17213
. The governing board of a school district may not approve a
project involving the acquisition of a schoolsite by a school
district, unless all of the following occur:
(a) The school district, as the lead agency, as defined in Section
21067 of the Public Resources Code, determines that the property
purchased or to be built upon is not any of the following:
(1) The site of a current or former hazardous waste disposal site
or solid waste disposal site, unless if the site was a former solid
waste disposal site, the governing board of the school district
concludes that the wastes have been removed.
(2) A hazardous substance release site identified by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control in a current list adopted
pursuant to Section 25356 of the Health and Safety Code for removal
or remedial action pursuant to Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section
25300) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) A site that contains one or more pipelines, situated
underground or aboveground, that carries hazardous substances,
extremely hazardous substances, or hazardous wastes, unless the
pipeline is a natural gas line that is used only to supply natural
gas to that school or neighborhood.
(b) The school district, as the lead agency, as defined in Section
21067 of the Public Resources Code, in preparing the environmental
impact report or negative declaration has consulted with the
administering agency in which the proposed schoolsite is located,
pursuant to Section 2735.3 of Title 19 of the California Code of
Regulations, and with any air pollution control district or air
quality management district having jurisdiction in the area, to
identify both permitted and nonpermitted facilities within that
district's authority, including, but not limited to, freeways and
other busy traffic corridors, large agricultural operations, and
railyards, within one-fourth of a mile of the proposed schoolsite,
that might reasonably be anticipated to emit hazardous air emissions,
or to handle hazardous or extremely hazardous materials, substances,
or waste. The school district, as the lead agency, shall include a
list of the locations for which information is sought.
(c) The governing board of the school district makes one of the
following written findings:
(1) Consultation identified none of the facilities or significant
pollution sources specified in subdivision (b).
(2) The facilities or other pollution sources specified in
subdivision (b) exist, but one of the following conditions applies:
(A) The health risks from the facilities or other pollution
sources do not and will not constitute an actual or potential
endangerment of public health to persons who would attend or be
employed at the school.
(B) The governing board finds that corrective measures required
under an existing order by another governmental entity that has
jurisdiction over the facilities or other pollution sources will,
before the school is occupied, result in the mitigation of all
chronic or accidental hazardous air emissions to levels that do not
constitute an actual or potential endangerment of public health to
persons who would attend or be employed at the proposed school. If
the governing board makes this finding, the governing board shall
also make a subsequent finding, prior to the occupancy of the school,
that the emissions have been mitigated to these levels.
(C) For a schoolsite with a boundary that is within 500 feet of
the edge of the closest traffic lane of a freeway or other busy
traffic corridor, the governing board of the school district
determines, through analysis pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
(b) of Section 44360 of the Health and Safety Code, based on
appropriate air dispersion modeling, and after considering any
potential mitigation measures, that the air quality at the proposed
site is such that neither short-term nor long-term exposure poses
significant health risks to pupils.
(D) The governing board finds that neither of the conditions set
forth in subparagraph (B) or (C) can be met, and the school district
is unable to locate an alternative site that is suitable due to a
severe shortage of sites that meet the requirements in subdivision
(a) of Section 17213. If the governing board makes this finding, the
governing board shall adopt a statement of Overriding Considerations
pursuant to Section 15093 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(d) As used in this section:
(1) "Hazardous air emissions" means emissions into the ambient air
of air contaminants that have been identified as a toxic air
contaminant by the State Air Resources Board or by the air pollution
control officer for the jurisdiction in which the project is located.
As determined by the air pollution control officer, hazardous air
emissions also means emissions into the ambient air from any
substance identified in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, of
Section 44321 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) "Hazardous substance" means any substance defined in Section
25316 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) "Extremely hazardous substances" means any material defined
pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (g) of Section 25532 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(4) "Hazardous waste" means any waste defined in Section 25117 of
the Health and Safety Code.
(5) "Hazardous waste disposal site" means any site defined in
Section 25114 of the Health and Safety Code.
(6) "Administering agency" means any agency designated pursuant to
Section 25502 of the Health and Safety Code.
(7) "Handle" means handle as defined in Article 1 (commencing with
Section 25500) of Chapter 6.95 of Division 20 of the Health and
Safety Code.
(8) "Facilities" means any source with a potential to use,
generate, emit or discharge hazardous air pollutants, including, but
not limited to, pollutants that meet the definition of a hazardous
substance, and whose process or operation is identified as an
emission source pursuant to the most recent list of source categories
published by the State Air Resources Board.
(9) "Freeway or other busy traffic corridors" means those roadways
that, on an average day, have traffic in excess of 50,000 vehicles
in a rural area as defined in Section 50101 of the Health and Safety
Code, and 100,000 vehicles in an urban area, as defined in Section
50104.7 of the Health and Safety Code.