SB 642: Hazardous materials: enforcement: county counsel.
- Session Year: 2023-2024
- House: Senate
- Latest Version Date: 2023-09-01
Current Status:
Passed
(2023-09-01: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 154, Statutes of 2023.)
Introduced
In Committee
First Chamber
In Committee
Second Chamber
Enacted
What does this bill do?
This bill lets county counsel, along with city attorneys, district attorneys, and the Attorney General, file civil lawsuits on behalf of the people to stop and enforce laws about hazardous materials, including waste generation, transport and disposal, business and area emergency plans, underground and aboveground storage tanks, and medical waste. It also requires that when a county counsel or a district attorney files one of these cases they notify the district attorney or county counsel in the county where the violation occurred within seven days.
The summary is provided by generative AI which can make mistakes. For original language, please view the details in the table below.
Existing law regulates the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. Existing law authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a unified program agency, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. Existing law specifies that every civil action brought at the request of the department or a unified program agency is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated.
This bill would authorize the county counsel to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. The bill would specify that county counsel, at the request of the department or a unified program agency, is authorized to bring a civil action in the name of the people of the State of California to enforce laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
Existing law requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. Existing law regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and aboveground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. Existing law regulates the handling, storage, and disposal of medical waste and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements.
This bill would authorize the county counsel to bring an action to enforce the requirements related to the business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
This bill would, if a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action described above, require the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of the filing of the action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county and would make various conforming changes.
Existing law regulates the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. Existing law authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a unified program agency, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. Existing law specifies that every civil action brought at the request of the department or a unified program agency is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated.
This bill would authorize the county counsel to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. The bill would specify that county counsel, at the request of the department or a unified program agency, is authorized to bring a civil action in the name of the people of the State of California to enforce laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
Existing law requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. Existing law regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and aboveground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. Existing law regulates the handling, storage, and disposal of medical waste and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements.
This bill would authorize the county counsel to bring an action to enforce the requirements related to the business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
This bill would, if a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action described above, require the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of the filing of the action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county and would make various conforming changes.
Existing law regulates the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. Existing law authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a unified program agency, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. Existing law specifies that every civil action brought at the request of the department or a unified program agency is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated.
This bill would authorize the county counsel to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. The bill would specify that county counsel, at the request of the department or a unified program agency, is authorized to bring a civil action in the name of the people of the State of California to enforce laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
Existing law requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. Existing law regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and aboveground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. Existing law regulates the handling, storage, and disposal of medical waste and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements.
This bill would authorize the county counsel to bring an action to enforce the requirements related to the business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
This bill would, if a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action described above, require the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of the filing of the action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county and would make various conforming changes.
Existing law regulates the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. Existing law authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a unified program agency, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. Existing law specifies that every civil action brought at the request of the department or a unified program agency is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated.
This bill would authorize the county counsel to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. The bill would specify that county counsel, at the request of the department or a unified program agency, is authorized to bring a civil action in the name of the people of the State of California to enforce laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
Existing law requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. Existing law regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and aboveground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. Existing law regulates the handling, storage, and disposal of medical waste and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements.
This bill would authorize the county counsel to bring an action to enforce the requirements related to the business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
This bill would make various conforming changes.
(a)Except as provided in subdivision (d), hazardous waste means a waste that meets any of the criteria for the identification of a hazardous waste adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25141.
(b)Hazardous waste includes, but is not limited to, RCRA hazardous waste.
(c)Unless expressly provided otherwise, hazardous waste also includes extremely hazardous waste and acutely hazardous waste.
(d)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), in any criminal or civil prosecution brought by a city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General for violation of this chapter, when it is an element of proof that the person knew or reasonably should have known of the violation, or violated the chapter willfully or with reckless disregard for the risk, or acted intentionally or negligently, the element of proof that the waste is hazardous waste may be satisfied by demonstrating that the waste exhibited the characteristics set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 25141.
SEC. 2.Section 25181 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25181.(a)If the department determines that a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices that constitute or will constitute a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, promulgated, or executed thereunder, and when requested by the department, the city attorney of the city in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining those acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing by the department that the person has engaged in or is about to engage in those acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
(b)If the unified program agency determines that a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices which constitute or will constitute a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, promulgated, or executed thereunder, and when requested by the unified program agency, the city attorney of the city in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General, may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining those acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing by the unified program agency that the person has engaged in or is about to engage in those acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
(c)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur.
SEC. 3.Section 25182 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25182.Every civil action brought under this chapter at the request of the department or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county counsel, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any such actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous wastes may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 4.Section 25191.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25191.7.(a)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty or criminal fine against a person for violating this chapter shall be paid a reward pursuant to regulations adopted by the department under subdivision (f). The reward shall be equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty or criminal fine collected by the department, district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney. The department shall pay the award to the person who provides information that results in the imposition of a civil penalty, and the county shall pay the award to the person who provides information that results in the imposition of a criminal fine. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b)No informant shall be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the department, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(c)If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the first notification received by the department shall be eligible for the reward. If the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(d)Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in California are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a), unless reporting those violations does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(e)An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employees primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(f)The department shall adopt regulations that establish procedures for the receipt and review of claims for payment of rewards. All decisions concerning the eligibility for an award and the materiality of the provided information shall be made pursuant to these regulations. In each case brought under subdivision (a), the department, the office of the city attorney, the county counsel or the district attorney, whichever office brings the action, shall determine whether the information materially contributed to the imposition of civil or criminal penalties for violations of this chapter.
(g)The department shall continuously publicize the availability of the rewards pursuant to this section for persons who provide information pursuant to this section.
(h)Claims may be submitted only for those referrals made on or after January 1, 1982.
SEC. 5.Section 25192 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25192.(a)All civil and criminal penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be deposited in the Toxic Substances Control Account in the General Fund.
(2)Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(3)Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the department and used to fund the activity of the CUPA, the local health officer, or other local public officer or agency authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter pursuant to Section 25180, whichever entity investigated the matter that led to the bringing of the action. If investigation by the local police department or sheriffs office or the Department of the California Highway Patrol led to the bringing of the action, the CUPA, the local health officer, or the authorized officer or agency, shall pay a total of 40 percent of its portion under this subdivision to that investigating agency or agencies to be used for the same purpose. If more than one agency is eligible for payment under this paragraph, division of payment among the eligible agencies shall be in the discretion of the CUPA, the local health officer, or the authorized officer or agency.
(b)If a reward is paid to a person pursuant to Section 25191.7, the amount of the reward shall be deducted from the amount of the civil penalty before the amount is apportioned pursuant to subdivision (a).
SEC. 6.Section 25270.12 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25270.12.(a)An owner or operator of a tank facility who fails to prepare a spill prevention control and countermeasure plan in compliance with subdivision (a) of Section 25270.4.5, to file a tank facility statement pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25270.6, to submit the fee required by subdivision (b) of Section 25270.6, or to report spills as required by Section 25270.8, or who otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter, is subject to a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each day on which the violation continues. If the owner or operator commits a second or subsequent violation, a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each day on which the violation continues may be imposed.
(b)(1)The civil penalties provided by this section may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney on behalf of the UPA.
(2)Fifty percent of all penalties assessed and recovered in a civil action brought on behalf of a UPA pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited into a unified program account established by the UPA for the purpose of carrying out the functions of the unified program and 50 percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney, whoever brought that action.
(c)(1)The civil penalties provided in this section may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the office, the board, or a regional board, or on behalf of the people of the State of California.
(2)All penalties assessed and recovered in a civil action brought pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the Waste Discharge Permit Fund created pursuant to Section 13260 of the Water Code. These moneys shall be separately accounted for, and shall be expended by the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist regional boards and other public agencies with authority to clean up waste or abate the effects of the waste, in cleaning up or abating the effects of the waste on waters of the state, or for the same purposes for which the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account may be expended pursuant to Section 13443 of the Water Code.
(d)The city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General may seek to enjoin, in any court of competent jurisdiction, any person believed to be in violation of this chapter.
(e)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to this section, the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the violation occurs or occurred.
(f)The penalties specified in this section are in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
SEC. 7.Section 25299 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.(a)An operator of an underground tank system is liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank, for each day of violation, for any of the following violations:
(1)Operating an underground tank system that has not been issued a permit, in violation of this chapter.
(2)Violation of an applicable requirement of the permit issued for the operation of the underground tank system.
(3)Failure to maintain records, as required by this chapter.
(4)Failure to report an unauthorized release, as required by Sections 25294 and 25295.
(5)Failure to properly close an underground tank system, as required by Section 25298.
(6)Violation of an applicable requirement of this chapter or a regulation adopted by the board pursuant to Section 25299.3.
(7)Failure to permit inspection or to perform a monitoring, testing, or reporting required pursuant to Section 25288 or 25289.
(8)Making a false statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, or other document submitted or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter.
(9)Tampering with or otherwise disabling automatic leak detection devices or alarms.
(b)An owner of an underground tank system is liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per day for each underground storage tank, for each day of violation, for any of the following violations:
(1)Failure to obtain a permit as specified by this chapter.
(2)Failure to repair or upgrade an underground tank system in accordance with this chapter.
(3)Abandonment or improper closure of an underground tank system subject to this chapter.
(4)Violation of an applicable requirement of the permit issued for operation of the underground tank system.
(5)Violation of an applicable requirement of this chapter or a regulation adopted by the board pursuant to Section 25299.3.
(6)Failure to permit inspection or to perform a monitoring, testing, or reporting required pursuant to Section 25288 or 25289.
(7)Making a false statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, or other document submitted or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter.
(c)A person who intentionally fails to notify the board, the regional board, or the local agency when required to do so by this chapter or who submits false information in a permit application, amendment, or renewal, pursuant to Section 25286, is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank for which notification is not given or false information is submitted.
(d)(1)A person who violates a corrective action requirement established by, or issued pursuant to, Section 25296.10 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each underground storage tank for each day of violation.
(2)A civil penalty under this subdivision may be imposed in a civil action under this chapter, or may be administratively imposed by the board or a regional board pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 13323) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the Water Code.
(e)A person who violates Section 25292.3 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank for each day of violation.
(f)(1)A person who falsifies any monitoring records required by this chapter, or knowingly fails to report an unauthorized release, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)A person who intentionally disables or tampers with an automatic leak detection system in a manner that would prevent the automatic leak detection system from detecting a leak or alerting the owner or operator of the leak, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(g)In determining both the civil and criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this section, the board, a regional board, or the court, as the case may be, shall consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm or potential harm caused by the violation, the nature of the violation and the period of time over which it occurred, the frequency of past violations, and the corrective action, if any, taken by the person who holds the permit.
(h)(1)A civil penalty or criminal fine imposed pursuant to this section for a separate violation shall be separate from, and in addition to, any other civil penalty or criminal fine imposed pursuant to this section or any other provision of law, except that no civil penalty shall be recovered under subdivision (d) for violations for which a civil penalty is recovered pursuant to Section 13268 or 13350 of the Water Code. The penalty or fine shall be paid to the unified program agency, the participating agency, or the state, whichever is represented by the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General bringing the action.
(2)Any penalties or fines paid to a unified program agency or a participating agency pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deposited into a special account and shall be expended only to fund the activities of the unified program agency or participating agency in enforcing the unified program, as specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404, within the jurisdiction of that agency pursuant to the unified program specified in Chapter 6.11 (commencing with Section 25404).
(3)All penalties or fines collected by the board or a regional board pursuant to this section or Section 25299.05 or collected on behalf of the board or a regional board by the Attorney General for these purposes shall be deposited in the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account in the State Water Quality Control Fund, and are available for expenditure by the board, upon appropriation, pursuant to Section 13441 of the Water Code.
(i)Paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) does not prohibit the owner or operator of an underground storage tank, or the owners or operators designee, from maintaining, repairing, or replacing automatic leak detection devices or alarms associated with that tank.
SEC. 8.Section 25299.01 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.01.(a)If a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices that violate this chapter, or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10) or any rule, regulation, permit, standard, requirement, or order issued, adopted, or executed pursuant to this chapter or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10), the city attorney of the city in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General may apply to the superior court for any order enjoining these acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance. The court may grant a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order.
(b)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to subdivision (a), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur.
SEC. 9.Section 25299.02 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.02.Every civil action brought under this chapter shall be brought by the city attorney, the county counsel, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any actions relating to the same violations may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 10.Section 25515.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.5.(a)All criminal penalties collected pursuant to this article shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(2)Fifty percent shall be paid to the agency that is responsible for the investigation of the action.
(b)All civil penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(2)Fifty percent shall be paid to the agency responsible for the investigation of the action.
(c)If a reward is paid to a person pursuant to Section 25516, the amount of the reward shall be deducted from the amount of the criminal or civil penalty before the amount is apportioned pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b).
SEC. 11.Section 25515.6 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.6.(a)(1)If the unified program agency determines that a business has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in acts or practices that constitute or will constitute a violation of this article or a regulation or order adopted or issued pursuant to this article, and when requested by the unified program agency, the city attorney of the city or the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices have occurred, are occurring, or will occur shall apply to the superior court for an order enjoining the acts or practices for an order directing compliance, and, upon a showing that the person or business has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in the acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other appropriate order may be granted.
(2)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to paragraph (1), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices have occurred, are occurring, or will occur.
(b)This section does not prohibit a city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney from seeking the same relief upon the city attorneys, county counsels, or district attorneys own motion.
SEC. 12.Section 25515.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.7.Every civil action brought under this article or Article 2 (commencing with Section 25531) shall be brought by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any actions relating to the same violation may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 13.Section 25516 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25516.(a)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty, whether by settlement or court order, under Section 25515 or 25515.2, as determined by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the civil penalty collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the conviction of a person or business under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3, as determined by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the fine collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the fine collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(c)An informant shall not be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the unified program agency, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(d)If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the person making the first notification received by the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General that brought the action shall be eligible for the reward, except that, if the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(e)Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in this state are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), unless the providing of the information does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(f)An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business has violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employees primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(g)The unified program agency or the state shall pay rewards under this section pursuant to the following procedures:
(1)An application shall be signed by the informant and presented to the unified program agency or the state within 60 days after a final judgment has been entered or the period for an appeal of a judgment has expired.
(2)The determination by the district attorney, city attorney, county counsel, or the Attorney General as to whether the information provided by the applicant materially contributed to the imposition of a judgment under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3 shall be final.
(3)The unified program agency or the state shall notify the applicant in writing of its decision to grant or deny a reward within a reasonable time period following the filing of an application.
(4)Approved reward claims shall be paid by the unified program agency or the state within 30 days of the collection and deposit of the penalties specified in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(h)The names of reward applicants or informants shall not be disclosed by the unified program agency or the state unless the names are otherwise publicly disclosed as part of a judicial proceeding.
(i)Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, rewards paid by the state shall only be paid after appropriation by the Legislature.
