25369
HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 25369
25369. The department shall establish an abandoned site program to survey counties where abandoned site surveys have not been completed. As part of the program, the department shall do all of the following: (a) Develop protocols and procedures for conducting an abandoned site survey of rural unsurveyed counties. These protocols shall address all types of sites likely to be found in these counties, including, but not limited to, crop-duster airstrips, abandoned mining operations, pesticide formulators and manufacturers, abandoned wells, oil exploration and extraction, wood treatment plants, land disposal sites, and scrap metal operations. (b) Notify the California regional water quality control boards, the Department of Fish and Game, local health officers, county directors of environmental health, county agricultural commissioners, and state and federal land management agencies of the abandoned site program. Notifications shall consist of the following: (1) Explanation of the abandoned site program. (2) Description of the California Superfund Program, including the availability of state funds for cleaning up abandoned hazardous waste sites, and that discovery of a site does not impose liability for cleanup. (3) Provide a copy of the program's protocols and procedures outlining sites the state is attempting to identify. (4) Request that, as part of each respective agency's duties, it report to the state abandoned site program any suspected abandoned waste site. (5) Request that each participating agency, as a part of its regular activities, notify the department of sites identified in writing at least quarterly. (c) Prepare an inventory of suspected abandoned hazardous substance release sites. (d) Contact the owners and occupants of suspected abandoned sites. (e) Maintain individual records for each suspected abandoned site. (f) Develop a methodology for screening sites identified. (g) Conduct a field assessment of those sites which the screening procedures specified in subdivision (f) indicate require this assessment. (h) Rank the assessed sites, in order of priority, as presenting a potential hazard to public health or the environment consistent with Section 25356 or regulations adopted pursuant to that section. (i) Report to the Legislature quarterly, on an update on the progress of the abandoned sites survey, identifying which agencies have identified and reported sites to the department, as well as which agencies have reported that they do not intend to participate in the program.