected by the Environmental Protection Agency's record of decision. The department or the regional board may sign the record of decision issued by the Environmental Protection Agency if the department or the regional board concurs with the remedy selected.
  (3) The department may waive the requirement that a remedial action plan meet the requirements specified in subdivision (d) if all of the following apply:
  (A) The responsible party adequately characterizes the hazardous substance conditions at a site listed pursuant to Section 25356.
  (B) The responsible party submits to the department, in a form acceptable to the department, all of the following:
  (i) A description of the techniques and methods to be employed in excavating, storing, handling, transporting, treating, and disposing of materials from the site.
  (ii) A listing of the alternative remedial measures which were considered by the responsible party in selecting the proposed removal action.
  (iii) A description of methods that will be employed during the removal action to ensure the health and safety of workers and the public during the removal action.
  (iv) A description of prior removal actions with similar hazardous substances and with similar public safety and environmental considerations.
  (C) The department determines that the remedial action plan provides protection of human health and safety and for the environment at least equivalent to that which would be provided by a remedial action plan prepared in accordance with subdivision (c).
  (D) The total cost of the removal action is less than two million dollars ($2,000,000).
  (4) For purposes of this section, the cost of a removal action includes the cleanup of removal of released hazardous substances from the environment or the taking of other actions that are necessary to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage that may otherwise result from a release or threatened release, as further defined by Section 9601 (23) of Title 42 of the United States Code.
  (5) Paragraph (2) of this subdivision does not apply to a removal action paid from the state account.
  (i) Article 2 (commencing with Section 13320), Article 3 (commencing with Section 13330), Article 5 (commencing with Section 13350), and Article 6 (commencing with Section 13360) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the Water Code apply to an action or failure to act by a regional board pursuant to this section.

(a) In exercising its authority at a hazardous substance release site pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25355.5 or 25358.3, the department shall issue orders to the largest manageable number of potentially responsible parties after considering all of the following:
  (1) The adequacy of the evidence of each potentially responsible party's liability.
  (2) The financial viability of each potentially responsible party.
  (3) The relationship or contribution of each potentially responsible party to the release, or threat of release, of hazardous substances at the site.
  (4) The resources available to the department.
  (b) The department shall schedule a meeting pursuant to Section 25269.5 and notify all identified potentially responsible parties of the date, time, and location of the meeting.
  (c) A person issued an order pursuant to Section 25355.5 or 25358.3 may identify additional potentially responsible parties for the site to which the order is applicable and may request the department to issue an order to those parties. The request shall include, with appropriate documentation, the factual and legal basis for identifying those parties as potentially responsible parties for the site. The department shall review the request and accompanying information and, within a reasonable period of time, determine if there is a factual and legal basis for identifying other persons as potentially responsible parties, and notify the person that made the request of the action the department will take in response to the request.
  (d) Any determination made by the department regarding the largest manageable number of potentially responsible parties or the identification of other persons as potentially responsible parties pursuant to this section is not subject to judicial review. This subdivision does not affect the rights of any potentially responsible party or the department under any other provision of this chapter.

(a) Any response action taken or approved pursuant to this chapter shall be based upon, and no less stringent than, all of the following requirements:
  (1) The requirements established under federal regulation pursuant to Subpart E of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40 C.F.R. 300.400 et seq.), as amended.
  (2) The regulations established pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code, all applicable water quality control plans adopted pursuant to Section 13170 of the Water Code and Article 3 (commencing with Section 13240) of Chapter 4 of Division 7 of the Water Code, and all applicable state policies for water quality control adopted pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 13140) of Chapter 3 of Division 7 of the Water Code, to the extent that the department or the regional board determines that those regulations, plans, and policies do not require a less stringent level of remediation than the federal regulations specified in paragraph (1) and to the degree that those regulations, plans, and policies do not authorize decisionmaking procedures that may result in less stringent response action requirements than those required by the federal regulations specified in paragraph (1).
  (3) Any applicable provisions of this chapter, to the extent those provisions are consistent with the federal regulations specified in paragraph (1) and do not require a less stringent level of remediation than, or decisionmaking procedures that are at variance with, the federal regulations set forth in paragraph (1).
  (b) Any health or ecological risk assessment prepared in conjunction with a response action taken or approved pursuant to this chapter shall be based upon Subpart E of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40 C.F.R. 300.400 et seq.), the policies, guidelines, and practices of the United States Environmental Protection Agency developed pursuant to the federal act, and the most current sound scientific methods, knowledge, and practices of public health and environmental professionals who are experienced practitioners in the fields of epidemiology, risk assessment, environmental contamination, ecological risk, fate and transport analysis, and toxicology. Risk assessment practices shall include the most current sound scientific methods for data evaluation, exposure assessment, toxicity assessment, and risk characterization, documentation of all assumptions, methods, models, and calculations used in the assessment, and any health risk assessment shall include all of the following:
  (1) Evaluation of risks posed by acutely toxic hazardous substances based on levels at which no known or anticipated adverse effects on health will occur, with an adequate margin of safety.
  (2) Evaluation of risks posed by carcinogens or other hazardous substances that may cause chronic disease based on a level that does not pose any significant risk to health.
  (3) Consideration of possible synergistic effects resulting from exposure to, or interaction with, two or more hazardous substances.
  (4) Consideration of the effect of hazardous substances upon subgroups that comprise a meaningful portion of the general population, including, but not limited to, infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly, individuals with a history of serious illness, or other subpopulations, that are identifiable as being at greater risk of adverse health effects due to exposure to hazardous substances than the general population.
  (5) Consideration of exposure and body burden level that alter physiological function or structure in a manner that may significantly increase the risk of illness and of exposure to hazardous substances in all media, including, but not limited to, exposures in drinking water, food, ambient and indoor air, and soil.
  (c) If currently available scientific data are insufficient to determine the level of a hazardous substance at which no known or anticipated adverse effects on health will occur, with an adequate margin of safety, or the level that poses no significant risk to public health, the risk assessment prepared in conjunction with a response action taken or approved pursuant to this chapter shall be based on the level that is protective of public health, with an adequate margin of safety. This level shall be based exclusively on public health considerations, shall, to the extent scientific data are available, take into account the factors set forth in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b), and shall be based on the most current principles, practices, and methods used by public health professionals who are experienced practitioners in the fields of epidemiology, risk assessment, fate and transport analysis, and toxicology.
  (d) The exposure assessment of any risk assessment prepared in conjunction with a response action taken or approved pursuant to this chapter shall include the development of reasonable maximum estimates of exposure for both current land use conditions and reasonably foreseeable future land use conditions at the site.
  (e) The exposure assessment of any risk assessment prepared in conjunction with a response action taken or approved pursuant to this chapter shall include the development of reasonable maximum estimates of exposure to volatile organic compounds that may enter structures that are on the site or that are proposed to be constructed on the site and may cause exposure due to accumulation of those volatile organic compounds in the indoor air of those structures.