SEC. 14.Section 79705 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:79705.(a)In the event a district attorney, county counsel, or a city attorney has brought an action for civil or criminal penalties pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 against a person for the violation of any provision of that chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, adopted, or executed thereunder, and the department has expended moneys from the state account pursuant to Section 78875 for immediate corrective action in response to a release, or threatened release, of a hazardous substance that has resulted, in whole or in part, from the persons acts or omissions, the state account may be made a party to that action for the purpose of recovering the costs against that person.
(b)(1)If the state account is made a party to the action, the Attorney General shall represent the state account for the purpose of recovering the moneys expended from the account.
(2)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and under terms that the Attorney General and the department deem appropriate, the Attorney General may delegate the authority to recover the costs to the district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney who has brought the action pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20.
(c)The failure to seek the recovery of moneys expended from the state account as part of the action brought pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 does not foreclose the Attorney General from recovering the moneys in a separate action.
SEC. 15.Section 118325 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:118325.(a)(1)An enforcement agency, district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor may bring an action to enjoin the violation, or threatened violation, of this part or the regulations adopted pursuant to this part, in the superior court in the county where the violation occurred or is about to occur. Any proceeding under this section shall be in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 525) of Title 7 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, except that the enforcement agency, district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor is not required to allege facts necessary to show or tending to show the lack of an adequate remedy at law or irreparable damage or loss.
(2)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to paragraph (1), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county where the violation occurred or is about to occur.
(b)With respect to any action brought pursuant to this section alleging actual violation of this part or the regulations adopted pursuant to this part, the court shall, if it finds the allegations to be true, issue its order enjoining the continuance of the violation.
(a)Except as provided in subdivision (d), hazardous waste means a waste that meets any of the criteria for the identification of a hazardous waste adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25141.
(b)Hazardous waste includes, but is not limited to, RCRA hazardous waste.
(c)Unless expressly provided otherwise, hazardous waste also includes extremely hazardous waste and acutely hazardous waste.
(d)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), in any criminal or civil prosecution brought by a city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General for violation of this chapter, when it is an element of proof that the person knew or reasonably should have known of the violation, or violated the chapter willfully or with reckless disregard for the risk, or acted intentionally or negligently, the element of proof that the waste is hazardous waste may be satisfied by demonstrating that the waste exhibited the characteristics set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 25141.
SEC. 2.Section 25181 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25181.(a)If the department determines that a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices that constitute or will constitute a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, promulgated, or executed thereunder, and when requested by the department, the city attorney of the city in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining those acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing by the department that the person has engaged in or is about to engage in those acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
(b)If the unified program agency determines that a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices which constitute or will constitute a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, promulgated, or executed thereunder, and when requested by the unified program agency, the city attorney of the city in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General, may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining those acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing by the unified program agency that the person has engaged in or is about to engage in those acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
(c)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur.
SEC. 3.Section 25182 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25182.Every civil action brought under this chapter at the request of the department or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county counsel, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any such actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous wastes may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 4.Section 25191.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25191.7.(a)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty or criminal fine against a person for violating this chapter shall be paid a reward pursuant to regulations adopted by the department under subdivision (f). The reward shall be equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty or criminal fine collected by the department, district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney. The department shall pay the award to the person who provides information that results in the imposition of a civil penalty, and the county shall pay the award to the person who provides information that results in the imposition of a criminal fine. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b)No informant shall be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the department, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(c)If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the first notification received by the department shall be eligible for the reward. If the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(d)Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in California are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a), unless reporting those violations does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(e)An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employees primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(f)The department shall adopt regulations that establish procedures for the receipt and review of claims for payment of rewards. All decisions concerning the eligibility for an award and the materiality of the provided information shall be made pursuant to these regulations. In each case brought under subdivision (a), the department, the office of the city attorney, the county counsel or the district attorney, whichever office brings the action, shall determine whether the information materially contributed to the imposition of civil or criminal penalties for violations of this chapter.
(g)The department shall continuously publicize the availability of the rewards pursuant to this section for persons who provide information pursuant to this section.
(h)Claims may be submitted only for those referrals made on or after January 1, 1982.
SEC. 5.Section 25192 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25192.(a)All civil and criminal penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be deposited in the Toxic Substances Control Account in the General Fund.
(2)Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(3)Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the department and used to fund the activity of the CUPA, the local health officer, or other local public officer or agency authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter pursuant to Section 25180, whichever entity investigated the matter that led to the bringing of the action. If investigation by the local police department or sheriffs office or the Department of the California Highway Patrol led to the bringing of the action, the CUPA, the local health officer, or the authorized officer or agency, shall pay a total of 40 percent of its portion under this subdivision to that investigating agency or agencies to be used for the same purpose. If more than one agency is eligible for payment under this paragraph, division of payment among the eligible agencies shall be in the discretion of the CUPA, the local health officer, or the authorized officer or agency.
(b)If a reward is paid to a person pursuant to Section 25191.7, the amount of the reward shall be deducted from the amount of the civil penalty before the amount is apportioned pursuant to subdivision (a).
SEC. 6.Section 25270.12 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25270.12.(a)An owner or operator of a tank facility who fails to prepare a spill prevention control and countermeasure plan in compliance with subdivision (a) of Section 25270.4.5, to file a tank facility statement pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25270.6, to submit the fee required by subdivision (b) of Section 25270.6, or to report spills as required by Section 25270.8, or who otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter, is subject to a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each day on which the violation continues. If the owner or operator commits a second or subsequent violation, a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each day on which the violation continues may be imposed.
(b)(1)The civil penalties provided by this section may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney on behalf of the UPA.
(2)Fifty percent of all penalties assessed and recovered in a civil action brought on behalf of a UPA pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited into a unified program account established by the UPA for the purpose of carrying out the functions of the unified program and 50 percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney, whoever brought that action.
(c)(1)The civil penalties provided in this section may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the office, the board, or a regional board, or on behalf of the people of the State of California.
(2)All penalties assessed and recovered in a civil action brought pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the Waste Discharge Permit Fund created pursuant to Section 13260 of the Water Code. These moneys shall be separately accounted for, and shall be expended by the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist regional boards and other public agencies with authority to clean up waste or abate the effects of the waste, in cleaning up or abating the effects of the waste on waters of the state, or for the same purposes for which the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account may be expended pursuant to Section 13443 of the Water Code.
(d)The city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General may seek to enjoin, in any court of competent jurisdiction, any person believed to be in violation of this chapter.
(e)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to this section, the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the violation occurs or occurred.
(f)The penalties specified in this section are in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
SEC. 7.Section 25299 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.(a)An operator of an underground tank system is liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank, for each day of violation, for any of the following violations:
(1)Operating an underground tank system that has not been issued a permit, in violation of this chapter.
(2)Violation of an applicable requirement of the permit issued for the operation of the underground tank system.
(3)Failure to maintain records, as required by this chapter.
(4)Failure to report an unauthorized release, as required by Sections 25294 and 25295.
(5)Failure to properly close an underground tank system, as required by Section 25298.
(6)Violation of an applicable requirement of this chapter or a regulation adopted by the board pursuant to Section 25299.3.
(7)Failure to permit inspection or to perform a monitoring, testing, or reporting required pursuant to Section 25288 or 25289.
(8)Making a false statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, or other document submitted or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter.
(9)Tampering with or otherwise disabling automatic leak detection devices or alarms.
(b)An owner of an underground tank system is liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per day for each underground storage tank, for each day of violation, for any of the following violations:
(1)Failure to obtain a permit as specified by this chapter.
(2)Failure to repair or upgrade an underground tank system in accordance with this chapter.
(3)Abandonment or improper closure of an underground tank system subject to this chapter.
(4)Violation of an applicable requirement of the permit issued for operation of the underground tank system.
(5)Violation of an applicable requirement of this chapter or a regulation adopted by the board pursuant to Section 25299.3.
(6)Failure to permit inspection or to perform a monitoring, testing, or reporting required pursuant to Section 25288 or 25289.
(7)Making a false statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, or other document submitted or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter.
(c)A person who intentionally fails to notify the board, the regional board, or the local agency when required to do so by this chapter or who submits false information in a permit application, amendment, or renewal, pursuant to Section 25286, is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank for which notification is not given or false information is submitted.
(d)(1)A person who violates a corrective action requirement established by, or issued pursuant to, Section 25296.10 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each underground storage tank for each day of violation.
(2)A civil penalty under this subdivision may be imposed in a civil action under this chapter, or may be administratively imposed by the board or a regional board pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 13323) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the Water Code.
(e)A person who violates Section 25292.3 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank for each day of violation.
(f)(1)A person who falsifies any monitoring records required by this chapter, or knowingly fails to report an unauthorized release, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)A person who intentionally disables or tampers with an automatic leak detection system in a manner that would prevent the automatic leak detection system from detecting a leak or alerting the owner or operator of the leak, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(g)In determining both the civil and criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this section, the board, a regional board, or the court, as the case may be, shall consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm or potential harm caused by the violation, the nature of the violation and the period of time over which it occurred, the frequency of past violations, and the corrective action, if any, taken by the person who holds the permit.
(h)(1)A civil penalty or criminal fine imposed pursuant to this section for a separate violation shall be separate from, and in addition to, any other civil penalty or criminal fine imposed pursuant to this section or any other provision of law, except that no civil penalty shall be recovered under subdivision (d) for violations for which a civil penalty is recovered pursuant to Section 13268 or 13350 of the Water Code. The penalty or fine shall be paid to the unified program agency, the participating agency, or the state, whichever is represented by the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General bringing the action.
(2)Any penalties or fines paid to a unified program agency or a participating agency pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deposited into a special account and shall be expended only to fund the activities of the unified program agency or participating agency in enforcing the unified program, as specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404, within the jurisdiction of that agency pursuant to the unified program specified in Chapter 6.11 (commencing with Section 25404).
(3)All penalties or fines collected by the board or a regional board pursuant to this section or Section 25299.05 or collected on behalf of the board or a regional board by the Attorney General for these purposes shall be deposited in the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account in the State Water Quality Control Fund, and are available for expenditure by the board, upon appropriation, pursuant to Section 13441 of the Water Code.
(i)Paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) does not prohibit the owner or operator of an underground storage tank, or the owners or operators designee, from maintaining, repairing, or replacing automatic leak detection devices or alarms associated with that tank.
SEC. 8.Section 25299.01 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.01.(a)If a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices that violate this chapter, or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10) or any rule, regulation, permit, standard, requirement, or order issued, adopted, or executed pursuant to this chapter or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10), the city attorney of the city in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General may apply to the superior court for any order enjoining these acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance. The court may grant a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order.
(b)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to subdivision (a), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur.
SEC. 9.Section 25299.02 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.02.Every civil action brought under this chapter shall be brought by the city attorney, the county counsel, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any actions relating to the same violations may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 10.Section 25515.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.5.(a)All criminal penalties collected pursuant to this article shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(2)Fifty percent shall be paid to the agency that is responsible for the investigation of the action.
(b)All civil penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(2)Fifty percent shall be paid to the agency responsible for the investigation of the action.
(c)If a reward is paid to a person pursuant to Section 25516, the amount of the reward shall be deducted from the amount of the criminal or civil penalty before the amount is apportioned pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b).
SEC. 11.Section 25515.6 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.6.(a)(1)If the unified program agency determines that a business has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in acts or practices that constitute or will constitute a violation of this article or a regulation or order adopted or issued pursuant to this article, and when requested by the unified program agency, the city attorney of the city or the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices have occurred, are occurring, or will occur shall apply to the superior court for an order enjoining the acts or practices for an order directing compliance, and, upon a showing that the person or business has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in the acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other appropriate order may be granted.
(2)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to paragraph (1), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices have occurred, are occurring, or will occur.
(b)This section does not prohibit a city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney from seeking the same relief upon the city attorneys, county counsels, or district attorneys own motion.
SEC. 12.Section 25515.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.7.Every civil action brought under this article or Article 2 (commencing with Section 25531) shall be brought by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any actions relating to the same violation may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 13.Section 25516 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25516.(a)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty, whether by settlement or court order, under Section 25515 or 25515.2, as determined by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the civil penalty collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the conviction of a person or business under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3, as determined by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the fine collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the fine collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(c)An informant shall not be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the unified program agency, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(d)If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the person making the first notification received by the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General that brought the action shall be eligible for the reward, except that, if the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(e)Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in this state are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), unless the providing of the information does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(f)An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business has violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employees primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(g)The unified program agency or the state shall pay rewards under this section pursuant to the following procedures:
(1)An application shall be signed by the informant and presented to the unified program agency or the state within 60 days after a final judgment has been entered or the period for an appeal of a judgment has expired.
(2)The determination by the district attorney, city attorney, county counsel, or the Attorney General as to whether the information provided by the applicant materially contributed to the imposition of a judgment under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3 shall be final.
(3)The unified program agency or the state shall notify the applicant in writing of its decision to grant or deny a reward within a reasonable time period following the filing of an application.
(4)Approved reward claims shall be paid by the unified program agency or the state within 30 days of the collection and deposit of the penalties specified in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(h)The names of reward applicants or informants shall not be disclosed by the unified program agency or the state unless the names are otherwise publicly disclosed as part of a judicial proceeding.
(i)Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, rewards paid by the state shall only be paid after appropriation by the Legislature.
SEC. 14.Section 79705 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:79705.(a)In the event a district attorney, county counsel, or a city attorney has brought an action for civil or criminal penalties pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 against a person for the violation of any provision of that chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, adopted, or executed thereunder, and the department has expended moneys from the state account pursuant to Section 78875 for immediate corrective action in response to a release, or threatened release, of a hazardous substance that has resulted, in whole or in part, from the persons acts or omissions, the state account may be made a party to that action for the purpose of recovering the costs against that person.
(b)(1)If the state account is made a party to the action, the Attorney General shall represent the state account for the purpose of recovering the moneys expended from the account.
(2)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and under terms that the Attorney General and the department deem appropriate, the Attorney General may delegate the authority to recover the costs to the district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney who has brought the action pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20.
(c)The failure to seek the recovery of moneys expended from the state account as part of the action brought pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 does not foreclose the Attorney General from recovering the moneys in a separate action.
SEC. 15.Section 118325 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:118325.(a)(1)An enforcement agency, district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor may bring an action to enjoin the violation, or threatened violation, of this part or the regulations adopted pursuant to this part, in the superior court in the county where the violation occurred or is about to occur. Any proceeding under this section shall be in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 525) of Title 7 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, except that the enforcement agency, district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor is not required to allege facts necessary to show or tending to show the lack of an adequate remedy at law or irreparable damage or loss.
(2)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to paragraph (1), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county where the violation occurred or is about to occur.
(b)With respect to any action brought pursuant to this section alleging actual violation of this part or the regulations adopted pursuant to this part, the court shall, if it finds the allegations to be true, issue its order enjoining the continuance of the violation.
(a)Except as provided in subdivision (d), hazardous waste means a waste that meets any of the criteria for the identification of a hazardous waste adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25141.
(b)Hazardous waste includes, but is not limited to, RCRA hazardous waste.
(c)Unless expressly provided otherwise, hazardous waste also includes extremely hazardous waste and acutely hazardous waste.
