SECTIONS 71060-71068 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 71060-71068

71060. The secretary shall develop and adopt information technology
standards by which public agencies and regulated business entities
and the other members of the regulated community may use computers
and other information technology to specify, request, report,
collect, communicate, process, display, disseminate, or otherwise
utilize data for environmental data reporting requirements that are
imposed in the course of granting permits or other authorizations to
operate issued pursuant to specified provisions of state and federal
law and regulations.

71061. The secretary shall establish a standardized electronic
format and protocol for the exchange of electronic data for the
purpose of meeting environmental data reporting or other usage
requirements that are imposed pursuant to all of the following laws
and regulations adopted pursuant to those laws:
(a) Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), including, but
not limited to, Article 6 (commencing with Section 25160), Chapter
6.7 (commencing with Section 25280), and Chapter 6.95 (commencing
with Section 25500) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code.
(b) Article 1 (commencing with Section 42300) of Chapter 4 of Part
4 of Division 26 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code.
(d) The Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq.).
(e) The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 11001 et seq.).
(f) Any other law relating to environmental protection, including,
but not limited to, hazardous waste, substances, and materials, as
determined by the secretary.

71062. The secretary shall identify the environmental data
reporting or usage requirements imposed pursuant to the laws listed
in Section 71061 and reflect those requirements in the elements of
the standardized electronic format and protocol, develop a data
dictionary that describes the characteristics of each format element
and its relationship to each environmental data reporting or usage
requirement, and develop evaluation criteria by which the successful
use of the standardized electronic format and protocol may be
measured.

71063. (a) The proposed standardized electronic format and protocol
required by Section 71061 and the alternative signature techniques
required by Section 71066 shall be tested in the Counties of Santa
Clara and San Mateo as a pilot program, for a period determined by
the secretary, and at the initiative of business entity report
submitters who have organized to implement electronic data
interchange among themselves for other business purposes and who wish
to employ the same technology for exchanging environmental data. Any
of the participating business entities located within those counties
who are required to comply with the environmental data reporting
requirements imposed pursuant to the laws listed in Section 71061,
may comply by submitting the data in the prescribed standardized
electronic format.
(b) The secretary shall meet the requirements of Section 71063
using resources contributed exclusively by business participants. The
secretary may accept and use computer hardware, software, and
support services furnished by the industry or business participants
at their own cost in order for the agency to participate in the pilot
program. No public funds shall be encumbered in order to conduct, or
pay for, any part of the pilot program originally undertaken or
provided by any business participant. The brands of products employed
shall not be identified in public, nor shall their use be deemed an
endorsement of any particular brand or proprietary approach to
electronic data interchange.

71064. (a) There is in the agency the Environmental Data Management
Advisory Committee. The advisory committee shall consist of not more
than seven members appointed by the secretary. The secretary shall
select members who represent business, government, and environmental
groups, and who have proven expertise and current knowledge in the
field of electronic data exchange.
(b) The advisory committee shall advise the secretary on the
quickest, most effective, and least expensive alternative systems of
electronic standards for formatting data.
(c) The meetings of the advisory committee shall be open to the
public and shall provide an opportunity for the public to be heard on
matters considered by the advisory committee.

71065. To the fullest extent practicable to public agencies and
business entities, the secretary, in close consultation with the
advisory committee, shall ensure that the standardized electronic
format and protocol established pursuant to Section 71061 meets all
of the following criteria:
(a) The format and protocol conforms with, or is compatible with,
data interchange formats and protocols already in use in the
regulated community for moving data from computer to computer, so
that the format and pilot program may be implemented promptly,
without the need for research and development into untried formats
and protocols.
(b) The format and protocol works independently of the type of
computer hardware, software, operating system, data storage device,
and telecommunications equipment employed by prospective senders and
receivers.
(c) The format and protocol accommodates the addition of new or
revised data element specifications without requiring users to make
costly modifications to the hardware or software that they employ to
submit electronic data.

71066. The secretary shall prescribe one or more techniques by
which a report may be signed electronically by a person who would
otherwise place a written signature on a paper version of the report.
The prescribed electronic signature shall be binding on all persons
and for all purposes under the law as if the signature had been made
in ink on the equivalent paper document. The secretary may also
prescribe a paper form for signature and certification of a report
submitted in the prescribed file format on tangible magnetic media,
including, but not limited to, floppy disks or magnetic tape.

71067. Public agencies shall continue their current data auditing
practices, and shall work with data submitters to correct all kinds
of data error encountered. The pilot program shall require that each
participant maintain an audit trail as part of the evaluation
criteria so that inspectors and other evaluators may ensure that the
data submitted comport with the data received along the electronic
link.

71068. (a) Upon the completion of a demonstration of any
standardized electronic format and protocol and alternative signature
technique pursuant to this part, to the satisfaction of the advisory
committee, the secretary shall adopt that electronic format and
protocol standard for use as an optional alternative to submitting
environmental data on paper to any state or local agency.
(b) Any local agency requiring the submission of an element of
environmental data not found in the data dictionary maintained by the
secretary pursuant to Section 71062 may petition the secretary for
inclusion of that data element. The secretary shall include an
additional data item in the data dictionary only if the local agency
demonstrates both of the following:
(1) One of the following applies:
(A) A specific requirement for that item in existing law or
regulation.
(B) A principle of mathematics or science that requires the
collection of that data item to meet another specific purpose under
the applicable law.
(2) There is no other way to meet the local agency's needs using
combinations of data elements already incorporated into the data
dictionary.
(c) The electronic submission of environmental data to any state
or local agency in accordance with the data standards adopted under
this part constitutes compliance with the environmental data
reporting or other usage requirements imposed pursuant to the laws
specified in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, of Section 71061,
and has the same force and effect as if the data had been submitted
in ink on paper.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person or state
or local agency shall be required to submit or receive environmental
data electronically, but every state or local agency that elects to
engage in electronic data management with regard to environmental
data shall employ the electronic reporting standards adopted by the
secretary under this part.
(e) Nothing in this section limits any existing authority of a
local agency to require the submission of environmental data.