2005 California Health and Safety Code Sections 25310-25327 Article 2. Definitions

25310.  The definitions set forth in this article shall govern the
interpretation of this chapter.  Unless the context requires
otherwise and except as provided in this article, the definitions
contained in Section 101 of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601)
shall apply to the terms used in this chapter.
25310.5.  "Agency" means the California Environmental Protection
Agency.
25311.  "Contract competitor" means any person competing for a state
contract pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 25358.3.
25312.  "Department" means the Department of Toxic Substances
Control.
25313.  "Director" means the Director of Toxic Substances Control.
25314.  "Feasibility study" means the identification and evaluation
of technically feasible and effective remedial action alternatives to
protect public health and the environment, at a hazardous substance
release site, or other activities deemed necessary by the department
for the development of a remedial action plan.
25315.  "Federal act" means the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as amended (42
U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq.).
25316.  "Hazardous substance" means:
   (a) Any substance designated pursuant to Section 1321(b)(2)(A) of
Title 33 of the United States Code.
   (b) Any element, compound, mixture, solution, or substance
designated pursuant to Section 102 of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
9602).
   (c) Any hazardous waste having the characteristics identified
under or listed  pursuant to Section 6921 of Title 42 of the United
States Code, but not including any waste the regulation of which
under the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq.) has
been suspended by act of Congress.
   (d) Any toxic pollutant listed under Section 1317(a) of Title 33
of the United States Code.
   (e) Any hazardous air pollutant listed under Section 7412 of Title
42 of the United States Code.
   (f) Any imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture with
respect to which the Administrator of the United States Environmental
Protection Agency has taken action pursuant to Section 2606 of Title
15 of the United States Code.
   (g) Any hazardous waste or extremely hazardous waste as defined by
Sections 25117 and 25115, respectively, unless expressly excluded.
25317.  "Hazardous substance" does not include:
   (a) Petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof which
is not otherwise specifically listed or designated as a hazardous
substance in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, of Section 25316,
and natural gas, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, or
synthetic gas usable for fuel (or mixtures of natural gas and such
synthetic gas), or the ash produced by a resource recovery facility
utilizing a municipal solid waste stream.
   (b) Nontoxic, nonflammable, noncorrosive stormwater runoff drained
from underground vaults, chambers, or manholes into gutters or storm
sewers.
25318.5.  "Operation and maintenance" means those activities
initiated or continued at a hazardous substance release site
following completion of a response action that are deemed necessary
by the department or regional board in order to protect public health
or safety or the environment, to maintain the effectiveness of the
response action at the site, or to achieve or maintain the response
action standards and objectives established by the final remedial
action plan or final removal action work plan applicable to the site.
25319.  "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint stock
company, business concern, corporation, including, but not limited
to, a government corporation, partnership, limited liability company,
and association.  "Person" also includes any city, county, city and
county, district, commission, the state or any department, agency, or
political subdivision thereof, any interstate body, and the United
States and its agencies and instrumentalities, to the extent
permitted by law.
25319.1.  "Phase I environmental assessment" means a preliminary
assessment of a property to determine whether there has been, or may
have been, a release of a hazardous substance based on reasonably
available information about the property and general vicinity.  A
phase I environmental assessment may include, but is not limited to,
a review of public and private records, current and historical land
uses, prior releases of a hazardous material, data base searches,
reviews of relevant files of federal, state, and local agencies,
visual and other surveys of the property and general vicinity,
interviews with current and previous owners and operators, and review
of regulatory correspondence and environmental reports.  Sampling or
testing is not required as part of a phase I environmental
assessment.
25319.5.  "Preliminary endangerment assessment" means an activity
that is performed to determine whether current or past hazardous
substance management practices have resulted in a release or
threatened release of a hazardous substance that poses a threat to
the public health or the environment and is conducted in a manner
that complies with the guidelines published by the department
entitled "Preliminary Endangerment Assessment:  Guidance Manual," or
as those guidelines may be amended by the department.  A preliminary
endangerment assessment includes all of the following activities:
   (a) Sampling and analysis of a site.
   (b) A preliminary determination of the type and extent of
hazardous material contamination of a site.
   (c) A preliminary evaluation of the risks the hazardous materials
contamination of a site may pose to public health or the environment.
25319.6.  "Regional board" means a California regional water quality
control board.
25320.  "Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring,
emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching,
dumping, or disposing into the environment.
25321.  "Release" does not include any of the following:
   (a) Any release that results in exposure to persons solely within
a workplace, with respect to a claim those exposed persons may assert
against their employer.
   (b) Emissions from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle, rolling
stock, aircraft, vessel, or pipeline pumping station engine.
   (c) Release of source, byproduct, or special nuclear material from
a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined in the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2011, et seq.), if such release is
subject to requirements with respect to financial protection
established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under Section 2210
of Title 42 of the United States Code or, for the purposes of Section
104 of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604) or any other response
action, any release of source byproduct, or special nuclear material
from any processing site designated under Section 7912(a)(1) or 7942
(a) of Title 42 of the United States Code, which sections are a part
of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978.
   (d) The normal application of fertilizer, plant growth regulants,
and pesticides.
25322.  "Remedy" or "remedial action" includes all of the following:
   (a) Those actions that are consistent with a permanent remedy,
that are taken instead of, or in addition to, removal actions in the
event of a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance
into the environment, as further defined by Section 101(24) of the
federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601(24)), except that any reference in
Section 101(24) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec.  9601(24)) to the
President, relating to determinations regarding the relocation of
residents, businesses, and community facilities shall, for the
purposes of this chapter, be deemed to be a reference to the Governor
and any other reference in that section to the President shall, for
the purposes of this chapter, be deemed a reference to the Governor,
or the director, if designated by the Governor.