(d)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), in any criminal or civil prosecution brought by a city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General for violation of this chapter, when it is an element of proof that the person knew or reasonably should have known of the violation, or violated the chapter willfully or with reckless disregard for the risk, or acted intentionally or negligently, the element of proof that the waste is hazardous waste may be satisfied by demonstrating that the waste exhibited the characteristics set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 25141.
SEC. 2.Section 25181 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25181.(a)If the department determines that a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices that constitute or will constitute a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, promulgated, or executed thereunder, and when requested by the department, the city attorney of the city in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining those acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing by the department that the person has engaged in or is about to engage in those acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
(b)If the unified program agency determines that a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices which constitute or will constitute a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, promulgated, or executed thereunder, and when requested by the unified program agency, the city attorney of the city in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General, may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining those acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing by the unified program agency that the person has engaged in or is about to engage in those acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
(c)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur.
SEC. 3.Section 25182 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25182.Every civil action brought under this chapter at the request of the department or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county counsel, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any such actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous wastes may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 4.Section 25191.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25191.7.(a)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty or criminal fine against a person for violating this chapter shall be paid a reward pursuant to regulations adopted by the department under subdivision (f). The reward shall be equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty or criminal fine collected by the department, district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney. The department shall pay the award to the person who provides information that results in the imposition of a civil penalty, and the county shall pay the award to the person who provides information that results in the imposition of a criminal fine. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b)No informant shall be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the department, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(c)If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the first notification received by the department shall be eligible for the reward. If the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(d)Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in California are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a), unless reporting those violations does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(e)An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employees primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(f)The department shall adopt regulations that establish procedures for the receipt and review of claims for payment of rewards. All decisions concerning the eligibility for an award and the materiality of the provided information shall be made pursuant to these regulations. In each case brought under subdivision (a), the department, the office of the city attorney, the county counsel or the district attorney, whichever office brings the action, shall determine whether the information materially contributed to the imposition of civil or criminal penalties for violations of this chapter.
(g)The department shall continuously publicize the availability of the rewards pursuant to this section for persons who provide information pursuant to this section.
(h)Claims may be submitted only for those referrals made on or after January 1, 1982.
SEC. 5.Section 25192 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25192.(a)All civil and criminal penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be deposited in the Toxic Substances Control Account in the General Fund.
(2)Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(3)Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the department and used to fund the activity of the CUPA, the local health officer, or other local public officer or agency authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter pursuant to Section 25180, whichever entity investigated the matter that led to the bringing of the action. If investigation by the local police department or sheriffs office or the Department of the California Highway Patrol led to the bringing of the action, the CUPA, the local health officer, or the authorized officer or agency, shall pay a total of 40 percent of its portion under this subdivision to that investigating agency or agencies to be used for the same purpose. If more than one agency is eligible for payment under this paragraph, division of payment among the eligible agencies shall be in the discretion of the CUPA, the local health officer, or the authorized officer or agency.
(b)If a reward is paid to a person pursuant to Section 25191.7, the amount of the reward shall be deducted from the amount of the civil penalty before the amount is apportioned pursuant to subdivision (a).
SEC. 6.Section 25270.12 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25270.12.(a)An owner or operator of a tank facility who fails to prepare a spill prevention control and countermeasure plan in compliance with subdivision (a) of Section 25270.4.5, to file a tank facility statement pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25270.6, to submit the fee required by subdivision (b) of Section 25270.6, or to report spills as required by Section 25270.8, or who otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter, is subject to a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each day on which the violation continues. If the owner or operator commits a second or subsequent violation, a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each day on which the violation continues may be imposed.
(b)(1)The civil penalties provided by this section may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney on behalf of the UPA.
(2)Fifty percent of all penalties assessed and recovered in a civil action brought on behalf of a UPA pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited into a unified program account established by the UPA for the purpose of carrying out the functions of the unified program and 50 percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney, whoever brought that action.
(c)(1)The civil penalties provided in this section may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the office, the board, or a regional board, or on behalf of the people of the State of California.
(2)All penalties assessed and recovered in a civil action brought pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the Waste Discharge Permit Fund created pursuant to Section 13260 of the Water Code. These moneys shall be separately accounted for, and shall be expended by the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist regional boards and other public agencies with authority to clean up waste or abate the effects of the waste, in cleaning up or abating the effects of the waste on waters of the state, or for the same purposes for which the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account may be expended pursuant to Section 13443 of the Water Code.
(d)The city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General may seek to enjoin, in any court of competent jurisdiction, any person believed to be in violation of this chapter.
(e)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to this section, the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the violation occurs or occurred.
(e)(f)The penalties specified in this section are in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
SEC. 7.Section 25299 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.(a)An operator of an underground tank system is liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank, for each day of violation, for any of the following violations:
(1)Operating an underground tank system that has not been issued a permit, in violation of this chapter.
(2)Violation of an applicable requirement of the permit issued for the operation of the underground tank system.
(3)Failure to maintain records, as required by this chapter.
(4)Failure to report an unauthorized release, as required by Sections 25294 and 25295.
(5)Failure to properly close an underground tank system, as required by Section 25298.
(6)Violation of an applicable requirement of this chapter or a regulation adopted by the board pursuant to Section 25299.3.
(7)Failure to permit inspection or to perform a monitoring, testing, or reporting required pursuant to Section 25288 or 25289.
(8)Making a false statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, or other document submitted or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter.
(9)Tampering with or otherwise disabling automatic leak detection devices or alarms.
(b)An owner of an underground tank system is liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per day for each underground storage tank, for each day of violation, for any of the following violations:
(1)Failure to obtain a permit as specified by this chapter.
(2)Failure to repair or upgrade an underground tank system in accordance with this chapter.
(3)Abandonment or improper closure of an underground tank system subject to this chapter.
(4)Violation of an applicable requirement of the permit issued for operation of the underground tank system.
(5)Violation of an applicable requirement of this chapter or a regulation adopted by the board pursuant to Section 25299.3.
(6)Failure to permit inspection or to perform a monitoring, testing, or reporting required pursuant to Section 25288 or 25289.
(7)Making a false statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, or other document submitted or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter.
(c)A person who intentionally fails to notify the board, the regional board, or the local agency when required to do so by this chapter or who submits false information in a permit application, amendment, or renewal, pursuant to Section 25286, is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank for which notification is not given or false information is submitted.
(d)(1)A person who violates a corrective action requirement established by, or issued pursuant to, Section 25296.10 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each underground storage tank for each day of violation.
(2)A civil penalty under this subdivision may be imposed in a civil action under this chapter, or may be administratively imposed by the board or a regional board pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 13323) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the Water Code.
(e)A person who violates Section 25292.3 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank for each day of violation.
(f)(1)A person who falsifies any monitoring records required by this chapter, or knowingly fails to report an unauthorized release, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)A person who intentionally disables or tampers with an automatic leak detection system in a manner that would prevent the automatic leak detection system from detecting a leak or alerting the owner or operator of the leak, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(g)In determining both the civil and criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this section, the board, a regional board, or the court, as the case may be, shall consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm or potential harm caused by the violation, the nature of the violation and the period of time over which it occurred, the frequency of past violations, and the corrective action, if any, taken by the person who holds the permit.
(h)(1)A civil penalty or criminal fine imposed pursuant to this section for a separate violation shall be separate from, and in addition to, any other civil penalty or criminal fine imposed pursuant to this section or any other provision of law, except that no civil penalty shall be recovered under subdivision (d) for violations for which a civil penalty is recovered pursuant to Section 13268 or 13350 of the Water Code. The penalty or fine shall be paid to the unified program agency, the participating agency, or the state, whichever is represented by the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General bringing the action.
(2)Any penalties or fines paid to a unified program agency or a participating agency pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deposited into a special account and shall be expended only to fund the activities of the unified program agency or participating agency in enforcing the unified program, as specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404, within the jurisdiction of that agency pursuant to the unified program specified in Chapter 6.11 (commencing with Section 25404).
(3)All penalties or fines collected by the board or a regional board pursuant to this section or Section 25299.05 or collected on behalf of the board or a regional board by the Attorney General for these purposes shall be deposited in the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account in the State Water Quality Control Fund, and are available for expenditure by the board, upon appropriation, pursuant to Section 13441 of the Water Code.
(i)Paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) does not prohibit the owner or operator of an underground storage tank, or the owners or operators designee, from maintaining, repairing, or replacing automatic leak detection devices or alarms associated with that tank.
SEC. 8.Section 25299.01 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.01.(a)If a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices that violate this chapter, or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10) or any rule, regulation, permit, standard, requirement, or order issued, adopted, or executed pursuant to this chapter or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10), the city attorney of the city in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General may apply to the superior court for any order enjoining these acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance. The court may grant a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order.
(b)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to subdivision (a), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur.
SEC. 9.Section 25299.02 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.02.Every civil action brought under this chapter shall be brought by the city attorney, the county counsel, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any actions relating to the same violations may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 10.Section 25515.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.5.(a)All criminal penalties collected pursuant to this article shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(2)Fifty percent shall be paid to the agency that is responsible for the investigation of the action.
(b)All civil penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(2)Fifty percent shall be paid to the agency responsible for the investigation of the action.
(c)If a reward is paid to a person pursuant to Section 25516, the amount of the reward shall be deducted from the amount of the criminal or civil penalty before the amount is apportioned pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b).
SEC. 11.Section 25515.6 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.6.(a)(1)If the unified program agency determines that a business has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in acts or practices that constitute or will constitute a violation of this article or a regulation or order adopted or issued pursuant to this article, and when requested by the unified program agency, the city attorney of the city or the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices have occurred, are occurring, or will occur shall apply to the superior court for an order enjoining the acts or practices for an order directing compliance, and, upon a showing that the person or business has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in the acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other appropriate order may be granted.
(2)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to paragraph (1), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county in which the acts or practices have occurred, are occurring, or will occur.
(b)This section does not prohibit a city attorney, county counsel, or district attorney from seeking the same relief upon the city attorneys, county counsels, or district attorneys own motion.
SEC. 12.Section 25515.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.7.Every civil action brought under this article or Article 2 (commencing with Section 25531) shall be brought by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any actions relating to the same violation may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 13.Section 25516 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25516.(a)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty, whether by settlement or court order, under Section 25515 or 25515.2, as determined by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the civil penalty collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the conviction of a person or business under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3, as determined by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the fine collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the fine collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(c)An informant shall not be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the unified program agency, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(d)If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the person making the first notification received by the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General that brought the action shall be eligible for the reward, except that, if the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(e)Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in this state are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), unless the providing of the information does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(f)An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business has violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employees primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(g)The unified program agency or the state shall pay rewards under this section pursuant to the following procedures:
(1)An application shall be signed by the informant and presented to the unified program agency or the state within 60 days after a final judgment has been entered or the period for an appeal of a judgment has expired.
(2)The determination by the district attorney, city attorney, county counsel, or the Attorney General as to whether the information provided by the applicant materially contributed to the imposition of a judgment under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3 shall be final.
(3)The unified program agency or the state shall notify the applicant in writing of its decision to grant or deny a reward within a reasonable time period following the filing of an application.
(4)Approved reward claims shall be paid by the unified program agency or the state within 30 days of the collection and deposit of the penalties specified in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(h)The names of reward applicants or informants shall not be disclosed by the unified program agency or the state unless the names are otherwise publicly disclosed as part of a judicial proceeding.
(i)Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, rewards paid by the state shall only be paid after appropriation by the Legislature.
SEC. 14.Section 79705 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:79705.(a)In the event a district attorney, county counsel, or a city attorney has brought an action for civil or criminal penalties pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 against a person for the violation of any provision of that chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, adopted, or executed thereunder, and the department has expended moneys from the state account pursuant to Section 78875 for immediate corrective action in response to a release, or threatened release, of a hazardous substance that has resulted, in whole or in part, from the persons acts or omissions, the state account may be made a party to that action for the purpose of recovering the costs against that person.
(b)(1)If the state account is made a party to the action, the Attorney General shall represent the state account for the purpose of recovering the moneys expended from the account.
(2)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and under terms that the Attorney General and the department deem appropriate, the Attorney General may delegate the authority to recover the costs to the district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney who has brought the action pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20.
(c)The failure to seek the recovery of moneys expended from the state account as part of the action brought pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 does not foreclose the Attorney General from recovering the moneys in a separate action.
SEC. 15.Section 118325 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:118325.(a)(1)An enforcement agency, district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor may bring an action to enjoin the violation, or threatened violation, of this part or the regulations adopted pursuant to this part, in the superior court in the county where the violation occurred or is about to occur. Any proceeding under this section shall be in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 525) of Title 7 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, except that the enforcement agency, district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor is not required to allege facts necessary to show or tending to show the lack of an adequate remedy at law or irreparable damage or loss.
(2)If a county counsel or the district attorney brings an action pursuant to paragraph (1), the county counsel or the district attorney shall, within seven days of the filing of the action, notify the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the county where the violation occurred or is about to occur.
(b)With respect to any action brought pursuant to this section alleging actual violation of this part or the regulations adopted pursuant to this part, the court shall, if it finds the allegations to be true, issue its order enjoining the continuance of the violation.
(a)Except as provided in subdivision (d), hazardous waste means a waste that meets any of the criteria for the identification of a hazardous waste adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25141.
(b)Hazardous waste includes, but is not limited to, RCRA hazardous waste.
(c)Unless expressly provided otherwise, hazardous waste also includes extremely hazardous waste and acutely hazardous waste.
(d)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), in any criminal or civil prosecution brought by a city or attorney, county counsel, district attorney attorney, or the Attorney General for violation of this chapter, when it is an element of proof that the person knew or reasonably should have known of the violation, or violated the chapter willfully or with reckless disregard for the risk, or acted intentionally or negligently, the element of proof that the waste is hazardous waste may be satisfied by demonstrating that the waste exhibited the characteristics set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 25141.
SEC. 2.Section 25181 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25181.(a)When If the department determines that any a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices which that constitute or will constitute a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, promulgated, or executed thereunder, and when requested by the department, the city attorney of the city in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining those acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing by the department that the person has engaged in or is about to engage in those acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
(b)When If the unified program agency determines that any a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices which constitute or will constitute a violation of this chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, promulgated, or executed thereunder, and when requested by the unified program agency, the city attorney of the city in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General, may apply to the superior court for an order enjoining those acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing by the unified program agency that the person has engaged in or is about to engage in those acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
SEC. 3.Section 25182 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25182.Every civil action brought under this chapter at the request of the department or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, counsel, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any such actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous wastes may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 4.Section 25191.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25191.7.(a)Any A person who provides information which that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty or criminal fine against any a person for violating this chapter shall be paid a reward pursuant to regulations adopted by the department under subdivision (f). The reward shall be equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty or criminal fine collected by the department, district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney. The department shall pay the award to the person who provides information which that results in the imposition of a civil penalty, and the county shall pay the award to the person who provides information which that results in the imposition of a criminal fine. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b)No informant shall be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the department, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(c)If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the first notification received by the department shall be eligible for the reward. If the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(d)Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in California are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a), unless reporting those violations does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(e)An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employees primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(f)The department shall adopt regulations which that establish procedures for the receipt and review of claims for payment of rewards. All decisions concerning the eligibility for an award and the materiality of the provided information shall be made pursuant to these regulations. In each case brought under subdivision (a), the department, the office of the city attorney, the county counsel or the district attorney, whichever office brings the action, shall determine whether the information materially contributed to the imposition of civil or criminal penalties for violations of this chapter.