Expenditures from the state account shall not be made in excess of the total amount of money in the state account at any one time. Expenditures in excess of such amount may be made only when additional money is collected or otherwise added to the state account.

(a) In any judicial action under this chapter, judicial review of any issues concerning the adequacy of any response action taken or ordered by the department shall be limited to the administrative record. Otherwise applicable principles of administrative law shall govern whether any supplemental materials may be considered by the court.
  (b) If the court finds that the selection of the response action was not in accordance with law, the court shall award only the response costs or damages that are not inconsistent with the National Contingency Plan, as specified in Part 300 (commencing with Section 300.1) of Subchapter J of Chapter I of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and any other relief that is consistent with the National Contingency Plan.
  (c) In reviewing an action brought by the department under this chapter, in which alleged procedural errors by the department are raised as a defense, the court may impose costs or damages only if the errors were serious and related to matters of central relevance to the action, so that the action would have been significantly changed had the errors not been made.

The state shall actively seek to obtain all federal funds to which it is entitled under the federal act and shall take all actions necessary to enter into contractual or cooperative agreements under Sections 104 (c) (3) and 104 (d) (1) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604 (c) (3) and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604 (d) (1)).

(a) The department, a representative of the department, or any person designated by the director may take the actions specified in this section only if there is a reasonable basis to believe that there has been or may be a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance, and only for the purpose of determining under this chapter the need for a response action, the choosing or taking of a response action, or otherwise for the purpose of enforcing this chapter.
  (b) Any officer or employee of the department, a representative of the director, or a person designated by the director may require any person who has or may have information relevant to any of the following matters to furnish the information, upon reasonable notice:
  (1) The identification, nature, and quantity of materials which have been, or are, generated, treated, stored, or disposed of at a hazardous substance release site or which have been, or are, transported to a hazardous substance release site.
  (2) The nature or extent of a release or a threatened release of a hazardous substance at, or from, a hazardous substance release site.
  (3) The ability of a person to pay for or to perform a response action, consistent with subsection (e) of Section 104 of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604(e)).
  (c) A person who is required to provide information pursuant to subdivision (b) shall, in accordance with subdivision (h), allow the officer, employee, representative, or designee, upon reasonable notice and at reasonable times, to have access to, and copy, all records relating to the hazardous substances for purposes of assisting the department in determining the need for an action in response to a release or threatened release pursuant to this chapter.
  (d) Any officer or employee of the department, representative of the director, or person designated by the director may, in accordance with subdivision (h), enter, at reasonable times, any of the following properties:
  (1) Any nonresidential establishment or other place or property where any hazardous substances may be, or have been, produced, stored, treated, disposed of, or transported from.
  (2) Any nonresidential establishment or other place or property from which, or to which, a hazardous substance has been, or may have been, released.
  (3) Any nonresidential establishment or other place or property where a hazardous substance release is, or may be, threatened.
  (4) Any nonresidential establishment or other place or property where entry is needed to determine the need for a response action, or the appropriate remedial action, to effectuate a response action under this chapter.
  (5) Any residential place or property which, if it were a nonresidential establishment or other place or property, would otherwise meet the criteria described in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, if the department, representative, or person designated by the director is able to establish, based upon reasonably available evidence, that hazardous substances have been released onto or under the residential place or real property and if entry is made only at reasonable times and after reasonable notification to the owners and occupants.
  (e) Any officer or employee of the department, representative of the director, or person designated by the director may, in accordance with subdivision (h), carry out any of the following activities:
  (1) Inspect and obtain samples from any establishment or other place or property specified in subdivision (d) or from any location of any suspected hazardous substance.
  (2) Inspect and obtain samples of any substances from any establishment or place or property specified in subdivision (d).
  (3) Inspect and obtain samples of any containers or labeling for the suspected hazardous substances, and samples of the soil, vegetation, air, water, and biota on the premises.
  (4) Set up and maintain monitoring equipment for the purpose of assessing or measuring the actual or potential migration of hazardous substances.
  (5) Survey and determine the topographic, geologic, and hydrogeologic features of the land.
  (6) Photograph any equipment, sample, activity, or environmental condition described in paragraphs (2) to (5) inclusive.
  (f) (1) If photographs are to be taken pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (e), the department shall do all of the following:
  (A) Comply with all procedures established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 25358.2.
  (B) Notify the person whose facility is photographed prior to public disclosure of the photographs.
  (C) Upon the request of the person owning the facility, submit a copy of any photograph to the person for the purpose of determining whether trade secret information, as defined in Section 25358.2, or facility security, would be revealed by the photograph.
  (2) "Disclosure," as used in Section 25358.2, for purposes of this paragraph, does not include the review of the photograph by a court of competent jurisdiction or by an administrative law judge. A court or judge may review the photograph in camera.
  (g) An officer, employee, representative, or designee who enters a place, establishment, or property pursuant to this section shall make a reasonable effort to inform the owner or the owner's authorized representative of the inspection and shall provide split samples to the owner or the representative upon request.
  (h) If the owner or the owner's authorized representative does not voluntarily grant access to a place, establishment, or property pursuant to this section, the officer, employee, representative, or designee shall first obtain a warrant pursuant to Title 13 (commencing with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure. However, if there is an emergency posing an immediate threat to public health and safety, the officer, employee, representative, or designee may enter the place, establishment, or property without the consent of the owner or owner's authorized representative and without the issuance of a warrant.
  (i) The department, and any person authorized by the department to enter upon any lands for the purpose of taking removal or remedial action pursuant to this chapter, shall not be held liable, in either a civil or criminal proceeding, for trespass or for any other acts which are necessary to carry out the corrective action.

