Official Summary Text
AB 28, as amended, Schiavo.
Solid waste landfills: subsurface temperatures.
(1) The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), generally regulates the disposal, management, and recycling of solid waste, as defined. The act authorizes CalRecycle to certify a local enforcement agency and requires CalRecycle and certified local enforcement agencies to perform specified functions with regard to the regulation of solid waste management, including issuing and enforcing solid waste facility permits. The act prohibits a person from operating a solid waste facility without a solid waste facilities permit, as provided.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 charges the State Air Resources Board with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming in order to
reduce emission of greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions, as provided.
This bill would require the state board to amend its regulations on methane emissions from a municipal solid waste landfill (MSW landfill) to establish requirements for the monitoring of landfill gas temperature. The bill would require the operator of an MSW landfill to monitor landfill gas temperature in accordance with those regulations. If the gas temperature is 131 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days, and if other criteria established by CalRecycle are met or exceeded, the bill would require the operator of the MSW landfill to take specified actions, including, but not limited to, filing a corrective action plan for review by the local enforcement agency, as defined, and
the department. If the gas temperature is 146 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days, and if other criteria established by CalRecycle are met or exceeded, the bill would require additional actions, including, but not limited to, the operator of the MSW landfill submitting corrective action plans to a multiagency coordination group, established by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), as specified. If the gas temperature is 170 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days, and if other criteria established by CalRecycle are met or exceeded, the bill would require additional actions, as specified. The bill would require CalRecycle to establish the other criteria by emergency regulation.
If an operator of an MSW landfill fails to provide notice of a sustained gas temperature by the specified due date, the
bill would authorize CalRecycle or a local enforcement agency to impose a penalty of $10,000 per day. The bill would require CalRecycle or a local enforcement agency to impose a penalty not to exceed $1,000,000 for each week that the gas temperature is 170 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days, if specified criteria are met or exceeded. The bill would require all penalties to be deposited into the Landfill Subsurface Fire Mitigation Account, which the bill would create, to be used upon appropriation by the Legislature to mitigate harm to a person or community adversely affected by a solid waste landfill with a gas temperature of 131 degrees Fahrenheit or higher for longer than 3 consecutive monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days. The bill would require any permit suspended pursuant to these provisions to be reinstated when, among others, gas temperature decreases to below 131 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 consecutive
monthly monitoring periods covering 60 consecutive days or longer, as specified.
This bill would make an operator of an MSW landfill liable to CalRecycle and the local enforcement agency for their costs, as specified. The bill would exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act specified requirements that the bill authorizes CalRecycle to impose on the operator of an MSW landfill. By creating new duties for a local enforcement agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing federal regulations require the owner of an MSW landfill with a gas collection and control system to operate each interior wellhead in the collection system with a landfill gas temperature less than 131 degrees Fahrenheit, unless the federal Environmental Protection Agency approves a higher operating temperature, as provided.
This bill would require an operator of an MSW landfill to provide
notice to the local enforcement agency, CalRecycle, and any other state agency designated by CalEPA regarding a request for a higher operating temperature, as specified.
This bill would require the owner or operator of a solid waste landfill to, among other things, notify the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery if a subsurface elevated temperature event occurs. The bill would define “subsurface elevated temperature event” to mean an event where subsurface gas or waste temperatures at a solid waste landfill persistently exceed 131 degrees Fahrenheit over a substantial area, as determined by the department. The bill would authorize the department to require the owner or operator of a solid waste landfill experiencing a subsurface elevated temperature event to create a corrective action plan that includes, but is not limited to, a cost assessment for fully
implementing the corrective action plan. The bill would authorize the department or a local enforcement agency to impose an administrative civil penalty of $100,000 per day for failing to comply with these requirements. The bill would require all penalties collected to be deposited into the Landfill Subsurface Fire Mitigation Community Fund, which the bill would create in the State Treasury. The bill would continuously appropriate moneys in the fund to the department to mitigate harm to a person or community affected by a subsurface elevated temperature event. The bill would authorize the department to become the enforcement agency for a solid waste landfill experiencing a subsurface elevated temperature event, as specified.
This bill would authorize the Secretary for Environmental Protection to select and coordinate a multiagency coordination group to
investigate and provide recommendations on how to achieve resolution of a subsurface elevated temperature event, as specified. The bill would require a local county public health department to conduct community health needs assessments to identify and collect information regarding the effects of a subsurface elevated temperature event on an affected community, as provided. By requiring a local county public health department and a local air pollution control district to perform additional duties, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, upon request by a multiagency coordination group, require the owner or operator of a solid waste landfill that experiences a subsurface elevated temperature event to implement an air monitoring and sampling plan, as specified. The bill would require the owner and operator of a solid waste landfill that experiences a subsurface elevated temperature event to reimburse a multiagency coordination group for all reasonable and necessary expenses
incurred, as specified. The bill would require the department to adopt regulations to implement and enforce these provisions as emergency regulations, as specified.
(2) This bill would declare its provisions to be severable.
(3)
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill
would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.