(g)The department shall continuously publicize the availability of the rewards pursuant to this section for persons who provide information pursuant to this section.
(h)Claims may be submitted only for those referrals made on or after January 1, 1982.
SEC. 5.Section 25192 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25192.(a)All civil and criminal penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be deposited in the Toxic Substances Control Account in the General Fund.
(2)Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(3)Twenty-five percent shall be paid to the department and used to fund the activity of the CUPA, the local health officer, or other local public officer or agency authorized to enforce the provisions of this chapter pursuant to Section 25180, whichever entity investigated the matter that led to the bringing of the action. If investigation by the local police department or sheriffs office or the Department of the California Highway Patrol led to the bringing of the action, the CUPA, the local health officer, or the authorized officer or agency, shall pay a total of 40 percent of its portion under this subdivision to that investigating agency or agencies to be used for the same purpose. If more than one agency is eligible for payment under this paragraph, division of payment among the eligible agencies shall be in the discretion of the CUPA, the local health officer, or the authorized officer or agency.
(b)If a reward is paid to a person pursuant to Section 25191.7, the amount of the reward shall be deducted from the amount of the civil penalty before the amount is apportioned pursuant to subdivision (a).
SEC. 6.Section 25270.12 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25270.12.(a)Any An owner or operator of a tank facility who fails to prepare a spill prevention control and countermeasure plan in compliance with subdivision (a) of Section 25270.4.5, to file a tank facility statement pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25270.6, to submit the fee required by subdivision (b) of Section 25270.6, or to report spills as required by Section 25270.8, or who otherwise fails to comply with the requirements of this chapter, is subject to a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each day on which the violation continues. If the owner or operator commits a second or subsequent violation, a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each day on which the violation continues may be imposed.
(b)(1)The civil penalties provided by this section may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the city attorney attorney, county counsel, or district attorney on behalf of the UPA.
(2)Fifty percent of all penalties assessed and recovered in a civil action brought on behalf of a UPA pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited into a unified program account established by the UPA for the purpose of carrying out the functions of the unified program and 50 percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney attorney, county counsel, or district attorney, whoever brought that action.
(c)(1)The civil penalties provided in this section may be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the office, the board, or a regional board, or on behalf of the people of the State of California.
(2)All penalties assessed and recovered in a civil action brought pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the Waste Discharge Permit Fund created pursuant to Section 13260 of the Water Code. These moneys shall be separately accounted for, and shall be expended by the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to assist regional boards and other public agencies with authority to clean up waste or abate the effects of the waste, in cleaning up or abating the effects of the waste on waters of the state, or for the same purposes for which the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account may be expended pursuant to Section 13443 of the Water Code.
(d)The city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General may seek to enjoin, in any court of competent jurisdiction, any person believed to be in violation of this chapter.
(e)The penalties specified in this section are in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
SEC. 7.Section 25299 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.(a)An operator of an underground tank system is liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank, for each day of violation, for any of the following violations:
(1)Operating an underground tank system that has not been issued a permit, in violation of this chapter.
(2)Violation of an applicable requirement of the permit issued for the operation of the underground tank system.
(3)Failure to maintain records, as required by this chapter.
(4)Failure to report an unauthorized release, as required by Sections 25294 and 25295.
(5)Failure to properly close an underground tank system, as required by Section 25298.
(6)Violation of an applicable requirement of this chapter or a regulation adopted by the board pursuant to Section 25299.3.
(7)Failure to permit inspection or to perform a monitoring, testing, or reporting required pursuant to Section 25288 or 25289.
(8)Making a false statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, or other document submitted or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter.
(9)Tampering with or otherwise disabling automatic leak detection devices or alarms.
(b)An owner of an underground tank system is liable for a civil penalty of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per day for each underground storage tank, for each day of violation, for any of the following violations:
(1)Failure to obtain a permit as specified by this chapter.
(2)Failure to repair or upgrade an underground tank system in accordance with this chapter.
(3)Abandonment or improper closure of an underground tank system subject to this chapter.
(4)Violation of an applicable requirement of the permit issued for operation of the underground tank system.
(5)Violation of an applicable requirement of this chapter or a regulation adopted by the board pursuant to Section 25299.3.
(6)Failure to permit inspection or to perform a monitoring, testing, or reporting required pursuant to Section 25288 or 25289.
(7)Making a false statement, representation, or certification in an application, record, report, or other document submitted or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter.
(c)A person who intentionally fails to notify the board, the regional board, or the local agency when required to do so by this chapter or who submits false information in a permit application, amendment, or renewal, pursuant to Section 25286, is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank for which notification is not given or false information is submitted.
(d)(1)A person who violates a corrective action requirement established by, or issued pursuant to, Section 25296.10 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each underground storage tank for each day of violation.
(2)A civil penalty under this subdivision may be imposed in a civil action under this chapter, or may be administratively imposed by the board or a regional board pursuant to Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 13323) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the Water Code.
(e)A person who violates Section 25292.3 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each underground storage tank for each day of violation.
(f)(1)A person who falsifies any monitoring records required by this chapter, or knowingly fails to report an unauthorized release, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(2)A person who intentionally disables or tampers with an automatic leak detection system in a manner that would prevent the automatic leak detection system from detecting a leak or alerting the owner or operator of the leak, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(g)In determining both the civil and criminal penalties imposed pursuant to this section, the board, a regional board, or the court, as the case may be, shall consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the extent of harm or potential harm caused by the violation, the nature of the violation and the period of time over which it occurred, the frequency of past violations, and the corrective action, if any, taken by the person who holds the permit.
(h)(1)A civil penalty or criminal fine imposed pursuant to this section for a separate violation shall be separate from, and in addition to, any other civil penalty or criminal fine imposed pursuant to this section or any other provision of law, except that no civil penalty shall be recovered under subdivision (d) for violations for which a civil penalty is recovered pursuant to Section 13268 or 13350 of the Water Code. The penalty or fine shall be paid to the unified program agency, the participating agency, or the state, whichever is represented by the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General bringing the action.
(2)Any penalties or fines paid to a unified program agency or a participating agency pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deposited into a special account and shall be expended only to fund the activities of the unified program agency or participating agency in enforcing the unified program, as specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404, within the jurisdiction of that agency pursuant to the unified program specified in Chapter 6.11 (commencing with Section 25404).
(3)All penalties or fines collected by the board or a regional board pursuant to this section or Section 25299.05 or collected on behalf of the board or a regional board by the Attorney General for these purposes shall be deposited in the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account in the State Water Quality Control Fund, and are available for expenditure by the board, upon appropriation, pursuant to Section 13441 of the Water Code.
(i)Paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) does not prohibit the owner or operator of an underground storage tank, or his or her the owners or operators designee, from maintaining, repairing, or replacing automatic leak detection devices or alarms associated with that tank.
SEC. 8.Section 25299.01 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.01.When any If a person has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in any acts or practices which that violate this chapter, or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10) or any rule, regulation, permit, standard, requirement, or order issued, adopted, or executed pursuant to this chapter or Chapter 6.75 (commencing with Section 25299.10), the city attorney of the city in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which the acts or practices occur, occurred, or will occur, or the Attorney General may apply to the superior court for any order enjoining these acts or practices, or for an order directing compliance. The court may grant a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order.
SEC. 9.Section 25299.02 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25299.02.Every civil action brought under this chapter shall be brought by the city attorney, the county counsel, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any actions relating to the same violations may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 10.Section 25515.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.5.(a)All criminal penalties collected pursuant to this article shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(2)Fifty percent shall be paid to the agency which that is responsible for the investigation of the action.
(b)All civil penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be apportioned in the following manner:
(1)Fifty percent shall be paid to the office of the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
(2)Fifty percent shall be paid to the agency responsible for the investigation of the action.
(c)If a reward is paid to a person pursuant to Section 25516, the amount of the reward shall be deducted from the amount of the criminal or civil penalty before the amount is apportioned pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b).
SEC. 11.Section 25515.6 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.6.(a)If the unified program agency determines that a business has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in acts or practices that constitute or will constitute a violation of this article or a regulation or order adopted or issued pursuant to this article, and when requested by the unified program agency, the city attorney of the city or the county counsel or the district attorney of the county in which those acts or practices have occurred, are occurring, or will occur shall apply to the superior court for an order enjoining the acts or practices for an order directing compliance, and, upon a showing that the person or business has engaged in, is engaged in, or is about to engage in the acts or practices, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other appropriate order may be granted.
(b)This section does not prohibit a city attorney attorney, county counsel, or district attorney from seeking the same relief upon the city attorneys attorneys, county counsels, or district attorneys own motion.
SEC. 12.Section 25515.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25515.7.Every civil action brought under this article or Article 2 (commencing with Section 25531) shall be brought by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any actions relating to the same violation may be joined or consolidated.
SEC. 13.Section 25516 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:25516.(a)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the imposition of a civil penalty, whether by settlement or court order, under Section 25515 or 25515.2, as determined by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the civil penalty collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the civil penalty collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b)A person who provides information that materially contributes to the conviction of a person or business under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3, as determined by the city attorney, county counsel, district attorney, or the Attorney General filing the action, shall be paid a reward by the unified program agency or the state equal to 10 percent of the amount of the fine collected. The reward shall be paid from the amount of the fine collected. No reward paid pursuant to this subdivision shall exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(c)An informant shall not be eligible for a reward for a violation known to the unified program agency, unless the information materially contributes to the imposition of criminal or civil penalties for a violation specified in this section.
(d)If there is more than one informant for a single violation, the person making the first notification received by the city attorney, district attorney, or the Attorney General that brought the action shall be eligible for the reward, except that, if the notifications are postmarked on the same day or telephoned notifications are received on the same day, the reward shall be divided equally among those informants.
(e)Public officers and employees of the United States, the State of California, or counties and cities in this state are not eligible for the reward pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), unless the providing of the information does not relate in any manner to their responsibilities as public officers or employees.
(f)An informant who is an employee of a business and who provides information that the business has violated this chapter is not eligible for a reward if the employee intentionally or negligently caused the violation or if the employees primary and regular responsibilities included investigating the violation, unless the business knowingly caused the violation.
(g)The unified program agency or the state shall pay rewards under this section pursuant to the following procedures:
(1)An application shall be signed by the informant and presented to the unified program agency or the state within 60 days after a final judgment has been entered or the period for an appeal of a judgment has expired.
(2)The determination by the district attorney, city attorney, county counsel, or the Attorney General as to whether the information provided by the applicant materially contributed to the imposition of a judgment under Section 25515.1 or 25515.3 shall be final.
(3)The unified program agency or the state shall notify the applicant in writing of its decision to grant or deny a reward within a reasonable time period following the filing of an application.
(4)Approved reward claims shall be paid by the unified program agency or the state within 30 days of the collection and deposit of the penalties specified in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(h)The names of reward applicants or informants shall not be disclosed by the unified program agency or the state unless the names are otherwise publicly disclosed as part of a judicial proceeding.
(i)Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, rewards paid by the state shall only be paid after appropriation by the Legislature.
SEC. 14.Section 79705 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:79705.(a)In the event a district attorney attorney, county counsel, or a city attorney has brought an action for civil or criminal penalties pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 against any a person for the violation of any provision of that chapter, or any rule, regulation, permit, covenant, standard, requirement, or order issued, adopted, or executed thereunder, and the department has expended moneys from the state account pursuant to Section 78875 for immediate corrective action in response to a release, or threatened release, of a hazardous substance that has resulted, in whole or in part, from the persons acts or omissions, the state account may be made a party to that action for the purpose of recovering the costs against that person.
(b)(1)If the state account is made a party to the action, the Attorney General shall represent the state account for the purpose of recovering the moneys expended from the account.
(2)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and under terms that the Attorney General and the department deem appropriate, the Attorney General may delegate the authority to recover the costs to the district attorney attorney, county counsel, or city attorney who has brought the action pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20.
(c)The failure to seek the recovery of moneys expended from the state account as part of the action brought pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20 does not foreclose the Attorney General from recovering the moneys in a separate action.
SEC. 15.Section 118325 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:118325.(a)An enforcement agency, district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor may bring an action to enjoin the violation, or threatened violation, of this part or the regulations adopted pursuant to this part, in the superior court in the county where the violation occurred or is about to occur. Any proceeding under this section shall be in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 525) of Title 7 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, except that the enforcement agency, district attorney, county counsel, city attorney, or city prosecutor is not required to allege facts necessary to show or tending to show the lack of an adequate remedy at law or irreparable damage or loss.
With(b)With respect to any action brought pursuant to this section alleging actual violation of this part or the regulations adopted pursuant to this part, the court shall, if it finds the allegations to be true, issue its order enjoining the continuance of the violation.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2023 | Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 154, Statutes of 2023. |
| Sep 1, 2023 | Approved by the Governor. |
| Aug 22, 2023 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m. |
| Aug 17, 2023 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 32. Noes 5. Page 2134.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
| Jul 13, 2023 | In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending. |
| Jul 13, 2023 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 63. Noes 1. Page 2647.) Ordered to the Senate. |
| Jun 28, 2023 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Jun 27, 2023 | From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 9. Noes 1.) (June 27). |
| Jun 21, 2023 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (June 20). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. |
| Jun 12, 2023 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E.S. & T.M. |
| May 18, 2023 | Referred to Coms. on E.S. & T.M. and JUD. |
| May 11, 2023 | In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. |
| May 11, 2023 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 35. Noes 3. Page 1048.) Ordered to the Assembly. |
| Apr 13, 2023 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| Apr 12, 2023 | From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 10. Noes 0. Page 687.) (April 11). |
| Apr 3, 2023 | Set for hearing April 11. |
| Mar 29, 2023 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 572.) (March 29). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. |
| Mar 7, 2023 | Set for hearing March 29. |
| Mar 1, 2023 | Referred to Coms. on E.Q. and JUD. |
| Feb 17, 2023 | From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 19. |
| Feb 16, 2023 | Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 2023 | Unfinished Business SB642 Cortese et al. Concurrence | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| Jul 13, 2023 | SB 642 Cortese Senate Third Reading By Cervantes | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Jun 27, 2023 | Do pass. | Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary |
Passed |
|
| Jun 20, 2023 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] | Assembly Standing Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials |
Passed |
|
| May 11, 2023 | Senate 3rd Reading SB642 Cortese | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| Apr 11, 2023 | Do pass | Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary |
Passed |
|
| Mar 29, 2023 | Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary] | Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Quality |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| California Association of Environmental Health Administrators | ** Support | |
| California District Attorneys Association | ** Against | |
| California Environmental Voters | ** Support | |
| California State Association Of Counties | ** Support | |
| Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment | ** Support | |
| County of Monterey | ** Support | |
| County of Santa Clara | ** Support | |
| Los Angeles County District Attorney'S Office | ** Support | |
| RCRC | * Support | Jun 27, 2023 |
| Rural County Representatives of California | ** Support | |
| Sacramento County District Attorney's Office | ** Against | |
| San Francisco City Attorney's Office | ** Support | |
| Santa Clara County's Department of Environmental Health | * Support | Mar 29, 2023 |
| Solano County Board of Supervisors | ** Support | |
| Stone Advocacy | * Against Unless Amend | Apr 11, 2023 |
| Urban Counties Caucus | ** Support | |
| Urban Counties of California | ** Support |
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | SB 642 |
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 642
Author: Cortese (D), et al.
