Toxics and Hazardous Waste Issues

MTBE
Other Toxics Legislation

MTBE

SB 201* (Mountjoy-R) Gasoline: MTBE

Provides that if a company produces methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE)-free gasoline on or before October 31, 2000, and makes that gasoline available to an entire city, county, or region, the State Department of Health Services shall provide public service announcements regarding the availability of MTBE-free gasoline in that area.

Also appropriates an unspecified amount from the Unallocated Account in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund to the department for purposes of the bill.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

SB 272* (Leslie-R) Pollution: Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE)

Makes it a misdemeanor for any person to sell gasoline containing methyl tertiary butyl ether.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

SB 1971* (Mountjoy-R) Gasoline: MTBE

Requires the California Energy Commission, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, to develop a timetable to phase out and eliminate the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in gasoline on or before December 31, 2000.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

SB 1972 (Mountjoy-R) Reformulated gasoline: oxygenates and alkylates

Enacts the Alternative Oxygenate Public Health and Environmental Protection Act of 2000. Appropriates $500,000 from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account in the Transportation Tax Fund to the University of California for a specified study and assessment of the human health and environmental risks and benefits, if any, of using oxygenates or alkylates, other than methyl tertiary butyl ether, in gasoline. Requires the report to be submitted to the Governor by January 1, 2002 and the Governor to take prescribed actions, including certifying whether there is a risk to human health or the environment of using oxygenates or alkylates in gasoline, and taking appropriate action to protect public health and the environment if there is such a risk.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

AB 129* (Oller-R) Gasoline: MTBE

Makes it a misdemeanor to add methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) to gasoline during the manufacturing or refining process or to sell or offer for sale gasoline that contains MTBE.

(Died in Assembly Transportation Committee)

AB 1812 (Oller-R) MTBE: study

Requires the State Department of Health Services and the State Water Resources Control Board to submit, by January 1, 2002, a joint study on the effect on human health of the leakage of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) into groundwater and its migration from groundwater into surface water.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2483 (Kuehl-D) Pollution control: drinking water contamination

Provides (1) for strict, joint and several liability and specifies certain damages for those who are contaminating a source of drinking water with gasoline or oxygenates (other than ethanol), (2) for the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency to prohibit the sale of oxygenated fuels in areas where drinking water sources are threatened, and (3) for the electronic filing of certain reports required by agencies.

(Died on Assembly Inactive File)

Other Toxics Legislation

SB 221* (Alpert-D) Oil spill prevention

Authorizes the administrator for oil spill response within the State Department of Fish and Game to establish a lower standard of financial responsibility for nontank vessels with a carrying capacity of 7,500 barrels of oil or less. Prohibits the administrator from setting a standard that is less than the expected cleanup costs and damages from an oil spill in marine waters.

Chapter 721, Statutes of 2000

SB 324 (Escutia-D) Hazardous materials site cleanup: brownfields

Establishes a new program for local agencies to encourage reuse of difficult to develop properties which may be subject to some hazardous waste investigation or cleanup.

(Died in Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee)

SB 667* (Sher-D) Hazardous substances: response actions: orphan sites

Establishes a program to expedite reuse of underutilized urban properties by assisting in financing site characterization and cleanups and makes some technical and cleanup changes relating to the cleanup of state superfund sites.

Chapter 912, Statutes of 2000

SB 806 (Monteith-R) Diesel fuel: warning

Exempts, from the warning requirements of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, an exposure for which a federal law preempts the state's authority to require a warning in the manner otherwise required by the act. Makes a legislative finding and declaration that the bill would further the purposes of the act.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

SB 957 (McPherson-R) Toxic chemical exposure: warning

Allows a warning required under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act 1985 to be provided by an oral presentation, before exposure to the individual of a chemical known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, if the presentation of the warning is memorialized, in writing, within a reasonable period of time after the exposure. Makes a legislative finding and declaration that the bill would further the purposes of the act.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

SB 1020 (Figueroa-D) Toxic air contaminants: identification

Specifies that the demographic data that is required to be considered by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the State Air Resources Board when evaluating the health effects and preparing recommendations regarding substances that may be or are emitted into the ambient air and that may be determined to be toxic air contaminants include the threat of exposure to persons in schools, licensed day care facilities, and residential housing facilities.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

SB 1398 (Kelley-R) Underground storage tanks

Changes two of the criteria that must be met before a tank may be exempt from regulation under the underground storage tank laws.

