25404.5
. (a) (1) Each certified unified program agency shall
institute a single fee system, which shall replace the fees levied
pursuant to Sections 25201.14 and 25205.14, except for transportable
treatment units permitted under Section 25200.2, and which shall also
replace any fees levied by a local agency pursuant to Sections
25143.10, 25287, 25513, and 25535.5, or any other fee levied by a
local agency specifically to fund the implementation of the
provisions specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404. The single
fee system shall additionally include the fee established pursuant to
Section 25270.6. Notwithstanding Sections 25143.10, 25201.14, 25287,
25513, and 25535.5, a person who complies with the certified unified
program agency's "single fee system" fee shall not be required to
pay any fee levied pursuant to those sections, except for
transportable treatment units permitted under Section 25200.2.
(2) (A) The governing body of the local certified unified program
agency shall establish the amount to be paid by each person regulated
by the unified program under the single fee system at a level
sufficient to pay the necessary and reasonable costs incurred by the
certified unified program agency and by any participating agency
pursuant to the requirements of subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (d) of Section 25404.3.
(B) The secretary shall establish the amount to be paid when the
unified program agency is a state agency.
(3) The fee system may also be designed to recover the necessary
and reasonable costs incurred by the certified unified program
agency, or a participating agency pursuant to the requirements of
subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section
25404.3, in administering provisions other than those specified in
subdivision (c) of Section 25404, if the implementation and
enforcement of those provisions has been incorporated as part of the
unified program by the certified unified program agency pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 25404.2, and if the single fee system
replaces any fees levied as of January 1, 1994, to fund the
implementation of those additional provisions.
(4) The amount to be paid by a person regulated by the unified
program may be adjusted to account for the differing costs of
administering the unified program with respect to that person's
regulated activities.
(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the single fee
system instituted by each certified unified program agency shall
include an assessment on each person regulated by the unified program
of a surcharge, the amount of which shall be determined by the
secretary annually, to cover the necessary and reasonable costs of
the state agencies in carrying out their responsibilities under this
chapter. The secretary may adjust the amount of the surcharge to be
collected by different certified unified program agencies to reflect
the different costs incurred by the state agencies in supervising the
implementation of the unified program in different jurisdictions,
and in supervising the implementation of the unified program in those
jurisdictions for which the secretary has waived the assessment of
the surcharge pursuant to subdivision (d). The certified unified
program agency may itemize the amount of the surcharge on any bill,
invoice, or return that the agency sends to a person regulated by the
unified program. Each certified unified program agency shall
transmit all surcharge revenues collected to the secretary on a
quarterly basis. The surcharge shall be deposited in the Unified
Program Account, which is hereby created in the General Fund and
which may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by
state agencies for the purposes of implementing this chapter.
(2) On or before January 10, 2001, the secretary shall report to
the Legislature on whether the number of persons subject to
regulation by the unified program in any county is insufficient to
support the reasonable and necessary cost of operating the unified
program using only the revenues from the fee. The secretary's report
shall consider whether the surcharge required by subdivision (a)
should include an assessment to be used to supplement the funding of
unified program agencies that have a limited number of entities
regulated under the unified program.
(c) Each certified unified program agency and the secretary shall,
before the institution of the single fee system and the assessment
of the surcharge, implement a fee accountability program designed to
encourage more efficient and cost-effective operation of the program
for which the single fee and surcharge are assessed. The fee
accountability programs shall include those elements of the
requirements of the plan adopted pursuant to former Section 25206, as
it read on January 1, 1995, that the secretary determines are
appropriate.
(d) The secretary may waive the requirement for a county to assess
a surcharge pursuant to subdivision (b), if both of the following
conditions apply:
(1) The county meets all of the following conditions:
(A) The county submits an application to the secretary for
certification on or before January 1, 1996, that incorporates all of
the requirements of this chapter, and includes the county's request
for a waiver of the surcharge, and contains documentation that
demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the secretary, both of the
following:
(i) That the assessment of the surcharge will impose a significant
economic burden on most businesses within the county.
(ii) That the combined dollar amount of the surcharge and the
single fee system to be assessed by the county pursuant to
subdivision (a) exceeds the combined dollar amount of all existing
fees that are replaced by the single fee system for most businesses
within the county.
(B) The application for certification, including the information
required by subparagraph (A), is determined by the secretary to be
complete, on or before April 30, 1996. The secretary, for good cause,
may grant an extension of that deadline of up to 90 days.
(C) The county is certified by the secretary on or before December
31, 1996.
(D) On or before January 1, 1994, the county completed the
consolidation of the administration of the hazardous waste generator
program, the hazardous materials release response plans and
inventories program, and the underground storage tank program,
referenced in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of subdivision (c) of
Section 25404, into a single program within the county's
jurisdiction.
(E) The county demonstrates that it will consolidate the
administration of all programs specified in subdivision (c) of
Section 25404, and that it will also consolidate the administration
of at least one additional program that regulates hazardous waste,
hazardous substances, or hazardous materials, as specified in
subdivision (d) of Section 25404.2, other than the programs specified
in subdivision (c) of Section 25404, into a single program to be
administered by a single agency in the county's jurisdiction at the
time that the county's certification by the secretary becomes
effective.
(2) The secretary makes all of the following findings:
(A) The county meets all of the criteria specified in paragraph
(1).
(B) The assessment of the surcharge would impose a significant
economic burden on most businesses within the county.
(C) The combined dollar amount of the surcharge and the single fee
system to be assessed by the county pursuant to subdivision (a)
would exceed the combined dollar amount of all existing fees that are
replaced by the single fee system for most businesses within the
county.
(D) The waiver of the surcharge for those counties applying for
and qualifying for a waiver, and the resulting increase in the
surcharge for other counties, would not, when considered
cumulatively, impose a significant economic burden on businesses in
any other county that does not apply for, or does not meet the
criteria for, a waiver of the surcharge.
(e) The secretary shall review all of the requests for a waiver of
the surcharge made pursuant to subdivision (d) simultaneously, so as
to adequately assess the cumulative impact of granting the requested
waivers on businesses in those counties that have not applied, or do
not qualify, for a waiver, and shall grant or deny all requests for
a waiver of the surcharge within 30 days from the date that the
secretary certifies all counties applying, and qualifying, for a
waiver. If the secretary finds that the grant of a waiver of the
surcharge for all counties applying and qualifying for the waiver
will impose a significant economic burden on businesses in one or
more other counties, the secretary shall take either of the following
actions:
(1) Deny all of the applications for a waiver of the surcharge.
(2) Approve only a portion of the waiver requests for counties
meeting the criteria set forth in subdivision (d), to the extent that
the approved waivers, when taken as a whole, meet the condition
specified in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (d). In
determining which of the counties' waiver requests to grant, the
secretary shall consider all of the following factors:
(A) The relative degree to which the assessment of the surcharge
will impose a significant economic burden on most businesses within
each county applying and qualifying for a waiver.
(B) The relative degree to which the combined dollar amount of the
surcharge and the single fee system to be assessed, pursuant to
subdivision (a), by each county applying and qualifying for a waiver
exceeds the combined dollar amount of all existing fees that are
replaced by the single fee system for most businesses within the
county.
(C) The relative extent to which each county applying and
qualifying for a waiver has incorporated, or will incorporate, upon
certification, additional programs pursuant to subdivision (d) of
Section 25404.2, into the unified program within the county's
jurisdiction.
(f) The secretary may, at any time, terminate a county's waiver of
the surcharge granted pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e) if the
secretary determines that the criteria specified in subdivision (d)
for the grant of a waiver are no longer met.