(1) The hazardous waste control laws require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to regulate the handling and management of hazardous waste and hazardous materials.

Existing law prohibits an owner or operator of a storage facility, treatment facility, transfer facility, resource recovery facility, or disposal site from accepting, treating, storing, or disposing of a hazardous waste at the facility, area, or site, unless the owner or operator holds a hazardous waste facilities permit, as provided. For purposes of the hazardous waste laws, “treatment” means any method, technique, or process that is not otherwise excluded from the definition pursuant to these laws and that is designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste or any material contained therein, or that removes or reduces its harmful properties or characteristics for any purpose. Existing law excludes from that definition of “treatment” specified activities.

This bill would exclude from that definition of “treatment” the compaction of hazardous waste under specified conditions, including requiring that the waste being compacted is not a liquid, as described, or a solid that meets the ignitability or reactivity characteristic, as defined, and does not alter the physical, chemical or biological character or composition of the waste, other than the reduction in volume of the waste, increase in density, or changes in shape or form.

(2) The Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act (the act) generally regulates aboveground storage tanks that contain petroleum and that meet certain requirements. The act requires its provisions to be implemented by a unified program agency, as provided, and requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to adopt regulations implementing these provisions. A knowing violation of specified provisions of the act after reasonable notice of the violation is a crime.

The act specifically excludes from the definition of an “aboveground storage tank” for purposes of the act oil-filled electrical equipment if the oil-filled electrical equipment meets specified conditions. The act further excludes from that definition a tank in an underground area that has the capacity to store less than 55 gallons of petroleum, has secondary containment, and is inspected monthly, if a specified condition is met. For purposes of the act, a “tank in an underground area” means a stationary storage tank that meets specified criteria and, among other things, the structure in which the storage tank is located, at a minimum, provides for secondary containment, as provided. For purposes of this definition, a shop-fabricated double-walled storage tank with a mechanical or electronic device used to detect leaks in the interstitial space meets the requirement for secondary containment of the contents of the tank.

The act further requires each owner or operator of a tank facility to immediately, upon discovery, notify the Office of Emergency Services and the unified program agency of the occurrence of a spill or other release of petroleum, as specified, that is required to be reported pursuant to specified water control laws imposing water discharge notice requirements. Existing water control laws exempt a discharge in compliance with waste discharge requirements or other water control laws from that notification requirement.

This bill would also make clarifying changes to the act.

(3) Existing law provides for the regulation of underground storage tanks by the State Water Resources Control Board and the unified program agency. Existing law defines an “underground storage tank” for these purposes. Existing law requires the interstitial space of the underground storage tank to be maintained under constant vacuum or pressure such that a breach in the primary or secondary containment is detected before the liquid or vapor phase of the hazardous substance stored in the underground storage tank is released into the environment.

This bill would make that requirement applicable to the interstitial space of the underground storage tank beneath the surface of the ground.

Existing law requires a local agency to inspect every underground tank system within its jurisdiction at least once every year. Existing law requires a local agency to prepare a compliance report detailing the inspection and to send a copy of this report to the permitholder and the owner or operator, if the owner or operator is not the permitholder. Existing law requires, within 60 days after receiving a compliance report or special inspection report, the permitholder to file with the local agency a plan to implement all recommendations contained in the compliance report or to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the local agency, why these recommendations should not be implemented.

This bill would instead require the permitholder to return to compliance within 30 days after receiving a compliance report or special inspection report and would eliminate the option to file a plan to implement all recommendations. The bill would authorize the local agency to approve a plan to return to compliance in excess of 30 days, as long as the plan to return to compliance is received by the local agency within 30 calendar days of the permitholder receiving the compliance report or special inspection report.

(4) Existing law requires a business to establish and implement a business plan for emergency response to a release or threatened release of a hazardous material in accordance with prescribed standards if the business meets specified conditions at any unified program facility, including, among other conditions, if the business handles a hazardous material or a mixture containing a hazardous material that has a quantity at any one time during the reporting year that is equal to, or greater than, 55 gallons for materials that are liquids, 500 pounds for solids, or 200 cubic feet for compressed gas.

This bill would provide that the above provision does not apply to specified gasses, including oxygen, nitrogen, or nitrous oxide, as provided.