2007 California Health and Safety Code Article 1. General Provisions And Definitions

CA Codes (hsc:44500-44512)

44500.  This division may be cited as the California Pollution
Control Financing Authority Act.



44501.  (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that it is
necessary and essential that the state, in cooperation with the
federal government, use all practical means and measures to control,
remediate, and eliminate pollution hazards to the environment.  The
Legislature further finds and determines that industry within this
state utilizes processes and facilities that have significant
environmental impact.  These processes and facilities shall be
modified and supplemented to meet the quality standards established
and to be established for the control and remediation of
environmental pollution.  Industry needs and requires new methods to
finance the capital outlays required for the devices, equipment, and
facilities utilized in pollution control if they are to rapidly
comply with the quality standards established by the state and
federal governments, and if they are to rapidly remediate
contaminated properties so that those properties can be reused for
economically beneficial purposes.
   (b) The Legislature also finds and declares that the disposal of
waste products by such current methods as incineration and landfill
pollute the environment by degrading air and water quality.  The
Legislature further finds that in order to reduce the environmental
pollution that currently occurs in connection with the disposal of
waste products, there is a need to develop new and alternative
processes and facilities that provide for the disposal of those waste
products in ways that prevent or reduce environmental degradation.
The Legislature also finds that  those new and alternative processes
and facilities include those that recover resources and energy from
waste products.  The Legislature further finds and declares that in
order to prevent further environmental degradation resulting from
contamination caused by the release of waste products and hazardous
materials, there is a need to encourage the remediation of that
contamination of properties with the potential for economically
beneficial reuse.
   (c) The alternate method of financing provided in this division is
in the public interest and serves a public purpose and will promote
the health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of the State of
California.
   (d) The Legislature also finds and declares that California is
expected to undergo tremendous population growth by the addition of
an estimated five million new jobs, 12 million new residents, and
over four million new households over the next 20 years.  This
constitutes more rapid growth than California experienced during the
1950's, 1960's, and 1970's, combined.  The Legislature also finds
that as a result of this unprecedented growth, the long-term
environmental quality of the state depends, in part, on altering
current growth patterns by adopting policies and programs that
promote new forms of sustainable development and that will help
reduce pollution and the degradation of the environment.  The
Legislature also finds that a key element of sustainable development
is infill development and the revitalization of existing communities.
  Sustainable development will result in the remediation of
brownfields, reduce traffic and auto pollution, and help preserve
open spaces.  The Legislature also finds that many communities in
California do not have the resources or expertise to identify and
compete for state, federal, or private assistance in order to develop
and implement environmentally sensitive growth policies and programs
for economically struggling neighborhoods.  The Legislature further
finds and declares that assisting economically distressed counties
and cities to develop and implement sustainable and environmentally
sensitive growth policies and programs that increase the utilization
of unproductive properties within existing communities will help
reduce environmental hazards created by brownfields and traffic
congestion, while aiding in the revitalization of economically
struggling neighborhoods and the preservation of open space at the
urban edges.  The grant and loan program provided in this division is
in the public interest, serves a public purpose, and will promote
the health, welfare, and safety of the citizens of the State of
California.
   (e) (1) The Legislature also finds and declares that real property
contaminated with hazardous substances is a continuing blight on
communities.  Estimates suggest there are between 67,000 and 119,000
contaminated sites, commonly referred to as "brownfields," throughout
the state.  Located in existing communities, many of these sites are
abandoned, idle, or underutilized due to a combination of factors,
including legal liability concerns, regulatory issues, and the costs
of pollution cleanup.  Additionally, many of the undeveloped
brownfields in the state are located within communities with
depressed land values and pressing economic need, communities often
characterized by a lack of capital investment.  The remediation and
development of brownfields is an important component of revitalizing
existing communities and supporting sustainable growth patterns.
While remediation and development activities should focus on
brownfield sites that, although contaminated, have the potential for
economically beneficial reuse, there currently exist few, if any,
sources for financing the assessment, planning, and reporting
activities that are the necessary first steps toward determining
whether a site has the potential for economically beneficial reuse.
   (2) The Legislature finds and declares that the California
Pollution Control Financing Authority should work in conjunction with
public and private sector entities, including, but not limited to,
cities, counties, school districts, redevelopment agencies, and
financial institutions, to assist in financing, through loans, the
cost of performing or obtaining site assessments , remedial action
plans technical assistance, and, reports, and where it is determined
that a site has the potential for economically beneficial reuse, the
cleanup, remediation, or development of brownfield sites.  The loan
program provided by this division is in the public interest, serves a
public purpose, and will promote the health, welfare, and safety of
the citizens of the State of California.



44502.  It is the purpose of this division to carry out and make
effective the findings of the Legislature and to that end to do all
of the following, to the mutual benefit of the people of the state
and to protect their health and welfare:
   (a) To provide industry within the state, irrespective of company
size, with an alternative method of financing in providing,
enlarging, and establishing pollution control facilities  that are
needed to accomplish the purposes of this division.
   (b) To assist economically distressed counties and cities to
develop and implement growth policies and programs that reduce
pollution hazards and the degradation of the environment or promote
infill development.
   (c) To assist with the financing of the costs of assessment,
remedial planning and reporting, technical assistance, and the
cleanup, remediation, or development of brownfield sites, or other
similar or related costs.



