2007 California Health and Safety Code Article 5. Uses Of The State Account

CA Codes (hsc:25350-25359.7)

25350.  For response actions taken pursuant to the federal act, only
those costs for actions that are consistent with the priorities,
guidelines, criteria, and regulations contained in the national
contingency plan, as revised and republished pursuant to Section 105
of the federal act (42 U.S.C.  Sec. 9605), shall qualify for
appropriation by the Legislature and expenditure by the director
pursuant to Sections 25351, 25352, and 25354.  For response actions
not taken pursuant to the federal act or for response actions taken
that are not specifically addressed by the priorities, guidelines,
criteria, and regulations contained in the national contingency plan,
as revised and republished, the costs thereof shall also qualify for
appropriation by the Legislature and expenditure by the department
pursuant to Sections 25351, 25352, and 25354 provided they are, to
the maximum extent possible, consistent with the priorities,
guidelines, criteria, and regulations contained in the national
contingency plan for similar releases, situations, or events.  No
response actions taken pursuant to this chapter by the department or
regional or local agencies shall duplicate federal response actions.



25351.2.  (a) A city or county may initiate a removal or remedial
action for a site listed pursuant to Section 25356 in accordance with
this section. Except as provided in subdivision (d), the city or
county shall, before commencing the removal or remedial action, take
all of the following actions:
   (1) The city or county shall notify the department of the planned
removal or remedial action. Upon receiving this notification, the
department shall make a reasonable effort to notify any person
identified by the department as a potentially responsible party for
the site. If a potentially responsible party is taking the removal or
remedial action properly and in a timely fashion, or if a
potentially responsible party will commence such an action within 60
days of this notification, the city or county may not initiate a
removal or remedial action pursuant to this section.
   (2) If a potentially responsible party for the site has not taken
the action specified in paragraph (1), the city or county shall
submit the estimated cost of the removal or remedial action to the
department, which shall, within 30 days after receiving the estimate,
approve or disapprove the reasonableness of the cost estimate. If
the department disagrees with the cost estimate, the city or county
and the department shall, within 30 days, attempt to enter into an
agreement concerning the cost estimate.
   (3) The city or county shall demonstrate to the department that it
has sufficient funds to carry out the approved removal or remedial
action without taking into account any costs of the action that may
be, or have been, paid by a potentially responsible party.
   (b) If the director approves the request of the city or county to
initiate a removal or remedial action and a final remedial action
plan has been issued pursuant to Section 25356.1 for the hazardous
substance release site, the city or county shall be deemed to be
acting in place of the department for purposes of implementing the
remedial action plan pursuant to this chapter.
   (c) Upon reimbursing a city or county for the costs of a removal
or remedial action, the department shall recover these costs pursuant
to Section 25360.
   (d) In order for a city or county to be reimbursed for the costs
of a removal or remedial action incurred by the city or county from
the state account, the city or county shall obtain the approval of
the director before commencing the removal or remedial action. The
director shall grant an approval only when all actions required by
law prior to implementation of a remedial action plan have been
taken.


25351.5.  The department shall adopt any regulations necessary to
carry out its responsibilities pursuant to this chapter, including,
but not limited to, regulations governing the expenditure of, and
accounting procedures for, moneys allocated to state, regional, and
local agencies pursuant to this chapter.



25351.7.  Any treatment, storage, transfer, or disposal facility
built on the Stringfellow Quarry Class I Hazardous Waste Disposal
Site, that was built for the purpose of a remedial or removal action
at that site, shall only be used to treat, store, transfer, or
dispose of hazardous substances removed from that site.



25351.8.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including, but
not limited to, Sections 25334.5 and 25356, the department shall
place the highest priority on taking removal and remedial actions at
the Stringfellow Quarry Class I Hazardous Waste Disposal Site and
shall devote sufficient resources to accomplish the tasks required by
this section.



25352.  Money deposited in the state account may also be
appropriated by the Legislature to the department on a specific site
basis for the following purposes:
   (a) For all costs incurred in restoring, rehabilitating,
replacing, or acquiring the equivalent of, any natural resource
injured, degraded, destroyed, or lost as a result of any release of a
hazardous substance, to the extent the costs are not reimbursed
pursuant to the federal act and taking into account processes of
natural rehabilitation, restoration, and replacement.
   (b) For all costs incurred in assessing short-term and long-term
injury to, degradation or destruction of, or any loss of any natural
resource resulting from a release of a hazardous substance, to the
extent that the costs are not reimbursed pursuant to the federal act.
  No costs may be incurred for any release of a hazardous substance
from any facility or project pursuant to subdivision (a) or this
subdivision for injury, degradation, destruction, or loss of any
natural resource where the injury, degradation, destruction, or loss
was specifically identified as an irreversible and irretrievable
commitment of natural resources in an environmental impact statement
prepared under the authority of the National Environmental Policy Act
(42 U.S.C. Sec.  4321 et seq.), or was identified as a significant
environmental effect to the natural resources which cannot be avoided
in an environmental impact report prepared pursuant to the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), and a decision to grant
a permit, license, or similar authorization for any facility or
project is based upon a consideration of the significant
environmental effects to the natural resources, and the facility or
project was otherwise operating within the terms of its permit,
license, or similar authorization at the time of release.
   (c) Notwithstanding Section 25355, the Governor, or the authorized
representative of the state, shall act on behalf of the public as
trustee of the natural resources to recover costs expended pursuant
to subdivision (a) or (b).



25353.  (a) Except as provided in (b), the department may not expend
funds from the state account for a removal or remedial action with
respect to a hazardous substance release site owned or operated by
the federal government or a state or local agency at the time of
disposal to the extent that the federal government or the state or
local agency would otherwise be liable for the costs of that action,
except that the department may expend those funds, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, to oversee the carrying out of a removal or
remedial action at the site by another party.
   (b) Except as provided in subdivision (f), the department may
expend funds from the state account, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, to take a removal or remedial action at a hazardous
substance release site which was owned or operated by a local agency
at the time of release, if all of the following requirements are met:

   (1) The department has substantial evidence that a local agency is
not the only responsible party for the site.
   (2) The department has issued a cleanup order to, or entered into
an enforceable agreement with, the local agency pursuant to Section
25355.5 and has made a final determination that the local agency is
not in compliance with the order or enforceable agreement.
   (c) The department shall recover any funds expended pursuant to
subdivision (a) or (b) to the maximum possible extent pursuant to
Section 25360.
   (d) If a local agency is identified as a potentially responsible
party in a remedial action plan prepared pursuant to Section 25356.1,
and the department expends funds pursuant to this chapter to pay for
the local agency's share of the removal and remedial action, the
expenditure of these funds shall be deemed to be a loan from the
state to the local agency. If the department determines that the
local agency is not making adequate progress toward repaying the loan
made pursuant to this section, the State Board of Equalization
shall, upon notice by the department, withhold the unpaid amount of
the loan, in increments from the sales and use tax transmittals made
pursuant to Section 7204 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, to the
city or county in which the local agency is located. The State Board
of Equalization shall structure the amounts to be withheld so that
complete repayment of the loan, together with interest and
administrative charges, occurs within five years after a local agency
has been notified by the department of the amount which it owes. The
State Board of Equalization shall deposit any funds withheld
pursuant to this section into the state account.
   (e) The department may not expend funds from the state account for
the purposes specified in Section 25352 where the injury,
degradation, destruction, or loss to natural resources, or the
release of a hazardous substance from which the damages to natural
resources resulted, has occurred prior to September 25, 1981.
   (f) The department may not expend funds from the state account for
a removal or remedial action at any waste management unit owned or
operated by a local agency if it meets both of the following
conditions:
   (1) It is classified as a class III waste management unit pursuant
to Subchapter 15 (commencing with Section 2510) of Chapter 3 of
Title 23 of the California Administrative Code.
   (2) It was in operation on or after January 1, 1988.



25353.5.  (a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 12439 of the Government
Code, the Controller may not eliminate any direct or indirect
position that provides oversight and related support of remediation
and hazardous substance management at a military base, including a
closed military base, that is funded through an agreement with a
party responsible for paying the department's costs, and may not
eliminate any direct or indirect position that is funded by a federal
grant that does not require a state match funded from the General
Fund.
   (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including Section
4.10 of the Budget Act of 2003, for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 fiscal
years, the Director of Finance may not eliminate any direct or
indirect position that provides oversight and related support of
remediation and hazardous substance management at a military base,
including a closed military base, that is funded through an agreement
with a party responsible for paying the department's costs, and may
not eliminate any direct or indirect position that is funded by a
federal grant that does not require a state match funded from the
General Fund.
   (b) Neither the Controller nor the Department of Finance may
impose any hiring freeze or personal services limitations, including
any position reductions, upon any direct or indirect position of the
department that provides oversight and related support of remediation
and hazardous substance management at a military base, including a
closed military base, that is funded through an agreement with a
party responsible for paying the department's costs, or on any direct
or indirect position that is funded by a federal grant that does not
require a state match funded from the General Fund.
   (c) The Controller and Department of Finance shall exclude, from
the department's base for purposes of calculating any budget or
position reductions required by any state agency or any state law,
the specific amounts and direct or indirect positions that provide
oversight and related support of remediation and hazardous substance
management at a military base, including a closed military base, that
are funded through an agreement with a party responsible for paying
the department's costs, and shall exclude the specific amounts and
any direct or indirect positions that are funded by a federal grant
that does not require a state match funded from the General Fund.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the
Controller nor the Department of Finance may require the department
to reduce authorized positions or other appropriations for other
department programs, including personal services, to replace the
reductions precluded by subdivisions (a), (b), and (c).
   (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon the request
of the department, and upon review and approval by the Department of
Finance, the Controller shall augment any Budget Act appropriations,
except for appropriations from the General Fund, necessary to
implement this section.
   (f) (1) This section does not apply to any department
appropriation or expenditure of General Fund moneys.
   (2) This section does not limit the authority of the Department of
Finance to eliminate a position when funding for the position,
through an agreement with a party or by a federal grant, is no longer
available.



25354.  (a) There is hereby continuously appropriated from the state
account to the department the sum of one million dollars
(,000,000) for each fiscal year as a reserve account for
emergencies, notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code.
The department shall expend moneys available in the reserve account
only for the purpose of taking immediate corrective action necessary
to remedy or prevent an emergency resulting from a fire or an
explosion of, or human exposure to, hazardous substances caused by
the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance.
   (b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department
may enter into written contracts for corrective action taken or to
be taken pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may
enter into oral contracts, not to exceed ten thousand dollars
(,000) in obligation, when, in the judgment of the department,
immediate corrective action is necessary to remedy or prevent an
emergency specified in subdivision (a).
   (3) The contracts made pursuant to this subdivision, whether
written or oral, may include provisions for the rental of tools or
equipment, either with or without operators furnished, and for the
furnishing of labor and materials necessary to accomplish the work.
   (4) If the department finds that the corrective action includes
the relocation of individuals, the department may contract with those
individuals for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in moving for an
amount of not more than one thousand dollars (,000).
   (c) The department shall include in the biennial report specified
in Section 25178 an accounting of the moneys expended pursuant to
this section.  Once the appropriation made pursuant to subdivision
(a) is fully expended, the director may file a report with the
Legislature if it is in session or, if it is not in session, with the
Committee on Rules of the Assembly and the Senate as to the moneys
expended pursuant to this section.  The Legislature may appropriate
moneys from the state account, in addition to those moneys
appropriated pursuant to subdivision (a), to the department for the
purpose of taking corrective action pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (d) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the amount deposited in
the reserve account and appropriated pursuant to this section shall
not exceed one million dollars (,000,000) in any fiscal year.  On
June 30 of each year, the unencumbered balance of the reserve account
shall revert to and be deposited in the state account.



