Division 37. Regulation Of Environmental Protection of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 37.
For purposes of this division, the following terms have the
following meaning:
(a) "Agency" means the California Environmental Protection Agency.
(b) "Council" means the California Environmental Policy Council
established by Section 71017 of the Public Resources Code.
(c) "Secretary" means the Secretary for Environmental Protection.
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (f), each office,
board, and department within the agency shall, on or before December
31, 1995, implement a fee accountability program for the fees
specified in subdivision (d). That fee accountability program shall
be designed to encourage more efficient and cost-effective operation
of the programs for which the fees are assessed, and shall be
designed to ensure that the amount of each fee is not more than is
reasonably necessary to fund the efficient operation of the
activities or programs for which the fee is assessed.
(b) Before implementing the fee accountability program required by
this section, each board, department, and office within the agency
shall conduct a review of the fees identified in subdivision (d)
which it assesses. The purpose of this review shall be to determine
what changes, if any, should be made to all of the following, in
order to implement a fee system which accomplishes the purposes set
forth in subdivision (a):
(1) The amount of the fee.
(2) The manner in which the fee is assessed.
(3) The management and workload standards of the program or
activity for which the fee is assessed.
(c) The fee accountability program of each board, department, or
office within the agency shall include those elements of the
requirements of Section 25206 which the secretary determines are
appropriate in order to accomplish the purposes set forth in
subdivision (a).
(d) This section applies to the following fees:
(1) The fee assessed pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 13146
of the Food and Agricultural Code to develop data concerning the
environmental fate of a pesticide when the registrant fails to
provide the required information.
(2) The surface impoundment fees assessed pursuant to Section
25208.3.
(3) The fee assessed pursuant to Section 43203 to recover the
costs of the State Air Resources Board in verifying manufacturer
compliance on emissions from new vehicles prior to retail sale.
(4) The fee assessed pursuant to Section 44380 to recover the
costs of the State Air Resources Board and the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment in implementing and
administering the Air Toxics "Hot Spots" Information and Assessment
Act of 1987 (Part 6 (commencing with Section 44300) of Division 26).
(5) The fee assessed pursuant to Section 43212 of the Public
Resources Code to recover the costs of the California Integrated
Waste Management Board when it assumes the responsibilities of the
local enforcement agency.
(6) The fee assessed pursuant to Section 43508 of the Public
Resources Code to recover the costs of the California Integrated
Waste Management Board in reviewing closure plans.
(7) The water rights permit fees assessed pursuant to Chapter 8
(commencing with Section 1525) of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Water
Code.
(8) The fee assessed pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 13260
of the Water Code for waste discharge requirements, including, but
not limited to, requirements for storm water discharges, and the fee
assessed pursuant to subdivision (i) of Section 12360 of the Water
Code for National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits.
(9) The costs assessed pursuant to Section 13304 of the Water Code
to recover the costs of the State Water Resources Control Board or
the California regional water quality control boards in implementing
and enforcing cleanup and abatement orders.
(e) If a board, department, or office within the agency determines
that the amount of a fee that is fixed in statute should be
increased in order to implement a fee accountability system which
accomplishes the purposes of subdivision (a), it shall notify the
Legislature, and make recommendations concerning appropriate
increases in the statutorily fixed fee amount. For fees whose amount
is not fixed in statute, the board, department, or office may
increase the fee only if it makes written findings in the record that
it has implemented a fee accountability program which complies with
this section.
(f) The Department of Toxic Substances Control shall be deemed to
be in compliance with this section if it complies with Section 25206.
The agency shall conduct a study by surveying state,
regional, and local agencies charged with implementing air quality,
water quality, toxics, solid waste, and hazardous waste laws and
regulations to determine how much revenue is derived from fines and
penalties and to what purposes that revenue is directed. The study
should include a review of the extent to which those funds are used
to support state, regional, and local agency operations.
(a) Before a board, department or office within the agency
adopts chemical risk assessment guidelines or policies for evaluating
the toxicity of chemicals or prepares a health evaluation of a
chemical that will be used in the regulatory process of another
board, department, or office, the board, department, or office shall
first convene a public workshop at which the guidelines, policies, or
health evaluation may be discussed. The public workshop shall be
designed to encourage a constructive dialogue between the scientists
employed by the board, department, or office that prepared the
proposed guidelines or policies or health evaluation and scientists
not employed by that board, department, or office and to evaluate the
degree to which the proposed guidelines or policies or health
evaluation are based on sound scientific methods, knowledge, and
practice. Following the workshop, the agency shall revise the
guidelines, policies, or health evaluation, as appropriate, and
circulate it for public comment for a period of at least 30 days.
