Hazardous waste: site remediation: residential suitability guidelines., the official text

An act to add Section 101481 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law authorizes, when a release of waste occurs and remedial action is required, a responsible party, as defined, to request a local officer to supervise the remedial action if the site is not already overseen by the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a regional water quality control board. Existing law authorizes the department or a regional water quality control board to retain or assume oversight authority from a local officer, as specified.
This bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board, working jointly with the department and in consultation with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, to develop guidelines for developers and for agencies overseeing development-specific site remediations and making determinations of site suitability, as provided. The bill would require the board, in conjunction with the department, to develop thresholds of significance for contaminants from different sources and for different future uses, as provided. The bill would specify that sites with contamination above those thresholds shall be deemed not suitable for residential use.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 101481 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
101481.
(a) The State Water Resources Control Board, working jointly with the Department of Toxic Substances Control and in consultation with the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, shall develop guidelines, through the adoption of regulations, for developers and for agencies overseeing development-specific site remediations and making determinations of site suitability consistent with Section 101480 and all other applicable regulatory and statutory requirements.
(b) The guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include both of the following:
(1) The timeline and manner in which both project applicants and local agencies shall do all of the following:
(A) Check the site location on the EnviroStor online data management system and GeoTracker internet-accessible database system.
(B) Notify and consult with state agencies on planned remediation actions.
(2) Specific processes and requirements for remediation and mitigation.
(c) (1) The State Water Resources Control Board, in conjunction with the Department of Toxic Substances Control, shall, through the adoption of regulations, develop thresholds of significance for contaminants from different sources and for different future uses, including for residential and mixed-use residential uses.
(2) Sites with contamination above the levels developed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deemed not suitable for residential use.