(a) "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, develop, 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 may disclose trade secrets received by the department pursuant to this chapter to authorized representatives, contractors, or other governmental agencies only in connection with the department's responsibilities pursuant to this chapter. The department shall establish procedures to ensure that trade secrets are utilized only in connection with these responsibilities and are not otherwise disseminated without the consent of the person who provided the information to the department.
  (c) The department may also make available to the United States Environmental Protection Agency any and all information required by law to be furnished to that agency. The sharing of information between the department and that agency pursuant to this section does not constitute a waiver by the department or any affected person of any privilege or confidentiality provided by law which pertains to the information.
  (d) Any person providing information pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 25358.1 shall, at the time of its submission, identify all information which the person believes is a trade secret. Any information or record not identified as a trade secret is available to the public, unless exempted from disclosure by other provisions of law.
  (e) Any person who knowingly and willfully disseminates information protected by this section or procedures established by the department pursuant to subdivision (b) shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(a) Whenever the director determines that there may be an imminent or substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or to the environment, because of a release or a threatened release of a hazardous substance, the director may do any or all of the following:
  (1) Order any responsible party or parties to take or pay for appropriate removal or remedial action necessary to protect the public health and safety and the environment. No order under this section shall be made to an owner of real property solely on the basis of that ownership as specified in Sections 101(35) and 107(b) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Secs. 9601(35) and 9607(b)). The director shall give the responsible party an opportunity to assert all defenses to the order.
  (2) Take or contract for any necessary removal or remedial action.
  (3) Request the Attorney General to secure such relief as may be necessary from the responsible party or parties to abate the danger or threat. The superior court of the county in which the threat or danger occurs shall have jurisdiction to grant the relief which the public interest and equities of the case may require to protect public health and welfare and the environment. Upon a showing by the department that a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance has occurred or is occurring, and that there may be an imminent or substantial endangerment to the public health and safety or to the environment, the court may grant a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction pursuant to subdivision (e).
  (b) When the director determines that a release of a hazardous substance has occurred or is about to occur, the director may do any or all of the following:
  (1) Undertake those investigations, monitoring, surveys, testing, and other information gathering necessary to identify the existence, source, nature, and extent of the hazardous substances involved and the extent of danger to the public health or environment.
  (2) Undertake those planning, legal, fiscal, economic, engineering, architectural, and other studies or investigations which are necessary or appropriate to plan and direct response actions, to recover the cost of those actions, and to enforce this chapter.
  (c) Whenever there is a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance into the environment, the director may take or contract for any necessary removal or remedial action and may take or contract for any actions authorized by subdivision (b), in compliance with the provisions of this chapter, including, but not limited to, subdivision (b) of Section 25355.
  (d) Any person bidding for a contract specified in subdivision (c) shall submit a disclosure statement, as specified by Section 25112.5, except for a federal, state, or local agency. The director may prohibit a person from bidding on such a contract if the director makes any of the following determinations:
  (1) The director determines, in writing, that the bidder, or, if the bidder is a business entity, any trustee, officer, director, partner, or any person holding more than 5 percent of the equity in or debt liability of that business entity, has engaged in activities resulting in any federal or state conviction which are significantly related to the fitness of the bidder to perform the bidder's duties or activities under the contract. For purposes of this paragraph, "conviction" means a plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere. Any action that the department may take pursuant to this subdivision relating to the department's refusal to permit a person to bid on the contract may be based upon a conviction for which any of the following has occurred:
  (A) The time for appeal has elapsed.
  (B) The judgment of conviction has been affirmed on appeal.
  (C) Any order granting probation is made suspending the imposition of sentence, notwithstanding a subsequent order pursuant to Section 1203.4 of the Penal Code permitting that person to withdraw the plea of guilty and to enter a plea of not guilty, or setting aside the verdict of guilty, or dismissing the accusation, information, or indictment.
  (2) The director determines, in writing, that the bidder, or, if the bidder is a business entity, any trustee, officer, director, partner, or any person holding more than 5 percent of the equity in or debt liability of that business entity, has violated or failed to comply with this chapter or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) or Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 25280) of this division, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq.), the Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization Act of 1994, as amended (49 U.S.C. Sec. 5101 et seq.), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq.), the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 2601 et seq.), or any other equivalent federal or state statute or any requirement or regulation adopted pursuant thereto relating to the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, recycling, disposal, or handling of a hazardous waste, as defined in Section 25117, a hazardous substance, as defined in Section 25316, or a hazardous material, as defined in Section 353 of the Vehicle Code, if the violation or failure to comply shows a repeating or recurring pattern or may pose a threat to public health or safety or the environment.
  (3) The director determines, in writing, that the bidder has had a license, permit, or registration for the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, recycling, disposal, or handling of hazardous waste or hazardous substances revoked or suspended.
  (e) Whenever there is a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance, the director may request the Attorney General to secure such relief as may be necessary from the responsible party or parties to abate the release or threatened release. The superior court of the county in which the release or threatened release occurs has jurisdiction to grant that relief which the public interest and equities of the case may require to protect the public health and safety and the environment. Upon a showing by the department that a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance has occurred or is occurring, and that there may be an imminent or substantial endangerment to the public health and safety or to the environment, the court may grant a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction.
  (f) Upon the failure of any person to comply with any order issued by the department pursuant to this section or Section 25355.5, the director may request the Attorney General to petition the superior court for the issuance of an injunction requiring that person to comply with the order. The superior court shall have jurisdiction to grant a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction.
  (g) In any civil action brought pursuant to this chapter in which a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction is sought, the department shall prove that the defendant is a responsible party and that there is a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance. It shall not be necessary to allege or prove at any stage of the proceeding that irreparable damage will occur should the temporary restraining order or the preliminary or permanent injunction not be issued, or that the remedy at law is inadequate; and the temporary restraining order or the preliminary or permanent injunction shall issue without those allegations and without that proof.

