25404.3
. (a) The secretary shall, within a reasonable time after
submission of a complete application for certification pursuant to
Section 25404.2, and regulations adopted pursuant to that section,
but not to exceed 180 days, review the application, and, after
holding a public hearing, determine if the application should be
approved. Before disapproving an application for certification, the
secretary shall submit to the applicant agency a notification of the
secretary's intent to disapprove the application, in which the
secretary shall specify the reasons why the applicant agency does not
have the capability or the resources to fully implement and enforce
the unified program in a manner that is consistent with the
regulations implementing the unified program adopted by the secretary
pursuant to this chapter. The secretary shall provide the applicant
agency with a reasonable time to respond to the reasons specified in
the notification and to correct deficiencies in its application. The
applicant agency may request a second public hearing, at which the
secretary shall hear the applicant agency's response to the reasons
specified in the notification.
(b) In determining whether an applicant agency should be
certified, or designated as certified, the secretary, after receiving
comments from the director, the Director of Emergency Services, the
State Fire Marshal, and the Executive Officers and Chairpersons of
the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional
water quality control boards, shall consider at least all of the
following factors:
(1) Adequacy of the technical expertise possessed by each unified
program agency that will be implementing each element of the unified
program, including, but not limited to, whether the agency
responsible for implementing and enforcing the requirements of
Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) satisfies the
requirements of Section 15260 of Title 27 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(2) Adequacy of staff resources.
(3) Adequacy of budget resources and funding mechanisms.
(4) Training requirements.
(5) Past performance in implementing and enforcing requirements
related to the handling of hazardous materials and hazardous waste.
(6) Recordkeeping and cost accounting systems.
(7) Compliance with the criteria in Section 15170 of Title 27 of
the California Code of Regulations.
(c) (1) In making the determination of whether or not to certify a
particular applicant agency as a certified unified program agency,
the secretary shall consider the applications of every other
applicant agency applying to be a certified unified program agency
within the same county, in order to determine the impact of each
certification decision on the county. If the secretary identifies
that there may be adverse impacts on the county if any particular
agency in a county is certified, the secretary shall work
cooperatively with each affected agency to address the secretary's
concerns.
(2) The secretary shall not certify an agency to be a certified
unified program agency unless the secretary finds both of the
following:
(A) The unified program will be implemented in a coordinated and
consistent manner throughout the entire county in which the applicant
agency is located.
(B) The administration of the unified program throughout the
entire county in which the applicant agency is located will be less
fragmented between jurisdictions, as compared to before January 1,
1994, with regard to the administration of the provisions specified
in subdivision (c) of Section 25404.
(d) (1) The secretary shall not certify an applicant agency that
proposes to allow participating agencies to implement certain
elements of the unified program unless the secretary makes all of the
following findings:
(A) The applicant agency has adequate authority, and has in place
adequate systems, protocols, and agreements, to ensure that the
actions of the other agencies proposed to implement certain elements
of the unified program are fully coordinated and consistent with each
other and with those of the applicant agency, and to ensure full
compliance with the regulations implementing the unified program
adopted by the secretary pursuant to this chapter.
(B) An agreement between the applicant and other agencies proposed
to implement any elements of the unified program contains procedures
for removing any agencies proposed and engaged to implement any
element of the unified program. The procedures in the agreement shall
include, at a minimum, provisions for providing notice, stating
causes, taking public comment, making appeals, and resolving
disputes.
(C) The other agencies proposed to implement certain elements of
the unified program have the capability and resources to implement
those elements, taking into account the factors designated in
subdivision (b).
(D) All other agencies proposed to implement certain elements of
the unified program shall maintain an agreement with the applicant
agency that ensures that the requirements of Section 25404.2 will be
fully implemented.
(E) If the applicant agency proposes that any agency other than
itself will be responsible for implementing aspects of the single fee
system imposed pursuant to Section 25404.5, the applicant agency
maintains an agreement with that agency that ensures that the fee
system is implemented in a fully consistent and coordinated manner,
and that ensures that each participating agency receives the amount
that it determines to constitute its necessary and reasonable costs
of implementing the element or elements of the unified program that
it is responsible for implementing.
(2) After the secretary has certified an applicant agency pursuant
to this subdivision, that agency shall obtain the approval of the
secretary before removing and replacing a participating agency that
is implementing an element of the unified program.
(3) Any state agency, including, but not limited to, the State
Department of Health Care Services, acting as a participating agency,
may contract with a unified program agency to implement or enforce
the unified program.
(e) Until a city's or county's application for certification to
implement the unified program is acted upon by the secretary, the
roles, responsibilities, and authority for implementing the programs
identified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404 that existed in that
city or county pursuant to statutory authorization as of December 31,
1993, shall remain in effect.
(f) (1) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) or
in Section 25404.8, if no local agency has been certified by January
1, 1997, to implement the unified program within a city, the
secretary shall designate either the county in which the city is
located or another agency pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(2) as the unified program agency.
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (C), if no local agency
has been certified by January 1, 2001, to implement the unified
program within the unincorporated or an incorporated area of a
county, the secretary shall determine how the unified program shall
be implemented in the unincorporated area of the county, and in any
city in which there is no agency certified to implement the unified
program. In such an instance, the secretary shall work in
consultation with the county and cities to determine which state or
local agency or combination of state and local agencies should
implement the unified program, and shall determine which state or
local agency shall be designated as the certified unified program
agency.
(B) The secretary shall determine the method by which the unified
program shall be implemented throughout the county and may select any
combination of the following implementation methods:
(i) The certification of a state or local agency as a certified
unified program agency.
(ii) The certification of an agency from another county as the
certified unified program agency.
(iii) The certification of a joint powers agency as the certified
unified program agency.
(C) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subparagraphs (A) and (B),
if the Cities of Sunnyvale, Anaheim, and Santa Ana prevail in
litigation filed in 1997 against the secretary, and, to the extent
the secretary determines that these three cities meet the
requirements for certification, the secretary may certify these
cities as certified unified program agencies.
(g) (1) If a certified unified program agency wishes to withdraw
from its obligations to implement the unified program and is a city
or a joint powers agency implementing the unified program within a
city, the agency may withdraw after providing 180 days' notice to the
secretary and to the county within which the city is located, or to
the joint powers agency with which the county has an agreement to
implement the unified program.
(2) Whenever a certified unified program agency withdraws from its
obligations to implement the unified program, or the secretary
withdraws an agency's certification pursuant to Section 25404.4, the
successor certified unified program agency shall be determined in
accordance with subdivision (f).