(b) In any case where the guidelines, policies, or health
evaluations described in subdivision (a) are proposed, or are being
prepared, pursuant to a statutory requirement that specifies a
procedure or a time period for carrying out the requirement, the
requirements of subdivision (a) do not authorize a delay or a
postponement in carrying out the statutory requirement.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Rule" means either of the following:
(A) A regulation, as defined in Section 11342.600 of the
Government Code.
(B) A policy that is adopted by the State Water Resources Control
Board pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act
(Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code) that
has the effect of a regulation and that is adopted in order to
implement or make effective a statute.
(2) "Scientific basis" and "scientific portions" mean those
foundations of a rule that are premised upon, or derived from,
empirical data or other scientific findings, conclusions, or
assumptions establishing a regulatory level, standard, or other
requirement for the protection of public health or the environment.
(b) The agency, or a board, department, or office within the
agency, shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy of
Sciences, the University of California, the California State
University, or any similar scientific institution of higher learning,
any combination of those entities, or with a scientist or group of
scientists of comparable stature and qualifications that is
recommended by the President of the University of California, to
conduct an external scientific peer review of the scientific basis
for any rule proposed for adoption by any board, department, or
office within the agency. The scientific basis or scientific portion
of a rule adopted pursuant to Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section
25249.5) of Division 20 or Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
39650) of Part 2 of Division 26 shall be deemed to have complied with
this section if it complies with the peer review processes
established pursuant to these statutes.
(c) No person may serve as an external scientific peer reviewer
for the scientific portion of a rule if that person participated in
the development of the scientific basis or scientific portion of the
rule.
(d) No board, department, or office within the agency shall take
any action to adopt the final version of a rule unless all of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The board, department, or office submits the scientific
portions of the proposed rule, along with a statement of the
scientific findings, conclusions, and assumptions on which the
scientific portions of the proposed rule are based and the supporting
scientific data, studies, and other appropriate materials, to the
external scientific peer review entity for its evaluation.
(2) The external scientific peer review entity, within the
timeframe agreed upon by the board, department, or office and the
external scientific peer review entity, prepares a written report
that contains an evaluation of the scientific basis of the proposed
rule. If the external scientific peer review entity finds that the
board, department, or office has failed to demonstrate that the
scientific portion of the proposed rule is based upon sound
scientific knowledge, methods, and practices, the report shall state
that finding, and the reasons explaining the finding, within the
agreed-upon timeframe. The board, department, or office may accept
the finding of the external scientific peer review entity, in whole,
or in part, and may revise the scientific portions of the proposed
rule accordingly. If the board, department, or office disagrees with
any aspect of the finding of the external scientific peer review
entity, it shall explain, and include as part of the rulemaking
record, its basis for arriving at such a determination in the
adoption of the final rule, including the reasons why it has
determined that the scientific portions of the proposed rule are
based on sound scientific knowledge, methods, and practices.
(e) The requirements of this section do not apply to any emergency
regulation adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1 of
the Government Code.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to, in any way,
limit the authority of a board, department, or office within the
agency to adopt a rule pursuant to the requirements of the statute
that authorizes or requires the adoption of the rule.
(g) For any rule proposed by the State Water Resources Control
Board or a California regional water quality control board, the state
board shall post a copy of the external scientific peer review
conducted pursuant to subdivision (b) on its Internet Web site.
(a) Commencing January 1, 1994, each board, department, and
office within the agency, before adopting any major regulation, shall
evaluate the alternatives to the requirements of the proposed
regulation that are submitted to the board, department, or office
pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (a) of Section 11346.5 of
the Government Code and consider whether there is a less costly
alternative or combination of alternatives which would be equally as
effective in achieving increments of environmental protection in a
manner that ensures full compliance with statutory mandates within
the same amount of time as the proposed regulatory requirements.
(b) For purposes of this section, "major regulation" means any
regulation that will have an economic impact on the state's business
enterprises in an amount exceeding ten million dollars ($10,000,000),
as estimated by the board, department, or office within the agency
proposing to adopt the regulation in the assessment required by
subdivision (a) of Section 11346.3 of the Government Code.