Amended: 6/12/23
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 5-0, 3/29/23
AYES: Allen, Gonzalez, Hurtado, Menjivar, Skinner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dahle, Nguyen
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 10-0, 4/11/23
AYES: Umberg, Wilk, Allen, Ashby, Durazo, Laird, McGuire, Min, Niello, Wiener
NO VOTE RECORDED: Stern
SENATE FLOOR: 35-3, 5/11/23
AYES: Allen, Alvarado-Gil, Archuleta, Ashby, Atkins, Becker, Blakespear, Bradford, Caballero, Cortese, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Glazer, Gonzalez, Hurtado, Laird, Limón, McGuire, Menjivar, Min, Newman, Niello, Padilla, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Seyarto, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Umberg, Wahab, Wiener, Wilk
NOES: Dahle, Jones, Ochoa Bogh
NO VOTE RECORDED: Grove, Nguyen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 63-1, 7/13/23 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Hazardous materials: enforcement: county counsel
SOURCE: California State Association of Counties
County of Santa Clara
Rural County Representatives of California
DIGEST:
This bill provides county counsels with civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations related to business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
Assembly Amendments
add provisions to the Hazardous Waste Control Law (HWCL) requiring the county counsel or district attorney, within seven days of filing a civil enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
- Regulates, under HWCL, the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) § 25100 et seq)
- Authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) or a unified program agency, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (HSC § 25181)
- Specifies that every civil action brought at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated. (HSC § 25182)
- Requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC § 25500 to 25519)
- Regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC § 25280 to 25299)
This bill:
- Authorizes county counsels to bring an action seeking an injunction for a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
- Specifies that a county counsel, at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency, is authorized to bring a civil action to enforce laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
- Authorizes county counsels to bring an action to enforce the requirements related to the business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
- Adds provisions to the HWCL requiring the county counsel or district attorney, within seven days of filing a civil enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
- Makes various conforming changes.
Background
- California Hazardous Waste Control Law. HWCL is the state's program that implements and enforces federal hazardous waste law in California and directs DTSC to oversee and implement the state's HWCL. Any person who stores, treats, or disposes of hazardous waste must obtain a permit from DTSC. HWCL covers the entire management of hazardous waste, from the point the hazardous waste is generated, to management, transportation, and ultimately disposal into a state or federal authorized facility.
- Enforcement of Hazardous Waste Control Laws. The Hazardous Waste Control Act governs the handling, treatment, recycling, and destruction of hazardous waste and provides criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance. Civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations provides that every civil action brought under the Act at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California.
While statute specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws, it did not make conforming changes to several related statutes, including provisions governing hazardous waste prosecutions, the Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program, the Underground Storage Tank Program, the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program, and Medical Waste program. This bill remedies this issue by making conforming changes to the above-mentioned statutes, thereby providing county counsels with complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
Comments
- Purpose of Bill. According to the author, “Hazardous waste violations and pollution directly impact the safety of the public, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. While city attorneys, district attorneys, and the Attorney General are authorized to prosecute hazardous waste violations, county counsels have incomplete enforcement authority.
“To augment civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations, the Legislature passed AB 1934 which specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by non-compliant businesses. However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes. SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
“This is similar to recently enacted bills that gave and augmented county counsel enforcement powers under the Unfair Competition Law—SB 461 (Cortese, 2021) and AB 2766 (Maienschein, 2022)—and reflects the growing role of county counsels in enforcing important public rights. This bill provides another avenue to ensure more consistent enforcement statewide so that Californians can have the clean environment they deserve.”
- More Tools for the Toolbox. As noted above, existing law provides that civil actions under the HWCL may be brought by the city attorney, district attorney, Attorney General, or the “county attorney,” including county counsels. However, several related enforcement statutes necessary for fully exercising this authority do not apply to county counsels. As a result, county counsels have jurisdiction in most hazardous waste violation cases but generally do not bring suit because of their incomplete enforcement authority.
This bill provides county counsel’s offices with the tools necessary to effectively prosecute polluters and protect public health and the environment while also removing a potentially unfair business advantage from those violating environmental laws.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 2766 (Maienschein, Chapter 698, Statutes of 2022) granted certain city attorneys and county counsel the power to conduct investigations, including the ability to issue pre-litigation subpoenas, when they reasonably believe there has been a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
SB 461 (Cortese, Chapter 461, Statutes of 2021) authorized a county counsel of a county within which a city has a population in excess of 750,000 people to bring an action under UCL.
AB 1934 (Richter, Chapter 44, Statutes of 1993) provided county attorneys civil enforcement authority under the HWCL.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill has been keyed non-fiscal by the Office of the Legislative Counsel.
SUPPORT: (Verified 7/13/23)
California State Association of Counties (co-source)
County of Santa Clara (co-source)
Rural County Representatives of California (co-source)
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California Environmental Voters
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
County of Monterey
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
San Francisco City Attorney's Office
Solano County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified 7/13/23)
California District Attorneys Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the co-sponsors of this bill, "This bill will provide county counsels with complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations, as originally intended by the Legislature. Health and Safety Code section 25182 provides that "[e]very civil action brought under [the Hazardous Waste Control Act] at the request of the [Department of Toxic Substances Control] or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California…; The legislative history of this provision specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by noncompliant businesses."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: The California District Attorneys Association writes, “On behalf of the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA), I am writing to respectfully oppose your SB 642 (Cortese) unless amended to: (1) limit applicability to county counsels for counties that contain a city with a population of more than 750,000 (currently Santa Clara, San Diego and Los Angeles Counties); and (2) allow those county counsels to bring their own actions only after they provide the local county DA with at least 60 days’ notice of the alleged violation and the local county DA has not already commenced its own action against that alleged violation.”
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 63-1, 7/13/23
AYES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Cervantes, Chen, Connolly, Davies, Mike Fong, Friedman, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Rodriguez, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas
NOES: Joe Patterson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alanis, Alvarez, Calderon, Megan Dahle, Dixon, Essayli, Flora, Vince Fong, Gabriel, Gallagher, Holden, Lackey, Jim Patterson, Rendon, Blanca Rubio, Ta
Prepared by: Gabrielle Meindl / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
8/10/23 15:21:38
**** END ****
SENATE THIRD READING
STR Bill Id:SB 642
Author:(Cortese)
As Amended Ver:June 12, 2023
Majority vote
SUMMARY
Provides the county counsel with enforcement authority for violations of aboveground storage tank law, underground storage tank law, business and area plan law, and medical waste law, and updates county counsel enforcement provisions of the Hazardous Waste Control Law.
Major Provisions
COMMENTS
County counsels: The county counsel is the chief civil law officer of the county and provides legal services, including prosecution and defense for all civil actions and proceedings, to the board of supervisors, county and court officials, and other agencies and districts. The county counsel is a statutory officer appointed by the board of supervisors and serves a four-year term in general law counties and without a term in some charter counties. In some counties, the county counsel handles most of the civil litigation involving the county or its officers, while in others the board of supervisors hires private attorneys to do some or all of this work under the county counsel's general supervision.
Hazardous Waste Control Law (HWCL): There are two sets of waste classification statutes (laws) and regulations used in California for hazardous waste: federal and state. Federal hazardous waste regulations adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) are implemented under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which authorizes the US EPA to control hazardous waste from the "cradle-to-grave," including the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. To achieve this, US EPA develops regulations, guidance, and policies that ensure the safe management and cleanup of solid and hazardous waste, and programs that encourage source reduction and beneficial reuse.
California laws governing hazardous waste are outlined in state statute, under the HWCL, which closely parallels RCRA in regulating the identification, generation, storage, transportation, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste in the state. The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has primary enforcement authority for HWCL and RCRA.
This bill: This bill seeks to make enforcement uniform throughout the HWCL by including county counsel throughout the enforcement provisions of the HWCL. It also adds provisions to the HWCL requiring the county counsel or district attorney, within seven days of filing a civil enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
The Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act: The Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act (APSA) was established to protect public health, the environment, and groundwater from potential contamination or adverse effects associated with unintended releases from the aboveground storage of petroleum-based hazardous materials and wastes. The CAL FIRE-Office of the State Fire Marshal is responsible for implementing of the APSA program element of the Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) program. Current statute authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce the requirements of the ASPA.
This bill: This bill extends enforcement authority for violations of APSA to the county counsel, and adds provisions to the APSA that require the county counsel or district attorney, within seven days of filing an enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
The Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program: The statewide UST Program was established to protect public health and safety and the environment from releases of petroleum and other hazardous substances from USTs. The UST Program is implemented by the State Water Resources Control Board, the Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and the CUPAs. Current statute authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce the requirements of the UST law.
This bill: This bill extends enforcement authority for violations of UST law to the county counsel, and adds provisions to UST law that require the county counsel or district attorney, within seven days of filing an enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
Business and Area Plans: The Hazardous Materials Business Plan (HMBP) program requires a business that handles a hazardous material at or above a specified threshold to establish and implement an HMBP. HMBPs provide CUPAs, local fire agencies, and the public with information on hazardous materials handled at businesses in order to prevent or mitigate harm to public health and safety and to the environment caused by a release or threatened release of hazardous materials into the workplace or environment. The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) oversees implementation of the HMBP program at the state level, and CUPAs and Participating Agencies implement the program at the local level. As part of the HMBP program, CUPAs and/or Participating Agencies, in coordination with local emergency response agencies, are responsible for developing an Area Plan to establish an emergency response plan in the event of a release or threatened release of a hazardous material within their jurisdiction. Current statute authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce the requirements of the Business and Area Plan law.
This bill: This bill extends enforcement authority for violations of Business and Area Plan law to county counsels, and adds provisions to Business and Area Plan law that require the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of filing an enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
Medical waste: To protect the public and the environment from potentially infectious disease causing agents, the Medical Waste Management Program (MWMP) regulates the generation, handling, storage, treatment, and disposal of medical waste. The MWMP is implemented by the California Department of Public Health as part of its oversight of the implementation of the Medical Waste Management Act. Current statute authorizes an enforcement agency, district attorney, city attorney, or city prosecutor to bring an action to enjoin the violation, or threatened violation, of the MWMA.
This bill: This bill extends enforcement authority for violations of the MWMA to the county counsel, and adds provisions to MWMA law that require the county counsel or district attorney, within seven days of filing an enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
According to the Author
"Hazardous waste violations and pollution directly impact the safety of the public, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. While city attorneys, district attorneys, and the Attorney General are authorized to prosecute hazardous waste violations, county counsels have incomplete enforcement authority.
To augment civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations, the Legislature passed AB 1934 (Richter, 1993) which specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by non-compliant businesses.
However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes. SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature's intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations... This bill provides another avenue to ensure more consistent enforcement statewide so that Californians can have the clean environment they deserve."
Arguments in Support
The cosponsors of the bill, the County of Santa Clara, Rural County Representatives of California, and CSAC, write in support of the bill, "This bill will provide county counsels with complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations, as originally intended by the Legislature. Health and Safety Code section 25182 provides that "[e]very civil action brought under [the Hazardous Waste Control Act] at the request of the [Department of Toxic Substances Control] or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California…" The legislative history of this provision specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by noncompliant businesses."
Arguments in Opposition
The California District Attorneys Association writes in an "oppose unless amended" position to the bill, "On behalf of the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA), I am writing to propose an amendment that would result in CDAA going neutral on SB 642. We propose that language prohibiting the use of contingency fee arrangements be added to the bill. This would protect the neutrality of the prosecution of these cases. "
FISCAL COMMENTS
None. This bill has been keyed non-fiscal by the Office of the Legislative Counsel.
VOTES
SENATE FLOOR: 35-3-2
YES: Allen, Alvarado-Gil, Archuleta, Ashby, Atkins, Becker, Blakespear, Bradford, Caballero, Cortese, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Glazer, Gonzalez, Hurtado, Laird, Limón, McGuire, Menjivar, Min, Newman, Niello, Padilla, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Seyarto, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Umberg, Wahab, Wiener, Wilk
NO: Dahle, Jones, Ochoa Bogh
ABS, ABST OR NV: Grove, Nguyen
ASM ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS: 8-0-1
YES: Lee, Hoover, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Connolly, McKinnor, Pacheco, Zbur
ABS, ABST OR NV: Ta
ASM JUDICIARY: 9-1-1
YES: Maienschein, Connolly, Haney, Kalra, Pacheco, Papan, Reyes, Lee, Sanchez
NO: Dixon
ABS, ABST OR NV: Essayli
UPDATED
VERSION: June 12, 2023
CONSULTANT: Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965 FN: 0001165
Date of Hearing: June 27, 2023
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Brian Maienschein, Chair
SBPCA Bill Id:SB 642
Author:(Cortese) – As Amended Ver:June 12, 2023
SENATE VOTE: 35-3
SUBJECT: Hazardous materials: enforcement: county counsel
KEY ISSUE: should county counsels be authorized to enforce various provisions of the state’s hazardous waste laws?
SYNOPSIS
California maintains a robust set of laws governing the handling, transportation, and disposal of hazardous waste. Hazardous waste encompasses a broad array of items including industrial waste, manufacturing byproducts, and chemicals used in day-to-day life that are environmentally harmful when not properly disposed of. Since the original waste handling laws were passed in the 1970s, the Legislature has modified these provisions several times, including, of not to this bill, an overhaul of the enforcement mechanisms adopted in 1993. That revision created a state and local level enforcement scheme empowering entities ranging from the Attorney General to district attorneys and city attorneys to enforce the laws. The 1993 revisions also empowered “county attorneys” to enforce several provisions of the hazardous waste laws, however, a “county attorney” is not an entity under California law, as the existing law instead recognizes “county counsel” as the chief civil law enforcement agent of county governments.
Recognizing that the existing local enforcement of hazardous waste laws, especially by some district attorneys, is insufficient, this bill would expand and clarify the authority of county counsels to enforce hazardous waste laws. First, this bill corrects the erroneous references to “county attorney” by replacing those references with the term “county counsel.” Additionally, this bill grants county counsel new authority to enforce some hazardous waste laws in which county counsels are currently omitted from the enforcement statutes. To avoid conflicts between district attorneys and county counsels, this bill adopts notice provisions to require one enforcement agency to inform the other seven days prior to filing a lawsuit, thus preventing dueling enforcement actions for the same underlying conduct. Finally, this bill makes numerous technical and conforming changes to enact the above-described modifications to existing law.