The analysis of any material that is required to demonstrate compliance with this chapter shall be performed by a laboratory accredited by the State Department of Health Services pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 100825) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 101.

Any removal or remedial action taken or contracted by the department pursuant to Section 25354 or subdivision (a) of Section 25358.3 shall be exempt from all of the following provisions:
  (a) State Contract Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 10100) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code).
  (b) Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4525) of Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code.
  (c) Section 10295 of, and Article 4 (commencing with Section 10335) of, and Article 5 (commencing with Section 10355) of, Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code.

(a) The department may prequalify bidders for remedial or removal actions taken pursuant to Section 25354 or subdivision (a) of Section 25358.3. The department may reject the bid of any prospective bidder that has not been prequalified.
  (b) To prequalify bidders, the department shall adopt and apply a uniform system of rating bidders. In order to obtain information for such rating, the department may require from prospective bidders answers to questions, including, but not limited to, questions about the bidder's financial ability, the bidder's experience in removal and remedial action involving hazardous substances, the bidder's past safety record, and the bidder's past performance on federal, state, or local government projects. The department may also require prospective bidders to submit financial statements.
  (c) The department shall utilize the business financial data and information submitted by a bidder pursuant to subdivision (b) only for the purposes of prequalifying bidders pursuant to this section and shall not otherwise disseminate this data or information.
  (d) The system of rating bidders may be adopted by the department as emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and for purposes of that chapter, when these regulations are adopted as emergency regulations pursuant to Section 11349.6 of the Government Code, the regulations shall be deemed to be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, and general welfare. It is the intent of the Legislature that emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall remain in effect until the regulations are adopted as final regulations, pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
  (1) "Engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, or land surveying services" includes professional services of an engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, land surveying, or similar nature, as well as incidental services that members of these professions and those in their employ may logically or justifiably perform.
  (2) "Firm" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity permitted by law to practice the profession of engineering, architecture, environmental, landscape architecture, construction project management, or land surveying.
  (3) "Prequalified list" means a list of engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, or land surveying firms that possess the qualifications established by the department to perform specific types of engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, and land surveying services, with each firm ranked in order of its qualifications and costs.
  (b) Notwithstanding Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4525) of Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code, the department may advertise and award a contract, in accordance with this section, for engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, or land surveying services pursuant to this chapter or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), if the contract is individually in an amount equal to, or less than, one million dollars ($1,000,000).
  (c) The department may establish prequalified lists of engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, or land surveying firms in accordance with the following process:
  (1) For each type of engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, or land surveying services work for which the department elects to use this section for advertising and awarding contracts, the department may request annual statements of qualifications from interested firms. The request for statements of qualifications shall be announced statewide through the California State Contracts Register and publications, Internet Web sites, or electronic bulletin boards of respective professional societies that are intended, designed, and maintained by the professional societies to communicate with their memberships. Each announcement shall describe the general scope of services to be provided within each generic project category for engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, or land surveying services that the department anticipates may be awarded during the period covered by the announcement.
  (2) The department shall define a generic project category so that each specific project to be awarded within that generic project category is substantially similar to all other projects within that generic project category, may be within the same size range and geographical area, and requires substantially similar skills and magnitude of professional effort as every other project within that generic project category. The generic categories shall provide a basis for evaluating and establishing the type, quality, and costs, including hourly rates for personnel and field activities and equipment, of the services that would be provided by the firm.
  (3) The department shall evaluate the statements of qualifications received pursuant to paragraph (1) and the department shall develop a short list of the most qualified firms that meet the criteria established and published by the department. The department shall hold discussions regarding each firm's qualifications with all firms listed on the short list. The department shall then rank the firms listed on the short list according to each firm's qualifications and the evaluation criteria established and published by the department.
  (4) The department shall maintain prequalified lists of civil engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction project management, or land surveying firms ranked pursuant to paragraph (3) on an ongoing basis, except that no firm may remain on a list developed pursuant to paragraph (3) based on a single qualification statement for more than three years. The department shall include in each prequalified list adopted pursuant to paragraph (3) no less than three firms, unless the department certifies that the scope of the prequalified list is appropriate for the department's needs, taking into account the nature of the work, that the department made reasonable efforts to solicit qualification statements from qualified firms, and that the efforts were unsuccessful in producing three firms that met the established criteria. A firm may remain on the prequalified list up to three years without resubmitting a qualification statement, but the department may add additional firms to that list and may annually rank these firms. For purposes of annual adjustment to the ranking of firms already on the prequalified list developed pursuant to paragraph (3), the department shall rely on that firm's most recent annual qualification statement, if the statement is not more than three years old.
