BILL NUMBER: AB 274	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  318
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 11, 2009
	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 9, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 26, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Portantino

                        FEBRUARY 12, 2009

   An act to amend Sections 48000 and 48001 of, to add Section
48001.5 to, and to add Article 2.1 (commencing with Section 48010) to
Chapter 2 of Part 7 of Division 30 of, the Public Resources Code,
and to amend Section 45901 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating
to solid waste.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 274, Portantino. Solid waste: landfills: closure plans.
   Existing law requires an operator of a solid waste disposal
facility to pay a quarterly fee to the State Board of Equalization
(state board) based on the amount of solid waste disposed of at each
disposal site. Commencing with the 1995-96 fiscal year, the act
requires the California Integrated Waste Management Board (board) to
establish the amount of the fee, as specified, and limits the fee to
a maximum of $1.40 per ton. The fees are required to be deposited in
the Integrated Waste Management Account in the Integrated Waste
Management Fund, and the board is authorized to expend the money in
the account, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to administer and
implement the act.
   This bill, on and after January 1, 2012, would authorize an
operator of a solid waste disposal facility that is required to meet
financial assurance requirements and is in operation on July 1, 2011,
to elect to participate in the State Solid Waste Postclosure and
Corrective Action Trust Fund created by this bill.
   The bill would require that a participating operator pay a fee of
$0.12 per ton per disposal site. The bill would require the fee to be
collected in the same manner as the solid waste disposal fee
described above, and require the board to fulfill certain
administrative reporting requirements to the state board. The bill
would also require that the fee be deposited in the fund and made
available to the board for expenditure, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for postclosure activities and corrective actions not
performed by any owner or operator of a solid waste landfill when the
owner or operator fails to comply with the board's final order, the
financial assurance mechanisms are inadequate to fund necessary
compliance activities, the solid waste landfill was operating
pursuant to a valid solid waste facilities permit on or after January
1, 1988, and the board has first used and exhausted all immediately
available financial assurance mechanisms provided by the operator.
   The bill would require that the fee not be operative on and after
January 1, 2012, unless the board received, on or before July 1,
2011, letters of participation in the State Solid Waste Postclosure
and Corrective Action Trust Fund from landfill operators representing
at least 50% of the total annual waste disposal tonnage in 2010, as
determined by the board. The bill would make conforming changes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 48000 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
   48000.  (a) Each operator of a disposal facility shall pay a fee
quarterly to the State Board of Equalization which is based on the
amount, by weight or volumetric equivalent, as determined by the
board, of all solid waste disposed of at each disposal site.
   (b) (1) The fee for solid waste disposed of shall be one dollar
and thirty-four cents ($1.34) per ton. Commencing with the 1995-96
fiscal year, the amount of the fee shall be established by the board
at an amount that is sufficient to generate revenues equivalent to
the approved budget for that fiscal year, including a prudent
reserve, but shall not exceed one dollar and forty cents ($1.40) per
ton.
   (2) On and after January 1, 2012, the amount of the fee
established by the board pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be increased
by twelve cents ($0.12) per ton for each operator of a solid waste
landfill that notifies the board that it elects to participate in the
State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund
pursuant to Article 2.1.
   (c) The board shall notify the state board on the first day of the
period in which the rate shall take effect of any rate change
adopted pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b).
   (d) The board and the state board shall ensure that all of the
fees for solid waste imposed pursuant to this section that are
collected at a transfer station are paid to the state board in
accordance with this article.
   (e) (1) The fee imposed by paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall
not be operative on or after January 1, 2012, unless the board
receives, on or before July 1, 2011, letters of participation in the
State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund from
landfill operators representing at least 50 percent of the total
volume of waste disposed of in 2010.
   (2) The board shall notify the state board, on or before August
31, 2011, if the fee imposed by paragraph (2) of subdivision (b)
shall become operative, pursuant to paragraph (1).
  SEC. 2.  Section 48001 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   48001.  The revenue from the fees paid pursuant to paragraph (1)
of subdivision (b) of Section 48000 shall, after payment of refunds
and administrative costs of collection, be deposited in the
Integrated Waste Management Account, which is hereby created in the
fund.
  SEC. 3.  Section 48001.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   48001.5.  (a) The revenue from the fees paid pursuant to paragraph
(2) of subdivision (b) of Section 48000 shall, after payment of
refunds and administrative costs of collection, be deposited in the
State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund, which
is hereby created in the State Treasury.
   (b) Fees, revenues, and all interest earned shall be available to
the board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to carry out the
purposes of Article 2.1, including all of the following:
   (1) Corrective action and postclosure activities pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 48011.
   (2) Administrative costs incurred by the board in implementing
Article 2.1.
   (3) Any startup costs incurred by the board in implementing
Article 2.1 that were incurred before fees were paid pursuant to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 48000.
  SEC. 4.  Article 2.1 (commencing with Section 48010) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 7 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to
read:

      Article 2.1.  State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective
Action Trust Fund


