SECTIONS 25396.5-25397 - California Statutes

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

SECTION 25396.5-25397

25396.5. (a) The intent of this chapter is to establish a pilot
program to determine if expedited procedures for carrying out
response actions at response action sites are appropriate and
protective of human health and the environment.
(b) This chapter is applicable to not more than 30 response action
sites, of which not more than 10 may have an orphan share. The
department, upon a request from a responsible person for
consideration of a site for remediation pursuant to this program,
shall forward the request to the Site Designation Committee, along
with the department's recommendation as to whether the site should be
selected. The department shall also forward the request to the local
jurisdiction in which the site is located, to allow that local
jurisdiction to submit comments to the committee concerning the
request.

25396.6. The committee may select a site for remediation pursuant
to this chapter only if the site meets all of the following
conditions:
(a) The department is the appropriate administering agency for the
site pursuant to Section 25236 and the committee designates the
department as the administering agency.
(b) The responsible person or persons requesting selection of the
site have submitted a completed preliminary endangerment assessment,
as defined in Section 25319.5, which concludes that significant
response actions are necessary at the site and includes an analysis
of the scope and identity of the affected community.
(c) The committee finds all of the following:
(1) The site is not on, or eligible to be placed on, the National
Priority List prepared pursuant to the federal act, or is not a site
which is owned or operated by a department, agency, or
instrumentality of the United States.
(2) There are funds available in the trust fund to cover all of
the response action costs that will or may be assigned to the orphan
share at the site, unless one or more of the responsible persons who
have submitted a notice of intent under paragraph (3) agree in
writing to pay for the orphan share at the site that cannot be paid
by the state because of insufficient funding in the trust fund. Any
agreement to pay orphan share costs, which the fund cannot pay, shall
be backed by adequate forms of financial security, as determined by
the department.
(3) One or more responsible persons submit a notice of intent to
the department to do all of the following:
(A) Be bound by the requirements of this chapter.
(B) Enter into an enforceable agreement with the department, as
set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 25398.2.
(C) Pay all response costs not otherwise paid by the trust fund or
another responsible person.
(4) There is no known condition of interim endangerment existing
at the site at the time it is selected for response actions pursuant
to this chapter.
(5) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the department has
not already issued an order or entered into an enforceable agreement
with responsible parties at the site under Chapter 6.8 (commencing
with Section 25300), the department has not commenced a judicial
action against responsible persons at the site, and no orders have
been issued by a court requiring responsible persons at the site to
take response actions or to pay the department's response costs at
the site.
(B) The committee may waive the requirements of subparagraph (A)
for not more than five sites if the committee determines that the
selection of the site, for response action pursuant to this chapter,
will not delay response action at the site and is otherwise in the
public interest.

25397. (a) Except to the extent otherwise specified in this
chapter, response actions for a site selected pursuant to Section
25396.6 shall be taken pursuant to this chapter, and the requirements
of Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 25300) shall not apply. In
addition, the provisions of Chapter 6.65 (commencing with Section
25260) shall apply to all response actions taken at sites selected
pursuant to this chapter, including the requirement that the response
action be implemented in compliance with all state and local laws,
ordinances, regulations, and standards that are applicable to the
response action.
(b) The committee may, as part of the findings required by Section
25396.6, direct that an advisory committee be convened pursuant to
Section 25263 to ensure that the department receives adequate
guidance in overseeing response action at a site that is selected for
remedial action under this chapter.
(c) An advisory committee convened pursuant to subdivision (b)
shall have the same powers and duties as an advisory committee that
is convened pursuant to Section 25263. The advisory committee shall
be bound by the decisions of an arbitration panel and any court
decisions rendered upon judicial review.
(d) The department shall maintain a list of sites selected for
response action pursuant to this chapter and shall make this list
available to interested parties.