   (b) Those actions that are necessary to monitor, assess, and
evaluate a release or a threatened release of a hazardous substance.
   (c) Site operation and maintenance.
25322.1.  "Remedial design" means the detailed engineering plan to
implement the remedial action alternative or initial remedial measure
approved by the department.
25322.2.  "Remedial investigation" means those actions deemed
necessary by the department to determine the full extent of a
hazardous substance release at a site, identify the public health and
environment threat posed by the release, collect data on possible
remedies, and otherwise evaluate the site for purposes of developing
a remedial action plan.
25323.  "Remove" or "removal" includes the cleanup or removal of
released hazardous substances from the environment or the taking of
other actions as may be necessary to prevent, minimize, or mitigate
damage which may otherwise result from a release or threatened
release, as further defined by Section 101(23) of the federal act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 9601(23)).
25323.1.  "Removal action work plan" means a work plan prepared or
approved by the department or a California regional water quality
control board that is developed to carry out a removal action, in an
effective manner, that is protective of the public health and safety
and the environment.  The removal action work plan shall include a
detailed engineering plan for conducting the removal action, a
description of the onsite contamination, the goals to be achieved by
the removal action, and any alternative removal options that were
considered and rejected and the basis for that rejection.
25323.3.  "Response," "respond," or "response action" have the same
meanings as defined in Section 9601(25) of the federal act (42 U.S.C.
Sec. 9601(25)).  The enforcement and oversight activities of the
department and regional board are included within the meaning of
"response," "respond," or "response action."
25323.5.  (a) (1) "Responsible party" or "liable person," for the
purposes of this chapter, means those persons described in Section
107(a) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9607(a)).
   (2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), but except as provided in
subparagraph (B), a person is not a responsible party or liable
person, for purposes of this chapter, for the reason that the person
has developed or implemented innovative investigative or innovative
remedial technology with regard to a release site, if the use of the
technology has been approved by the department for the release site
and the person would not otherwise be a responsible party or liable
person.  Upon approval of the use of the technology, the director
shall acknowledge, in writing, that, upon proper completion of the
innovative investigative or innovative remedial action at the release
site, the immunity provided by this subparagraph shall apply to the
person.
   (B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply in any of the following cases:
   (i) Conditions at the release site have deteriorated as a result
of the negligence of the person who developed or implemented the
innovative investigative or innovative remedial technology.
   (ii) The person who developed or implemented the innovative
investigative or innovative remedial technology withheld or
misrepresented information that was relevant to the potential risks
or harms of the technology.
   (iii) The person who implemented the innovative investigative or
innovative remedial technology did not follow the implementation
process approved by the department.
   (b) For the purposes of this chapter, the defenses available to a
responsible party or liable person shall be those defenses specified
in Sections 101(35) and 107(b) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Secs.
9601(35) and 9607(b)).
   (c) Any person who unknowingly transports hazardous waste to a
solid waste facility pursuant to the exemption provided in
subdivision (e) of Section 25163 shall not be considered a
responsible party for purposes of this chapter solely because of the
act of transporting the waste.  Nothing in this subdivision shall
affect the liability of this person for his or her negligent acts.
25323.9.  "Site" has the same meaning as the term "facility" is
defined by Section 101(9) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601
(9)).
25324.  (a) "State account" means the Toxic Substances Control
Account established pursuant to Section 25173.6, except as follows:
   (1) For purposes of Section 25334 and Article 7.5 (commencing with
Section 25385), "state account" means the Hazardous Substance
Account established pursuant to Section 25330.
   (2) For purposes of Section 25330.2, "state account" means the
Site Remediation Account established pursuant to Section 25337.
   (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any costs
incurred and payable from the Hazardous Substance Account, the
Hazardous Waste Control Account, or the Site Remediation Account
prior to July 1, 1998, to implement this chapter, as it read prior to
January 1, 1999, or Chapter 6.85 (commencing with Section 25396),
shall be recoverable from the liable person or persons pursuant to
Section 25360 as if the costs were incurred and payable from the
state account.
25325.  "Federally permitted release" has the same meaning as
defined in Section 101(10) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601
(10)).
25326.  "A release authorized or permitted pursuant to state law"
means any release into the environment which is authorized by
statute, ordinance, regulation, or rule of any state, regional, or
local agency or government or by any specific permit, license, or
similar authorization from such an agency, including one of the
foregoing, that recognizes a standard industry practice, including
variances obtained from the agency which allow operations for
facilities during a period of time when releases from the facilities
do not conform with relevant statutes, ordinances, regulations, or
rules.  The term includes a federally permitted release, as defined
by Section 25325, and releases that are in accordance with any court
order or consent decree.
25326.3.  "Secretary" means the Secretary for Environmental
Protection.
25326.5.  "Site cleanup evaluation" means an evaluation by the
department of the effectiveness of a removal or remedial action
conducted by a responsible party, to reduce or eliminate actual or
potential public health and environmental threats posed by a
hazardous substance release site if the action itself is not the
subject of oversight by the department.
25327.  "Tier" means a grouping of hazardous substance release sites
that require removal and remedial actions, that are listed
alphabetically, and that are of a roughly equivalent priority for
removal and remedial action.