25354.5.  (a) A state or local law enforcement officer or
investigator or other law enforcement agency employee who, in the
course of an official investigation or enforcement action regarding
the manufacture of any illegal controlled substance, comes in contact
with, or is aware of, the presence of a substance that the person
suspects is a hazardous substance at a site where an illegal
controlled substance is or was manufactured, shall notify the
department for the purpose of taking removal action, as necessary, to
prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage that might otherwise result
from the release or threatened release of the hazardous substance,
except for samples required under Section 11479.5 to be kept for
evidentiary purposes.
   (b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon receipt
of a notification pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall
take removal action, as necessary, with respect to any hazardous
substance that is an illegal controlled substance, a precursor of a
controlled substance, a material intended to be used in the unlawful
manufacture of a controlled substance and any container for such a
material, a waste material from the unlawful manufacture of a
controlled substance, or any other item contaminated with a hazardous
substance used or intended to be used in the manufacture of a
controlled substance. The department may expend funds appropriated
from the Illegal Drug Lab Cleanup Account created pursuant to
subdivision (f) to pay the costs of removal actions required by this
section. The department may enter into oral contracts, not to exceed
ten thousand dollars (,000) in obligation, when, in the judgment
of the department, immediate corrective action to a hazardous
substance subject to this section is necessary to remedy or prevent
an emergency.
   (2) The department shall, as soon as the information is available,
report the location of any removal action that will be carried out
pursuant to paragraph (1), and the time that the removal action will
be carried out, to the local environmental health officer within
whose jurisdiction the removal action will take place, if the local
environmental officer does both of the following:
   (A) Requests, in writing, that the department report this
information to the local environmental health officer.
   (B) Provides the department with a single 24-hour telephone number
to which the information can be reported.
   (c) (1) For purposes of Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section
25100), Chapter 6.9.1 (commencing with Section 25400.10), or this
chapter, any person who is found to have operated a site for the
purpose of manufacturing an illegal controlled substance or a
precursor of an illegal controlled substance is the generator of any
hazardous substance at, or released from, the site that is subject to
removal action pursuant to this section.
   (2) During the removal action, for purposes of complying with the
manifest requirements in Section 25160, the department, the county
health department, the local environmental health officer, or their
designee may sign the hazardous waste manifest as the generator of
the hazardous waste. In carrying out that action, the department, the
county health department, the local environmental health officer, or
their designee shall be considered to have acted in furtherance of
their statutory responsibilities to protect the public health and
safety and the environment from the release, or threatened release,
of hazardous substances, and the department, the county health
department, the local environmental health officer, or their designee
are not responsible parties for the release or threatened release of
the hazardous substances.
   (3) The officer, investigator, or agency employee specified in
subdivision (a) is not a responsible party for the release or
threatened release of any hazardous substances at, or released from,
the site.
   (d) The department may adopt regulations to implement this section
in consultation with appropriate law enforcement and local
environmental agencies.
   (e) (1) The department shall develop sampling and analytical
methods for the collection of methamphetamine residue.
   (2) On or before October 1, 2007, the department, using guidance
developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment,
shall develop a health-based target remediation standard for
methamphetamine.
   (3) On or before October 1, 2008, the department shall, to the
extent funding is available, develop health-based target remediation
standards for iodine, methyl iodide, and phosphine.
   (4) To the extent that funding is available, the department, using
guidance developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment, may develop additional health-based target remediation
standards for additional precursors and byproducts of
methamphetamine.
   (5) On or before October 1, 2009, the department shall adopt
investigation and cleanup procedures for use in the remediation of
sites contaminated by the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine.
The procedures shall assure that contamination by the illegal
manufacturing of methamphetamine can be remediated to meet the
standards adopted pursuant to paragraphs (2) to (4), inclusive, to
protect the health and safety of all future occupants of the site.
   (6) The department shall implement this subdivision in accordance
with subdivision (d).
   (f) The Illegal Drug Lab Cleanup Account is hereby created in the
General Fund and the department may expend any money in the account,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to carry out the removal
actions required by this section and to implement subdivision (e),
including, but not limited to, funding any interagency agreement
entered into with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment to provide guidance services. The account shall be funded
by moneys appropriated directly from the General Fund.
   (g) The responsibilities assigned to the department by this
section apply only to the extent that sufficient funding is made
available for that purpose.



25355.  (a) The Governor is responsible for the coordination of all
state response actions for sites identified in Section 25356 in order
to assure the maximum use of available federal funds.
   (b) The director may initiate removal or remedial action pursuant
to this chapter unless these actions have been taken, or are being
taken properly and in a timely fashion, by any responsible party.
   (c) (1) At least 30 days before initiating removal or remedial
actions, the department shall make a reasonable effort to notify the
persons identified by the department as potentially responsible
parties and shall also publish a notification of this action in a
newspaper of general circulation pursuant to the method specified in
Section 6061 of the Government Code.  This subdivision does not apply
to actions taken pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 25358.3 or
immediate corrective actions taken pursuant to Section 25354.  A
responsible party may be held liable pursuant to this chapter whether
or not the person was given the notice specified in this
subdivision.
   (2) (A) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 25317, any
person may voluntarily enter into an enforceable agreement with the
department pursuant to this subdivision that allows removal or
remedial actions to be conducted under the oversight of the
department at sites with petroleum releases from sources other than
underground storage tanks, as defined in Section 25299.24.
   (B) If the department determines that there may be an adverse
impact to water quality as a result of a petroleum release, the
department shall notify the appropriate regional board prior to
entering into the enforceable agreement pursuant to subparagraph (A).
  The department may enter into an enforceable agreement pursuant to
subparagraph (A) unless, within 60 days of the notification provided
by the department, the regional board provides the department with a
written notice that the regional board will assume oversight
responsibility for the removal or remedial action.
   (C) Agreements entered into pursuant to this paragraph shall
provide that the party will reimburse the department for all costs
incurred including, but not limited to, oversight costs pursuant to
the enforceable agreement associated with the performance of the
removal or remedial actions and Chapter 6.66 (commencing with Section
25269).
   (d) The department shall notify the owner of the real property of
the site of a hazardous substance release within 30 days after
listing a site pursuant to Section 25356, and at least 30 days before
initiating a removal or remedial action pursuant to this chapter, by
sending the notification by certified mail to the person to whom the
real property is assessed, as shown upon the last equalized
assessment roll of the county, at the address shown on the assessment
roll.  The requirements of this subdivision do not apply to actions
taken pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 25358.3 or to immediate
corrective actions taken pursuant to Section 25354.




25355.2.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), the department
or the regional board shall require any responsible party who is
required to comply with operation and maintenance requirements as
part of a response action, to demonstrate and to maintain financial
assurance in accordance with this section.  The responsible party
shall demonstrate financial assurance prior to the time that
operation and maintenance activities are initiated and shall maintain
it throughout the period of time necessary to complete all required
operation and maintenance activities.
   (b) (1) For purposes of subdivision (a), the responsible party
shall demonstrate and maintain one or more of the financial assurance
mechanisms set forth in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of
Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

   (2) As an alternative to the requirement of paragraph (1), a
responsible party may demonstrate and maintain financial assurance by
means of a financial assurance mechanism other than those listed in
paragraph (1), if the alternative financial assurance mechanism has
been submitted to, and approved by, the department or the regional
board as being at least equivalent to the financial assurance
mechanisms specified in paragraph (1).  The department or the
regional board shall evaluate the equivalency of the proposed
alternative financial assurance mechanism principally in terms of the
certainty of the availability of funds for required operation and
maintenance activities and the amount of funds that will be made
available.  The department or the regional board shall require the
responsible party to submit any information necessary to make a
determination as to the equivalency of the proposed alternative
financial assurance mechanism.
   (c) The department or the regional board shall waive the financial
assurance required by subdivision (a) if the department or the
regional board makes one of the following determinations:
   (1) The responsible party is a small business and has demonstrated
all of the following:
   (A) The responsible party cannot qualify for any of the financial
assurance mechanisms set forth in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of
Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

   (B) The responsible party financially cannot meet the requirements
of subdivision (a) of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the
California Code of Regulations.
   (C) The responsible party is not capable of meeting the
eligibility requirements set forth in subdivision (e) of Section
66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
   (2) The responsible party is a small business and has demonstrated
that the responsible party financially is not capable of
establishing one of the financial assurance mechanisms set forth in
subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 66265.143 of Title 22
of the California Code of Regulations while at the same time
financing the operation and maintenance requirements applicable to
the site.
   (3) The responsible party is not separately required to
demonstrate and maintain a financial assurance mechanism for
operation and maintenance activities at a site because of all of the
following conditions:
   (A) The site is a multiple responsible party site.
   (B) Financial assurance that operation and maintenance activities
at the site will be carried out is demonstrated and maintained by a
financial assurance mechanism established jointly by all, or some, of
the responsible parties.
   (C) The financial assurance mechanism specified in subparagraph
(B) meets the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b).
   (4) The responsible party is a federal, state, or local government
entity.
   (d) The department or the regional board shall withdraw a waiver
granted pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (c) if the
department or the regional board determines that the responsible
party that obtained the waiver no longer meets the eligibility
requirements for the waiver.
   (e) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5 of the Government Code, on or
before January 15, 2001, the department shall report to the
Legislature all of the following:
   (1) The number of requests the department and the regional boards
have received for waivers from the financial assurance requirements
of this section during the period between May 26, 1999, and January
1, 2001.
   (2) The disposition of the requests that were received and the
reasons for granting the waivers that were allowed and rejecting the
waivers that were disallowed.
   (3) The total number of businesses or other entities that were
required by this section to demonstrate and maintain financial
assurance, the number of businesses or other entities that were able
to comply with the requirement, the number that were unable to comply
and the reasons why they could not or did not comply, and the
history of compliance with this chapter and Chapter 6.5 (commencing
with Section 25100) by responsible parties that requested waivers.
   (4) Financial assurance mechanisms other than the financial
assurance mechanisms referenced in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b)
that may be available to responsible parties.
   (f) For purposes of this section, "small business" is a business
that meets the requirements set forth in subdivision (d) of Section
14837 of the Government Code.



25355.5.  (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d),
no money shall be expended from the state account for removal or
remedial actions on any site selected for inclusion on the list
established pursuant to Section 25356, unless the department first
takes both of the following actions:
   (1) The department issues one of the following orders or enters
into the following agreement:
   (A) The department issues an order specifying a schedule for
compliance or correction pursuant to Section 25187.
   (B) The department issues an order establishing a schedule for
removing or remedying the release of a hazardous substance at the
site, or for correcting the conditions that threaten the release of a
hazardous substance. The order shall include, but is not limited to,
requiring specific dates by which necessary corrective actions shall
be taken to remove the threat of a release, or dates by which the
nature and extent of a release shall be determined and the site
adequately characterized, a remedial action plan shall be prepared,
the remedial action plan shall be submitted to the department for
approval, and a removal or remedial action shall be completed.
   (C) The department enters into an enforceable agreement with a
potentially responsible party for the site that requires the party to
take necessary corrective action to remove the threat of the
release, or to determine the nature and extent of the release and
adequately characterize the site, prepare a remedial action plan, and
complete the necessary removal or remedial actions, as required in
the approved remedial action plan.
   Any enforceable agreement entered into pursuant to this section
may provide for the execution and recording of a written instrument
that imposes an easement, covenant, restriction, or servitude, or
combination thereof, as appropriate, upon the present and future uses
of the site. The instrument shall provide that the easement,
covenant, restriction, or servitude, or combination thereof, as
appropriate, is subject to the variance or removal procedures
specified in Sections 25233 and 25234. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, an easement, covenant, restriction, or servitude,
or any combination thereof, as appropriate, executed pursuant to this
section and recorded so as to provide constructive notice runs with
the land from the date of recordation, is binding upon all of the
owners of the land, their heirs, successors, and assignees, and the
agents, employees, or lessees of the owners, heirs, successors, and
assignees, and is enforceable by the department pursuant to Article 8
(commencing with Section 25180) of Chapter 6.5.
   (2) The department determines, in writing, that the potentially
responsible party or parties for the hazardous substance release site
have not complied with all of the terms of an order issued pursuant
to subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) or an agreement entered
into pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1). Before the
department determines that a potentially responsible party is not in
compliance with the order or agreement, the department shall give the
potentially responsible party written notice of the proposed
determination and an opportunity to correct the noncompliance or show
why the order should be modified. After the department has made the
final determination that a potentially responsible party is not in
compliance with the order or agreement, the department may expend
money from the state account for a removal or remedial action.
   (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply, and money from the state
account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
for removal or remedial actions, if any of the following conditions
apply:
   (1) The department, after a reasonable effort, is unable to
identify a potential responsible party for the hazardous substance
release site.
   (2) The department determines that immediate corrective action is
necessary, as provided in Section 25354.
   (3) The director determines that removal or remedial action at a
site is necessary because there may be an imminent and substantial
endangerment to the public health or welfare or to the environment.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department may expend
funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the state account
to conduct activities necessary to verify that an uncontrolled
release of hazardous substances has occurred at a suspected hazardous
substance release site, to issue an order or enter into an
enforceable agreement pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a),
and to review, comment upon, and approve or disapprove remedial
action plans submitted by potentially responsible parties subject to
the orders or the enforceable agreement.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department may expend
funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the state account,
to provide for oversight of removal and remedial actions, or, if the
site is also listed on the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604(c)(3)),
to provide the state's share of a removal or remedial action.
   (e) A responsible party who fails, as determined by the department
in writing, to comply with an order issued pursuant to subparagraph
(A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), or to comply with all
of the terms of an enforceable agreement entered into pursuant to
subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), shall be
deemed, for purposes of subdivision (b) of Section 25355, to have
failed to take action properly and in a timely fashion with respect
to a hazardous substance release or a threatened release.