This bill is co-sponsored by the County of Santa Clara and the California State Association of Counties and is supported by a diverse set of advocates for the environment and local governments. The proponents highlight the need for robust enforcement of California’s hazardous waste laws and contend that vesting enforcement authority in the widest array of agencies will ensure that the largest set of enforcement resources can be brought forward. This bill is opposed, unless amended, by the California District Attorneys Association. The District Attorneys argue that the bill should be amended to remove contingency fee arrangements from the enforcement authorities. However, these amendments are largely unnecessary as most enforcement actions are initiated by a complaint by state or local regulators and not county counsel offices themselves. Furthermore, following recent allegations that the District Attorneys Association redirected money away from training for environmental enforcement litigation, bringing new enforcement agencies into this space appears prudent. This bill was previously heard and approved by the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials by a vote of 8 – 0.
SUMMARY: Authorizes county counsels to enforce various hazardous waste laws. Specifically, this bill:
- Authorizes county counsels, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a certified unified program agency, to bring an action seeking an injunction for a violation of hazardous waste control law.
- Updates the existing Hazardous Waste Control Law to replace the term "county attorney" with "county counsel" and adds the county counsel to related enforcement provisions of the Hazardous Waste Control Law.
- Authorizes the county counsel to bring an action to enforce requirements related to aboveground storage tank law, underground storage tank law, business and area plan law, and medical waste law.
- Requires, for civil actions taken to enforce hazardous waste law, aboveground storage tank law, underground storage tank law, business and area plan law, and medical waste law, the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of filing the action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
- Makes numerous clarifying and conforming changes to law to carry out the above-described changes.
EXISTING LAW:
- Establishes the Hazardous Waste Control Law, which regulates the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (Health and Safety Code Section 25100 et seq.)
- Authorizes a criminal or civil prosecution to be brought by a city or district attorney or the Attorney General for violation of the provisions of 1). (Health and Safety Code Section 25117.)
- Provides that any action to enforce the provisions of 1) is to be brought at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a unified program agency and be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California, and any such actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous wastes may be joined or consolidated. (Health and Safety Code Section 25182.)
- Authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a unified program agency, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (Health and Safety Code Section 25181.)
- Requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (Health and Safe Code Section 25500 et seq.)
- Regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (Health and Safety Code Section 25280 et seq.)
- Authorizes a county counsel to be appointed by a county Board of Supervisors and grants the county counsel the powers of a public prosecutor similar to those of a city attorney as provided in 8). (Government Code Section 27640.)
- Authorizes a city to create the position of city attorney and vests the city attorney with the powers of a public prosecutor including prosecuting civil legal matters as required from time to time by the legislative body. (Government Code Section 41803.)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS: For decades, California has maintained a robust set of laws governing the creation, transportation, and safe disposal of hazardous waste. These laws are enforced by local district attorneys, the Attorney General, and in some instances city attorneys and the “county attorney.” However, the existing provisions of the Government Code does not recognize the position of “county attorney” but rather “county counsel.” This straightforward measure seeks to clarify provisions of the Hazardous Waste Control Law to ensure all references are to “county counsel” and to generally expand county counsel’s enforcement authority to bolster statewide enforcement of hazardous waste laws. In support of the bill, the author states:
Hazardous waste violations and pollution directly impact the safety of the public, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. While city attorneys, district attorneys, and the Attorney General are authorized to prosecute hazardous waste violations, county counsels have incomplete enforcement authority.
To augment civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations, the Legislature authorized county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by non-compliant businesses.
However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes. SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations. This is similar to recently enacted bills that gave and augmented county counsel enforcement powers under the Unfair Competition Law—SB 461 (Cortese, 2021) and AB 2766 (Maienschein, 2022)—and reflects the growing role of county counsels in enforcing important public rights.
This bill provides another avenue to ensure more consistent enforcement statewide so that Californians can have the clean environment they deserve.
Background on California’s Hazardous Waste Laws. California’s hazardous waste laws, like many environmental protection laws, date back to the early 1970s and height of the environmental movement in the United States. The statutes were significantly updated again in the early 1980s and most recently in 1993, with the passage of AB 1934 (Richter) Chap. 44, Stats. 1993. The AB 1934 framework sought to empower local enforcement authorities, including “county attorneys” to enforce the law.
As noted by the Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, hazardous waste is waste with properties that make it potentially dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment. Such waste encompasses a large and diverse set of contaminants that are generated by a wide variety of sources, including manufacturing byproducts, discarded and used materials, or discarded unused commercial products, such as cleaning fluids and pesticides. Hazardous waste comes in various forms, including liquids, solids, gases, and sludge. Generally, the hazardous waste laws require waste generators and handlers to utilize technology and management best practices for the safe handling, treatment, recycling, and destruction of their hazardous wastes prior to disposal. The existing liability scheme is designed to compensate those injured by improperly disposed of hazardous waste and to provide for the funding for the necessary environmental remediation to eliminate the harm from the waste.
This bill. This modest measure seeks to bolster enforcement of the state’s hazardous waste laws by clarifying and expanding the authority of county counsel to enforce these laws. First, this measure modifies the existing law’s erroneous references to a “county attorney” and replaces those references with the correct “county counsel” term throughout the code. This measure also explicitly authorizes county counsels to bring additional enforcement actions for provisions of the hazardous waste laws that currently are exclusively enforced by a district attorney or the Attorney General. To avoid overlapping enforcement actions, the bill clarifies for the newly granted enforcement authority that a county counsel must notify the district attorney seven days prior to filing their action. Finally, this bill makes numerous technical and conforming changes to implement the above modifications to the existing hazardous waste laws. It should be noted that nothing in this bill changes penalties or creates any new violations of the law.
This measure mirrors several prior bills to expand the scope of county counsel’s authority. The author argues that the intent of the Legislature in passing AB 1934 was to broadly increase enforcement of the state’s hazardous waste violations. However, because the law failed to explicitly add county counsels as having the authority to enforce these other laws, “county counsels remain a largely untapped tool in the enforcement of hazardous waste laws.” The author argues this issue is particularly acute in counties where “district attorneys have limited resources and large criminal caseloads—particularly in unincorporated areas outside of city attorney jurisdiction” as there may be “insufficient recourse for civil enforcement of recalcitrant violators.” This dearth of adequate enforcement places the public at risk, “especially low-income areas and communities of color, and gives an unfair business advantage to chronically non-compliant actors.”
Thus, seeking greater enforcement of the hazardous waste laws, this bill would authorize a greater role for county counsels. The author notes that this bill is in keeping with several recent bills adopted by the Legislature expanding the role of county counsels in enforcing state laws. Of note, several bills have expanded local enforcement of the Unfair Competition Law. In 2021, this bill author successfully carried SB 461 (Cortese) Chap. 140, Stats. 2021, to extend the authority to bring cases under the Unfair Competition Law independently to county counsel of any county within which a city has a population in excess of 750,000. Currently this provides authority to three county counsel offices in California, specifically those in San Diego County, Los Angeles County, and Santa Clara County, given that only the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Jose have populations over 750,000. Last year, AB 2766 (Maienschein, Ch. 698, Stats. 2022) granted certain city attorneys and county counsels the power to conduct investigations, including the ability to issue pre-litigation subpoenas, when they reasonably believe there has been a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law. Similarly, local enforcement authorities have the ability to enforce a host of state environmental policies, including those related to air quality violations, plastic pollution laws, and unlicensed cannabis cultivation. Accordingly, the provisions of this bill are well within the Legislature’s traditional approach to authorizing local civil law enforcement agencies to enforce state laws.
Notwithstanding opposition concerns, this bill is a wholly appropriate expansion and clarification of local government enforcement authority. This measure is opposed by the California District Attorneys Association. Although prior concerns seem to have been addressed or otherwise abandoned before reaching this Committee, the District Attorneys still seek a restriction on “contingency fee arrangement.” These arrangements occur when a county counsel contracts out enforcement work to law firms, typically those with subject matter expertise, on contingency. Interestingly, District Attorneys can utilize similar arrangements for environmental enforcement. Furthermore, this amendment also appears unnecessary, as any case brought by the county counsel would be upon a complaint from the Department of Toxic Substances Control, or a local a certified unified program agency. This complaint process thus would negate potential “bounty hunting” by county counsels and hired law firms.
Interestingly, the root of some of the District Attorney’s opposition appears to be vested in a disagreement over who should be enforcing the state’s environmental laws. In this sense, the opposition is somewhat ironic as the state’s District Attorneys have shown an unwillingness to take on environmental cases. Notably, in 2021, an audit determined that the District Attorneys Association had what was characterized as a, “long-standing practice of borrowing funds received from environmental and worker safety settlements to bolster its general fund and pay for training, research, and the lobbying activities of California prosecutors.” (Kevin Stark, Environmentalists Push California to Cut Ties with Prosecutor Association Over Misspent Funds, KQED, (Mar. 1, 2021), available at: https://www.kqed.org/science/1973012/environmentalists-push-california-to-cut-ties-with-prosecutor-association-over-misspent-funds.) Thus, given some District Attorneys apparent disregard for training attorneys in environmental litigation, expanding the universe of officials authorized to bring these actions appears to be a prudent state policy.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: This bill is sponsored by Santa Clara County and the California State Association of Counties and is supported by several other local government and environmental organizations. In support of the bill, the County of Santa Clara writes:
This bill will provide county counsels with complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations, as originally intended by the Legislature. Health and Safety Code section 25182 provides that “[e]very civil action brought under [the Hazardous Waste Control Act] at the request of the [Department of Toxic Substances Control] or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California . . .” The legislative history of this provision specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by noncompliant businesses.
However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes, including provisions governing hazardous waste prosecutions, the Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program, the Underground Storage Tank Program, and the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program. As a result, county counsels remain a largely untapped tool in the enforcement of hazardous waste laws. In counties where district attorneys have limited resources and large criminal caseloads—particularly in unincorporated areas outside of city attorney jurisdiction—there may be insufficient recourse for civil enforcement of recalcitrant violators. This places at risk the public, especially low-income areas and communities of color, and gives an unfair business advantage to chronically non-compliant actors.
SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: As noted, the California District Attorneys Association opposes the bill, unless it is amended. They argue:
On behalf of the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA), I am writing to propose an amendment that would result in CDAA going neutral on SB 642. We propose that language prohibiting the use of contingency fee arrangements be added to the bill. This would protect the neutrality of the prosecution of these cases.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
County of Santa Clara (co-sponsor)
California State Association of Counties (co-sponsor)
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California Environmental Voters
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
County of Monterey
County of Santa Clara
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Rural County Representatives of California
Rural County Representatives of California
San Francisco City Attorney's Office
Solano County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties Caucus
Opposition
California District Attorneys Association (unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by: Nicholas Liedtke / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
Date of Hearing: June 20, 2023
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Alex Lee, Chair
SBPCA Bill Id:SB 642
Author:(Cortese) – As Amended Ver:June 12, 2023
SENATE VOTE: 35-3
SUBJECT: Hazardous materials: enforcement: county counsel
SUMMARY: Provides the county counsel with enforcement authority for violations of aboveground storage tank law, underground storage tank law, business and area plan law, and medical waste law and updates county counsel enforcement provisions of the Hazardous Waste Control Law (HWCL). Specifically, this bill:
- Authorizes county counsels, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) or a certified unified program agency (CUPA), to bring an action seeking an injunction for a violation of hazardous waste control law.
- Updates HWCL by replacing the term "county attorney" with "county counsel" and adds the county counsel to related enforcement provisions of the HWCL.
- Authorizes the county counsel to bring an action to enforce requirements related to aboveground storage tank law, underground storage tank law, business and area plan law, and medical waste law.
- Requires, for civil actions taken to enforce hazardous waste law, aboveground storage tank law, underground storage tank law, business and area plan law, and medical waste law, the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of filing the action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
- Makes other clarifying and conforming changes to existing related statute.
EXISTING LAW:
- Establishes the HWCL in order to protect the public health and the environment and to conserve natural resources. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) §§ 25100 – 25259)
- Authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of DTSC or a CUPA, to bring an action seeking an injunction for violation of HWCL. (HSC § 25181)
- Specifies that every civil action brought at the request of DTSC or a CUPA is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated. (HSC § 25182)
- Regulates the operation of aboveground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC §§ 25270 to 25170.13)
- Regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC §§ 25280 to 25299.8)
- Requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC §§ 25500 to 25519)
- Authorizes an enforcement agency, district attorney, city attorney, or city prosecutor to bring an action to enjoin the violation, or threatened violation, of medical waste management law or regulations, in the superior court in the county where the violation occurred or is about to occur. (HSC § 118325)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill: According to the author,
"Hazardous waste violations and pollution directly impact the safety of the public, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. While city attorneys, district attorneys, and the Attorney General are authorized to prosecute hazardous waste violations, county counsels have incomplete enforcement authority.
To augment civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations, the Legislature passed AB 1934 (Richter, 1993) which specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by non-compliant businesses.
However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes. SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
This is similar to recently enacted bills that gave and augmented county counsel enforcement powers under the Unfair Competition Law—SB 461 (Cortese, 2021) and AB 2766 (Maienschein, 2022)—and reflects the growing role of county counsels in enforcing important public rights.
This bill provides another avenue to ensure more consistent enforcement statewide so that Californians can have the clean environment they deserve."
County counsels: According to the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), the county counsel is the chief civil law officer of the county and provides legal services to the board of supervisors, county and court officials, and other agencies and districts. The county counsel is a statutory officer appointed by the board of supervisors and serves a four-year term in general law counties and without a term in some charter counties.
CSAC reports that many of the official duties of the county counsel are prescribed by state law. The county counsel must render legal services to the county and may provide legal services to school districts and other local public entities as requested. Such services include legal opinions and advice, as well as preparation of contracts, ordinances, and resolutions. As the legal advisor to the board of supervisors, the county counsel attends its meetings, both public and closed sessions. Upon request of the county auditor or treasurer, county counsel defends or prosecutes any action brought by or against these officers relating to the payment of funds when it is consistent with the county’s interest. Upon request of any judge of the superior, municipal, or justice court, the county counsel represents the court or judge, unless there is a conflict. In most counties, the county counsel provides legal advice to the grand jury on civil matters.
CSAC states that the county counsel in most counties defends or prosecutes all civil actions and proceedings in which the county or any of its officers is concerned or is a party in an official capacity. In some counties, the county counsel handles most of the civil litigation involving the county or its officers, while in others the board of supervisors hires private attorneys to do some or all of this work under the county counsel’s general supervision. In addition to administrative and judicial proceedings, the county counsel represents county officers in probate and conservatorship proceedings, and in guardianship and juvenile cases.
Hazardous waste: Hazardous waste is a waste with properties that make it potentially dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment. The universe of hazardous wastes is large and diverse, and hazardous waste is generated from many sources, including as byproducts of manufacturing processes, discarded used materials, or discarded unused commercial products, such as cleaning fluids (solvents) or pesticides. Hazardous waste comes in various forms, including liquids, solids gases, and sludges.
Hazardous Waste Control Law (HWCL): There are two sets of waste classification statutes (laws) and regulations used in California for hazardous waste: federal and state. Federal hazardous waste regulations adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) are implemented under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, also known as RCRA.