(c) On or before December 31, 1994, after consulting with the
Secretary of Trade and Commerce, the director or executive officer of
each board, department, and office within the agency, and after
receiving public comment, the secretary shall adopt guidelines to be
followed by the boards, departments, and offices within the agency
concerning the methods and procedures to be used in conducting the
evaluation required by this section.
(a) The agency, and the offices, boards, and departments
within the agency, shall institute quality government programs to
achieve increased levels of environmental protection and the public's
satisfaction through improving the quality, efficiency, and
cost-effectiveness of the state programs that implement and enforce
state and federal environmental protection statutes. These programs
shall be designed to increase the level of environmental protection
while expediting decisionmaking and producing cost savings. The
secretary shall create an advisory group comprised of state and local
government, business, environmental, and consumer representatives
experienced in quality management to provide guidance in that effort.
The secretary shall develop a model quality management program that
local agencies charged with implementing air quality, water quality,
toxics, solid waste, and hazardous waste laws and regulations may use
at their discretion.
(b) The agency, and each board, department, and office within the
agency, shall submit a biennial report to the Governor and
Legislature, no later than December 1 with respect to the previous
two fiscal years, reporting on the extent to which these state
agencies have attained their performance objectives, and on their
continuous quality improvement efforts.
(c) Nothing in this section abrogates any collective bargaining
agreement or interferes with any established employee rights.
(d) For purposes of this section, "quality government program"
means all of the following:
(1) A process for obtaining the views of employees, the regulated
community, the public, environmental organizations, and governmental
officials with regard to the performance, vision, and needs of the
agency implementing the quality government program.
(2) A process for developing measurable performance objectiveness
using the views of the persons and organizations specified in
paragraph (1).
(3) Processes for continually improving quality and for training
agency personnel, using the information obtained from implementing
paragraphs (1) and (2).
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:
(1) "Agency" means the California Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) "Contaminant" means all of the following:
(A) A substance listed in Tables II and III of subparagraphs (A)
and (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 66261.24 of
Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B) The five halogenated hydrocarbon industrial solvents that, in
the experience of the State Water Resources Control Board and the
Department of Toxic Substances Control are most commonly found as
contaminants at sites subject to remediation under the
Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substances Account Act (Chapter
6.8 (commencing with Section 25300) of Division 20) and the
Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7 (commencing with
Section 13000) of the Water Code).
(C) Ten hazardous substances not included under subparagraphs (A)
and (B) that, in the experience of the Department of Toxic Substances
Control and the State Water Resources Control Board, are most
commonly found as contaminants at sites subject to remediation under
the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substances Account Act
(Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 25300) of Division 20) and the
Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7 (commencing with
Section 13000) of the Water Code).
(3) "Screening number" means the concentration of a contaminant
published by the agency as an advisory number pursuant to the process
established in subdivisions (b) and (c). A screening number is
solely an advisory number, and has no regulatory effect, and is
published solely as a reference value that may be used by citizen
groups, community organizations, property owners, developers, and
local government officials to estimate the degree of effort that may
be necessary to remediate a contaminated property. A screening number
may not be construed as, and may not serve as, a level that can be
used to require an agency to determine that no further action is
required or a substitute for the cleanup level that is required to be
achieved for a contaminant on a contaminated property. The public
agency with jurisdiction over the remediation of a contaminated site
shall establish the cleanup level for a contaminant pursuant to the
requirements and the procedures of the applicable laws and
regulations that govern the remediation of that contaminated property
and the cleanup level may be higher or lower than a published
screening number.
(b) (1) During the same period when the agency is carrying out the
pilot study required by Section 57009 and preparing the
informational document required by Section 57010, the agency shall
initiate a scientific peer review of the screening levels published
in Appendix 1 of Volume 2 of the technical report published by the
San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board entitled
"Application of Risk-Based Screening Levels and Decision-Making to
Sites with Impacted Soil and Groundwater (Interim Final-August 2000)."
The agency shall conduct the scientific peer review process in
accordance with Section 57004, and shall limit the review to those
substances specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a). The agency
shall complete the peer review process on or before December 31,
2004.