   48010.  (a) (1) An operator of a landfill maintain evidence of
financial ability pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section
43600) of Chapter 2 of Part 4, that is operating the landfill on July
1, 2011, and that elects to participate in the State Solid Waste
Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund pursuant to this
article, shall submit written notice to the board on or before July
1, 2011.
   (2) An operator of multiple landfills that elects to participate
in the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund
is required to submit written notice that includes all of the
operator's operating landfills and all other landfills in which that
operator has in common ownership.
   (3) The board shall provide to the state board the name and
address, and any other information necessary to administer and
collect the fee imposed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b)
of Section 48000, of every operator of a landfill electing to
participate in the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective
Action Trust Fund on or before August 31, 2011.
   (b) If an operator that is operating a landfill on July 1, 2011,
submits a written notification to the board that it elects to
participate after the trust fund fee goes into effect, the operator
shall pay all trust fund fees applicable from January 1, 2012, and a
5-percent penalty before being allowed to participate.
   (c) For new landfills that receive a solid waste facility permit
after July 1, 2011, the operator's election to participate in the
State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund shall
be submitted in writing to the board before the board concurs in the
issuance of the permit pursuant to Section 44009.
   (d) All elections to participate made by landfill operators
pursuant to this section are final, binding, and irrevocable for
those operators and their successors and assignees.
   48011.  (a) For the purposes of this article, "solid waste
landfill" means a disposal site that is required to maintain evidence
of financial ability pursuant to Part 4 (commencing with Section
43600) of Chapter 2 of Part 4.
   (b) The board may expend money in the State Solid Waste
Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund to pay for corrective
action and postclosure activities that have not been performed by the
owner or operator of a solid waste landfill, upon a determination by
the board that all of the following conditions are met:
   (1) The solid waste landfill owner or operator has failed to
comply with a final enforcement order issued by the enforcement
agency, the regional water board, or the board.
   (2) The financial assurance mechanisms are inadequate to pay for
the required corrective action or postclosure maintenance activities
or both that action and those activities.
   (3) The solid waste landfill was operating pursuant to a valid
solid waste facilities permit on or after January 1, 1988, when the
state's requirements for solid waste landfill financial assurances
went into effect as a result of Assembly Bill 2448 of the 1987-88
Regular Session, and is required to have financial assurances
pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 43600) of Chapter 2 of
Part 4.
   (4) The board has first used and exhausted all immediately
available financial assurance mechanisms provided by the operator.
   (5) The solid waste landfill owner and operator are otherwise
unable or unwilling to pay, in a timely manner, for the required
corrective action or postclosure maintenance activities or both that
action and those activities.
   (c) The board may adopt regulations, if necessary, setting forth
additional criteria for making expenditures from the State Solid
Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund.
   (d) Notwithstanding Section 10295 of the Public Contract Code, a
contract entered into by the board for the purposes of this article
is not subject to approval by the Department of General Services.
   (e) No liability or obligation is imposed on the state under this
article, and the board shall not incur any obligation beyond the
extent to which money is expended from the State Solid Waste
Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund pursuant to this
article.
   (f) The board shall, to the maximum extent feasible, recover from
the landfill owner or operator the amount of money expended from the
State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund,
including a reasonable amount for any board contract administration
costs and an amount equal to the interest that would have been earned
on the expended funds. The board shall deposit all funds recovered
pursuant to an action authorized by this section into the State Solid
Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund.
   (g) The amount of any cost incurred by the board pursuant to this
section is recoverable from the landfill owner or operator in a civil
action brought by the Attorney General pursuant to Section 40432.
   (h) The board may, consistent with Section 48023.5, impose a lien
on the owner's or operator's assets or real property as an additional
remedy to recover funds from the operator for expenditures from the
State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund.
   48012.  After January 1, 2015, as part of the annual report
required pursuant to Section 40507, the board shall report on
expenditures from the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective
Action Trust Fund, the status of cost recovery actions, and any
recommended statutory changes that are necessary to ensure adequate
resources are available to carry out the purposes of the State Solid
Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund.
   48013.  An operator of multiple landfills who is required to
maintain evidence of financial ability pursuant to Article 4
(commencing with Section 43600) of Chapter 2 of Part 4 and whose
landfills are operating on July 1, 2011, shall include all other
landfills in which that operator has in common ownership in the
letter of participation.
  SEC. 5.  Section 45901 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended
to read:
   45901.  All fees, interest, and penalties imposed and all amounts
of fee required to be paid to the state pursuant to Section 45051
shall be paid to the board in the form of remittances payable to the
State Board of Equalization of the State of California. The board
shall transmit the payments in the following manner:
   (a) The payments from the fees paid pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b) of Section 48000 of the Public Resources Code and
related interest and penalties shall be transmitted to the Treasurer
for deposit in the Integrated Waste Management Account in the
Integrated Waste Management Fund.
   (b) The payments from the fees paid pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 48000 of the Public Resources Code and
related interest and penalties shall be transmitted to the State
Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund.