Waste discharge permits: landfills.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest text do not provide specific details about the financial implications or reimbursement procedures beyond mentioning that they will follow statutory provisions if mandated by the Commission on State Mandates.

Waste discharge permits: landfills

This law stops state agencies from issuing permits for new Class III landfills until local enforcement agencies confirm that these landfills will not disproportionately impact or harm environmental justice communities.

What This Bill Does

• Requires a local enforcement agency to hold a public hearing before issuing a permit for a new Class III landfill.
• Needs the local enforcement agency to certify that the landfill will not disproportionately impact or harm an environmental justice community.
• Asks county supervisors to review if the proposed landfill is consistent with their goals, policies, and objectives of the environmental justice element in the county’s general plan.

Who It Names or Affects

• State agencies issuing permits for landfills
• Local enforcement agencies and county boards of supervisors
• Communities near proposed landfill sites

Terms To Know

Class III landfill

A type of landfill used to dispose of nonhazardous solid waste.

Environmental justice community

A community that is disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and other hazards, typically due to its socioeconomic status or race.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify when it will take effect.
• It requires state agencies to pay local costs if the law adds new duties for counties.
• Details about how much money might be needed are unclear.

Official Summary Text

SB 594, as amended, Padilla.
Waste discharge permits: landfills.
Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards regulate water quality and prescribe waste discharge requirements in accordance with the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and the federal national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program established by the federal Clean Water Act.
The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 prohibits a regional board from issuing a waste discharge permit for a new landfill, or a lateral expansion of an existing landfill, that is used for the disposal of nonhazardous solid waste if the land has been primarily used at any time for the mining or excavation of gravel or sand, except as specified.
This bill would prohibit a state agency from issuing a
waste discharge permit for a new Class III landfill, as defined,
until after a local enforcement agency has held a separate publicly noticed hearing and has certified to the department that the landfill will not disproportionately impact or harm an environmental justice community, as defined.
unless certain conditions are met, including, but not limited to, the county board of supervisors for the county in which the proposed project resides has held a separate publicly noticed hearing to consider whether the proposed landfill is consistent with the goals, policies, and objectives of the environmental justice element of the county’s general plan. To the extent that the bill would require counties to perform additional duties related to application for a new Class III landfill, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.

Current Bill Text

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