(2) The agency, in cooperation with the Department of Toxic
Substances Control, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, shall publish a
list of screening numbers for contaminants listed in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) for the protection of human health and safety, and
shall report on the feasibility of establishing screening numbers to
protect water quality and ecological resources. The agency shall
determine the screening numbers using the evaluation set forth in
Section 25356.1.5 and the results of the peer review, and shall use
the most stringent hazard criterion established pursuant to Subpart E
of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency
Plan (40 C.F.R. 300.400 et seq.), as amended. The agency shall set
forth separate screening levels for unrestricted land uses and a
restricted, nonresidential use of land. In determining each screening
number, the agency shall consider all of the following:
(A) The toxicology of the contaminant, its adverse effects on
human health and safety, biota, and its potential for causing
environmental damage to natural resources, including, but not limited
to, beneficial uses of the water of the state, including sources of
drinking water.
(B) Risk assessments that have been prepared for the contaminant
by federal or state agencies pursuant to environmental or public
health laws, evaluations of the contaminant that have been prepared
by epidemiological studies and occupational health programs, and risk
assessments or other evaluations of the contaminant that have been
prepared by governmental agencies or responsible parties as part of a
project to remediate a contaminated property.
(C) Cleanup levels that have been established for the contaminant
at sites that have been, or are being, investigated or remediated
under Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 25300) of Division 20, or
cleaned up or abated under Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000)
of the Water Code or under any other remediation program
administered by a federal or local agency.
(D) Screening numbers that have been published by other agencies
in the state, in other states, and by federal agencies.
(E) The results of external scientific peer review of the
screening numbers made pursuant to Section 57004.
(c) (1) Before publishing the screening numbers pursuant to
subdivision (b), the agency shall conduct two public workshops, one
in the northern part of the state and the other in the southern part
of the state, to brief interested parties on the scientific and
policy bases for the development of the proposed screening numbers
and to receive public comments.
(2) Following publication of the screening numbers pursuant to
subdivision (b), the agency shall conduct three public workshops in
various regions of the state to discuss the screening numbers and to
receive public comments. The agency shall select an agency
representative who shall serve as the chairperson for the workshops,
and the agency shall ensure that ample opportunity is available for
public involvement in the workshops. The deputy secretary for
external affairs shall actively seek out participation in the
workshops by citizen groups, environmental organizations,
community-based organizations that restore and redevelop contaminated
properties for park, school, residential, commercial, open-space or
other community purposes, property owners, developers, and local
government officials.
(d) Following the workshops required by subdivision (c), the
agency shall revise the screening numbers as appropriate. The agency
shall, from time to time, revise the screening numbers as necessary
as experience is gained with their use and shall add screening
numbers for contaminants to the list as information concerning
remediation problems becomes available.
(e) The agency shall publish a guidance document for distribution
to citizen groups, community-based organizations, property owners,
developers, and local government officials that explains how
screening numbers may be used to make judgments about the degree of
effort that may be necessary to remediate contaminated properties, to
facilitate the restoration and revitalization of contaminated
property, to protect the waters of the state, and to make more
efficient and effective decisions in local-level remediation
programs.
(f) Nothing in this section affects the authority of the
Department of Toxic Substances Control, the State Water Resources
Control Board, or a regional water quality control board to take
action under any applicable law or regulation regarding a release or
threatened release of hazardous materials.
(a) On or before January 1, 2003, the California
Environmental Protection Agency shall publish an informational
document to assist citizen groups, community-based organizations,
interested laypersons, property owners, local government officials,
developers, environmental organizations, and environmental
consultants to understand the factors that are taken into account,
and the procedures that are followed, in making site investigation
and remediation decisions under the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner
Hazardous Substances Account Act (Chapter 6.8 (commencing with
Section 25300) of Division 20 ) and under the Porter-Cologne Water
Quality Control Act (Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of
the Water Code).
(b) The agency shall make the informational document required by
this section available to any person who requests it at no charge and
shall also post the public information manual on the agency's
Internet Web site. The agency shall update both the printed
informational document and the Web site at appropriate intervals as
new legislation or revised policies affect the administration of the
Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substances Account Act (Chapter
6.8 (commencing with Section 25300) of Division 20 ) and the
Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7 (commencing with
Section 13000) of the Water Code).
(a) Each agency listed in subdivision (d) shall maintain a
list of all instruments and agreements restricting land uses imposed
by that agency under Section 1471 of the Civil Code or any provision
of law that is administered by that agency, in accordance with all of
the following requirements:
(1) The list shall provide a description of location for each
property that, at a minimum, provides the street address and the
assessor's parcel number. If a street address or assessor's parcel
number is not available, or if a street address or assessor's parcel
number does not adequately describe the property affected by the
instrument or agreement restricting land use, the list shall include
a description of location or the location's geographic coordinates.