25355.6.  (a) The State Water Resources Control Board or a
California regional water quality control board that has jurisdiction
over a hazardous substance release site pursuant to Division 7
(commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code may refer the site
to the department as a candidate for listing pursuant to Section
25356. After determining that the site meets the criteria adopted
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25356, the department may
place the site on the list of sites subject to this chapter and
establish its priority ranking pursuant to Section 25356.
   (b) If a hazardous substance release site is referred to the
department and is listed pursuant to subdivision (a), the department
may expend money from the state account for removal or remedial
action at the site, upon appropriation by the Legislature, without
first issuing an order or entering into an agreement pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 25355.5, if all of the
following apply:
   (1) The State Water Resources Control Board or a California
regional water quality control board has issued either a cease and
desist order pursuant to Section 13301 of the Water Code or a cleanup
and abatement order pursuant to Section 13304 of the Water Code to
the potentially responsible party for the site.
   (2) The State Water Resources Control Board or the California
regional water quality control board has made a final finding that
the potentially responsible party has not complied with the order
issued pursuant to paragraph (1).
   (3) The State Water Resources Control Board or the California
regional water quality control board has notified the potentially
responsible party of the determination made pursuant to paragraph (2)
and that the hazardous substance release site has been referred to
the department pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (c) If a hazardous substance release site is referred to the
department pursuant to subdivision (a), and the department makes
either of the following determinations, the department shall notify
the appropriate California regional water quality control board and
the State Water Resources Control Board:
   (1) The department determines that the site does not meet the
criteria established pursuant to subdivision (a) and the site cannot
be placed, pursuant to Section 25356, on the list of sites subject to
this chapter.
   (2) The department determines that a removal or remedial action at
the site will not commence for a period of one year from the date of
listing due to a lack of funds or the low priority of the site.
   (d) If a California regional water resources control board or the
State Water Resources Control Board receives a notice pursuant to
subdivision (c), the regional board or state board may take any
further action concerning the hazardous substance release site which
the regional board or state board determines to be necessary or
feasible, and which is authorized by this chapter or Division 7
(commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code.




25355.7.  The department and the State Water Resources Control Board
concurrently shall establish policies and procedures consistent with
this chapter that the department's representatives shall follow in
overseeing and supervising the activities of responsible parties who
are carrying out the investigation of, and taking removal or remedial
actions at, hazardous substance release sites.  The policies and
procedures shall be consistent with the policies and procedures
established pursuant to Section 13307 of the Water Code, and shall
include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
   (a) The procedures the department will follow in making decisions
as to when a potentially responsible party may be required to
undertake an investigation to determine if a hazardous substance
release has occurred.
   (b) Policies for carrying out a phased, step-by-step investigation
to determine the nature and extent of possible soil and groundwater
contamination at a site.
   (c) Procedures for identifying and utilizing the most
cost-effective methods for detecting contamination and carrying out
removal or remedial actions.
   (d) Policies for determining reasonable schedules for
investigation and removal or remedial action at a site.  The policies
shall recognize the dangers to public health and the environment
posed by a release and the need to mitigate those dangers, while
taking into account, to the extent possible, the financial and
technical resources available to a responsible party.



25355.8.  (a) The department shall not agree to oversee the
preparation of, or to review, a preliminary endangerment assessment
for property if action is, or may be, necessary to address a release
or threatened release of a hazardous substance, and the department
shall not issue a letter stating that no further action is necessary
with regard to property, unless the person requesting the department
action does either of the following:
   (1) Provides the department with all of the following:
   (A) Proof of the identity of all current record owners of fee
title to the property and their mailing addresses.
   (B) Written evidence that the owners of record have been sent a
notice that describes the actions completed or proposed by the
requesting person.
   (C) An acknowledgment of the receipt of the notice required in
subparagraph (B), from the property owners or proof that the
requesting person has made reasonable efforts to deliver the notice
to the property owner and was unable to do so.
   (2) Proof of the identity of all current record owners of fee
title to the property and proof that the requesting person has made
reasonable efforts to locate the property owners and was unable to do
so.
   (b) The department shall take all reasonable steps necessary to
accommodate property owner participation in the site remediation
process and shall consider all input and recommendations received
from the owner of property which is the subject of the proposed
action.
   (c) This section only applies to instances where a person requests
the department to oversee the preparation of, or to review, a
preliminary endangerment assessment, or requests the department to
issue a letter stating that no further action is necessary with
regard to property.  Nothing in this section imposes a condition
upon, limits, or impacts in any way, the department's authority to
compel any potentially responsible party to take any action in
response to a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance
or to recover costs incurred from any potentially responsible party.




25356.  (a) (1) The department shall adopt, by regulation, criteria
for the selection of hazardous substance release sites for a response
action under this chapter.  The criteria shall take into account
pertinent factors relating to public health, safety and the
environment, which shall include, but are not necessarily limited to,
potential hazards to public health, safety or the environment, the
risk of fire or explosion, and toxic hazards, and shall also include
the criteria established pursuant to Section 105(8) of the federal
act (42 U.S.C.  Sec. 9605(8)).
   (2) The criteria adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) may include a
minimum hazard threshold, below which sites shall not be listed
pursuant to this section, if the sites are subject to the authority
of the department to order a response action, or similar action,
pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100).
   (b) (1) The department shall publish and revise, at least
annually, a listing of the hazardous substance release sites selected
for, and subject to, a response action under this chapter.  The
department shall list the sites based upon the criteria adopted
pursuant to subdivision (a) and the extent to which deferral of a
response action at a site will result, or is likely to result, in a
rapid increase in response costs at the site or in a significant
increase in risk to human health or safety or the environment.
   (2) The list of sites established pursuant to this subdivision
shall be published by the department and made available to the public
or any interested person upon request and without cost.  The
department shall list sites alphabetically within each priority tier,
as specified in subdivision (c), and shall update the list of sites
at least annually to reflect new information regarding previously
listed sites or the addition of new sites requiring response actions.

   (c) The department shall assign each site listed pursuant to
subdivision (b) to one of the following priority tiers for the
purpose of informing the public of the relative hazard of listed
sites:
   (1) "Priority tier one" shall include any site that the department
determines, using the criteria described in subdivision (b), meets
any of the following conditions:
   (A) The site may pose a known or probable threat to public health
or safety through direct human contact.
   (B) The site may pose a substantial probability of explosion or a
fire or a significant risk due to hazardous air emissions.
   (C) The site has a high potential to contaminate or to continue to
contaminate groundwater resources that are present or possible
future sources of drinking water.
   (D) There is a risk that the costs of a response action will
increase rapidly or risks to human health or safety or the
environment will increase significantly if response action is
deferred.
   (2) "Priority tier two" shall include any site that poses a
substantial but less immediate threat to public health or safety or
the environment and any site that will require a response action, but
presents only a limited and defined threat to human health or safety
or the environment.  Priority tier two may contain sites previously
listed in priority tier one if the department determines that direct
threats to human health or safety have been removed and if physical
deterioration of the site has been stabilized so that threats to the
environment are not significantly increasing.
   (d) Hazardous substance release sites listed by the department
pursuant to subdivision (b) are subject to this chapter and all
actions carried out in response to hazardous substance releases or
threatened releases at listed sites shall comply with the procedures,
standards, and other requirements set forth in this chapter or
established pursuant to the requirements of this chapter.
   (e) (1) The adoption of the minimum hazard threshold pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the department's development and
publication of the list of sites pursuant to subdivision (b), and the
assignment of sites to a tier pursuant to subdivision (c), including
the classification of a site as within a minimum threshold pursuant
to subdivision (c), are not subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.
   (2) The adoption of the criteria used by the department pursuant
to subdivision (b) to determine the extent to which deferral of a
response action at a site will result, or is likely to result, in a
rapid increase in response costs at a site or in a significant
increase in risk to human health or safety or the environment is
subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
   (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the department shall
expend all funds appropriated  to the department for any response
action pursuant to this chapter, and shall take all response action
pursuant to this chapter, in conformance with the assignment of sites
to priority tiers pursuant to subdivision (c).
   (2) The department may expend funds appropriated for a response
action and take a response action, without conforming to the listing
of sites by tier pursuant to subdivision (c), or at a site that has
not been listed pursuant to subdivision (b), if any of the following
apply:
   (A) The department is monitoring a response action conducted by a
responsible party at a site listed pursuant to subdivision (b) or at
a site that is not listed but is being voluntarily remediated by a
responsible party or another person.
   (B) The expenditure of funds is necessary to pay for the state
share of a response action pursuant to Section 104(c)(3) of the
federal act (42 U.S.C.  Sec. 9604(c)(3)).
   (C) The department is assessing, evaluating, and characterizing
the nature and extent of a hazardous substance release at a site for
which the department has not been able to identify a responsible
party, the responsible party is defunct or insolvent, or the
responsible party is not in compliance with an order issued, or an
enforceable agreement entered into, pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 25355.5.
   (D) The department is carrying out activities pursuant to
paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (b) of, or subdivision (c) or (d)
of, Section 25355.5.
   (3) The department may, at any one time, expend funds and take a
response action at more than one site on the list established
pursuant to subdivision (b).  In addition, the department may, at any
one time, oversee the performance of any activities conducted by a
responsible party on more than one site on the list established
pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (g) This section does not require the department to characterize
every site listed pursuant to subdivision (b) before the department
begins response actions at those sites.
   (h) The department, or, if appropriate, the California regional
water quality board, is the state agency with sole responsibility for
ensuring that required action in response to a hazardous substance
release or threatened release at a listed site is carried out in
compliance with the procedures, standards, and other requirements set
forth in this chapter, and shall, as appropriate, coordinate the
involvement of interested or affected agencies in the response
action.



25356.1.  (a) For purposes of this section, "regional board" means a
California regional water quality control board and "state board"
means the State Water Resources Control Board.
   (b) Except as provided in subdivision (h), the department, or, if
appropriate, the regional board shall prepare or approve remedial
action plans for all sites listed pursuant to Section 25356.
   (c) A potentially responsible party may request the department or
the regional board, when appropriate, to prepare or approve a
remedial action plan for any site not listed pursuant to Section
25356, if the department or the regional board determines that a
removal or remedial action is required to respond to a release of a
hazardous substance. The department or the regional board shall
respond to a request to prepare or approve a remedial action plan
within 90 days of receipt. This subdivision does not affect the
authority of any regional board to issue and enforce a cleanup and
abatement order pursuant to Section 13304 of the Water Code or a
cease and desist order pursuant to Section 13301 of the Water Code.
   (d) All remedial action plans prepared or approved pursuant to
this section shall be based upon Section 25350, Subpart E of the
National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40
C.F.R. 300.400 et seq.), and any amendments thereto, and upon all of
the following factors, to the extent that these factors are
consistent with these federal regulations and do not require a less
stringent level of cleanup than these federal regulations:
   (1) Health and safety risks posed by the conditions at the site.
When considering these risks, the department or the regional board
shall consider scientific data and reports which may have a
relationship to the site.
   (2) The effect of contamination or pollution levels upon present,
future, and probable beneficial uses of contaminated, polluted, or
threatened resources.
   (3) The effect of alternative remedial action measures on the
reasonable availability of groundwater resources for present, future,
and probable beneficial uses. The department or the regional board
shall consider the extent to which remedial action measures are
available that use, as a principal element, treatment that
significantly reduces the volume, toxicity, or mobility of the
hazardous substances, as opposed to remedial actions that do not use
this treatment. The department or the regional board shall not select
remedial action measures which use offsite transport and disposal of
untreated hazardous substances or contaminated materials if
practical and cost-effective treatment technologies are available.
   (4) Site-specific characteristics, including the potential for
offsite migration of hazardous substances, the surface or subsurface
soil, and the hydrogeologic conditions, as well as preexisting
background contamination levels.
   (5) Cost-effectiveness of alternative remedial action measures. In
evaluating the cost-effectiveness of proposed alternative remedial
action measures, the department or the regional board shall consider,
to the extent possible, the total short-term and long-term costs of
these actions and shall use, as a major factor, whether the deferral
of a remedial action will result, or is likely to result, in a rapid
increase in cost or in the hazard to public health or the environment
posed by the site. Land disposal shall not be deemed the most
cost-effective measure merely on the basis of lower short-term cost.