RCRA, passed in 1976, gives the US EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from the "cradle-to-grave," which includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste. To achieve this, US EPA develops regulations, guidance, and policies that ensure the safe management and cleanup of solid and hazardous waste, and programs that encourage source reduction and beneficial reuse.
California laws governing hazardous waste are outlined in state statute, under the HWCL, which closely parallels RCRA in regulating the identification, generation, storage, transportation, treatment, and disposal of hazardous waste in the state. The primary authority for enforcement of HWCL and RCRA lies with DTSC. The state of California is granted authorization by the US EPA to administer regulations under both RCRA and the state’s HWCL.
Enforcement of the HWCL: The stated findings of existing HWCL law indicate that it was created in response to increasing quantities of hazardous waste being generated in the state, which leads to long–term threats to public health and to air and water quality and creates immense costs for the state as a result of improper hazardous waste handling and disposal practices. To protect public health and the environment and to conserve natural resources, the Legislature found it was in the public interest to establish regulations and incentives that ensure that generators of hazardous waste employ technology and management practices for the safe handling, treatment, recycling, and destruction of their hazardous wastes prior to disposal. In order to protect the public and particularly the communities where hazardous wastes are treated and disposed, the Legislature further found it essential to assure full compensation of all people injured or damaged by hazardous wastes by, in part, establishing mechanisms for establishing liability to achieve this result.
According to the Senate Judiciary Committee analysis, civil actions to enforce the HWCL were initially authorized to be brought, at the request of DTSC, by the Attorney General, district attorneys, and city attorneys. However, 30 years ago, AB 1934 (Richter, Chapter 44, Statutes of 1993) sought to bolster enforcement of hazardous waste laws by adding authority for county counsel (referred to in statute as "county attorney") to bring civil actions to enforce the HWCL.
Currently, the HWCL authorizes the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of DTSC or a CUPA, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the processing or disposal of hazardous wastes. The legislation that extended this authority to county counsel, AB 1934, did not extend it throughout the provisions of the HWCL.
This bill: This bill seeks to make enforcement uniform throughout the HWCL by including county counsel throughout the enforcement provisions of the HWCL. It also adds provisions to the HWCL requiring the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of filing a civil enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
The Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act: The Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act (APSA) was established to protect public health, the environment, and groundwater from potential contamination or adverse effects associated with unintended releases from the aboveground storage of petroleum-based hazardous materials and wastes. APSA regulates facilities with aggregate aboveground petroleum storage capacities of 1,320 gallons or more, which include aboveground storage containers or tanks with petroleum storage capacities of 55 gallons or greater. These facilities typically include large petroleum tank facilities, aboveground fuel tank stations, and vehicle repair shops with aboveground petroleum storage tanks. The CAL FIRE-Office of the State Fire Marshal is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the APSA program element of the CUPA program.
Enforcement of the ASPA Program: Current statue authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce the requirements of the ASPA.
This bill: This bill extends enforcement authority of violations of ASPA to the county counsel, and adds provisions to the ASPA that require the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of filing an enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
The Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program: The statewide UST Program was established to protect public health and safety and the environment from releases of petroleum and other hazardous substances from USTs. An UST is defined by law as "any one or combination of tanks, including pipes connected thereto, that is used for the storage of hazardous substances and that is substantially or totally beneath the surface of the ground" (HSC § 25281 (y)(1)). The UST Program is implemented by the State Water Resources Control Board, the Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and the CUPAs.
Enforcement of UST Program requirements: Current statute authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce the requirements of the UST law.
This bill: This bill extends enforcement authority of violations of UST law to the county counsel, and adds provisions to UST law that require the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of filing an enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
Business and Area Plans: The Hazardous Materials Business Plan (HMBP) program requires a business that handles a hazardous material at or above a specified threshold to establish and implement a HMBP. An HMBP also meets the requirements of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, which requires emergency planning and reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals for federal, state, and local government, tribes, and industry. HMBPs provide CUPAs, local fire agencies, and the public with information on hazardous materials handled at businesses in order to prevent or mitigate harm to public health and safety and to the environment caused by a release or threatened release of hazardous materials into the workplace or environment. The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) oversees implementation of the HMBP program at the state level. CUPAs and Participating Agencies implement the program at the local level and are responsible for enforcement and administration in their respective jurisdictions.
As part of the HMBP program, CUPAs and/or Participating Agencies, in coordination with local emergency response agencies, are responsible for developing an Area Plan to establish an emergency response plan in the event of a release or threatened release of a hazardous material within their jurisdiction. The Area Plan is used to respond to, and to minimize impacts from, a release or threatened release of hazardous materials within a city or county.
Enforcement of Business and Area Plan law requirements: Current statute authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce the requirements of the Business and Area Plan law.
This bill: This bill extends enforcement authority of violations of Business and Area Plan law to county counsels, and adds provisions to Business and Area Plan law that require the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of filing an enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
Medical waste: To protect the public and the environment from potentially infectious disease causing agents, the Medical Waste Management Program (MWMP) regulates the generation, handling, storage, treatment, and disposal of medical waste. The MWMP permits and inspects all medical waste offsite treatment facilities and medical waste transfer stations. The MWMP also acts as the local enforcement agency in a number of local jurisdictions that elected to have the State implement the large quantity generator inspection programs for medical waste management. The MWMP is implemented by the Environmental Management Branch of the California Department of Public Health as part of its oversight of the implementation of the Medical Waste Management Act.
Enforcement of the MWMA: Current statute authorizes an enforcement agency, district attorney, city attorney, or city prosecutor to bring an action to enjoin the violation, or threatened violation, of the MWMA.
This bill: This bill extends enforcement authority for violations of the MWMA to the county counsel, and adds provisions to MWMA law that require the county counsel or district attorney, within 7 days of filing an enforcement action, to give notice to the district attorney or county counsel, as applicable, of the related county.
Recent related legislation extending authority to the county counsel: The Legislature has repeatedly extended the authority of county counsel in California to ensure the enforcement of laws affecting consumers and health and safety. Recently, SB 461 (Cortese, Chapter 140, Statutes of 2021) extended the authority to independently bring cases under the Unfair Competition Law to the county counsel of any county within which a city has a population in excess of 750,000. Currently this provides authority to county counsel in three California counties, those in San Diego County, Los Angeles County, and Santa Clara County, as the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Jose have populations over 750,000. Last year, AB 2766 (Maienschein, Chapter 698, Statutes of 2022) granted certain city attorneys and county counsel the power to conduct investigations, including the ability to issue pre-litigation subpoenas, when they reasonably believe there has been a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law. The sponsors of SB 642 point to about 20 other bills introduced this year that extend enforcement authority to county counsel and district attorneys.
This bill: This bill similarly provides another tool to enforce violations of specified environmental and public health protection laws. Providing county counsel additional enforcement authority over these laws will enable localities to more robustly address hazardous and medical waste violations in their communities.
Arguments in support: The cosponsors of the bill, the County of Santa Clara, Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), and CSAC, write in support of the bill,
"This bill will provide county counsels with complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations, as originally intended by the Legislature. Health and Safety Code section 25182 provides that "[e]very civil action brought under [the Hazardous Waste Control Act] at the request of the [Department of Toxic Substances Control] or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California . . ." The legislative history of this provision specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by noncompliant businesses.
However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes, including provisions governing hazardous waste prosecutions, the Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program, the Underground Storage Tank Program, and the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program. As a result, county counsels remain a largely untapped tool in the enforcement of hazardous waste laws. In counties where district attorneys have limited resources and large criminal caseloads—particularly in unincorporated areas outside of city attorney jurisdiction— there may be insufficient recourse for civil enforcement of recalcitrant violators. This places at risk the public, especially low-income areas and communities of color, and gives an unfair business advantage to chronically non-compliant actors.
SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations."
Arguments in opposition: The California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) writes in an "oppose unless amended" position to the bill,
"The California District Attorneys Association (CDAA) must respectfully oppose your SB 642 (Cortese) unless amended to: (1) limit applicability to County Counsels for counties that contain a city with a population of more than 750,000 (currently Santa Clara, San Diego and Los Angeles Counties); and (2) allow those County Counsels to bring their own actions only after they provide the local county DA with at least 60 days’ notice of the alleged violation and the local county DA has not already commenced its own action against that alleged violation, except for in cases where a [temporary restraining order] is sought at the time a complaint is filed, in which case only notice is required.
While CDAA is supportive of the goal of ensuring enforcement of all environment violations involving hazardous materials, we also believe it is important that these laws are enforced consistently throughout the state, and whenever possible by prosecutors who are directly accountable to voters, are governed by heightened prosecutorial ethical standards, and who do not use contingency fee arrangements that could undermine their neutrality. Our amendments would ensure these enforcement actions are most often conducted by prosecutors, but also allow large counties with adequate resources to fill gaps in enforcement to better protect their communities from the unlawful transportation and disposal of hazardous materials."
Double referral: Should the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee approve this bill, it will be re-referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Previous related legislation:
- AB 2766 (Maienschein, Chapter 698, Statutes of 2022). Grants certain city attorneys and county counsel the power to conduct investigations, including the ability to issue pre-litigation subpoenas, when they reasonably believe there has been a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law.
- SB 461 (Cortese, Chapter 140, Statutes of 2021). Authorizes a county counsel of a county within which a city has a population in excess of 750,000 people to bring an action under California’s Unfair Competition Law.
- AB 1934 (Richter, Chapter 44, Statutes of 1993). Provides county attorneys with civil enforcement authority under the HWCL.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California State Association of Counties (CSAC) (Co-Sponsor)
County of Santa Clara (Co-Sponsor)
Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) (Co-Sponsor)
California Environmental Voters (formerly CLCV)
County of Monterey
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
Solano County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties Caucus
Opposition
California District Attorneys Association
Analysis Prepared by: Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. /
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | SB 642 |
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 642
Author: Cortese (D)
Introduced: 2/16/23
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 5-0, 3/29/23
AYES: Allen, Gonzalez, Hurtado, Menjivar, Skinner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dahle, Nguyen
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 10-0, 4/11/23
AYES: Umberg, Wilk, Allen, Ashby, Durazo, Laird, McGuire, Min, Niello, Wiener
NO VOTE RECORDED: Stern
SUBJECT: Hazardous materials: enforcement: county counsel
SOURCE: California State Association of Counties
County of Santa Clara
Rural County Representatives of California
DIGEST: This bill provides county counsels with civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations related to business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
- Regulates, under Hazardous Waste Control Law, the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) § 25100 et seq)
- Authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) or a unified program agency, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (HSC § 25181)
- Specifies that every civil action brought at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated. (HSC § 25182)
- Requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC § 25500 to 25519)
- Regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC § 25280 to 25299)
This bill:
- Authorizes county counsels to bring an action seeking an injunction for a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
- Specifies that a county counsel, at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency, is authorized to bring a civil action to enforce laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
- Authorizes county counsels to bring an action to enforce the requirements related to the business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
- Makes various conforming changes.
Background
- California Hazardous Waste Control Law (HWCL). HWCL is the state's program that implements and enforces federal hazardous waste law in California and directs DTSC to oversee and implement the state's HWCL. Any person who stores, treats, or disposes of hazardous waste must obtain a permit from DTSC. HWCL covers the entire management of hazardous waste, from the point the hazardous waste is generated, to management, transportation, and ultimately disposal into a state or federal authorized facility.
- Enforcement of Hazardous Waste Control Laws. The Hazardous Waste Control Act governs the handling, treatment, recycling, and destruction of hazardous waste and provides criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance. Civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations provides that every civil action brought under the Act at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California.
While statute specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws, it did not make conforming changes to several related statutes, including provisions governing hazardous waste prosecutions, the Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program, the Underground Storage Tank Program, the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program, and Medical Waste program. SB 642 would remedy this issue by making conforming changes to the above-mentioned statutes, thereby providing county counsels with complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
Comments
- Purpose of Bill. According to the author, “Hazardous waste violations and pollution directly impact the safety of the public, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. While city attorneys, district attorneys, and the Attorney General are authorized to prosecute hazardous waste violations, county counsels have incomplete enforcement authority.
“To augment civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations, the Legislature passed AB 1934 which specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by non-compliant businesses. However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes. SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
“This is similar to recently enacted bills that gave and augmented county counsel enforcement powers under the Unfair Competition Law—SB 461 (Cortese, 2021) and AB 2766 (Maienschein, 2022)—and reflects the growing role of county counsels in enforcing important public rights. This bill provides another avenue to ensure more consistent enforcement statewide so that Californians can have the clean environment they deserve.”
- More Tools for the Toolbox. As noted above, existing law provides that civil actions under the HWCL may be brought by the city attorney, district attorney, Attorney General, or the “county attorney,” including county counsels. However, several related enforcement statutes necessary for fully exercising this authority do not apply to county counsels. As a result, county counsels have jurisdiction in most hazardous waste violation cases but generally do not bring suit because of their incomplete enforcement authority.
This bill provides county counsel’s offices with the tools necessary to effectively prosecute polluters and protect public health and the environment while also removing a potentially unfair business advantage from those violating environmental laws.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 2766 (Maienschein, Chapter 698, Statutes of 2022) granted certain city attorneys and county counsel the power to conduct investigations, including the ability to issue pre-litigation subpoenas, when they reasonably believe there has been a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law.
SB 461 (Cortese, Chapter 461, Statutes of 2021) authorized a county counsel of a county within which a city has a population in excess of 750,000 people to bring an action under California’s Unfair Competition Law.
AB 1934 (Richter, Chapter 44, Statutes of 1993) provided county attorneys civil enforcement authority under the HWCL.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 4/13/23)
California State Association of Counties (co-source)
County of Santa Clara (co-source)
Rural County Representatives of California (co-source)
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California Environmental Voters
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
County of Monterey
Urban Counties of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified 4/13/23)
California District Attorneys Association
Prepared by: Gabrielle Meindl / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
4/14/23 13:24:43
**** END ****
Senator Thomas Umberg, Chair
2023-2024 Regular Session
Bill No: SB 642 (Author:Cortese)
Version: February 16, 2023
Hearing Date: April 11, 2023
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
Consultant: CK
SUBJECT
Hazardous materials: enforcement: county counsel
DIGEST
This bill extends enforcement authority to the county counsel for violations of various laws governing hazardous materials.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Hazardous Waste Control law (HWCL) establishes the state’s program that implements and enforces federal hazardous waste law in California and empowers the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to oversee and implement that law. This includes guidelines for who can store, treat, or dispose of hazardous waste and covers the entire management of hazardous waste, from the point the hazardous waste is generated, to management, transportation, and ultimately disposal into a state or federal authorized facility.
The law provides for criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance. The HWCL authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of DTSC or a CUPA, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. The legislation that extended this authority to county counsel failed to extend it to other laws in the hazardous materials context. Therefore, county counsel are not authorized to bring civil actions to enforce provisions governing the Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program, the Underground Storage Tank Program, the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program, and the Medical Waste program. This bill makes enforcement uniform throughout this area of the law, by extending civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations to county counsel.