Chapter 245, Statutes of 2000

SB 1523 (Figueroa-D) Hazardous substances

Changes compliance requirements for an employer of agricultural workers by requiring the posting of warning signs after an application of a pesticide when the requirement for reentry interval is 24 hours or longer.

(Failed passage in Assembly Agriculture Committee)

SB 1789 (Rainey-R) Hazardous substance sites: brownfields

Requires the Director of the State Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation with the Director of the State Department of Toxic Substances Control, the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, and other specified parties, by January 1, 2002, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor that includes an analysis of policies that may be obstacles to the remediation and redevelopment of contaminated urban properties, otherwise known as brownfields, a discussion of incentives to redevelop those brownfields, and recommendations for changes to encourage this redevelopment.

Vetoed by the Governor

SB 1824 (Kelley-R) Certified unified program agencies: counties

Establishes a certified unified program agencies process, similar to the current certified unified program agencies process for administering and enforcing six hazardous waste and hazardous materials regulatory programs, for rural counties that currently operate without a certified unified program agency.

Chapter 730, Statutes of 2000

SB 1924 (O'Connell-D) Hazardous waste recycling: used oil

Revises the definition of recycled oil and the circumstances under which used oil must be tested and managed as hazardous waste.

Chapter 732, Statutes of 2000

SB 2035 (Senate Environmental Quality Committee) Hazardous waste management

Sets forth cleanup language to make conforming changes to statutory provisions covering hazardous waste management.

Chapter 343, Statutes of 2000

SB 2146 (McPherson-R) Dry cell batteries

Extends the exemption from state hazardous waste regulation now applicable to dry cell batteries containing zinc to batteries containing zinc, copper, and the alkaline electrolytes, sodium or potassium hydroxide.

Vetoed by the Governor

SJR 26 (Kelley-R) Mission Creek and Desert Hot Springs Aquifers

Urges the President and Congress to provide funding for the protection of the Mission Creek and the Desert Hot Springs Aquifers.

Resolution Chapter 69, Statutes of 2000

AB 450 (Ashburn-R) Hazardous materials: commitment statement

Declares that nothing in a commitment statement is binding upon any third party, including owner's successors or assigns and their lenders, who acquired their interest in the property in good faith and without actual knowledge of the commitment statement.

(Died in Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee)

AB 680 (Lempert-D) Oil spill prevention: nonmarine waters

Provides that the fines and penalties provisions of the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act be extended, in modified form, to cover all "waters of the state," instead of just "marine waters."

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 1681 (Bock-I) Medical waste incineration

Requires owners and operators of medical waste incinerators to handle bottom ash, fly ash, and scrubber residuals in a manner that prevents their release to air, soil or water proximate to the facility. Requires any violation or malfunction by an incinerator to be reported to the district air pollution control officer, the county health officer or the local district attorney.

(Died on Assembly Inactive File)

AB 1813 (Wildman-D) School facilities: site contamination funding

Clarifies the amount of state school bond funding that can be made available to pay for the cost of environmental cleanup of school sites. Also provides for a streamlined process for the State Department of Toxic Substance Control to use in procuring contractors to perform hazardous substance site investigation and cleanup in cases of emergency and imminent danger.

Chapter 725, Statutes of 2000

AB 1878 (Lowenthal-D) Hazardous waste: disposal

Exempts, from the requirement that disposal of waste containing specified levels of heavy metals be limited to Class I hazardous waste disposal facilities, the ash generated at the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility operated by the City of Long Beach or at the Commerce Refuse to Energy Facility in the City of Commerce that is reused as a road base material in a permitted solid waste facility and which has soluble concentrations of these heavy metals below regulatory threshold levels.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

AB 2244 (Lowenthal-D) Regulated substances: local agencies

Allows a city or county to submit the full text of a local ordinance related to regulated substances to the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), which is required to post the text or a link to the text of the ordinance, on CalEPA's website.