   (6) The potential environmental impacts of alternative remedial
action measures, including, but not limited to, land disposal of the
untreated hazardous substances as opposed to treatment of the
hazardous substances to remove or reduce its volume, toxicity, or
mobility prior to disposal.
   (e) A remedial action plan prepared pursuant to this section shall
include the basis for the remedial action selected and shall include
an evaluation of each alternative considered and rejected by the
department or the regional board for a particular site. The plan
shall include an explanation for rejection of alternative remedial
actions considered but rejected. The plan shall also include an
evaluation of the consistency of the selected remedial action with
the requirements of the federal regulations and the factors specified
in subdivision (d), if those factors are not otherwise adequately
addressed through compliance with the federal regulations. The
remedial action plan shall also include a nonbinding preliminary
allocation of responsibility among all identifiable potentially
responsible parties at a particular site, including those parties
which may have been released, or may otherwise be immune, from
liability pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of law.
Before adopting a final remedial action plan, the department or the
regional board shall prepare or approve a draft remedial action plan
and shall do all of the following:
   (1) Circulate the draft plan for at least 30 days for public
comment.
   (2) Notify affected local and state agencies of the removal and
remedial actions proposed in the remedial action plan and publish a
notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by
the draft remedial action plan.  The department or the regional board
shall also post notices in the location where the proposed removal
or remedial action would be located and shall notify, by direct
mailing, the owners of property contiguous to the site addressed by
the plan, as shown in the latest equalized assessment roll.
   (3) Hold one or more meetings with the lead and responsible
agencies for the removal and remedial actions, the potentially
responsible parties for the removal and remedial actions, and the
interested public, to provide the public with the information which
is necessary to address the issues which concern the public. The
information to be provided shall include an assessment of the degree
of contamination, the characteristics of the hazardous substances, an
estimate of the time required to carry out the removal and remedial
actions, and a description of the proposed removal and remedial
actions.
   (4) Comply with Section 25358.7.
   (f) After complying with subdivision (e), the department or the
regional board shall review and consider any public comments, and
shall revise the draft plan, if appropriate. The department or the
regional board shall then issue the final remedial action plan.
   (g) (1) A potentially responsible party named in the final
remedial action plan issued by the department or the regional board
may seek judicial review of the final remedial action plan by filing
a petition for writ of mandate pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code
of Civil Procedure within 30 days after the final remedial action
plan is issued by the department or the regional board. Any other
person who has the right to seek judicial review of the final
remedial action plan by filing a petition for writ of mandate
pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall do so
within one year after the final remedial action plan is issued. No
action may be brought by a potentially responsible party to review
the final remedial action plan if the petition for writ of mandate is
not filed within 30 days of the date that the final remedial action
plan was issued. No action may be brought by any other person to
review the final remedial action plan if the petition for writ of
mandate is not filed within one year of the date that the final
remedial action plan was issued. The filing of a petition for writ of
mandate to review the final remedial action plan shall not stay any
removal or remedial action specified in the final plan.
   (2) For purposes of judicial review, the court shall uphold the
final remedial action plan if the plan is based upon substantial
evidence available to the department or the regional board, as the
case may be.
   (3) This subdivision does not prohibit the court from granting any
appropriate relief within its jurisdiction, including, but not
limited to, enjoining the expenditure of funds pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b) of Section 25385.6.
   (h) (1) This section does not require the department or a regional
board to prepare a remedial action plan if conditions present at a
site present an imminent or substantial endangerment to the public
health and safety or to the environment or, if the department, a
regional board, or a responsible party takes a removal action at a
site and the estimated cost of the removal action is less than one
million dollars (,000,000). The department or a regional board
shall prepare or approve a removal action workplan for all sites
where a nonemergency removal action is proposed and where a remedial
action plan is not required. For sites where removal actions are
planned and are projected to cost less than one million dollars
(,000,000), the department or a regional board shall make the local
community aware of the hazardous substance release site and shall
prepare, or direct the parties responsible for the removal action to
prepare, a community profile report to determine the level of public
interest in the removal action. Based on the level of expressed
interest, the department or regional board shall take appropriate
action to keep the community informed of project activity and to
provide opportunities for public comment which may include conducting
a public meeting on proposed removal actions.
   (2) A remedial action plan is not required pursuant to subdivision
(b) if the site is listed on the National Priority List by the
Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal act, if the
department or the regional board concurs with the remedy selected by
the Environmental Protection Agency's record of decision. The
department or the regional board may sign the record of decision
issued by the Environmental Protection Agency if the department or
the regional board concurs with the remedy selected.
   (3) The department may waive the requirement that a remedial
action plan meet the requirements specified in subdivision (d) if all
of the following apply:
   (A) The responsible party adequately characterizes the hazardous
substance conditions at a site listed pursuant to Section 25356.
   (B) The responsible party submits to the department, in a form
acceptable to the department, all of the following:
   (i) A description of the techniques and methods to be employed in
excavating, storing, handling, transporting, treating, and disposing
of materials from the site.
   (ii) A listing of the alternative remedial measures which were
considered by the responsible party in selecting the proposed removal
action.
   (iii) A description of methods that will be employed during the
removal action to ensure the health and safety of workers and the
public during the removal action.
   (iv) A description of prior removal actions with similar hazardous
substances and with similar public safety and environmental
considerations.
   (C) The department determines that the remedial action plan
provides protection of human health and safety and for the
environment at least equivalent to that which would be provided by a
remedial action plan prepared in accordance with subdivision (c).
   (D) The total cost of the removal action is less than two million
dollars (,000,000).
   (4) For purposes of this section, the cost of a removal action
includes the cleanup of removal of released hazardous substances from
the environment or the taking of other actions that are necessary to
prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage that may otherwise result from
a release or threatened release, as further defined by Section 9601
(23) of Title 42 of the United States Code.
   (5) Paragraph (2) of this subdivision does not apply to a removal
action paid from the state account.
   (i) Article 2 (commencing with Section 13320), Article 3
(commencing with Section 13330), Article 5 (commencing with Section
13350), and Article 6 (commencing with Section 13360) of Chapter 5 of
Division 7 of the Water Code apply to any action or failure to act
by a regional board pursuant to this section.



25356.1.3.  (a) In exercising its authority at a hazardous substance
release site pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 25355.5 or
25358.3, the department shall issue orders to the largest manageable
number of potentially responsible parties after considering all of
the following:
   (1) The adequacy of the evidence of each potentially responsible
party's liability.
   (2) The financial viability of each potentially responsible party.

   (3) The relationship or contribution of each potentially
responsible party to the release, or threat of release, of hazardous
substances at the site.
   (4) The resources available to the department.
   (b) The department shall schedule a meeting pursuant to Section
25269.5 and notify all identified potentially responsible parties of
the date, time, and location of the meeting.
   (c) A person issued an order pursuant to Section 25355.5 or
25358.3 may identify additional potentially responsible parties for
the site to which the order is applicable and may request the
department to issue an order to those parties.  The request shall
include, with appropriate documentation, the factual and legal basis
for identifying those parties as potentially responsible parties for
the site.  The department shall review the request and accompanying
information and, within a reasonable period of time, determine if
there is a factual and legal basis for identifying other persons as
potentially responsible parties, and notify the person that made the
request of the action the department will take in response to the
request.
   (d) Any determination made by the department regarding the largest
manageable number of potentially responsible parties or the
identification of other persons as potentially responsible parties
pursuant to this section is not subject to judicial review.  This
subdivision does not affect the rights of any potentially responsible
party or the department under any other provision of this chapter.



25356.1.5.  (a) Any response action taken or approved pursuant to
this chapter shall be based upon, and no less stringent than, all of
the following requirements:
   (1) The requirements established under federal regulation pursuant
to Subpart E of the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution
Contingency Plan (40 C.F.R. 300.400 et seq.), as amended.
   (2) The regulations established pursuant to Division 7 (commencing
with Section 13000) of the Water Code, all applicable water quality
control plans adopted pursuant to Section 13170 of the Water Code and
Article 3 (commencing with Section 13240) of Chapter 4 of Division 7
of the Water Code, and all applicable state policies for water
quality control adopted pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with
Section 13140) of Chapter 3 of Division 7 of the Water Code, to the
extent that the department or the regional board determines that
those regulations, plans, and policies do not require a less
stringent level of remediation than the federal regulations specified
in paragraph (1) and to the degree that those regulations, plans,
and policies do not authorize decisionmaking procedures that may
result in less stringent response action requirements than those
required by the federal regulations specified in paragraph (1).
   (3) Any applicable provisions of this chapter, to the extent those
provisions are consistent with the federal regulations specified in
paragraph (1) and do not require a less stringent level of
remediation than, or decisionmaking procedures that are at variance
with, the federal regulations set forth in paragraph (1).
   (b) Any health or ecological risk assessment prepared in
conjunction with a response action taken or approved pursuant to this
chapter shall be based upon Subpart E of the National Oil and
Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (40 C.F.R. 300.400 et
seq.), the policies, guidelines, and practices of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency developed pursuant to the federal
act, and the most current sound scientific methods, knowledge, and
practices of public health and environmental professionals who are
experienced practitioners in the fields of epidemiology, risk
assessment, environmental contamination, ecological risk, fate and
transport analysis, and toxicology. Risk assessment practices shall
include the most current sound scientific methods for data
evaluation, exposure assessment, toxicity assessment, and risk
characterization, documentation of all assumptions, methods, models,
and calculations used in the assessment, and any health risk
assessment shall include all of the following:
   (1) Evaluation of risks posed by acutely toxic hazardous
substances based on levels at which no known or anticipated adverse
effects on health will occur, with an adequate margin of safety.
   (2) Evaluation of risks posed by carcinogens or other hazardous
substances that may cause chronic disease based on a level that does
not pose any significant risk to health.
   (3) Consideration of possible synergistic effects resulting from
exposure to, or interaction with, two or more hazardous substances.
   (4) Consideration of the effect of hazardous substances upon
subgroups that comprise a meaningful portion of the general
population, including, but not limited to, infants, children,
pregnant women, the elderly, individuals with a history of serious
illness, or other subpopulations, that are identifiable as being at
greater risk of adverse health effects due to exposure to hazardous
substances than the general population.
   (5) Consideration of exposure and body burden level that alter
physiological function or structure in a manner that may
significantly increase the risk of illness and of exposure to
hazardous substances in all media, including, but not limited to,
exposures in drinking water, food, ambient and indoor air, and soil.

   (c) If currently available scientific data are insufficient to
determine the level of a hazardous substance at which no known or
anticipated adverse effects on health will occur, with an adequate
margin of safety, or the level that poses no significant risk to
public health, the risk assessment prepared in conjunction with a
response action taken or approved pursuant to this chapter shall be
based on the level that is protective of public health, with an
adequate margin of safety. This level shall be based exclusively on
public health considerations, shall, to the extent scientific data
are available, take into account the factors set forth in paragraphs
(1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (b), and shall be based on the
most current principles, practices, and methods used by public health
professionals who are experienced practitioners in the fields of
epidemiology, risk assessment, fate and transport analysis, and
toxicology.
   (d) The exposure assessment of any risk assessment prepared in
conjunction with a response action taken or approved pursuant to this
chapter shall include the development of reasonable maximum
estimates of exposure for both current land use conditions and
reasonably foreseeable future land use conditions at the site.
   (e) The exposure assessment of any risk assessment prepared in
conjunction with a response action taken or approved pursuant to this
chapter shall include the development of reasonable maximum
estimates of exposure to volatile organic compounds that may enter
structures that are on the site or that are proposed to be
constructed on the site and may cause exposure due to accumulation of
those volatile organic compounds in the indoor air of those
structures.


25356.2.  (a) There is hereby created in the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment a Hazardous Substance Cleanup Arbitration
Panel.
   (b) The panel shall apportion liability for the costs of removal
and remedial actions in accordance with Sections 25356.3 and 25356.4.
  All meetings and records of the panel are exempt from Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of, and
Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of, the Government Code.
   (c) The panel shall be comprised of independent private
arbitrators who have applied to the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment for membership on the panel.  Panel members shall
have (1) relevant arbitration background and (2) expertise in
engineering, expertise in the physical, biological, or health
sciences, or other relevant experience and qualifications.  Three
arbitrators shall be selected from the panel to apportion liability
for a single hazardous wastesite.  A majority of the arbitrators
selected for a single site may apportion liability for the panel
under this chapter.
   (d) The arbitrators shall be selected for an individual hazardous
wastesite as follows:
   (1) One arbitrator shall be selected by the department or by the
regional water quality control board.
   (2) One arbitrator shall be selected by the potentially
responsible party, or a majority of the potentially responsible
parties, who have submitted to binding arbitration by the panel.
   (3) The two arbitrators selected pursuant to paragraphs (1) and
(2) shall jointly select a third arbitrator.



