SECTIONS 48100-48106 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 48100-48106

48100. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that illegal
disposal of solid waste on property owned by innocent parties is a
longstanding problem needing attention and that grants provided under
this chapter will support the cleanup of farm and ranch property.
(b) The board shall establish a farm and ranch solid waste cleanup
and abatement grant program for the purposes of cleaning up and
abating the effects of illegally disposed solid waste pursuant to
this chapter.
(c) (1) The Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement
Account is hereby created in the General Fund and may be expended by
the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget
Act, for the purposes of this chapter.
(2) The following funds shall be deposited into the account:
(A) Money appropriated by the Legislature from the Integrated
Waste Management Fund or the California Used Oil Recycling Fund to
the board for the grant program, or from the California Tire
Recycling Management Fund to the board for the purposes set forth in
paragraph (10) of subdivision (b) of Section 42889.
(B) Notwithstanding Section 16475 of the Government Code, any
interest earned on the money in the account.
(3) The board may expend the money in the account for both of the
following purposes:
(A) To pay the costs of implementing this chapter, which costs
shall not exceed 7 percent of the funds available for the grant
program.
(B) To make payments for grants authorized by this chapter.
(4) Upon authorization by the Legislature in the annual Budget
Act, the sum of all funds transferred into the account from other
funds or accounts shall not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000)
annually.
(5) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of
Section 48653 and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
grant program shall be funded from the following funds:
(A) The Integrated Waste Management Fund.
(B) The California Tire Recycling Management Fund, for the
purposes set forth in paragraph (10) of subdivision (b) of Section
42889.
(C) The California Used Oil Recycling Fund.
(d) For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Native American tribe" has the same meaning as tribe, as
defined in subdivision (b) of Section 44201.
(2) "Public entity" means a city, county, or resource conservation
district.

48101. (a) The grant program shall be established to make grants
available to public entities and Native American tribes for the
purposes described in subdivision (b) of Section 48100 in an amount
not to exceed the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) per
year for any single public entity or Native American tribe, and not
to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for any single cleanup or
abatement project. A Native American tribe or public entity may not
expend more than 7 percent of the grant for administrative costs.
(b) The board shall give priority to the provision of grants to
public entities and Native American tribes that have established
innovative and cost-effective programs designed to discourage the
illegal disposal of solid waste and to encourage the proper disposal
of solid waste in permitted solid waste disposal facilities.
(c) A grant agreement between the board and a public entity or
Native American tribe may provide for, but is not limited to, all of
the following provisions:
(1) Site-specific cleanup and removal of solid waste that is
illegally disposed on farm or ranch property.
(2) Comprehensive, ongoing enforcement programs for the cleanup
and removal of solid waste that is illegally disposed of on farm or
ranch property.
(3) Waiver of tipping fees or other solid waste fees at permitted
solid waste facilities for solid waste that was illegally disposed of
on farm or ranch property.
(d) On and after the adoption of grant program regulations by the
board, any fines levied on, or abatement orders issued against, a
farm or ranch owner by the local enforcement agency or other local
agency as the result of solid waste disposed of on the owner's farm
or ranch property, regarding which the owner has made application to
a public entity or Native American tribe for a grant under this
chapter, shall be stayed, upon the owner's written request to the
local enforcement agency or other local agency, if (1) the local
agency makes a decision that the property owner was not responsible
for the dumping or (2) the property owner has filed a written appeal
of the local agency's decision to the board and the board's decision
on the matter is pending.

48102. No farm or ranch property is eligible for a grant pursuant
to this chapter if it is determined by the public entity or Native
American tribe that the owner was responsible for the illegal
disposal of the solid waste.

48103. (a) The board shall adopt regulations to implement this
chapter.
(b) The regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall include
criteria for grant eligibility and shall establish a process that is
open and accessible to the public under which grant applications may
be reviewed, ranked, and awarded. The regulations shall also develop
a process for a farm or ranch property owner to appeal a public
entity's or Native American tribe's determination of responsibility
pursuant to Section 48102.
(c) The regulations adopted under this section shall require the
applicant public entity or Native American tribe to certify to both
of the following:
(1) That the public entity or Native American tribe is the only
applicant for funding under the program for any particular farm or
ranch property.
(2) That the owner of the farm or ranch property is not
responsible for the illegal disposal of the solid waste.
(3) That the public entity or Native American tribe has in place a
program that is sufficient to prevent future incidents of illegal
solid waste disposal.
(d) If a public entity or Native American tribe denies a grant
application, it shall notify the farm or ranch property owner in
writing as to why the application was denied.
(e) Nothing in this section is intended to prevent a farm or ranch
property owner from receiving reimbursement for solid waste cleanup
or abatement costs under the grant program or pursuant to any other
law.

48104. Each year, as part of the annual report required to be
submitted pursuant to Section 40507, the board shall report to the
Governor and the Legislature on all of the following:
(a) Actions the board has taken under the grant program.
(b) The costs and effectiveness in cleaning up and abating solid
waste illegally disposed of on farm and ranch property.
(c) The number of sites cleaned up and abated in each county.
(d) The number of participant cities, counties, districts, and
Native American tribes, and the sites cleaned up and abated through
those cities, counties, districts, and Native American tribes.
(e) The types of solid waste cleaned up and abated.
(f) The number of sites not approved for the grant program, and
the reasons for that disapproval.
(g) The types of property on which solid waste has been cleaned up
and abated.

48105. All solid waste collected as a result of cleanup or
abatement under the grant program shall be recycled or reused to the
maximum extent feasible and cleanup or abatement activities shall be
conducted in compliance with existing laws governing the handling of
solid wastes, hazardous wastes, liquid wastes, or medical wastes, as
appropriate.

48106. Nothing in this chapter is intended to relieve any party who
is responsible for the generation or illegal deposition of the solid
waste from liability for removal costs if the party can be
identified. Farm or ranch property owners whose property is the
subject of solid waste cleanup or abatement under this chapter and
who are not responsible for the generation or deposition of the solid
waste shall not be subject to any cost recovery action for cleanup
or abatement costs borne by public entities or Native American tribes
or the board under this chapter.