Section 25245 Of Article 12. Financial Responsibility And Closure And Maintenance Of Facilities From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 6.5. >> Article 12.
25245
. (a) The department shall adopt, and revise when appropriate,
standards and regulations which shall do both of the following:
(1) Specify the financial assurances to be provided by the owner
or operator of a hazardous waste facility that are necessary to
respond adequately to damage claims arising out of the operation of
that type of facility and to provide for the cost of closure and
subsequent maintenance of the facility, including, but not limited
to, the monitoring of groundwater and other aspects of the
environment after closure. If the facility is required to obtain a
permit under the federal act, the financial assurance shall be a
trust fund, surety bond, letter of credit, insurance, or any other
mechanism authorized under the federal act and the regulations
adopted pursuant to the federal act. If the facility is not required
to obtain a permit under the federal act, the financial assurance may
include any other equivalent financial arrangement acceptable to the
department.
(2) Provide that every hazardous waste facility can be closed and
maintained for at least 30 years subsequent to its closure in a
manner that protects human health and the environment and minimizes
or eliminates the escape of hazardous waste constituents, leachate,
contaminated rainfall, and waste decomposition products to ground and
surface waters and to the atmosphere.
(b) In adopting regulations pursuant to subdivision (a), to carry
out the purposes of this chapter, the department may specify policy
or other contractual terms, conditions, or defenses which are
necessary or are unacceptable in establishing evidence of financial
responsibility.
(1) If an owner or operator is in bankruptcy pursuant to Title 11
of the United States Code, or where, with reasonable diligence,
jurisdiction in any state or federal court cannot be obtained over an
owner or operator likely to be solvent at the time of judgment, any
claim arising from conduct for which this section requires evidence
of financial responsibility may be asserted directly against the
guarantor who provided the evidence of financial responsibility.
(2) The total liability of any guarantor is limited to the
aggregate amount which the guarantor has provided as evidence of
financial responsibility to the owner or operator under this chapter.
(3) This subdivision does not limit any other state or federal
statutory, contractual, or common law liability of a guarantor to the
owner or operator, including, but not limited to, the liability of
the guarantor for bad faith in either negotiating or in failing to
negotiate the settlement of any claim.
(4) This subdivision does not diminish the liability of any person
under Section 107 or 111 of the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. Secs.
9607 and 9611).
(5) For purposes of this subdivision, "guarantor" means any
person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of
financial responsibility for an owner or operator under this section.