25356.3.  (a) The department or the California regional water
quality control board shall serve a copy by mail of the draft
remedial action plan upon all potentially responsible parties
identified in the plan.  Within 15 days after the issuance of a final
remedial action plan, any potentially responsible parties with
aggregate alleged liability in excess of 50 percent of the costs of
removal and remedial action, as set forth in the statement of reasons
issued pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 25356.1, but excluding
any costs that are the subject of an agreement under which any party
agrees to assume liability for those costs, may convene an
arbitration proceeding by agreeing to submit to binding arbitration
by the panel.  The filing of a demand to convene an arbitration panel
shall not stay any removal or remedial actions specified in the
plan.  If an arbitration panel is convened pursuant to this section,
any other potentially responsible party may elect to submit to
binding arbitration by the panel.  Any person submitting to
arbitration under this section shall agree not to contest the fact of
liability in the arbitration.  The panel shall, and the parties are
entitled to, address the proper apportionment of liability pursuant
to subdivision (b).  Submission to arbitration under this section is
not an admission of liability for any other purpose or in any other
proceeding, including a subsequent arbitration proceeding concerning
the same site.  The department or the regional water quality control
board, whichever issued the final remedial action plan, shall
participate in the arbitration proceedings to the same extent as the
potentially responsible parties which have submitted to the
arbitration.
   (b) The panel shall apportion liability for the costs of all
removal and remedial actions specified in the final remedial action
plan.
   (c) In panel proceedings, liability for the costs of removal and
remedial actions shall be apportioned among all identifiable
potentially responsible parties regardless of whether those parties
are before the panel or have otherwise been released, or are immune,
from liability pursuant to this chapter or any other provision of
law.  The panel shall apportion liability based on all of the
following criteria:
   (1) The amount of hazardous substance for which each party may be
responsible.
   (2) The degree of toxicity of the hazardous substance.
   (3) The degree of involvement of the potentially responsible
parties in the generation, transportation, treatment, or disposal of
the hazardous substance.
   (4) The degree of care exercised by the potentially responsible
parties with respect to the hazardous substances, taking into account
the characteristics of the substance.
   (5) The degree of cooperation by the potentially responsible
parties with federal, state, and local officials to prevent harm to
human health and the environment.
   (d) The panel may issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum to
require attendance of a person or the production of documents, at the
request of any person identified as potentially responsible in the
remedial action plan, on its own motion, or at the request of the
department or the appropriate regional water quality control board.
A person requesting a subpoena duces tecum shall comply with Section
1985 of the Code of Civil Procedure.  The jurisdiction of subpoenas
and subpoenas duces tecum issued by the panel extends to all parts of
the state.  The subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum shall be served
pursuant to Sections 1987 and 1988 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
   If the panel determines that a person is refusing to respond to a
subpoena or subpoena duces tecum, or is guilty of a misconduct during
the arbitration and negotiation process, the panel shall certify the
facts to the superior court of the county in which the site is
located.  The court shall thereupon issue an order directing the
person to appear before the court and show cause why the person
should not be punished for contempt pursuant to Section 1209 of the
Code of Civil Procedure.  The order and a copy of the certified
statement shall be served on  the person, and thereafter the court
shall have jurisdiction of the matter.  The same proceedings shall be
followed, the same penalties may be imposed, and the person charged
may be purged of contempt in the same way as if the person has
committed a contempt in the trial of a civil action before a superior
court.
   After receipt of documents pursuant to a subpoena duces tecum, any
party may request the panel for a continuance for a reasonable
period of time to review the documents prior to proceeding with the
arbitration.  The panel may grant a continuance for that purpose upon
a showing of good cause.
   (e) This chapter does not require a regional water quality control
board or the State Water Resources Control Board to engage in
arbitration pursuant to this section or Section 25356.2 for any
enforcement action taken pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with
Section 13000) of the Water Code.
   (f) The costs of conducting the arbitration shall be borne by the
potentially responsible parties submitting to the arbitration
pursuant to subdivision (a), except that any filing fees, witness
fees, costs of discovery, or any other costs necessarily incurred by
one party shall not be shared by any other party.



25356.4.  (a) After making an apportionment of liability among the
potentially responsible parties pursuant to Section 25356.3, the
panel shall prepare a draft arbitration decision which contains a
statement of reasons supporting the apportionment and shall circulate
the draft arbitration decision for at least 30 days for public
comment. After review and consideration of any public comment, the
panel shall issue the final arbitration decision within 30 days after
the comment period.
   (b) Each potentially responsible party whose liability has been
apportioned by the panel is liable to the department or the regional
water quality control board for its apportioned share of the costs of
all removal and remedial actions at the site which is the subject of
the final remedial action plan issued pursuant to Section 25356.1.
The department or the regional water quality control board and one or
more potentially responsible parties may enter into a cleanup
agreement which is consistent with the remedial action plan and which
provides for the satisfaction of the liability of a potentially
responsible party by the party's performance of specified removal or
remedial actions at the site.
   (c) The moneys in the state account may be expended, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, to pay any share of those
potentially responsible parties who did not submit to binding
arbitration pursuant to Section 25356.3 or did not otherwise agree to
pay the costs of the removal and remedial actions specified in the
remedial action plan.
   (d) The department or the regional water quality control board
shall identify, and the Attorney General shall pursue recovery from,
those potentially responsible parties who have not submitted to
binding arbitration pursuant to Section 25356.3 or who have not
discharged their obligations required by the final arbitration
decision or the cleanup agreement.
   (e) Advances from the state account, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, shall be made available, where appropriate, to those
responsible parties who are required by a cleanup agreement to
perform specified removal or remedial actions pursuant to the
remedial action plan or, if the money advanced derives from the
proceeds of bonds sold pursuant to Article 7.5 (commencing with
Section 25385), for the purposes specified in Section 25385.6.



25356.5.  The department shall include in the biennial report
specified in Section 25178 an accounting of all of the following:
   (a) The actual funds expended for each site listed during the
preceding two years pursuant to Section 25356.
   (b) Removal and remedial actions at hazardous substance release
sites pursuant to Section 25356.
   (c) The state's efforts to obtain available federal funds for the
purposes of this chapter.
   (d) Federal funds which have been obtained by, or committed to,
the state for purposes of this chapter.
   (e) The state's efforts to obtain contributions to removal or
remedial actions from potentially responsible parties.



25356.6.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of state law or
any local ordinance or regulation, except as provided in subdivision
(b), to encourage the prompt and effective cleanup of hazardous
substance release sites, a potentially responsible party has no
additional civil liability to any governmental entity under state or
local law, for any prior acts or omissions associated with the
conditions addressed in the remedial action plan which is the subject
of the arbitration decision, if the potentially responsible party
has submitted to binding arbitration and has discharged its
obligations under the arbitration decision, either by paying that
party's apportioned share of the costs of all removal and remedial
actions to the department or the regional water quality control
board, or by performing the specified removal and remedial actions
pursuant to a cleanup agreement.  The release from liability
specified in this section is conditioned on complete implementation
of the remedial action plan, including, where appropriate, adequate
sampling, testing, and maintenance of the site to which the remedial
action plan is applicable to ensure that the level of cleanup
required is achieved and maintained.  However, this section does not
affect the liability of any person for costs recoverable under
Section 25352, unless these costs are specifically addressed in the
arbitration decision or cleanup agreement.  Where these costs are not
addressed in the arbitration decision or cleanup agreement, the
liability for these costs shall be determined pursuant to the
applicable sections of this chapter and may be apportioned among the
potentially responsible parties pursuant to Sections 25356.3 and
25356.4.
   (b) The department, the California regional water quality control
board, any party to the arbitration decision, or any party
substantially affected by the arbitration decision may petition the
panel to modify the apportionment of liability in an arbitration
decision.  Upon a showing of a material change in the facts known to
the parties to the arbitration decision at the time it was issued,
the panel shall modify the apportionment of liability specified in
the arbitration decision, as appropriate, to reflect these changed
facts.  Upon a showing of a material change in the facts known to the
department at the time it issued the final remedial action plan, or
the discovery of new facts, the department or regional board shall
modify the remedial action plan, as appropriate, to reflect new or
additional facts.  The arbitration panel shall then modify its
arbitration decision to reflect any modification of the remedial
action plan made by the department.
   (c) This section does not affect the existing rights of any
individual to recover civil damages or to obtain equitable relief
against any person, including a potentially responsible party, for
physical injury or property damage caused by the release of hazardous
substances at the site covered by the arbitration decision or at any
other location.
   (d) A party who has submitted to arbitration pursuant to this
article and whose liability has been apportioned by the arbitration
panel in an arbitration proceeding may seek indemnity from any other
person liable for the party's apportioned share of the removal and
remedial actions taken at a site which is the subject of the
arbitration decision, including any department, agency contractor, or
any other governmental agency.  A potentially responsible party who
does not submit to binding arbitration pursuant to this article, but
whose liability has been apportioned in the arbitration decision and
is subsequently found liable under  this chapter has no right to
indemnification for any removal or remedial action which is the
subject of the arbitration decision from any party to that
arbitration decision who has discharged its obligation under the
arbitration decision or the cleanup agreement.



25356.7.  In order to encourage rapid resolution of differences
among responsible parties and to speed the cleanup of sites, and
notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following evidence is
admissible in a court of law only to show the good faith of the
parties who have discharged their obligations under an arbitration
decision issued, or cleanup agreement entered into, pursuant to
Section 25356.4 or that the following removal and remedial actions
specified in the remedial action plan were to be performed:
   (a) A preliminary allocation of responsibility pursuant to Section
25356.1.
   (b) The fact that any person has either participated or has not
participated in a panel arbitration proceeding.
   (c) The fact that any person has voluntarily implemented a
remedial action plan, regardless of whether the plan is final for
purposes of Section 25356.1.
   (d) Any finding of fact or conclusion of law by the panel,
including the apportionment of liability pursuant to Section 25356.3.

   (e) Admissions made during the arbitration proceeding.
   (f) Documents prepared by a party which has submitted to binding
arbitration if the documents are prepared after the remedial action
plan has been issued, and if the documents are prepared solely for
the arbitration.



25356.8.  (a) Judicial review of the arbitration decision on the
apportionment of liability is limited to a showing of fraud by a
party to the arbitration proceeding or an abuse of discretion by the
panel, or both.
   (b) Judicial review of a decision by the department or the
regional water quality control board modifying the remedial action
plan pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 25356.6 shall be
conducted pursuant to Section 1085 of the Code of Civil Procedure and
the standard of review shall be the same as that specified in
subdivision (f) of Section 25356.1.



25356.9.  (a) The provisions of this chapter relating to the
preparation, approval, and issuance of remedial action plans and to
procedures for the apportionment of liability by the Hazardous
Substance Cleanup Arbitration Panel do not do either of the
following:
   (1) Apply to any actions taken pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing
with Section 25100).
   (2) Prohibit the department or the Attorney General, upon the
request of the department, from pursuing the remedies specified in
subdivision (a) of Section 25358.3 when the director determines that
there may be an imminent or substantial endangerment to the public
health or welfare or to the environment, because of a release or a
threatened release of a hazardous substance.
   (b) The department and the Attorney General may pursue any
existing legal, equitable, or administrative remedies, pursuant to
federal or state law, against any potentially responsible party named
in a remedial action plan if the party does not submit to
arbitration pursuant to Section 25356.3 or if the party has not
discharged that party's obligations under an arbitration decision or
cleanup agreement.



25356.10.  The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
shall adopt, and may, from time to time, modify, revise, or repeal,
regulations, consistent with this article, to implement the
provisions of this article concerning arbitration proceedings.  The
regulations may include, but are not required to be limited to, all
of the following:
   (a) The method of initiating arbitration.
   (b) The place of hearing, based upon the convenience of the
parties.
   (c) Procedures for the selection of neutral arbitrators.
   (d) Procedure for conducting hearings.
   (e) The providing of experts to assist the arbitrators if
assistance is needed.
   (f) Procedures for reimbursing the expenses which the panel incurs
in conducting arbitrations.



25357.  Expenditures from the state account shall not be made in
excess of the total amount of money in the state account at any one
time.  Expenditures in excess of such amount may be made only when
additional money is collected or otherwise added to the state
account.



25357.5.  (a) In any judicial action under this chapter, judicial
review of any issues concerning the adequacy of any response action
taken or ordered by the department shall be limited to the
administrative record.  Otherwise applicable principles of
administrative law shall govern whether any supplemental materials
may be considered by the court.
   (b) If the court finds that the selection of the response action
was not in accordance with law, the court shall award only the
response costs or damages that are not inconsistent with the National
Contingency Plan, as specified in Part 300 (commencing with Section
300.1) of Subchapter J of Chapter I of Title 40 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, and any other relief that is consistent with the
National Contingency Plan.
   (c) In reviewing an action brought by the department under this
chapter, in which alleged procedural errors by the department are
raised as a defense, the court may impose costs or damages only if
the errors were serious and related to matters of central relevance
to the action, so that the action would have been significantly
changed had the errors not been made.



25358.  The state shall actively seek to obtain all federal funds to
which it is entitled under the federal act and shall take all
actions necessary to enter into contractual or cooperative agreements
under Sections 104(c)(3) and 104(d)(1) of the federal act (42 U.S.C.
  Sec.  9604(c)(3) and 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9604(d)(1)).




25358.1.  (a) The department, a representative of the department, or
any person designated by the director may take the actions specified
in this section only if there is a reasonable basis to believe that
there may be a release or threatened release of a hazardous
substance, and only for the purpose of determining under this chapter
the need for a response action, the choosing or taking of a response
action, or otherwise for the purpose of enforcing this chapter.
   (b) Any officer or employee of the department, a representative of
the director, or a person designated by the director may require any
potentially responsible party, or any person who has, or may have,
acquired information relevant to any of the following matters in the
course of a commercial, ownership, or contractual relationship with
any potentially responsible party, to furnish, upon reasonable
notice, information or documents relating to the following matters:
   (1) The identification, nature, and quantity of materials which
have been, or are, generated, treated, stored, or disposed of at a
hazardous substance release site or which have been, or are,
transported to a hazardous substance release site.
   (2) The nature or extent of a release or a threatened release of a
hazardous substance at, or from, a hazardous substance release site.

