25396.5-25397
HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 25396.5-25397
25396.5. (a) The intent of this chapter is to establish a pilot program to determine if expedited procedures for carrying out response actions at response action sites are appropriate and protective of human health and the environment. (b) This chapter is applicable to not more than 30 response action sites, of which not more than 10 may have an orphan share. The department, upon a request from a responsible person for consideration of a site for remediation pursuant to this program, shall forward the request to the Site Designation Committee, along with the department's recommendation as to whether the site should be selected. The department shall also forward the request to the local jurisdiction in which the site is located, to allow that local jurisdiction to submit comments to the committee concerning the request. 25396.6. The committee may select a site for remediation pursuant to this chapter only if the site meets all of the following conditions: (a) The department is the appropriate administering agency for the site pursuant to Section 25236 and the committee designates the department as the administering agency. (b) The responsible person or persons requesting selection of the site have submitted a completed preliminary endangerment assessment, as defined in Section 25319.5, which concludes that significant response actions are necessary at the site and includes an analysis of the scope and identity of the affected community. (c) The committee finds all of the following: (1) The site is not on, or eligible to be placed on, the National Priority List prepared pursuant to the federal act, or is not a site which is owned or operated by a department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States. (2) There are funds available in the trust fund to cover all of the response action costs that will or may be assigned to the orphan share at the site, unless one or more of the responsible persons who have submitted a notice of intent under paragraph (3) agree in writing to pay for the orphan share at the site that cannot be paid by the state because of insufficient funding in the trust fund. Any agreement to pay orphan share costs, which the fund cannot pay, shall be backed by adequate forms of financial security, as determined by the department. (3) One or more responsible persons submit a notice of intent to the department to do all of the following: (A) Be bound by the requirements of this chapter. (B) Enter into an enforceable agreement with the department, as set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 25398.2. (C) Pay all response costs not otherwise paid by the trust fund or another responsible person. (4) There is no known condition of interim endangerment existing at the site at the time it is selected for response actions pursuant to this chapter. (5) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the department has not already issued an order or entered into an enforceable agreement with responsible parties at the site under Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 25300), the department has not commenced a judicial action against responsible persons at the site, and no orders have been issued by a court requiring responsible persons at the site to take response actions or to pay the department's response costs at the site. (B) The committee may waive the requirements of subparagraph (A) for not more than five sites if the committee determines that the selection of the site, for response action pursuant to this chapter, will not delay response action at the site and is otherwise in the public interest. 25397. (a) Except to the extent otherwise specified in this chapter, response actions for a site selected pursuant to Section 25396.6 shall be taken pursuant to this chapter, and the requirements of Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 25300) shall not apply. In addition, the provisions of Chapter 6.65 (commencing with Section 25260) shall apply to all response actions taken at sites selected pursuant to this chapter, including the requirement that the response action be implemented in compliance with all state and local laws, ordinances, regulations, and standards that are applicable to the response action. (b) The committee may, as part of the findings required by Section 25396.6, direct that an advisory committee be convened pursuant to Section 25263 to ensure that the department receives adequate guidance in overseeing response action at a site that is selected for remedial action under this chapter. (c) An advisory committee convened pursuant to subdivision (b) shall have the same powers and duties as an advisory committee that is convened pursuant to Section 25263. The advisory committee shall be bound by the decisions of an arbitration panel and any court decisions rendered upon judicial review. (d) The department shall maintain a list of sites selected for response action pursuant to this chapter and shall make this list available to interested parties.