Section 25355.2 Of Article 5. Uses Of The State Account From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.8. >> Article 5.
25355.2
. (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.