   (c) A person who is required to provide information pursuant to
subdivision (b) shall, in accordance with subdivision (h), allow the
officer, employee, representative, or designee, upon reasonable
notice and at reasonable times, to have access to, and copy, all
records relating to the hazardous substances for purposes of
assisting the department in determining the need for an action in
response to a release or threatened release pursuant to this chapter.

   (d) Any officer or employee of the department, representative of
the director, or person designated by the director may, in accordance
with subdivision (h), enter, at reasonable times, any of the
following properties:
   (1) Any nonresidential establishment or other place or property
where any hazardous substances may be, or have been, produced,
stored, treated, disposed of, or transported from.
   (2) Any nonresidential establishment or other place or property
from which, or to which, a hazardous substance has been, or may have
been, released.
   (3) Any nonresidential establishment or other place or property
where a hazardous substance release is, or may be, threatened.
   (4) Any nonresidential establishment or other place or property
where entry is needed to determine the need for a response action, or
the appropriate remedial action, to effectuate a response action
under this chapter.
   (5) Any residential place or property which, if it were a
nonresidential establishment or other place or property, would
otherwise meet the criteria described in paragraphs (1) to (4),
inclusive, if the department, representative, or person designated by
the director is able to establish, based upon reasonably available
evidence, that hazardous substances have been released onto or under
the residential place or real property and if entry is made only at
reasonable times and after reasonable notification to the owners and
occupants.
   (e) Any officer or employee of the department, representative of
the director, or person designated by the director may, in accordance
with subdivision (h), carry out any of the following activities:
   (1) Inspect and obtain samples from any establishment or other
place or property specified in subdivision (d) or from any location
of any suspected hazardous substance.
   (2) Inspect and obtain samples of any substances from any
establishment or place or property specified in subdivision (d).
   (3) Inspect and obtain samples of any containers or labeling for
the suspected hazardous substances, and samples of the soil,
vegetation, air, water, and biota on the premises.
   (4) Set up and maintain monitoring equipment for the purpose of
assessing or measuring the actual or potential migration of hazardous
substances.
   (5) Survey and determine the topographic, geologic, and
hydrogeologic features of the land.
   (6) Photograph any equipment, sample, activity, or environmental
condition described in paragraphs (2) to (5) inclusive.
   (f) (1) If photographs are to be taken pursuant to paragraph (6)
of subdivision (e), the department shall do all of the following:
   (A) Comply with all procedures established pursuant to subdivision
(b) of Section 25358.2.
   (B) Notify the person whose facility is photographed prior to
public disclosure of the photographs.
   (C) Upon the request of the person owning the facility, submit a
copy of any photograph to the person for the purpose of determining
whether trade secret information, as defined in Section 25358.2, or
facility security, would be revealed by the photograph.
   (2) "Disclosure," as used in Section 25358.2, for purposes of this
paragraph, does not include the review of the photograph by a court
of competent jurisdiction or by an administrative law judge.  A court
or judge may review the photograph in camera.
   (g) An officer, employee, representative, or designee who enters a
place, establishment, or property pursuant to this section shall
make a reasonable effort to inform the owner or the owners'
authorized representative of the inspection and shall provide split
samples to the owner or the representative upon request.
   (h) If the owner or the owner's authorized representative does not
voluntarily grant access to a place, establishment, or property
pursuant to this section, the officer, employee, representative, or
designee shall first obtain a warrant pursuant to Title 13
(commencing with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil
Procedure.  However, if there is an emergency posing an immediate
threat to public health and safety, the officer, employee,
representative, or designee may enter the place, establishment, or
property without the consent of the owner or owner's authorized
representative and without the issuance of a warrant.
   (i) The department, and any person authorized by the department to
enter upon any lands for the purpose of taking removal or remedial
action pursuant to this chapter, shall not be held liable, in either
a civil or criminal proceeding, for trespass or for any other acts
which are necessary to carry out the corrective action.



25358.2.  (a) "Trade secrets," as used in this section, may include,
but are not limited to, any formula, plan, pattern, process, tool,
mechanism, compound, procedure, production data, or compilation of
information which is not patented, which is known only to certain
individuals within a commercial concern who are using it to
fabricate, produce, develop, or compound an article of trade or a
service having commercial value, and which gives its user an
opportunity to obtain a business advantage over competitors who do
not know or use it.
   (b) The department may disclose trade secrets received by the
department pursuant to this chapter to authorized representatives,
contractors, or other governmental agencies only in connection with
the department's responsibilities pursuant to this chapter.  The
department shall establish procedures to ensure that these trade
secrets are utilized only in connection with these responsibilities
and are not otherwise disseminated without the consent of the person
who provided the information to the department.
   (c) The department may also make available to the Environmental
Protection Agency any and all information required by law to be
furnished to that agency.  The sharing of information between the
department and that agency pursuant to this section does not
constitute a waiver by the department or any affected person of any
privilege or confidentiality provided by law which pertains to the
information.
   (d) Any person providing information pursuant to subdivision (a)
of Section 25358.1 shall, at the time of its submission, identify all
information which the person believes is a trade secret.  Any
information or record not identified as a trade secret is available
to the public, unless exempted from disclosure by other provisions of
law.
   (e) Any person who knowingly and willfully disseminates
information protected by this section or procedures established by
the department pursuant to subdivision (b) shall, upon conviction, be
punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars (,000),
imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by both
that fine and imprisonment.



25358.3.  (a) Whenever the director determines that  there may be an
imminent or substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare
or to the environment, because of a release or a threatened release
of a hazardous substance, the director may do any or all of the
following:
   (1) Order any responsible party or parties to take or pay for
appropriate removal or remedial action necessary to protect the
public health and safety and the environment.  No order under this
section shall be made to an owner of real property solely on the
basis of that ownership as specified in Sections 101(35) and 107(b)
of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Secs. 9601(35) and 9607(b)).  The
director shall give the responsible party an opportunity to assert
all defenses to the order.
   (2) Take or contract for any necessary removal or remedial action.

   (3) Request the Attorney General to secure such relief as may be
necessary from the responsible party or parties to abate the danger
or threat.  The superior court of the county in which the threat or
danger occurs shall have jurisdiction to grant the relief which the
public interest and equities of the case may require to protect
public health and welfare and the environment.  Upon a showing by the
department that a release or threatened release of a hazardous
substance has occurred or is occurring, and that there may be an
imminent or substantial endangerment to the public health and safety
or to the environment, the court may grant a temporary restraining
order or a preliminary or permanent injunction pursuant to
subdivision (e).
   (b) When the director determines that a release of a hazardous
substance has occurred or is about to occur, the director may do any
or all of the following:
   (1) Undertake those investigations, monitoring, surveys, testing,
and other information gathering necessary to identify the existence,
source, nature, and extent of the hazardous substances involved and
the extent of danger to the public  health or environment.
   (2) Undertake those planning, legal, fiscal, economic,
engineering, architectural, and other studies or investigations which
are necessary or appropriate to plan and direct response actions, to
recover the cost of those actions, and to enforce this chapter.
   (c) Whenever there is a release or threatened release of a
hazardous substance into the environment, the director may take or
contract for any necessary removal or remedial action and may take or
contract for any actions authorized by subdivision (b), in
compliance with the provisions of this chapter, including, but not
limited to, subdivision (b) of Section 25355.
   (d) Any person bidding for a contract specified in subdivision (c)
shall submit a disclosure statement, as specified by Section
25112.5, except for a federal, state, or local agency.  The director
may prohibit a person from bidding on such a contract if the director
makes any of the following determinations:
   (1) The director determines, in writing, that the bidder, or, if
the bidder is a business entity, any trustee, officer, director,
partner, or any person holding more than 5 percent of the equity in
or debt liability of that business entity, has engaged in activities
resulting in any federal or state conviction which are significantly
related to the fitness of the bidder to perform the bidder's duties
or activities under the contract.  For purposes of this paragraph,
"conviction" means a plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction
following a plea of nolo contendere.  Any action that the department
may take pursuant to this subdivision relating to the department's
refusal to permit a person to bid on the contract may be based upon a
conviction for which any of the following has occurred:
   (A) The time for appeal has elapsed.
   (B) The judgment of conviction has been affirmed on appeal.
   (C) Any order granting probation is made suspending the imposition
of sentence, notwithstanding a subsequent order pursuant to Section
1203.4 of the Penal Code permitting that person to withdraw the plea
of guilty and to enter a plea of not guilty, or setting aside the
verdict of guilty, or dismissing the accusation, information, or
indictment.
   (2) The director determines, in writing, that the bidder, or, if
the bidder is a business entity, any trustee, officer, director,
partner, or any person holding more than 5 percent of the equity in
or debt liability of that business entity, has violated or failed to
comply with this chapter or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section
25100) or Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 25280) of this
division, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7
(commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code), the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec.
6901 et seq.), the Hazardous Materials Transportation Authorization
Act of 1994, as amended (49 U.S.C. Sec. 5101 et seq.), the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
of 1980, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec.  9601 et seq.), the Toxic
Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C.  Sec. 2601 et seq.), or any other
equivalent federal or state statute or any requirement or regulation
adopted pursuant thereto relating to the generation, transportation,
treatment, storage, recycling, disposal, or handling of a hazardous
waste, as defined in Section 25117, a hazardous substance, as defined
in Section 25316, or a hazardous material, as defined in Section 353
of the Vehicle Code, if the violation  or failure to comply shows a
repeating or recurring pattern or may pose a threat to public health
or safety or the environment.
   (3) The director determines, in writing, that the bidder has had a
license, permit, or registration for the generation, transportation,
treatment, storage, recycling, disposal, or handling of hazardous
waste or hazardous substances revoked or suspended.
   (e) Whenever there is a release or threatened release of a
hazardous substance, the director may request the Attorney General to
secure such relief as may be necessary from the responsible party or
parties to abate the release or threatened release.  The superior
court of the county in which the release or threatened release occurs
has jurisdiction to grant that relief which the public interest and
equities of the case may require to protect the public health and
safety and the environment.  Upon a showing by the department that a
release or threatened release of a hazardous substance has occurred
or is occurring, and that there may be an imminent or substantial
endangerment to the public health and safety or to the environment,
the court may grant a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or
permanent injunction.
   (f) Upon the failure of any person to comply with any order issued
by the department pursuant to this section or Section 25355.5, the
director may request the Attorney General to petition the superior
court for the issuance of an injunction requiring that person to
comply with the order.  The superior court shall have jurisdiction to
grant a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent
injunction.
   (g) In any civil action brought pursuant to this chapter in which
a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent
injunction is sought, the department shall prove that the defendant
is a responsible party and that there is a release or threatened
release of a hazardous substance.  It shall not be necessary to
allege or prove at any stage of the proceeding that irreparable
damage will occur should the temporary restraining order or the
preliminary or permanent injunction not be issued, or that the remedy
at law is inadequate; and the temporary restraining order or the
preliminary or permanent injunction shall issue without those
allegations and without that proof.



25358.4.  The analysis of any material that is required to
demonstrate compliance with this chapter shall be performed by a
laboratory accredited by the State Department of Health Services
pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 100825) of Chapter 4
of Part 1 of Division 101.



25358.5.  Any removal or remedial action taken or contracted by the
department pursuant to Section 25354 or subdivision (a) of Section
25358.3 shall be exempt from all of the following provisions:
   (a) State Contract Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 10100)
of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code).
   (b) Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4525) of Division 5 of
Title 1 of the Government Code.
   (c) Section 10295 of, and Article 4 (commencing with Section
10335) of, and Article 5 (commencing with Section 10355) of, Chapter
2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code.



25358.6.  (a) The department may prequalify bidders for remedial or
removal actions taken pursuant to Section 25354 or subdivision (a) of
Section 25358.3.  The department may reject the bid of any
prospective bidder that has not been prequalified.
   (b) To prequalify bidders, the department shall adopt and apply a
uniform system of rating bidders.  In order to obtain information for
such rating, the department may require from prospective bidders
answers to questions, including, but not limited to, questions about
the bidder's financial ability, the bidder's experience in removal
and remedial action involving hazardous substances, the bidder's past
safety record, and the bidder's past performance on federal, state,
or local government projects.  The department may also require
prospective bidders to submit financial statements.
   (c) The department shall utilize the business financial data and
information submitted by a bidder pursuant to subdivision (b) only
for the purposes of prequalifying bidders pursuant to this section
and shall not otherwise disseminate this data or information.
   (d) The system of rating bidders may be adopted by the department
as emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code, and for purposes of that chapter, when these
regulations are adopted as emergency regulations pursuant to Section
11349.6 of the Government Code, the regulations shall be deemed to be
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health
and safety, and general welfare.  It is the intent of the
Legislature that emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this
subdivision shall remain in effect until the regulations are adopted
as final regulations, pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.