(2) The list shall provide a description of any restricted uses of
the property, contaminants known to be present, and any remediation
of the property, if known, that would be required to allow for its
unrestricted use. The recorded instrument or agreement restricting
land uses may be provided in lieu of the description required by this
paragraph.
(3) Each agency shall update its list as new instruments and
agreements restricting land uses are recorded and as instruments and
agreements restricting land uses on properties are changed.
(b) Each agency listed in subdivision (d) shall display the list
required under subdivision (a) on that agency's Web site, and shall
make the list available to the public upon request.
(c) The California Environmental Protection Agency shall oversee
the implementation of this section. In overseeing the implementation
of this section, the California Environmental Protection Agency shall
do all of the following:
(1) Maintain on its Web site hyperlinks to the individual lists
posted pursuant to this section.
(2) Provide a search function that is able to search and retrieve
information from each of the individual lists posted pursuant to this
section.
(3) Create and post a list of all instruments and agreements
restricting land uses that have been sent pursuant to subdivision (e)
of Section 1471 of the Civil Code. The list created and posted
pursuant to this paragraph shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(A) The list shall identify the entity or jurisdiction that
imposed the instrument or agreement restricting land uses.
(B) The list shall include the information required by paragraphs
(1) and (2) of subdivision (a).
(C) The list shall be maintained for informational purposes only.
(D) The list shall contain a notation that information regarding
the listed properties has been provided voluntarily, that the list is
not all-inclusive, and that there may be additional sites where
instruments or agreements restricting land uses have been imposed by
other entities that have not been included on the list.
(d) This section applies to the California Environmental
Protection Agency and to all of the following entities within the
agency:
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Board.
(2) The State Water Resources Control Board, and each California
regional water quality control board.
(3) The Department of Toxic Substances Control.
(a) The Department of Toxic Substances Control may require a
person submitting a report or data to submit the report or data in
an electronic format, if the report is submitted to either of the
following:
(1) The Department of Toxic Substances Control.
(2) A unified program agency implementing the unified program
specified in Chapter 6.11 (commencing with Section 25404) of Division
20.
(b) The Department of Toxic Substances Control may require that a
report or data submitted in electronic format include the latitude
and longitude, which shall be accurate to within at least one meter,
of the location where a sample analyzed in the report or data was
collected.
(c) The Department of Toxic Substances Control shall adopt
standards, that include electronic formats, for the submission of
reports, which shall include formats for the submission of analytical
and environmental compliance data. When adopting these standards,
the Department of Toxic Substances Control shall only consider
electronic formats that meet all of the following criteria:
(1) Are available at no cost.
(2) Are available in the public domain.
(3) Have available public domain means to import, manipulate, and
store data.
(4) Allow importation of data into tables that indicate relational
distances.
(5) Allow verification of data submission consistency.
(6) Allow inclusion of all of the following information:
(A) The physical site address from which the sample was taken, and
information required for permitting and reporting an unauthorized
release.
(B) Environmental assessment data taken during the initial site
investigation phase, as well as the continuing monitoring and
evaluation phases.
(C) The latitude and longitude, which shall be accurate to within
at least one meter, of the location where a sample was collected.
(D) A description of all tests performed on the sample, the
results of the testing, quality assurance and quality control
information, available narrative information regarding the collection
of the sample, and available information concerning the laboratory's
analysis of the sample.
(7) Fulfill any additional criteria that the Department of Toxic
Substances Control determines are appropriate for an effective
electronic report submission program.
(d) In adopting standards pursuant to this section, the Department
of Toxic Substances Control shall ensure the security of
electronically submitted information.
(e) (1) The regulations adopted by the Department of Toxic
Substances Control pursuant to this section may be adopted as
emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code. For the purposes of that chapter, including Section 11349.6 of
the Government Code, the adoption of these regulations is an
emergency and shall be considered by the Office of Administrative Law
as an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health and safety, and general welfare.
(2) Notwithstanding the time limitation in subdivision (e) of
Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, an emergency regulation
adopted or amended pursuant to this section shall not be repealed
until one year after the effective date of the regulation, unless the
Department of Toxic Substances Control readopts the regulation, in
whole or in part, in compliance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.