  (5) During the term of the prequalified list developed pursuant to paragraph (3), as specific projects are identified by the department as being eligible for contracting under the procedures adopted pursuant to subdivision (d), the department shall contact the highest ranked firm on the appropriate prequalified list to determine if that firm has sufficient staff and is available for performance of the project. If the highest ranked firm is not available, the department shall continue to contact firms on the prequalified list in order of rank until a firm that is available is identified.
  (6) The department may enter into a contract for the services with a firm identified pursuant to paragraph (5), if the contract is for a total price that the department determines is fair and reasonable to the department and otherwise conforms to all matters and terms previously identified and established upon participation in the prequalified list.
  (7) If the department is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with a firm identified pursuant to paragraph (6), the department shall terminate the negotiations with that firm and the department shall undertake negotiations with the next ranked firm that is available for performance. If a satisfactory contract cannot be negotiated with the second identified firm, the department shall terminate these negotiations and the department shall continue the negotiation process with the remaining qualified firms, in order of their ranking, until the department negotiates a satisfactory contract. If the department is unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with a firm on two separate occasions, the department may remove that firm from the prequalified list. The department may award a contract to a firm on a prequalified list that is to be executed, including amendments, for a term that extends beyond the expiration date of that firm's tenure on the prequalified list.
  (8) Once a satisfactory contract is negotiated and awarded to a firm from any prequalified list for a generic project category involving a site or facility investigation or characterization, a feasibility study, or a remedial design, for a specific response action or corrective action, including, but not limited to, a corrective action carried out pursuant to Section 25200.10, the department shall not enter into a contract with that firm for purposes of construction or implementation of any part of that same response action or corrective action.
  (d) The department may adopt guidelines or regulations as necessary and consistent with this section, to define the manner of advertising, generic project categories, type, quantity and cost of services, qualification standards and evaluation criteria, content and submittal requirements for statements of qualification, procedures for ranking of firms and administration of the prequalified list, the scope of matters addressed by participation on a prequalified list, manner of notification of, negotiation with, and awarding of contracts to, prequalified firms, and procedures for protesting the award of contracts under this section, or any other matter that is appropriate for implementation of this section.
  (e) Any removal or remedial action taken or contracted by the department pursuant to Section 25354 or subdivision (a) of Section 25358.3 is exempt from this section.
  (f) This section does not exempt any contract from compliance with Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(a) The department or the regional board, as appropriate, shall take the actions specified in this section to provide an opportunity for meaningful public participation in response actions undertaken for sites listed pursuant to Section 25356.
  (b) The department, or the regional board, as appropriate, shall inform the public, and in particular, persons living in close proximity to a hazardous substance release site listed pursuant to Section 25356, of the existence of the site and the department's or regional board's intention to conduct a response action at the site, and shall conduct a baseline community survey to determine the level of public interest and desire for involvement in the department's or regional board's activities, and to solicit concerns and information regarding the site from the affected community. Based on the results of the baseline survey, the department or regional board shall develop a public participation plan that shall establish appropriate communication and outreach measures commensurate with the level of interest expressed by survey respondents. The public participation plan shall be updated as necessary to reflect any significant changes in the degree of public interest as the site investigation and cleanup process moves toward completion.
  (c) The department or regional board shall provide any person affected by a response action undertaken for sites listed pursuant to Section 25356 with the opportunity to participate in the department' s or regional board's decisionmaking process regarding that action by taking all of the following actions:
  (1) Provide access to information which the department or regional board is required to release pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code), relating to the action, except for the following:
  (A) Trade secrets, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 25358.2.
  (B) Business financial data and information, as specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25358.6.
  (C) Information which the department or regional board is prohibited from releasing pursuant to any state or federal law.
  (2) Provide factsheets, based on the expressed level of public interest, regarding plans to conduct the major elements of the site investigation and response actions. The factsheets shall present the relevant information in nontechnical language and shall be detailed enough to provide interested persons with a good understanding of the planned activities. The factsheets shall be made available in languages other than English if appropriate.
  (3) Provide notification, upon request, of any public meetings held by the department or regional board concerning the action.
  (4) Provide the opportunity to attend and to participate at those public meetings.
  (5) Based on the results of the baseline community survey, provide opportunities for public involvement at key stages of the response action process, including the health risk assessment, the preliminary assessment, the site inspection, the remedial investigation, and the feasibility study stages of the process. If the department or regional board determines that public meetings or other opportunities for public comment are not appropriate at any of the stages listed in this section, the department or regional board shall provide notice of that decision to the affected community.
  (d) The department or regional board shall develop and make available to the public a schedule of activities for each site for which remedial action is expected to be taken by the department or regional board pursuant to this chapter and shall make available to the public any plan provided to the department or regional board by any responsible party, unless the department is prohibited from releasing the information pursuant to any state or federal law.
  (e) In making decisions regarding the methods to be used for removal or remedial actions taken pursuant to this chapter, the department or regional board shall incorporate or respond in writing to the advice of persons affected by the actions.
  (f) This section does not apply to emergency actions taken pursuant to Section 25354.

