Article 7.7 - Hazardous Waste Treatment Reform Act of 1995

California Health and Safety Code — §§ 25179.1-25179.12

Sections (4)

Repealed and added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 638, Sec. 15. Effective January 1, 1996.

(a)This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Hazardous Waste Treatment Reform Act of 1995.

(b)It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this article, to adopt reasonable and realistic methods for addressing the environmental risks associated with land disposal of hazardous waste and to encourage the treatment of hazardous waste to remove or reduce hazards to human health and the environment. However, it is not the Legislature’s intent to impose

hazardous waste management requirements upon hazardous waste generators and hazardous waste storage, treatment, and disposal facilities located within the state which could, if so imposed, encourage illegal disposal practices or force California generators to seek hazardous waste disposal solutions in other states or countries, thereby shifting the state’s hazardous waste treatment and disposal burdens to other jurisdictions.

(c)The Legislature hereby finds and declares the following:

(1)The hazardous waste treatment industry is important to California’s economy and future environmental protection.

(2)Treatment of hazardous waste, the generation of which cannot otherwise be prevented through waste minimization and recycling of hazardous constituents, is preferable to disposal of that waste by means of

incineration or land disposal without treatment.

(3)To improve California’s economic and environmental well-being, the development and implementation of new hazardous waste treatment technologies in California that reduce or eliminate the hazards to human health and the environment of hazardous waste generated in California should be encouraged where these technologies can be practically utilized in California to substantially reduce or eliminate these hazards.

§ 25179.10

Repealed and added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 638, Sec. 15. Effective January 1, 1996.

(a)The department may grant an exemption from the requirements of Section 25179.6 pursuant to subdivision (b) for either of the following:

(1)Any special waste which meets the criteria and requirements established for special waste in the regulations adopted by the department and has been classified as a special waste pursuant to the regulations adopted by the department but does not meet the treatment standards established by the department pursuant to Section 25179.6.

(2)Any hazardous waste generated in the extraction, beneficiation, or processing of ores and minerals.

(b)The department may grant an exemption for a waste specified in subdivision (a) if a person, upon application, demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that no economically and technologically feasible alternatives exist to recycle, reuse, or treat the waste to meet the treatment standards adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25179.6 and that there will be no migration of hazardous constituents in concentrations which pollute or threaten to pollute the waters of the state from the disposal unit where the waste is to be disposed. An exemption granted pursuant to this subdivision shall remain in effect for five years. The department may renew the exemption if, upon application, it determines that the findings required by the subdivision still apply.

§ 25179.11

Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 632, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 1997.

(a)A person discharging a hazardous waste into a surface impoundment that was constructed before July 1, 1986, and for which an application for waste discharge requirements was submitted on or before September 1, 1986, is exempt from the requirements of Sections 25179.5 and 25179.6 if all of the following conditions apply to the surface impoundment:

(1)The surface impoundment, the management of the hazardous waste discharged into the surface impoundment, and any residue

resulting from the treatment of the hazardous waste meet the requirements of Section 3005(j) of the federal act and Section 268.4 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, if applicable.

(2)The surface impoundment is in compliance with Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 25208).

(3)Hazardous waste is discharged into the surface impoundment for purposes of treating the hazardous waste to comply with any treatment standard in effect pursuant to Section 25179 or adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25179.6 for that hazardous waste, and the residues that result from the treatment of the hazardous waste which do not meet that treatment standard are removed for subsequent management within one year from the date of placement of the hazardous waste into the surface impoundment.

(b)A person

discharging a hazardous waste into a surface impoundment that was constructed after July 1, 1986, and for which an application for waste discharge requirements was submitted after September 1, 1986, is exempt from the requirements of Sections 25179.5 and 25179.6 if all of the following conditions apply to the surface impoundment:

(1)The surface impoundment, the management of the hazardous waste discharged into the surface impoundment, and any residue resulting from the treatment of the hazardous waste meet the requirements of Section 3005(j) of the federal act and Section 268.4 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, if applicable.

(2)The surface impoundment is in compliance with Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 25208).

(3)Hazardous waste is discharged into the surface impoundment for purposes of

treating the hazardous waste to comply with any treatment standard in effect pursuant to Section 25179.5 or adopted by the department pursuant to Section 25179.6 for that hazardous waste, and the residues that result from the treatment of the hazardous waste which do not meet that treatment standard are removed for subsequent management within one year from the date of placement of the hazardous waste into the surface impoundment.

(4)The department determines that the use of the surface impoundment to treat the hazardous waste is the only means by which the hazardous waste can be treated using the best demonstrated available technology.

§ 25179.12

Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 632, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1997.

(a)Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), a person operating a land treatment facility is exempt from the requirements of Sections 25179.5 and 25179.6 if the facility is in compliance with the requirements of all state and federal statutes and regulations applicable to land treatment facilities, including, but not limited to, subdivision (b), and the facility has either been issued a final hazardous waste facilities permit or is operating under, and in compliance with, the requirements of interim status and the facility

operator has submitted an application for a final permit.

(b)Land treatment facilities at which hazardous constituents have migrated from the treatment zone shall not be eligible for an exemption pursuant to subdivision (a) until the contamination has been removed to the satisfaction of the department. In order for the department to determine whether hazardous constituents have migrated from the treatment zone, the owner or operator of the land treatment facility shall provide data to the department on at least all of the following:

(1)Soil cores taken from below the treatment zone.

(2)Groundwater monitoring.

(3)Unsaturated zone monitoring.

(4)Waste analysis.

(5)Historical activities at the facility.

(c)A land treatment facility may not treat hazardous waste which has been restricted or prohibited by the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to Section 3004 of the federal act unless the land treatment has been authorized by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.