The bill is co-sponsored by the County of Santa Clara, the Rural County Representatives of California, and the California State Association of Counties. It is supported by various groups, including California Environmental Voters and the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment. It is opposed by the California District Attorneys Association. This bill passed out of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on a vote of 5-0.
PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE LAW
Existing law:
- Establishes the Hazardous Waste Control Law, which regulates the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (Health and Saf. Code § 25100 et seq.)
- Specifies that every civil action brought at the request of Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) or a certified unified program agency (CUPA) is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated. (Health and Saf. Code § 25182.)
- Authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of DTSC or a CUPA, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (Health and Saf. Code § 25181.)
- Requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (Health and Saf. Code §§ 25500 -25519.)
- Regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (Health and Saf. Code §§ 25280- 25299.)
This bill additionally authorizes county counsel to enforce the above laws.
COMMENTS
- Protecting Californians from hazardous waste
One critical statutory framework for protecting public health from hazardous materials is the Hazardous Waste Control law (HWCL).[1] The stated findings of the law indicate it was created in response to increasing quantities of hazardous wastes being generated in the state, which leads to long–term threats to public health and to air and water quality and creates immense costs for the state as a result of improper hazardous waste handling and disposal practices. Therefore, in order to protect the public health and the environment and to conserve natural resources, the Legislature found it was in the public interest to establish regulations and incentives which ensure that the generators of hazardous waste employ technology and management practices for the safe handling, treatment, recycling, and destruction of their hazardous wastes prior to disposal. In order to protect the public and particularly the communities where hazardous wastes are treated and disposed, the Legislature further found it essential to assure full compensation of all people injured or damaged by hazardous wastes by, in part, establishing mechanisms for establishing liability to achieve this result. Initially, civil actions to enforce the HWCL were authorized to be brought, at the request of the department, by the Attorney General, district attorneys, and city attorneys.
However, 30 years ago, AB 1934 (Richter, Ch. 44, Stats. 1993) sought to bolster enforcement of hazardous waste laws. It added authority for county counsel (referred to in statute as “county attorney”) to bring civil actions to enforce the HWCL.
The author argues that the intent of the Legislature in passing AB 1934 was to broadly increase enforcement of the state’s hazardous waste violations. But, because the law failed to explicitly add county counsel to these other laws, “county counsels remain a largely untapped tool in the enforcement of hazardous waste laws.” The author argues this issue is particularly acute in counties where “district attorneys have limited resources and large criminal caseloads—particularly in unincorporated areas outside of city attorney jurisdiction” as there may be “insufficient recourse for civil enforcement of recalcitrant violators.” This dearth of adequate enforcement places the public at risk, “especially low-income areas and communities of color, and gives an unfair business advantage to chronically non-compliant actors.”
In response, the bill adds enforcement authority for county counsel to several other major hazardous waste control laws. These include laws governing medical waste requirements, underground storage tanks, and business and area plans.
The bill is co-sponsored by the County of Santa Clara, the Rural County Representatives of California, and the California State Association of Counties. They assert:
This bill will provide county counsels with complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations, as originally intended by the Legislature. Health and Safety Code section 25182 provides that “[e]very civil action brought under [the Hazardous Waste Control Act] at the request of the [Department of Toxic Substances Control] or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California . . .” The legislative history of this provision specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by noncompliant businesses.
However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes, including provisions governing hazardous waste prosecutions, the Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program, the Underground Storage Tank Program, and the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program. . . . SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
The Legislature has repeatedly extended the authority of county counsel in California to ensure enforcement of laws affecting consumers and health and safety. Recently, SB 461 (Cortese, Ch. 140, Stats. 2021) extended the authority to bring cases under the Unfair Competition Law independently to county counsel of any county within which a city has a population in excess of 750,000. Currently this provides authority to three county counsel in California, those in San Diego County, Los Angeles County, and Santa Clara County, as the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Jose have populations over 750,000.
Just last year, AB 2766 (Maienschein, Ch. 698, Stats. 2022) granted certain city attorneys and county counsel the power to conduct investigations, including the ability to issue pre-litigation subpoenas, when they reasonably believe there has been a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law.
This bill similarly expands the pool of resources committed to advancing the public interest. Affording these public attorneys this additional authority will enable them to more robustly address hazardous waste violations in their communities.
- Stakeholder positions
According to the author:
Hazardous waste violations and pollution directly impact the safety of the public, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. While city attorneys, district attorneys, and the Attorney General are authorized to prosecute hazardous waste violations, county counsels have incomplete enforcement authority.
To augment civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations, the Legislature passed AB 1934 (Richter, 1993) which specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by non-compliant businesses.
However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes. SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
This is similar to recently enacted bills that gave and augmented county counsel enforcement powers under the Unfair Competition Law—SB 461 (Cortese, 2021) and AB 2766 (Maienschein, 2022)—and reflects the growing role of county counsels in enforcing important public rights.
This bill provides another avenue to ensure more consistent enforcement statewide so that Californians can have the clean environment they deserve.
The Urban Counties of California write in support:
Granting county counsel the authority to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws would yield several important benefits. It would bring new capacity to expand enforcement of hazardous waste laws and thereby ameliorate environmental dangers as well as help address chronically non-compliant violators. Several urban counties have developed specialized expertise and committed considerable resources to affirmative litigation. SB 642 would position these jurisdictions to more fully address enforcement gaps and enforce important public rights.
Writing in an oppose-unless-amended position is the California District Attorneys Association (CDAA):
While CDAA is supportive of the goal of ensuring enforcement of all environment violations involving hazardous materials, we also believe it is important that these laws are enforced consistently throughout the state, and whenever possibly by prosecutors who are directly accountable to voters, are governed by heightened prosecutorial ethical standards, and who do not use contingency fee arrangements that could undermine their neutrality. Our amendments would ensure these enforcement actions are most often conducted by prosecutors, but also allow large counties with adequate resources to fill gaps in enforcement to better protect their communities from the unlawful transportation and disposal of hazardous materials.
Their proposed amendments seek to limit the expansion of enforcement to only three county counsel, those for counties within which there is a city with a population of more than 750,000. Further limiting this enforcement authority, they also seek a provision that only allows those county counsel to bring action after they “provide the local county DA with at least 60 days’ notice of the alleged violation and the local county DA has not already commenced its own action against that alleged violation.”
Although CDAA questions the consistency of enforcement and training level if county counsel are authorized to enforce these important laws, the relevant statutes are already subject to enforcement by the Attorney General, district attorneys from all 58 counties, as well as every city attorney in California, regardless of the size of the jurisdiction. CDAA points to the important ethical standards of prosecutors as a separating factor in whether county counsel should similarly be authorized to enforce these laws. However, it should be noted that the Environmental Circuit Prosecutor Project, intended to support uniform enforcement of environmental laws and regulations including training on the prosecution of environmental violations, was recently halted after it was discovered that CDAA, the lead entity on the project, misappropriated environmental enforcement funds:
The California District Attorneys Association, a statewide advocacy group for prosecutors, siphoned nearly $3 million that was supposed to be used for public-advocacy litigation and used it to fund training and lobbying, according to a recent audit of the group’s finances.
The audit, performed by the San Francisco accounting firm Hemming Morse, found that the association had a practice of “borrowing” funds obtained from workplace and environmental settlements since 2004, “during periods when CDAA experienced cash flow shortfalls.” The agency repeatedly padded its general fund with money earmarked for specific purposes, the audit found.
The practice mostly depleted the group’s accounts established to train prosecutors and retain specialized outside attorneys that county prosecutors hire for help handling complex cases involving environmental violations. Those funds are critical for smaller, rural counties, where district attorneys lack the resources to take on large corporations, like petroleum companies, many of which have huge legal teams tasked with beating back environmental lawsuits.[2]
In reforming the project discussed above, the Legislature stated its finding that “[l]ocal and state enforcement agencies can play an increasingly important role in protecting human health, the environment, and the state’s economy through greater involvement in the enforcement of environmental laws.”[3] It specifically added “city and county counsel” to the list of entities that the state should focus on training up to enforce environmental laws.
While some have advocated for a requirement that district attorneys be provided notice before an action can be brought by county counsel, this seems incongruous with the current enforcement infrastructure. The statutory scheme places authority in DTSC and the CUPAs to select the public prosecutor it will work with in a given case. Requiring notice before the entity chosen by DTSC or a CUPA can enforce the law overrides this process, limiting the discretion of the entities best suited to make enforcement decisions.
SUPPORT
California State Association of Counties (co-sponsor)
County of Santa Clara (co-sponsor)
Rural County Representatives of California (co-sponsor)
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
California Environmental Voters (formerly CLCV)
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
County of Monterey
Urban Counties of California
OPPOSITION
California District Attorneys Association
Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office
RELATED LEGISLATION
Pending Legislation: SB 806 (Archuleta, 2023) extends enforcement authority of trash receptacle reflector law to city attorney and city counsel. This bill is currently in this Committee.
Prior Legislation:
AB 2766 (Maienschein, Ch. 698, Stats. 2022) See Comment 1.
SB 461 (Cortese, Ch. 140, Stats. 2021) See Comment 1.
AB 3020 (Gloria, Ch. 75, Stats. 2020) adjusted the distribution of civil penalties recovered by the City Attorney of San Diego in UCL actions.
AB 1934 (Richter, Ch. 44, Stats. 1993) See Comment 1.
PRIOR VOTES:
Senate Environmental Quality Committee (Ayes 5, Noes 0)
**************
Health & Saf. Code § 25100 et seq. ↑
Megan Cassidy, Audit finds state district attorney group misspent millions allocated for environmental cases (January 15, 2021) San Francisco Chronicle, https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Audit-finds-state-district-attorney-group-15868701.php [as of Mar. 27, 2023]. ↑
SB 157 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Ch. 83, Stats. 2021). ↑
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Allen, Chair
2023 - 2024 Regular
Bill No: SB 642
Author: | Cortese | ||
Version: | 2/16/2023 | Hearing Date: | 3/29/2023 |
Urgency: | No | Fiscal: | No |
Consultant: | Gabrielle Meindl | ||
SUBJECT: Hazardous materials: enforcement: county counsel.
DIGEST: This bill provides county counsels with civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations related to business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
- Under Hazardous Waste Control Law, regulates the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) § 25100 et seq)
- Authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General, at the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) or a unified program agency, to bring an action seeking to enjoin a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials. (HSC § 25181)
- Specifies that every civil action brought at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency is to be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California and that those actions relating to the same processing or disposal of hazardous waste may be joined or consolidated. (HSC § 25182)
- Requires certain businesses that handle hazardous materials to prepare a business and area plan relating to the handling and release or threatened release of hazardous materials and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC § 25500 to 25519)
- Regulates the operation of underground storage tanks and authorizes the city attorney, district attorney, and the Attorney General to bring an action to enforce these requirements. (HSC § 25280 to 25299)
This bill:
- Authorizes county counsels to bring an action seeking an injunction for a violation of laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
- Specifies that a county counsel, at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency, is authorized to bring a civil action to enforce laws and regulations governing the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous materials.
- Authorizes county counsels to bring an action to enforce the requirements related to the business and area plans, underground storage tanks, aboveground storage tanks, or medical waste.
- Makes various conforming changes.
Background
- California Hazardous Waste Control Law (HWCL). HWCL is the state's program that implements and enforces federal hazardous waste law in California and directs DTSC to oversee and implement the state's HWCL. Any person who stores, treats, or disposes of hazardous waste must obtain a permit from DTSC. HWCL covers the entire management of hazardous waste, from the point the hazardous waste is generated, to management, transportation, and ultimately disposal into a state or federal authorized facility.
- Enforcement of Hazardous Waste Control Laws. The Hazardous Waste Control Act governs the handling, treatment, recycling, and destruction of hazardous waste and provides criminal and civil penalties for noncompliance. Civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations provides that every civil action brought under the Act at the request of DTSC or a unified program agency shall be brought by the city attorney, the county attorney, the district attorney, or the Attorney General in the name of the people of the State of California.
While statute specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws, it did not make conforming changes to several related statutes, including provisions governing hazardous waste prosecutions, the Hazardous Materials Business Plan Program, the Underground Storage Tank Program, the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Program, and Medical Waste program. SB 642 would remedy this issue by making conforming changes to the above-mentioned statutes, thereby providing county counsels with complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
Comments
- Purpose of Bill. According to the author, “Hazardous waste violations and pollution directly impact the safety of the public, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. While city attorneys, district attorneys, and the Attorney General are authorized to prosecute hazardous waste violations, county counsels have incomplete enforcement authority.
“To augment civil enforcement of hazardous waste violations, the Legislature passed AB 1934 which specifically mentions the intent to authorize county counsels to prosecute hazardous waste regulatory laws to help ensure adequate enforcement and eliminate unfair competitive advantages enjoyed by non-compliant businesses. However, the Legislature did not make conforming changes to several related statutes. SB 642 seeks to follow through on the Legislature’s intent to add another hazardous waste enforcement option by granting county counsels complete civil enforcement authority over hazardous waste violations.
“This is similar to recently enacted bills that gave and augmented county counsel enforcement powers under the Unfair Competition Law—SB 461 (Cortese, 2021) and AB 2766 (Maienschein, 2022)—and reflects the growing role of county counsels in enforcing important public rights. This bill provides another avenue to ensure more consistent enforcement statewide so that Californians can have the clean environment they deserve.”
- More Tools for the Toolbox. As noted above, existing law provides that civil actions under the HWCL may be brought by the city attorney, district attorney, Attorney General, or the “county attorney,” including county counsels. However, several related enforcement statutes necessary for fully exercising this authority do not apply to county counsels. As a result, county counsels have jurisdiction in most hazardous waste violation cases but generally do not bring suit because of their incomplete enforcement authority.
This bill would provide county counsel’s offices with the tools necessary to effectively prosecute polluters and protect public health and the environment while also removing a potentially unfair business advantage from those violating environmental laws.
DOUBLE REFERRAL:
If this measure is approved by the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, the do pass motion must include the action to re-refer the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 2766 (Maienschein, Chapter 698, Statutes of 2022) grants certain city attorneys and county counsel the power to conduct investigations, including the ability to issue pre-litigation subpoenas, when they reasonably believe there has been a violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law.
SB 461 (Cortese, Chapter 461, Statutes of 2021) authorizes a county counsel of a county within which a city has a population in excess of 750,000 people to bring an action under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
AB 1934 (Richter, Chapter 44, Statutes of 1993) provides county attorneys civil enforcement authority under the HWCL.
SOURCE:
County of Santa Clara
Rural County Representatives of California
California State Association of Counties
SUPPORT:
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA)
California Environmental Voters (formerly Clcv)
California State Association of Counties
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
County of Monterey
County of Santa Clara
Rural County Representatives of California
Urban Counties of California (UCC)
OPPOSITION:
California District Attorneys Association
-- END --
Discussed in Hearing
Senate Floor
Assembly Floor
Assembly Standing Committee on Judiciary
Assembly Standing Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials
Senate Floor
Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary
Senate Standing Committee on Environmental Quality
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):