(a) At each site, a community advisory group may be established by the affected community to review any response action and comment on the response action to be conducted in that community. The department or regional board shall regularly communicate, and confer as appropriate, with the community advisory committee. The department or regional board shall also advise local environmental regulatory agencies and other appropriate local agencies of planned response actions and provide opportunities for review and comment. If the department or regional board, whichever is overseeing a response action, receives a petition signed by at least 50 members of a community affected by the response action at a site or a resolution adopted by the legislative body of the jurisdiction within which the response action has been or will be initiated, the department or regional board shall assist the petitioners or the legislative body to establish a community advisory group to review the response action at the site.
  (b) To the extent possible, the composition of each community advisory group shall reflect the composition of the affected community and the diversity of interests of the community by including all of the following types of individuals on the community advisory group:
  (1) Persons owning or residing on property located near the hazardous substance release site or in an adjacent community, or other persons who may be directly affected by the response action.
  (2) Individuals from the local business community.
  (3) Local political or government agency representatives.
  (4) Local citizen, civic, environmental, or public interest group members residing in the community.
  (c) The following entities may participate in community advisory group meetings in order to provide information and technical expertise:
  (1) The department or regional boards.
  (2) Representatives of local environmental regulatory agencies.
  (3) The potentially responsible parties or other persons who are conducting the response action.
  (d) The existence of a community advisory group shall not diminish any other obligation of the department or regional board with respect to public participation requirements specified in Section 25358.7. Nothing in this section shall affect the status of any citizen advisory group formed before the enactment of this section, a federal Department of Defense Restoration Advisory Board, or a federal Department of Energy Advisory Board.

(a) On or before July 1, 2000, the department and the State Water Resources Control Board shall establish two community service offices, one to serve northern California and the other to serve southern California. With regard to sites listed pursuant to Section 25356 where the department or regional board is taking action to investigate or remediate the site, the community assistance offices shall facilitate communication between the department or regional board, the responsible parties, and the affected community, including any community advisory group that may have been formed in the community where the hazardous substance release site is located.
  (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 25390.3, the department and, if appropriate, the State Water Resources Control Board shall expend a total of four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) per year from the Orphan Share Reimbursement Trust Fund established pursuant to Article 7.8 (commencing with Section 25390) on the operation of the community service offices established pursuant to this section. The offices shall use these funds to provide direct technical and logistical support to any community advisory group established pursuant to Section 25358.7.1. Funds allocated pursuant to this subdivision shall supplement, and not supplant, any funds expended for the purposes of developing and implementing other public participation activities required to be undertaken pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to, activities undertaken pursuant to the National Contingency Plan or the public participation workplan required to be adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25358.7.
  (c) The State Water Resources Control Board may contract with the department to provide this service on behalf of a regional board if the State Water Resources Control Board finds that it would be more practical and economical to do so.
  (d) In implementing this section, the department and the regional boards are not obligated to expend funds beyond the amounts appropriated in any fiscal year for purposes of developing and implementing public participation activities required by other provisions of this chapter unless the Orphan Share Reimbursement Trust Fund contains funding at the level specified in subdivision (b).

A community advisory group established pursuant to Section 25358.7.1 may request, in writing, and a potentially responsible party or parties may fund, a technical assistance grant for a site for the purpose of providing technical assistance to the community advisory group.

(a) To the extent consistent with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended, (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq.), the department may exclude any portion of a response action conducted entirely onsite from the hazardous waste facility permit requirements of Section 25201 if both of the following apply:
  (1) The removal or remedial action is carried out pursuant to a removal action work plan or a remedial action plan prepared pursuant to Section 25356.1.
  (2) The removal action work plan or the remedial action plan requires that the response action complies with all laws, rules, regulations, standards, and requirements, criteria, or limitations applicable to the construction, operation, and closure of the type of facility at the hazardous substance release site and with any other condition imposed by the department as necessary to protect public health and safety and the environment.
  (b) The department may enforce in the court for the county in which a response action exempted pursuant to subdivision (a) is located any federal or state law, rule, regulation, standard, requirements, criteria, or limitation with which the remedial or removal action is required to comply. Any consent decree entered into pursuant to an enforcement action authorized by this subdivision shall require the parties to attempt expeditiously to informally resolve any disagreements concerning the implementation of the response action with the appropriate federal and state agencies and shall provide for administrative enforcement. The consent decree shall stipulate that the penalty for violation of the consent decree shall be an amount not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per day, which may be enforced by the state. These penalties do not impair or affect the authority of the court to order compliance with the specific terms of the consent decree.

