Hazardous materials

The law aligns several state hazardous-material rules with current state and federal systems, clarifies compliance duties, and strengthens certain spill, tank, and inspection requirements.

What the law does ​

• Lets smaller hazardous-waste generators avoid storage-facility status when they meet state accumulation rules, and requires missing-manifest reports through the federal e-Manifest system.
• Exempts tightly limited compaction of nonliquid, nonreactive hazardous waste from treatment rules.
• Requires the Board of Environmental Safety to post its annual Department of Toxic Substances Control performance review online.
• Tightens petroleum-tank rules by expanding containment and monthly-inspection conditions for certain underground-area tanks and requiring notice of petroleum discharges into state waters.
• Requires underground-tank permit holders to return to compliance within 30 days after an inspection, unless a local agency timely approves a longer corrective-action plan.
• Exempts specified gases from standard hazardous-material business-plan thresholds unless higher thresholds or other listed conditions apply.

Who it affects ​

• Businesses and facilities that generate, transport, treat, store, or receive hazardous waste.
• Owners and operators of aboveground petroleum tanks and underground storage tank systems.
• Unified program agencies, local tank-inspection agencies, and emergency responders.
• Medical, dental, veterinary, pharmacy, and emergency medical providers that store specified compressed gases.

Context ​

The measure also makes technical updates to hazardous-waste definitions, household hazardous-waste programs, and reporting procedures.

Breakdown ​

Hazardous Waste Permit and Reporting Updates ​

AB 2776 updates several hazardous-waste rules. It aligns permit exemptions and very small generator classifications with state regulations, directs certain missing-manifest reports to the federal e-Manifest system, and excludes tightly controlled waste compaction from the definition of treatment. Because violations of hazardous-waste laws are crimes, some of these changes may affect conduct subject to criminal penalties.

Key takeaways

• A generator producing less than 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste per month may avoid being treated as a storage facility if it follows the applicable state accumulation regulations.
• Certain reports required when a hazardous-waste manifest is not received must be submitted through the federal e-Manifest system instead of to the Department of Toxic Substances Control.
• Compacting hazardous waste is no longer treated as waste treatment when specified safety conditions are met, including that the waste is not a free liquid or ignitable or reactive solid and compaction does not create dust, fire, or explosion.
• The bill defines very small quantity generators using state regulations rather than a referenced federal regulation, while retaining the same thresholds for acute and nonacute hazardous waste.
• The bill also makes other hazardous-waste and nonsubstantive changes.
• Because violating hazardous-waste control laws is a crime, changes to conduct covered by those laws may create a state-mandated local program.

Public Posting of Performance Reviews ​

AB 2776 requires the Board of Environmental Safety to post its annual review of the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s performance on its website. The bill also allows the review, when feasible with existing resources, to include other specified reviews, recommendations, and findings about the department’s performance.

Key takeaways

• The board must publish its annual department performance review on its internet website.
• The annual review includes the department’s performance against its objectives, including the performance of the department’s director.
• The board may add specified related reviews, recommendations, and findings about the department’s performance.
• Any added material must be feasible to include using existing resources.

Petroleum Tank Exemptions and Spill Notices ​

AB 2776 narrows and clarifies certain exemptions from the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act. It requires more complete containment and monthly inspections for small petroleum tanks in underground areas, and it changes petroleum spill reporting to cover any discharge into state waters, while retaining the existing water-law exemption for permitted discharges.

Key takeaways

• The bill clarifies that the exemption for oil-filled electrical equipment applies when a single piece of equipment meets the required conditions.
• For an underground-area tank holding less than 55 gallons, the exemption now requires secondary containment for the tank, its piping, and related equipment until cleanup is complete.
• The tank, piping, and related equipment must be inspected monthly to qualify for this small-tank exemption.
• Tank facility owners and operators must report any discharge of petroleum into or upon state waters to the Office of Emergency Services and the unified program agency.
• The existing exemption for discharges that comply with applicable water-control requirements continues to apply to this reporting duty.
• Because the changes can expand criminal liability and require additional local agency services, the bill creates a state-mandated local program.

Underground Tank Compliance Changes ​

The bill narrows the leak-detection requirement to the interstitial space of the portion of an underground storage tank that is buried. It also replaces the requirement for permit holders to submit a plan responding to inspection recommendations with a requirement to return to compliance within 30 days. A local agency may approve a longer compliance timeline if it receives a return-to-compliance plan within 30 calendar days after the permit holder receives the inspection report.

Key takeaways

• The constant vacuum or pressure requirement applies to the interstitial space of the buried underground storage tank.
• Permit holders generally must return to compliance within 30 days after receiving a compliance or special inspection report.
• The bill removes the requirement that permit holders file a plan to implement every inspection recommendation or explain why a recommendation should not be implemented.
• A local agency may allow more than 30 days to return to compliance if it receives a return-to-compliance plan within 30 calendar days after the permit holder receives the report.

Emergency Plans for Certain Gases ​

The bill exempts specified gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, and nitrous oxide, from the business-plan requirement that otherwise applies when hazardous materials are kept above stated reporting amounts. The exemption applies as provided in the bill.

Key takeaways

• Businesses generally must prepare an emergency-response business plan when they keep hazardous materials at or above specified amounts.
• The bill excludes specified gases from that requirement.
• The listed gases include oxygen, nitrogen, and nitrous oxide.
• The exemption applies under the conditions provided in the bill.

No State Reimbursement Required ​

This part of the bill says the state does not have to reimburse local agencies or school districts for costs associated with the act. The bill gives specified reasons for not requiring reimbursement under the state mandate rules.

Key takeaways

• The bill provides that no state reimbursement is required for costs imposed by this act.
• Local agencies and school districts cannot receive reimbursement under the usual state-mandate process for the reasons specified in the bill.
• The bill does not change the general constitutional and statutory process for reimbursing eligible state-mandated costs.