Chapter 294, Statutes of 2000

AB 2287 (Wildman-D) Underground storage tanks: water

Requires the State Water Resources Control Board, regional water quality control boards, and other state agencies to conduct a variety of tasks designed to provide greater protections to California's groundwater based on recommendations by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.

(Died in Senate Environmental Quality Committee)

AB 2309 (Florez-D) Hazardous waste: fees

Extends the sunset date for the disposal fee system now in effect by two years, delays the scheduled increase in fees for large offsite treatment facilities for two years, and changes the due date on the annual report from the Attorney General regarding expenditures of funds in support of the activities of the State Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Vetoed by the Governor

AB 2488 (Baldwin-R) Hazardous materials: business plans

Permits a certified unified program agency to exempt hazardous materials handlers from the requirement to file complete business plans under specified circumstances.

Chapter 296, Statutes of 2000

AB 2493 (Shelley-D) Midway Village housing project: health study

Requires the State Department of Health Services to conduct a baseline health study, by July 1, 2001, on the health effects of the possible exposure to contamination of the soil from aromatic hydrocarbons on the residents of the Midway Village housing project, which is located in Daly City in San Mateo County.

(Died in Assembly Appropriations Committee)

AB 2573 (Briggs-R) Used oil

Provides that the hazardous waste management requirements that apply to used oil do not apply to dielectric fluid removal from oil-filled electrical equipment if certain conditions are met.

Chapter 726, Statutes of 2000

AB 2692 (Aanestad-R) Groundwater monitoring: lead agency

Allows a responsible party for a hazardous materials release to petition for a lead agency to supervise groundwater monitoring.

(Died in Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee)

AB 2739 (Baugh-R) Hazardous materials handling charge

Decreases fees for certain corporations by altering fee schedule based on the number of employees, changes the definition of who is considered to be an employee for purposes of calculating the fee and sets a cap on the highest fee paid.

(Died in Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee)

AB 2932 (Assembly Environmental Safety And Toxic Materials Committee) Discharge offset program

Requires, if a new or increased discharge is proposed to a water body that does not attain water quality objectives, any increase in mass loading of the waste causing the nonattainment be offset by waste load reductions from other sources of waste causing the nonattainment. Requires the regional boards to maintain a list of potential projects that would result in waste load reductions of waste causing nonattainment of water quality objectives.

(Died in Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee)

ACR 48 (Battin-R) Reformulated gasoline prices

Urges the State Air Resources Board, in conjunction with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, to report to the Legislature, by January 1, 2000, the costs and benefits of continuing to require Californians to use California-only fuel. Requests the report to include the consequences of that policy for long-term supply, price and air quality, and the effect of allowing the use of non-California reformulated gasoline for various periods and in specified percentages, and the effects when other types of reformulated gasoline are used. Asks the University of California to report to the Legislature, by January 1, 2000, the economic impact on gasoline prices resulting from the required use of California-only reformulated fuel.

(Died in Senate Rules Committee)

AJR 57 (Longville-D) High-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel

Requests Congress and the President to direct the Federal Department of Energy to (1) establish appropriate procedures to minimize the risk of transportation accidents when high-level nuclear wastes and spent nuclear fuel originating from California are shipped to Yucca Mountain, avoid populated areas and provide assistance to local communities along the routes of transport to fund emergency response training for local officials, and (2) use transportation routes that do not transit California when high-level nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel is sent to Yucca Mountain from other states.

Resolution Chapter 128, Statutes of 2000

AJR 58 (Firebaugh-D) Brownfield sites cleanup

Requests Congress to amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-exempt status for revenue bonds that are used for the acquisition and cleanup of "brownfields."

Resolution Chapter 102, Statutes of 2000

Index (in Bill Order)