SECTIONS 43100-43103 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 43100-43103

43100. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Solid
Waste Disposal Regulatory Reform Act of 1993.

43101. The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:
(a) The board and the state water board have submitted a report
entitled Joint Report: Reforming the California Solid Waste Disposal
Regulatory Process, and have recommended legislation to the Governor
and the Legislature that identifies areas of regulatory overlap,
conflict, and duplication and makes recommendations for change.
(b) The report found that regulatory overlap, conflict, and
duplication were evident between the board and the state water board
and between the board and local enforcement agencies and that
regulatory reform was necessary to streamline the state's solid waste
disposal regulatory process. In addition, it was found that a
recasting of the solid waste facilities permit was warranted to make
more efficient and streamlined the permitting and regulation of solid
waste disposal facilities. The report also makes numerous other
appropriate recommendations for improving the manner in which the
management of solid waste is regulated by the state which require
immediate legislative response.
(c) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature, in enacting
this chapter, and in making the necessary revisions to this division
and Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code by
the act enacting this chapter, to accomplish all of the following:
(1) As provided by Sections 40054 and 40055, the board, the state
water board, and the regional water boards shall retain their
appropriate statutory authority over solid waste disposal facilities
and sites. A clear and concise division of authority shall be
maintained in both statute and regulation to remove all areas of
overlap, duplication, and conflict between the board and the state
water board and regional water boards, or between the board and any
other state agency, as appropriate.
(2) The state water board and regional water boards shall be the
sole agencies regulating the disposal and classification of solid
waste for the purpose of protecting the waters of the state,
consistent with Section 40055, and the board and the certified local
enforcement agencies shall regulate all other aspects of solid waste
disposal within the scope of their appropriate regulatory authority.
(3) To effectuate that clear division of authority, the board and
the state water board shall develop one consolidated set of solid
waste disposal facility regulations where distinct chapters are
written and implemented by the appropriate agency, and one
consolidated permit application, including one technical report to
incorporate the requirements of both the solid waste facilities
permit and waste discharge requirements.
(4) The process and timeframe for the review and approval of the
consolidated application shall be revised to allow, to the greatest
extent feasible, for the concurrent development and review of the
waste discharge requirements and the solid waste facilities permit.
The intent of this permit streamlining effort is to shorten the
overall timeframe for processing a permit and to accommodate
concurrent reviews by the local enforcement agency and the regional
water boards within a set timeframe.
(5) Any details of a concurrent permit approval process shall be
worked out in an implementation plan that is developed jointly by the
board and state water board with input from interested parties.
(6) If practicable, joint inspections of facilities shall be
conducted by the board, regional water boards, and local enforcement
agencies, and inspection reports shall be shared with any other
affected state or local agency.
(7) The closure and postclosure maintenance requirements of the
board and the state water board for solid waste landfills shall be
combined into one set of consolidated regulations which require one
closure and postclosure maintenance plan to be prepared for each
solid waste landfill.
(8) A clear and concise division of responsibilities shall be
maintained to minimize overlap and duplication of permitting,
inspection, and compliance duties between the board and certified
local enforcement agencies. The board's primary role in regard to
permitting and compliance shall be to provide technical assistance
and ongoing training and support to local enforcement agencies, to
ensure a local enforcement agency's performance in complying with
state minimum standards, and to review permits and other documents
submitted by local enforcement agencies for board concurrence or
approval. The board shall strengthen the state certification and
evaluation program for local enforcement agencies and shall set clear
and uniform standards to be met by local enforcement agencies.
(9) The Solid Waste Disposal Site Cleanup and Maintenance Account
shall be abolished and a solid waste disposal fee established for
deposit in the Integrated Waste Management Account which provides
adequate funding for all obligations imposed pursuant to this
division. In addition, the costs of the state water board and the
regional water boards of regulating solid waste facilities shall be
funded from the account.
(10) The Solid Waste Assessment Test Program shall continue
operating with resources from the Integrated Waste Management Account
until all of the ranked solid waste disposal sites are reviewed.
(11) Responsibility for establishing and enforcing financial
responsibility requirements for solid waste landfills, from operation
through to cleanup, shall, to the greatest extent practicable and
consistent with applicable federal law, be consolidated into one set
of regulations administered by the board, in consultation with the
state water board.
(12) At a minimum, the financial assurance requirements for
closure and postclosure maintenance shall be combined, and the
requirements for corrective action and operating liability shall be
reviewed, as required by subdivision (b) of Section 43040, to
determine if there can be further consolidation of financial
assurance requirements for solid waste landfills.
(13) The state water board or the appropriate regional water board
shall have access to the financial assurance funds for closure and
postclosure activities and to financial assurance funds for
corrective action, as necessary, to address water quality problems,
if the owner or operator has failed to implement the required closure
and postclosure activities or corrective action activities.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this chapter,
and in making the necessary revisions to this division and Division
7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code, to ensure that
the state minimum standards for environmental protection at solid
waste disposal facilities are not reduced.

43102. On or before July 1, 1994, the board and the state water
board shall jointly develop a plan to implement the changes made to
this division and Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the
Water Code by the act adding this chapter, and shall make
recommendations for additional reforms to both statutory law and
regulations, which are consistent with the intent specified in
Section 43101. In developing an implementation plan, the board and
the state water board shall seek the active participation of
representatives of local government, other state agencies, the
regulated community, environmental organizations, and interested
parties. At a minimum, the implementation plan shall include a work
plan for revising regulations, a timeline for implementation, and a
description of necessary administrative actions.

43103. The board and the state water board shall adopt regulations
for the implementation of the changes required by this chapter, and
the act adding this chapter.