(a) Any person who is liable for a release, or threat of a release, of hazardous substances and who fails, without sufficient cause, as determined by the court, to properly provide a removal or remedial action upon order of the director or the court, pursuant to Section 25358.3, is liable to the department for damages equal to three times the amount of any costs incurred by the state account pursuant to this chapter as a result of the failure to take proper action.
  (b) No treble damages shall be imposed under this section against an owner of real property who did not generate, treat, transport, store, or dispose of any hazardous substance on, in, or at the facility located on that real property, as specified in Sections 101 (35) and 107(b) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Secs. 9601(35) and 9607 (b)).

There shall be no recovery of punitive damages under Section 25359 for an injury to or loss of natural resources that occurred wholly before September 25, 1981. This section shall not be construed as precluding the recovery of punitive damages for injury to or loss of natural resources in an action brought pursuant to any other provision of law.

Any person subject to a removal or remedial action order or other order issued pursuant to Section 25355.5 or 25358.3 who does not comply with that order without sufficient cause shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each day of noncompliance. Liability under this section may be imposed in a civil action or liability may be imposed administratively pursuant to Section 25359.3.

(a) The department may issue a complaint to any person subject to a penalty pursuant to Sections 25359.2 and 25359.4. The complaint shall allege the acts or failures to act that constitute a basis for liability and the amount of the proposed penalty. The complaint shall be served by personal service or certified mail and shall inform the party so served of the right to a hearing. Any person served with a complaint pursuant to this subdivision may, within 45 days after service of the complaint, request a hearing by filing a notice of defense with the department. A notice of defense is deemed to be filed within a 45-day period if it is postmarked within the 45-day period. If no notice of defense is filed within 45 days after service of the complaint, the department shall issue an order setting liability in the amount proposed in the complaint, unless the department and the party have entered into a settlement agreement, in which case the department shall issue an order setting liability in the amount specified in the settlement agreement. Where the party has not filed a notice of defense or where the department and the party have entered into a settlement agreement, the order shall not be subject to review by any court or agency.
  (b) Any hearing required under this section shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and the department shall have all powers granted by those provisions. In making a determination, the administrative law judge shall consider the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, the violator's past and present efforts to prevent, abate, or clean up conditions posing a threat to the public health and safety or the environment, the violator's ability to pay the proposed penalty, and the prophylactic effect that imposition of the proposed penalty will have on both the violator and on the regulated community as a whole.
  (c) All penalties collected under this section and Section 25359.2 shall be deposited in the state account and shall be available for expenditure by the department upon appropriation by the Legislature.

(a) A person shall not release, or allow or cause a release of, a reportable quantity of a hazardous substance into the environment that is not authorized or permitted pursuant to state law.
  (b) Any release of a reportable quantity of hazardous substance shall be reported to the department in writing within 30 days of discovery, unless any of the following apply:
  (1) The release is permitted or in the permit process.
  (2) The release is authorized by state law.
  (3) The release requires immediate reporting to the Office of Emergency Services pursuant to Section 11002 or 11004 of Title 42 of the United States Code, or pursuant to Section 25507.
  (4) The release has previously been reported to the department or the Office of Emergency Services.
  (5) The release occurred prior to January 1, 1994.
  (c) For the purposes of this section, "reportable quantity" means either of the following:
  (1) The quantity of a hazardous substance established in Part 302 (commencing with Section 302.1) of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the release of which requires notification pursuant to that part.
  (2) Any quantity of a hazardous substance that is not reportable pursuant to paragraph (1), but that may pose a significant threat to public health and safety or to the environment. The department may establish guidelines for determining which releases are reportable under this paragraph.
  (d) The owner of property on which a reportable release has occurred and any person who releases, or causes a reportable release and who fails to make the written report required by subdivision (b), shall be liable for a penalty not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each separate violation and for each day that a violation continues. Each day on which the released hazardous substance remains is a separate violation unless the person has either filed the report or is in compliance with an order issued by a local, state, or federal agency with regard to the release.
  (e) Liability under this section may be imposed in a civil action or may be administratively imposed by the department pursuant to Section 25359.3.
  (f) If the violation of subdivision (b) results in, or significantly contributes to, an emergency, including, but not limited to, a fire, to which a county, city, or district is required to respond, the responsible party may be assessed the full cost of the emergency response by the city, county, or district.

(a) A responsible party who has entered into an agreement with the department and is in compliance with the terms of that agreement, or who is in compliance with an order issued by the department, may seek, in addition to contribution, treble damages from any contribution defendant who has failed or refused to comply with any order or agreement, was named in the order or agreement, and is subject to contribution. A contribution defendant from whom treble damages are sought in a contribution action shall not be assessed treble damages by any court where the contribution defendant, for sufficient cause, as determined by the court, failed to comply with an agreement or with an order issued by the department, or where the contribution defendant is an owner of real property who did not generate, treat, transport, store, or dispose of the hazardous substance on, in, or at the facility located on that real property, as specified in Sections 101 (35) and 107 (b) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Secs. 9601 (35) and 9607 (b)), or where the principles of fundamental fairness would be violated, as determined by the court. A party seeking treble damages pursuant to this section shall show that the party, the department, or another entity provided notice, by means of personal service or certified mail, of the order or agreement to the contribution defendant from whom the party seeks treble damages.
  (b) One-half of any treble damages awarded pursuant to this section shall be paid to the department, for deposit in the state account. Nothing in this subdivision affects the rights of any party to seek contribution pursuant to any other statute or under common law.
  (c) A contribution defendant from whom treble damages are sought pursuant to this section shall be deemed to have acted willfully with respect to the conduct that gave rise to this liability for purposes of Section 533 of the Insurance Code.