(3) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, until the
effective date of the regulations adopted pursuant to this section,
the Department of Toxic Substances Control may implement this section
using the following regulations adopted by the State Water Resources
Control Board or the Secretary for Environmental Protection for the
electronic submission of reports:
(A) Chapter 30 (commencing with Section 3900) of Division 3 of
Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B) Subdivision 4 (commencing with Section 15100) of Division 1 of
Title 27 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C) Subdivision 2 of Division 3 of Title 27 of the California Code
of Regulations.
(a) There is within the Department of Toxic Substances
Control an independent review panel, comprising three members, to
review and make recommendations regarding improvements to the
department's permitting, enforcement, public outreach, and fiscal
management.
(b) The Speaker of the Assembly, the Senate Committee on Rules,
and the Governor shall each appoint one person to the panel. One
member of the panel shall be a community representative, one member
of the panel shall have scientific experience related to toxic
materials, and one member of the panel shall be a local government
management expert.
(1) The Speaker of the Assembly shall appoint the panelist with
scientific experience related to toxic materials.
(2) The Senate Committee on Rules shall appoint the panelist who
is a community representative.
(3) The Governor shall appoint the panelist who is a local
government management expert.
(4) The appointments shall be made within 90 days after the
effective date of the act adding this section.
(c) The panel may advise the department on issues related to the
department's reporting obligations.
(d) The panel shall make recommendations for improving the
department's programs.
(e) The panel shall advise the department on compliance with
Section 57007.
(f) The panel shall report to the Governor and the Legislature,
consistent with Section 9795 of the Government Code, 90 days after
the panel is initially appointed and every 90 days thereafter, on the
department's progress in reducing permitting and enforcement
backlogs, improving public outreach, and improving fiscal management.
(g) The department shall provide two support staff to the panel
independent of the department. Each member of the panel shall receive
per diem and shall be reimbursed for travel and other necessary
expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties under this
section. The total amount of money expended for panel expenses
pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) per year.
(h) At the time of the submission of the Governor's 2016-17 annual
budget to the Legislature, and at the time of each submission of the
Governor's annual budget thereafter, the panel shall submit to the
Legislature and the Governor recommendations pursuant to this
section.
(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends
that date.
There is in the department the assistant director for
environmental justice. The assistant director shall perform all of
the following duties, subject to the supervision of the director:
(a) Serve as ombudsperson and outreach coordinator for
disadvantaged communities, as described in Section 39711, where
hazardous materials and hazardous waste disposal facilities are
located.
(b) Provide information and assistance to communities on
permitting, enforcement, and other department activities in the major
languages spoken in those communities to ensure the maximum feasible
community participation in regulatory decisions made by the
department.
(c) Where community health or epidemiological information has been
collected by the department or other parties, make that information
available to communities, consistent with other requirements of law,
as soon as possible with plain explanations as to their impacts.
(a) For purposes of Sections 57019 and 57020, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) "Analytical test method" means a procedure used to sample,
prepare, and analyze a specific matrix to determine the identity and
concentration of a specified chemical and its metabolites and
degradation product. An analytical test method shall conform to the
standards adopted by the National Environmental Laboratory
Accreditation Conference.
(2) "Bioconcentration factor" means the concentration of a
chemical in an organism divided by its concentration in a test
solution or environment.
(3) "Chemical" has the same meaning as a chemical substance, as
defined in Section 2602 of Title 15 of the United States Code.
(4) "Manufacturer" means a person who produces a chemical in this
state or who imports a chemical into this state for sale in this
state.
(5) "Matrix" includes, but is not limited to, water, air, soil,
sediment, sludge, chemical waste, fish, blood, adipose tissue, and
urine.
(6) "Octanol-water partition coefficient" means the ratio of the
concentration of a chemical in octanol and in water at equilibrium
and at a specified temperature.
(7) "State agency" means the State Air Resources Board, the
Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Integrated Waste
Management Board, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the
California Environmental Protection Agency. "State agency" does not
include the Department of Pesticide Regulation.
(a) The California Environmental Protection Agency shall
coordinate all requests for information from manufacturers made
pursuant to this section on behalf of the state agencies.
(b) In coordinating the requests made pursuant to this section,
the California Environmental Protection Agency shall seek to
accomplish the following objectives:
(1) Minimize or eliminate duplicate requests for the same or
similar information.
(2) Coordinate with manufacturers of the same chemical to develop
and submit the requested information in an equitable and
resource-efficient manner.
(3) To the extent practicable minimize the cost burden on
individual manufacturers.
(4) Maintain a record of requests made pursuant to this section.