25358.6.1.  (a) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
   (1) "Engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape
architectural, construction project management, or land surveying
services" includes professional services of an engineering,
architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction
project management, land surveying, or similar nature, as well as
incidental services that members of these professions and those in
their employ may logically or justifiably perform.
   (2) "Firm" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation,
association, or other legal entity permitted by law to practice the
profession of engineering, architecture, environmental, landscape
architecture, construction project management, or land surveying.
   (3) "Prequalified list" means a list of engineering,
architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, construction
project management, or land surveying firms that possess the
qualifications established by the department to perform specific
types of engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape
architectural, construction project management, and land surveying
services, with each firm ranked in order of its qualifications and
costs.
   (b) Notwithstanding Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4525) of
Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code, the department may
advertise and award a contract, in accordance with this section, for
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying services pursuant
to this chapter or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), if
the contract is individually in an amount equal to, or less than, one
million dollars (,000,000).
   (c) The department may establish prequalified lists of
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying firms in
accordance with the following process:
   (1) For each type of engineering, architectural, environmental,
landscape architectural, construction project management, or land
surveying services work for which the department elects to use this
section for advertising and awarding contracts, the department may
request annual statements of qualifications from interested firms.
The request for statements of qualifications shall be announced
statewide through the California State Contracts Register and
publications, Internet Web sites, or electronic bulletin boards of
respective professional societies that are intended, designed, and
maintained by the professional societies to communicate with their
memberships.  Each announcement shall describe the general scope of
services to be provided within each generic project category for
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying services that the
department anticipates may be awarded during the period covered by
the announcement.
   (2) The department shall define a generic project category so that
each specific project to be awarded within that generic project
category is substantially similar to all other projects within that
generic project category, may be within the same size range and
geographical area, and requires substantially similar skills and
magnitude of professional effort as every other project within that
generic project category.  The generic categories shall provide a
basis for evaluating and establishing the type, quality, and costs,
including hourly rates for personnel and field activities and
equipment, of the services that would be provided by the firm.
   (3) The department shall evaluate the statements of qualifications
received pursuant to paragraph (1) and the department shall develop
a short list of the most qualified firms that meet the criteria
established and published by the department.  The department shall
hold discussions regarding each firm's qualifications with all firms
listed on the short list.  The department shall then rank the firms
listed on the short list according to each firm's qualifications and
the evaluation criteria established and published by the department.

   (4) The department shall maintain prequalified lists of civil
engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural,
construction project management, or land surveying firms ranked
pursuant to paragraph (3) on an ongoing basis, except that no firm
may remain on a list developed pursuant to paragraph (3) based on a
single qualification statement for more than three years.  The
department shall include in each prequalified list adopted pursuant
to paragraph (3) no less than three firms, unless the department
certifies that the scope of the prequalified list is appropriate for
the department's needs, taking into account the nature of the work,
that the department made reasonable efforts to solicit qualification
statements from qualified firms, and that the efforts were
unsuccessful in producing three firms that met the established
criteria.  A firm may remain on the prequalified list up to three
years without resubmitting a qualification statement, but the
department may add additional firms to that list and may annually
rank these firms.  For purposes of annual adjustment to the ranking
of firms already on the prequalified list developed pursuant to
paragraph (3), the department shall rely on that firm's most recent
annual qualification statement, if the statement is not more than
three years old.
   (5) During the term of the prequalified list developed pursuant to
paragraph (3), as specific projects are identified by the department
as being eligible for contracting under the procedures adopted
pursuant to subdivision (d), the department shall contact the highest
ranked firm on the appropriate prequalified list to determine if
that firm has sufficient staff and is available for performance of
the project.  If the highest ranked firm is not available, the
department shall continue to contact firms on the prequalified list
in order of rank until a firm that is available is identified.
   (6) The department may enter into a contract for the services with
a firm identified pursuant to paragraph (5), if the contract is for
a total price that the department determines is fair and reasonable
to the department and otherwise conforms to all matters and terms
previously identified and established upon participation in the
prequalified list.
   (7) If the department is unable to negotiate a satisfactory
contract with a firm identified pursuant to paragraph (6), the
department shall terminate the negotiations with that firm and the
department shall undertake negotiations with the next ranked firm
that is available for performance.  If a satisfactory contract cannot
be negotiated with the second identified firm, the department shall
terminate these negotiations and the department shall continue the
negotiation process with the remaining qualified firms, in order of
their ranking, until the department negotiates a satisfactory
contract.  If the department is unable to negotiate a satisfactory
contract with a firm on two separate occasions, the department may
remove that firm from the prequalified list.  The department may
award a contract to a firm on a prequalified list that is to be
executed, including amendments, for a term that extends beyond the
expiration date of that firm's tenure on the prequalified list.
   (8) Once a satisfactory contract is negotiated and awarded to a
firm from any prequalified list for a generic project category
involving a site or facility investigation or characterization, a
feasibility study, or a remedial design, for a specific response
action or corrective action, including, but not limited to, a
corrective action carried out pursuant to Section 25200.10, the
department shall not enter into a contract with that firm for
purposes of construction or implementation of any part of that same
response action or corrective action.
   (d) The department may adopt guidelines or regulations as
necessary and consistent with this section, to define the manner of
advertising, generic project categories, type, quantity and cost of
services, qualification standards and evaluation criteria, content
and submittal requirements for statements of qualification,
procedures for ranking of firms and administration of the
prequalified list, the scope of matters addressed by participation on
a prequalified list, manner of notification of, negotiation with,
and awarding of contracts to, prequalified firms, and procedures for
protesting the award of contracts under this section, or any other
matter that is appropriate for implementation of this section.
   (e) Any removal or remedial action taken or contracted by the
department pursuant to Section 25354 or subdivision (a) of Section
25358.3 is exempt from this section.
   (f) This section does not exempt any contract from compliance with
Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of
Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.




25358.7.  (a) The department or the regional board, as appropriate,
shall take the actions specified in this section to provide an
opportunity for meaningful public participation in response actions
undertaken for sites listed pursuant to Section 25356.
   (b) The department, or the regional board, as appropriate, shall
inform the public, and in particular, persons living in close
proximity to a hazardous substance release site listed pursuant to
Section 25356, of the existence of the site and the department's or
regional board's intention to conduct a response action at the site,
and shall conduct a baseline community survey to determine the level
of public interest and desire for involvement in the department's or
regional board's activities, and to solicit concerns and information
regarding the site from the affected community.  Based on the results
of the baseline survey, the department or regional board shall
develop a public participation plan that shall establish appropriate
communication and outreach measures commensurate with the level of
interest expressed by survey respondents.  The public participation
plan shall be updated as necessary to reflect any significant changes
in the degree of public interest as the site investigation and
cleanup process moves toward completion.
   (c) The department or regional board shall provide any person
affected by a response action undertaken for sites listed pursuant to
Section 25356 with the opportunity to participate in the department'
s or regional board's decisionmaking process regarding that action by
taking all of the following actions:
   (1) Provide access to information which the department or regional
board is required to release pursuant to the California Public
Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7
of Title 1 of the Government Code), relating to the action, except
for the following:
   (A) Trade secrets, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section
25358.2.
   (B) Business financial data and information, as specified in
subdivision (c) of Section 25358.6.
   (C) Information which the department or regional board is
prohibited from releasing pursuant to any state or federal law.
   (2) Provide factsheets, based on the expressed level of public
interest, regarding plans to conduct the major elements of the site
investigation and response actions.  The factsheets shall present the
relevant information in nontechnical language and shall be detailed
enough to provide interested persons with a good understanding of the
planned activities.  The factsheets shall be made available in
languages other than English if appropriate.
   (3) Provide notification, upon request, of any public meetings
held by the department or regional board concerning the action.
   (4) Provide the opportunity to attend and to participate at those
public meetings.
   (5) Based on the results of the baseline community survey, provide
opportunities for public involvement at key stages of the response
action process, including the health risk assessment, the preliminary
assessment, the site inspection, the remedial investigation, and the
feasibility study stages of the process.  If the department or
regional board determines that public meetings or other opportunities
for public comment are not appropriate at any of the stages listed
in this section, the department or regional board shall provide
notice of that decision to the affected community.
   (d) The department or regional board shall develop and make
available to the public a schedule of activities for each site for
which remedial action is expected to be taken by the department or
regional board pursuant to this chapter and shall make available to
the public any plan provided to the department or regional board by
any responsible party, unless the department is prohibited from
releasing the information pursuant to any state or federal law.
   (e) In making decisions regarding the methods to be used for
removal or remedial actions taken pursuant to this chapter, the
department  or regional board shall incorporate or respond in writing
to the advice of persons affected by the actions.
   (f) This section does not apply to emergency actions taken
pursuant to Section 25354.



25358.7.1.  (a) At each site, a community advisory group may be
established by the affected community to review any response action
and comment on the response action to be conducted in that community.
  The department or regional board shall regularly communicate, and
confer as appropriate, with the community advisory committee.  The
department or regional board shall also advise local environmental
regulatory agencies and other appropriate local agencies of planned
response actions and provide opportunities for review and comment.
If the department or regional board, whichever is overseeing a
response action, receives a petition signed by at least 50 members of
a community affected by the response action at a site or a
resolution adopted by the legislative body of the jurisdiction within
which the response action has been or will be initiated, the
department or regional board shall assist the petitioners or the
legislative body to establish a community advisory group to review
the response action at the site.
   (b) To the extent possible, the composition of each community
advisory group shall reflect the composition of the affected
community and the diversity of interests of the community by
including all of the following types of individuals on the community
advisory group:
   (1) Persons owning or residing on property located near the
hazardous substance release site or in an adjacent community, or
other persons who may be directly affected by the response action.
   (2) Individuals from the local business community.
   (3) Local political or government agency representatives.
   (4) Local citizen, civic, environmental, or public interest group
members residing in the community.
   (c) The following entities may participate in community advisory
group meetings in order to provide information and technical
expertise:
   (1) The department or regional boards.
   (2) Representatives of local environmental regulatory agencies.
   (3) The potentially responsible parties or other persons who are
conducting the response action.
   (d) The existence of a community advisory group shall not diminish
any other obligation of the department or regional board with
respect to public participation requirements specified in Section
25358.7.  Nothing in this section shall affect the status of any
citizen advisory group formed before the enactment of this section, a
federal Department of Defense Restoration Advisory Board, or a
federal Department of Energy Advisory Board.



25358.7.2.  (a) On or before July 1, 2000, the department and the
State Water Resources Control Board shall establish two community
service offices, one to serve northern California and the other to
serve southern California.  With regard to sites listed pursuant to
Section 25356 where the department or regional board is taking action
to investigate or remediate the site, the community assistance
offices shall facilitate communication between the department or
regional board, the responsible parties, and the affected community,
including any community advisory group that may have been formed in
the community where the hazardous substance release site is located.

   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of Section 25390.3, the
department and, if appropriate, the State Water Resources Control
Board shall expend a total of four hundred thousand dollars
(0,000) per year from the Orphan Share Reimbursement Trust Fund
established pursuant to Article 7.8 (commencing with Section 25390)
on the operation of the community service offices established
pursuant to this section.  The offices shall use these funds to
provide direct technical and logistical support to any community
advisory group established pursuant to Section 25358.7.1.  Funds
allocated pursuant to this subdivision shall supplement, and not
supplant, any funds expended for the purposes of developing and
implementing other public participation activities required to be
undertaken pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to,
activities undertaken pursuant to the National Contingency Plan or
the public participation workplan required to be adopted by the
department pursuant to Section 25358.7.
   (c) The State Water Resources Control Board may contract with the
department to provide this service on behalf of a regional board if
the State Water Resources Control Board finds that it would be more
practical and economical to do so.
   (d) In implementing this section, the department and the regional
boards are not obligated to expend funds beyond the amounts
appropriated in any fiscal year for purposes of developing and
implementing public participation activities required by other
provisions of this chapter unless the Orphan Share Reimbursement
Trust Fund contains funding at the level specified in subdivision
(b).



25358.8.  A community advisory group established pursuant to Section
25358.7.1 may request, in writing, and a potentially responsible
party or parties may fund, a technical assistance grant for a site
for the purpose of providing technical assistance to the community
advisory group.