(a) After making a determination, based upon a preliminary site assessment that there has been a release of a hazardous substance on, under, or into the land on a site, the department or a county health officer shall order the property owner to secure the site if all of the following conditions apply to that site:
  (1) The release does not comply with the terms of a current permit or interim status document or regulation of the department.
  (2) The site poses a public health risk if human contact is made with the hazardous waste or the surrounding contaminated area.
  (3) There is a likelihood of human or domestic animal contact.
  (b) The order to secure the site shall require, within five days after receiving notification of the order, the posting of the site with signs. The order shall also require, within five days after receiving notification of the order, that the site be enclosed with a fence, unless it is physically and economically infeasible or unless the fencing is unnecessary because it will not alleviate the danger to the public health.
  (c) If fencing is ordered, the fences shall be maintained at the site to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to the site. The signs shall be maintained and shall meet all of the following requirements:
  (1) The signs shall be bilingual, appropriate to the local area, and may include international symbols, as required by the department.
  (2) The signs shall have lettering which is legible from a distance of at least 25 feet.
  (3) The signs shall read: "Caution: Hazardous Substance Area, Unauthorized Persons Keep Out" and shall have the name and phone number of the department or the county health officer that ordered the posting.
  (4) The signs shall be visible from the surrounding contaminated area and posted at each route of entry into the site, including those routes which are likely to be used by unauthorized persons, at access roads leading to the site, and facing navigable waterways where appropriate.
  (5) The signs shall be of a material able to withstand the elements.
  (d) A property owner who fails to comply with an order of the department or the county health officer is subject to a civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). In determining the amount of a civil penalty to be imposed, the court shall consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the economic assets of the property owner and whether the property owner has acted in good faith. If the property owner fails to secure and post the site, the department or the county health officer shall secure and post the site pursuant to subdivision (b) within 30 days of the expiration of the five-day period and shall seek recovery of the costs of that securing and posting from the property owner. If the site is an abandoned site, as defined in Section 25359.6, if the site cannot be traced to a specific owner, or if the owner is the subject of an order for relief in bankruptcy, the department or the county health officer shall secure and post the site, using any source of funds, pursuant to subdivision (b).
  (e) The department or the county health officer shall advise other agencies on the public health risks and the need for fencing and posting of sites when those agencies confirm the release of a hazardous substance pursuant to subdivision (a).
  (f) The remedies and penalties specified in this section and Section 25359.6 are in addition to, and do not affect, any other remedies, enforcement actions, requirements, or penalties otherwise authorized by law.

(a) The director shall notify, within 20 working days, each of the appropriate county health officers as to all the potential abandoned sites of which the department has knowledge or which the department is investigating for releases of hazardous substances that may have occurred or might be occurring at abandoned sites. The county health officers may request quarterly updates on the status of the investigations of these sites. As used in this section, "abandoned site" means an inactive disposal, treatment, or storage facility which cannot, with reasonable effort, be traced to a specific owner, a site whose owner is the subject of an order for relief in bankruptcy, or a location where a hazardous substance has been illegally disposed.
  (b) Within 10 working days of the identification of an abandoned site, the department or a county health officer shall notify the other agency of the status of the site. The department and the county health officer shall inform the other agency of orders to fence and post these sites and the status of compliance with those orders. The department or the county health officers may request quarterly updates of the testing, enforcement action, and remedial or removal actions that are proposed or ongoing.

(a) Any owner of nonresidential real property who knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, that any release of hazardous substance has come to be located on or beneath that real property shall, prior to the sale, lease, or rental of the real property by that owner, give written notice of that condition to the buyer, lessee, or renter of the real property. Failure of the owner to provide written notice when required by this subdivision to the buyer, lessee, or renter shall subject the owner to actual damages and any other remedies provided by law. In addition, where the owner has actual knowledge of the presence of any release of a material amount of a hazardous substance and knowingly and willfully fails to provide written notice to the buyer, lessee, or renter, as required by this subdivision, the owner is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each separate violation.
  (b) Any lessee or renter of real property who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that any release of a hazardous substance has come or will come to be located on or beneath that real property shall, within a reasonable period of time, either prior to the release or following the discovery by the lessee or renter of the presence or believed presence of the hazardous substance release, give written notice of that condition to the owner of the real property or to the lessor under the lessee's or renter's lease or rental agreement.
  (1) A lessee or renter who fails to provide written notice when required by this subdivision to the owner or lessor is subject to actual damages and any other remedy provided by law.
  (2) If the lessee or renter has knowledge of the presence of a release of a material amount of a hazardous substance, or of a hazardous substance release that is required to be reported to a state or local agency pursuant to law, on or under the real property leased or rented by the lessee or renter and knowingly and willfully fails to provide written notice when required by this subdivision to the owner or lessor, both of the following shall apply:
  (A) The failure is deemed to constitute a default, upon the owner' s or lessor's written notice to the lessee or renter, under the lessee's or renter's lease or rental agreement, except that this subparagraph does not apply to lessees and renters of property used exclusively for residential purposes.
  (B) The lessee or renter is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each separate violation.
  (3) A lessee or renter may cure a default under the lessee's or renter's lease or rental agreement which resulted from a violation of this subdivision, by promptly commencing and completing the removal of, or taking other appropriate remedial action with respect to, the hazardous substance release. The removal or remedial action shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations and in a manner which is reasonably acceptable to, and which is approved in writing by, the owner or lessor. This paragraph does not relieve the lessee or renter of any liability for actual damages or for any civil penalty for a violation of this subdivision.