(c) A state agency, before requesting any information from a
manufacturer pursuant to subdivision (d), shall do all of the
following:
(1) Post on its Internet Web site and the Internet Web site of the
California Environmental Protection Agency an announcement that it
seeks information pursuant to subdivision (d), including the chemical
for which it seeks information, the type of information it is
seeking, and the reason for seeking the information.
(2) Conduct a search for the information it seeks of all known
public sources of information on the chemicals for which an
announcement has been posted pursuant to paragraph (1). All known
public sources include public and electronically searchable databases
maintained by the federal government, state governments, and
intergovernmental organizations.
(3) Make reasonable attempts to contact all manufacturers of
chemicals listed for which an announcement has been posted pursuant
to paragraph (1) to obtain any relevant information that may be held
by those manufacturers but is not publicly available.
(4) Make reasonable attempts to consult with all manufacturers of
chemicals listed for which an announcement has been posted pursuant
to paragraph (1) to determine what additional information, if any,
those manufacturers need to develop to assist the state agency in
evaluating the fate and transport of those chemicals in the relevant
matrices.
(5) Make reasonable attempts to consult with all manufacturers to
evaluate the technical feasibility of developing the information
requested by the agency.
(d) (1) A state agency may request a manufacturer to provide
additional information on a chemical for which an announcement has
been posted pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c).
(2) Upon request of a state agency, the manufacturer, within one
year, shall provide the state agency with the additional information
requested for the specified chemical.
(3) The information that the state agency requests may include,
but is not limited to, any of the following:
(A) An analytical test method for that chemical, or for
metabolites and degradation products for that chemical that are
biologically relevant in the matrix specified by the state agency.
(B) The octanol-water partition coefficient and bioconcentration
factor for humans for that chemical.
(C) Other relevant information on the fate and transport of that
chemical in the environment.
(4) The manufacturer responding to a request pursuant to this
subdivision shall collaborate and cooperate with the state agency
making the request to the extent practicable for the following
purposes:
(A) To ensure that the information being provided meets the needs
of the state agency.
(B) To reduce disagreements over the information being provided.
(C) To decrease to the maximum extent possible the effort and
resources the state agency must expend to verify and validate the
information provided.
(e) The definitions in Section 57018 apply to this section.
(f) This section shall not be construed to limit the authority of
a state agency to obtain information pursuant to any other provision
of law.
(a) Notwithstanding Section 6254.7 of the Government Code,
if a manufacturer believes that information provided to a state
agency pursuant to Section 57019 involves the release of a trade
secret, the manufacturer shall make the disclosure to the state
agency and notify the state agency in writing of that belief. In its
written notice, the manufacturer shall identify the portion of the
information submitted to the state agency that it believes is a trade
secret and provide documentation supporting its conclusion.
(b) Subject to this section, the state agency shall protect from
disclosure a trade secret designated as such by the manufacturer, if
that trade secret is not a public record.
(c) Upon receipt of a request for the release of information to
the public that includes information that the manufacturer has
notified the state agency is a trade secret and that is not a public
record, the following procedure applies:
(1) The state agency shall notify the manufacturer that disclosed
the information to the state agency of the request, in writing by
certified mail, return receipt requested.
(2) The state agency shall release the information to the public,
but not earlier than 30 days after the date of mailing the notice of
the request for information, unless, prior to the expiration of the
30-day period, the manufacturer obtains an action in an appropriate
court for a declaratory judgment that the information is subject to
protection under this section or for a preliminary injunction
prohibiting disclosure of the information to the public and promptly
notifies the state agency of that action. In order to prevent the
state agency from releasing the information to the public, the
manufacturer shall obtain a declaratory judgment or preliminary
injunction within 30 days of filing an action for a declaratory
judgment or preliminary injunction.
(d) This section does not authorize a manufacturer to refuse to
disclose to the state agency information required by Section 57019.
(e) Any information that a court, pursuant to this section,
determines is a trade secret and not a public record, or pending
final judgment pursuant to subdivision (c), shall not be disclosed by
the state agency to anyone, except to an officer or employee of a
city or county, the state, or the United States, or to a contractor
with a city or county, or the state, and its employees, if, in the
opinion of the state agency, disclosure is necessary and required for
the satisfactory performance of a contract, for the performance of
work, or to protect the health and safety of the employees of the
contractor.
(f) The definitions in Section 57018 apply to this section.