25358.9.  (a) To the extent consistent with the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended, (42 U.S.C. Sec.
6901 et seq.), the department may exclude any portion of a response
action conducted entirely onsite from the hazardous waste facility
permit requirements of Section 25201 if both of the following apply:

   (1) The removal or remedial action is carried out pursuant to a
removal action work plan or a remedial action plan prepared pursuant
to Section 25356.1.
   (2) The removal action work plan or the remedial action plan
requires that the response action complies with all laws, rules,
regulations, standards, and requirements, criteria, or limitations
applicable to the construction, operation, and closure of the type of
facility at the hazardous substance release site and with any other
condition imposed by the department as necessary to protect public
health and safety and the environment.
   (b) The department may enforce in the court for the county in
which a response action exempted pursuant to subdivision (a) is
located any federal or state law, rule, regulation, standard,
requirements, criteria, or limitation with which the remedial or
removal action is required to comply.  Any consent decree entered
into pursuant to an enforcement action authorized by this subdivision
shall require the parties to attempt expeditiously to informally
resolve any disagreements concerning the implementation of the
response action with the appropriate federal and state agencies and
shall provide for administrative enforcement.  The consent decree
shall stipulate that the penalty for violation of the consent decree
shall be an amount not more than twenty-five thousand dollars
(,000) per day, which may be enforced by the state.  These
penalties do not impair or affect the authority of the court to order
compliance with the specific terms of the consent decree.



25359.  (a) Any person who is liable for a release, or threat of a
release, of hazardous substances and who fails, without sufficient
cause, as determined by the court, to properly provide a removal or
remedial action upon order of the director or the court, pursuant to
Section 25358.3, is liable to the department for damages equal to
three times the amount of any costs incurred by the state account
pursuant to this chapter as a result of the failure to take proper
action.
   (b) No treble damages shall be imposed under this section against
an owner of real property who did not generate, treat, transport,
store, or dispose of any hazardous substance on, in, or at the
facility located on that real property, as specified in Sections 101
(35) and 107(b) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Secs. 9601(35) and 9607
(b)).



25359.1.  There shall be no recovery of punitive damages under
Section 25359 for an injury to or loss of natural resources that
occurred wholly before September 25, 1981.  This section shall not be
construed as precluding the recovery of punitive damages for injury
to or loss of natural resources in an action brought pursuant to any
other provision of law.



25359.2.  Any person subject to a removal or remedial action order
or other order issued pursuant to Section 25355.5 or 25358.3 who does
not comply with that order without sufficient cause shall be subject
to a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars
(,000) for each day of noncompliance.  Liability under this
section may be imposed in a civil action or liability may be imposed
administratively pursuant to Section 25359.3.



25359.3.  (a) The department may issue a complaint to any person
subject to a penalty pursuant to Sections 25359.2 and 25359.4. The
complaint shall allege the acts or failures to act that constitute a
basis for liability and the amount of the proposed penalty. The
complaint shall be served by personal service or certified mail and
shall inform the party so served of the right to a hearing. Any
person served with a complaint pursuant to this subdivision may,
within 45 days after service of the complaint, request a hearing by
filing a notice of defense with the department. A notice of defense
is deemed to be filed within a 45-day period if it is postmarked
within the 45-day period. If no notice of defense is filed within 45
days after service of the complaint, the department shall issue an
order setting liability in the amount proposed in the complaint,
unless the department and the party have entered into a settlement
agreement, in which case the department shall issue an order setting
liability in the amount specified in the settlement agreement. Where
the party has not filed a notice of defense or where the department
and the party have entered into a settlement agreement, the order
shall not be subject to review by any court or agency.
   (b) Any hearing required under this section shall be conducted in
accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and the department
shall have all powers granted by those provisions. In making a
determination, the administrative law judge shall consider the
nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation, the
violator's past and present efforts to prevent, abate, or clean up
conditions posing a threat to the public health and safety or the
environment, the violator's ability to pay the proposed penalty, and
the prophylactic effect that imposition of the proposed penalty will
have on both the violator and on the regulated community as a whole.

   (c) All penalties collected under this section and Section 25359.2
shall be deposited in the state account and shall be available for
expenditure by the department upon appropriation by the Legislature.



25359.4.  (a) A person shall not release, or allow or cause a
release of, a reportable quantity of a hazardous substance into the
environment that is not authorized or permitted pursuant to state
law.
   (b) Any release of a reportable quantity of hazardous substance
shall be reported to the department in writing within 30 days of
discovery, unless any of the following apply:
   (1) The release is permitted or in the permit process.
   (2) The release is authorized by state law.
   (3) The release requires immediate reporting to the Office of
Emergency Services pursuant to Section 11002 or 11004 of Title 42 of
the United States Code, or pursuant to Section 25507.
   (4) The release has previously been reported to the department or
the Office of Emergency Services.
   (5) The release occurred prior to January 1, 1994.
   (c) For the purposes of this section, "reportable quantity" means
either of the following:
   (1) The quantity of a hazardous substance established in Part 302
(commencing with Section 302.1) of Title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, the release of which requires notification pursuant to
that part.
   (2) Any quantity of a hazardous substance that is not reportable
pursuant to paragraph (1), but that may pose a significant threat to
public health and safety or to the environment.  The department may
establish guidelines for determining which releases are reportable
under this paragraph.
   (d) The owner of property on which a reportable release has
occurred and any person who releases, or causes a reportable release
and who fails to make the written report required by subdivision (b),
shall be liable for a penalty not to exceed twenty-five thousand
dollars (,000) for each separate violation and for each day that a
violation continues.  Each day on which the released hazardous
substance remains is a separate violation unless the person has
either filed the report or is in compliance with an order issued by a
local, state, or federal agency with regard to the release.
   (e) Liability under this section may be imposed in a civil action
or may be administratively imposed by the department pursuant to
Section 25359.3.
   (f) If the violation of subdivision (b) results in, or
significantly contributes to, an emergency, including, but not
limited to, a fire, to which a county, city, or district is required
to respond, the responsible party may be assessed the full cost of
the emergency response by the city, county, or district.



25359.4.5.  (a) A responsible party who has entered into an
agreement with the department and is in compliance with the terms of
that agreement, or who is in compliance with an order issued by the
department, may seek, in addition to contribution, treble damages
from any contribution defendant who has failed or refused to comply
with any order or agreement, was named in the order or agreement, and
is subject to contribution. A contribution defendant from whom
treble damages are sought in a contribution action shall not be
assessed treble damages by any court where the contribution
defendant, for sufficient cause, as determined by the court, failed
to comply with an agreement or with an order issued by the
department, or where the contribution defendant is an owner of real
property who did not generate, treat, transport, store, or dispose of
the hazardous substance on, in, or at the facility located on that
real property, as specified in Sections 101 (35) and 107 (b) of the
federal act (42 U.S.C. Secs. 9601 (35) and 9607 (b)), or where the
principles of fundamental fairness would be violated, as determined
by the court. A party seeking treble damages pursuant to this section
shall show that the party, the department, or another entity
provided notice, by means of personal service or certified mail, of
the order or agreement to the contribution defendant from whom the
party seeks treble damages.
   (b) One-half of any treble damages awarded pursuant to this
section shall be paid to the department, for deposit in the state
account. Nothing in this subdivision affects the rights of any party
to seek contribution pursuant to any other statute or under common
law.
   (c) A contribution defendant from whom treble damages are sought
pursuant to this section shall be deemed to have acted willfully with
respect to the conduct that gave rise to this liability for purposes
of Section 533 of the Insurance Code.



25359.5.  (a) After making a determination, based upon a preliminary
site assessment that there has been a release of a hazardous
substance on, under, or into the land on a site, the department or a
county health officer shall order the property owner to secure the
site if all of the following conditions apply to that site:
   (1) The release does not comply with the terms of a current permit
or interim status document or regulation of the department.
   (2) The site poses a public health risk if human contact is made
with the hazardous waste or the surrounding contaminated area.
   (3) There is a likelihood of human or domestic animal contact.
   (b) The order to secure the site shall require, within five days
after receiving notification of the order, the posting of the site
with signs.  The order shall also require, within five days after
receiving notification of the order, that the site be enclosed with a
fence, unless it is physically and economically infeasible or unless
the fencing is unnecessary because it will not alleviate the danger
to the public health.
   (c) If fencing is ordered, the fences shall be maintained at the
site to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to the site.
  The signs shall be maintained and shall meet all of the following
requirements:
   (1) The signs shall be bilingual, appropriate to the local area,
and may include international symbols, as required by the department.

   (2) The signs shall have lettering which is legible from a
distance of at least 25 feet.
   (3) The signs shall read:  "Caution:  Hazardous Substance Area,
Unauthorized Persons Keep Out" and shall have the name and phone
number of the department or the county health officer that ordered
the posting.
   (4) The signs shall be visible from the surrounding contaminated
area and posted at each route of entry into the site, including those
routes which are likely to be used by unauthorized persons, at
access roads leading to the site, and facing navigable waterways
where appropriate.
   (5) The signs shall be of a material able to withstand the
elements.
   (d) A property owner who fails to comply with an order of the
department or the county health officer is subject to a civil penalty
of up to twenty-five thousand dollars (,000).  In determining the
amount of a civil penalty to be imposed, the court shall consider
all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the
economic assets of the property owner and whether the property owner
has acted in good faith.
   If the property owner fails to secure and post the site, the
department or the county health officer shall secure and post the
site pursuant to subdivision (b) within 30 days of the expiration of
the five-day period and shall seek recovery of the costs of that
securing and posting from the property owner.  If the site is an
abandoned site, as defined in Section 25359.6, if the site cannot be
traced to a specific owner, or if the owner has been declared
bankrupt, the department or the county health officer shall secure
and post the site, using any source of funds, pursuant to subdivision
(b).
   (e) The department or the county health officer shall advise other
agencies on the public health risks and the need for fencing and
posting of sites when those agencies confirm the release of a
hazardous substance pursuant to subdivision (a).
   (f) The remedies and penalties specified in this section and
Section 25359.6 are in addition to, and do not affect, any other
remedies, enforcement actions, requirements, or penalties otherwise
authorized by law.



25359.6.  (a) The director shall notify, within 20 working days,
each of the appropriate county health officers as to all the
potential abandoned sites of which the department has knowledge or
which the department is investigating for releases of hazardous
substances that may have occurred or might be occurring at abandoned
sites.  The county health officers may request quarterly updates on
the status of the investigations of these sites.
   As used in this section, "abandoned site" means an inactive
disposal, treatment, or storage facility which cannot, with
reasonable effort, be traced to a specific owner, a site whose owner
has been determined bankrupt, or a location where a hazardous
substance has been illegally disposed.
   (b) Within 10 working days of the identification of an abandoned
site, the department or a county health officer shall notify the
other agency of the status of the site.  The department and the
county health officer shall inform the other agency of orders to
fence and post these sites and the status of compliance with those
orders.  The department or the county health officers may request
quarterly updates of the testing, enforcement action, and remedial or
removal actions that are proposed or ongoing.



25359.7.  (a) Any owner of nonresidential real property who knows,
or has reasonable cause to believe, that any release of hazardous
substance has come to be located on or beneath that real property
shall, prior to the sale, lease, or rental of the real property by
that owner, give written notice of that condition to the buyer,
lessee, or renter of the real property.  Failure of the owner to
provide written notice when required by this subdivision to the
buyer, lessee, or renter shall subject the owner to actual damages
and any other remedies provided by law.  In addition, where the owner
has actual knowledge of the presence of any release of a material
amount of a hazardous substance and knowingly and willfully fails to
provide written notice to the buyer, lessee, or renter, as required
by this subdivision, the owner is liable for a civil penalty not to
exceed five thousand dollars (,000) for each separate violation.
   (b) Any lessee or renter of real property who knows or has
reasonable cause to believe that any release of a hazardous substance
has come or will come to be located on or beneath that real property
shall, within a reasonable period of time, either prior to the
release or following the discovery by the lessee or renter of the
presence or believed presence of the hazardous substance release,
give written notice of that condition to the owner of the real
property or to the lessor under the lessee's or renter's lease or
rental agreement.
   (1) A lessee or renter who fails to provide written notice when
required by this subdivision to the owner or lessor is subject to
actual damages and any other remedy provided by law.
   (2) If the lessee or renter has knowledge of the presence of a
release of a material amount of a hazardous substance, or of a
hazardous substance release that is required to be reported to a
state or local agency pursuant to law, on or under the real property
leased or rented by the lessee or renter and knowingly and willfully
fails to provide written notice when required by this subdivision to
the owner or lessor, both of the following shall apply:
   (A) The failure is deemed to constitute a default, upon the owner'
s or lessor's written notice to the lessee or renter, under the
lessee's or renter's lease or rental agreement, except that this
subparagraph does not apply to lessees and renters of property used
exclusively for residential purposes.
   (B) The lessee or renter is liable for a civil penalty not to
exceed five thousand dollars (,000) for each separate violation.
   (3) A lessee or renter may cure a default under the lessee's or
renter's lease or rental agreement which resulted from a violation of
this subdivision, by promptly commencing and completing the removal
of, or taking other appropriate remedial action with respect to, the
hazardous substance release.  The removal or remedial action shall be
conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations and
in a manner which is reasonably acceptable to, and which is approved
in writing by, the owner or lessor.  This paragraph does not relieve
the lessee or renter of any liability for actual damages or for any
civil penalty for a violation of this subdivision.