44503.  Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in
this article govern the construction of this chapter.



44504.  "Authority" means the California Pollution Control Financing
Authority established pursuant to Section 44515 and any board,
commission, department, or officer succeeding to the functions
thereof or to whom the powers conferred upon the authority by this
division shall be given by law.



44504.1.  "Brownfield site" means a real estate parcel or
improvements located on the parcel, or both that parcel and the
improvements, which is abandoned, idled, or underused, due to real or
perceived environmental contamination, including, but not limited
to, soil or groundwater contamination, the presence of underground
storage tanks, or the presence of asbestos or lead paint on the
parcel or in the improvements located on the parcel, which after
assessment and planning, is determined to have a reasonable potential
for economically beneficial reuse.


44505.  "Cost" as applied to a project or portion thereof financed
under the provisions of this division embraced all or any part of the
cost of construction and acquisition of all lands, structures, real
or personal property, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements,
and interests acquired or used for a project, the cost of demolishing
or removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired,
including the cost of acquiring any lands to which such buildings or
structures may be moved, the cost of all machinery and equipment,
financing charges, interest prior to, during and for a period after
completion of such construction as determined by the authority,
provisions for working capital, reserves for principal and interest
and for extensions, enlargements, additions, replacements,
renovations and improvements, the cost of architectural, engineering,
financial and legal services, plans, specifications, estimates,
administrative expenses and other expenses necessary or incident to
determining the feasibility of constructing any project or incident
to the construction or acquisition or financing of any project.




44506.  "Participating party" means any person, company,
corporation, partnership, firm, or other entity or group of entities
engaged in operations within this state that requires financing
pursuant to the terms of this division to aid and assist in the
control, remediation, or elimination of pollution of the environment
of the state.



44507.  "Pollution" means an alteration of the quality of the
environment of the state and shall be determined by the various
standards prescribed from time to time by this state, the federal
government, or any agency, department, or political subdivision of
this state or the federal government, and may include, but is not
limited to, earth, air, or water pollution, pollution caused by solid
or hazardous waste disposal, thermal pollution, radiation
contamination, the release of hazardous materials, or noise
pollution.  Pollution also includes, but is not limited to, the
contamination of soil or groundwater resulting from the release of
hazardous materials, as defined in Section 25260, or the presence of
asbestos or lead paint, at sites with a reasonable potential for
economically beneficial reuse.



44508.  (a) "Project" and "pollution control facility,"
respectively, mean any land, building, improvement thereto, work,
property or structure, real or personal, providing or designed to
provide for the control, reduction, abatement, elimination,
remediation, or prevention of pollution, including, but not limited
to, hydrostatic control facilities, dust collectors, smoke bags,
settling ponds, filtration plants, sewage disposal facilities,
garbage disposal facilities, recycling facilities, dumps, filling
grounds, chlorination ponds, treatment works, water utility property,
soil excavation and removal, construction, operation, and
maintenance of systems that extract, contain, or treat groundwater,
soil vapor, gas, or leachate, and all other structures, systems, or
facilities now or hereafter developed or useful in the control of
pollution of any type or character, including any structure,
equipment, or other facilities for the purpose of the purchase,
production, distribution, or sale of water, or of reducing, treating,
neutralizing, or cooling the temperature of any liquid, gaseous, or
solid or hazardous waste substance or discharge resulting from the
process of manufacture, industry, or commerce, or from the
development, processing, or recovery of any natural resource or the
generation of electricity, steam heat, or manufactured gas, together
with the recovery, treatment, neutralizing, stabilizing, or cooling
equipment, facilities, plants, or structures necessary to reduce,
control, remediate, or eliminate pollution, and any and all
facilities which may hereafter be developed through science, study,
and investigation to aid and assist in the control of pollution or
the removal or treatment of any substance that might otherwise cause
or contribute to pollution, and including the use of renewable energy
resource devices or the development of an energy conservation
program where that action is designed to reduce onsite emissions or
pollutants.
   (b) "Project" also means payment by a party for the party's share
of the cost of remediation of pollution at a contaminated site for
which the party is a de minimis or de micromis responsible party, and
the party has been accorded that status in an expedited final
settlement or other settlement with the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, reached in accordance with subsection (g) of
Section 122 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq.)
and the regulations and guidance issued by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to that act.



44509.  "Public agency" means any state agency, board, or
commission, any county, city and county, city, regional agency,
public district, or other political subdivision.



44510.  "Revenues" means all rents, receipts, purchase payments and
all other income or receipts derived by the authority from the sale,
lease, or other disposition of pollution control facilities and any
income or revenue derived from the investment of any money in any
fund or account of the authority.


44511.  "Renewable energy resource device" means any device, or any
combination of devices, which produces heat, process heat, space
heating, water heating, steam, space cooling, refrigeration,
mechanical energy, electricity, or energy in any form convertible to
such uses, which do not expend or use fossil or nuclear fuels except
when used for pumps, fans, or other minor controls.



44512.  "Energy conservation program" means any program which
utilizes techniques or devices including, but not limited to,
cogeneration, waste heat recovery systems, efficient lighting
systems, and energy efficiency improvements to industrial processes,
which are primarily intended to reduce energy consumption.