S-509                 _______________________________________________

 

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 5071

                        _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

 

By Senators Kreidler, Williams and Rinehart

 

 

Read first time 1/14/87 and referred to Committee on Parks & Ecology.

 

 


AN ACT Relating to dangerous wastes; amending RCW 70.105.010; adding a new section to chapter 70.105 RCW; and repealing RCW 70.105.110.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

        Sec. 1.  Section 1, chapter 101, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. as amended by section 1, chapter 448, Laws of 1985 and RCW 70.105.010 are each amended to read as follows:

          The words and phrases defined in this section shall have the meanings indicated when used in this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

          (1) "Department" means the department of ecology.

          (2) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology or his designee.

          (3) "Disposal site" means a geographical site in or upon which hazardous wastes are disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

          (4) "Dispose or disposal" means the discarding or abandoning of hazardous wastes or the treatment, decontamination, or recycling of such wastes once they have been discarded or abandoned.

          (5) "Dangerous wastes" means any discarded, useless, unwanted, or abandoned ((nonradioactive)) substances, including but not limited to substances composed of both radioactive and nonradioactive components, certain pesticides, or any residues or containers of such substances which are disposed of in such quantity or concentration as to pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, wildlife, or the environment because such wastes or constituents or combinations of such wastes:

          (a) Have short-lived, toxic properties that may cause death, injury, or illness or have mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic properties; or

          (b) Are corrosive, explosive, flammable, or may generate pressure through decomposition or other means.

          (6) "Extremely hazardous waste" means any dangerous waste which

          (a) will persist in a hazardous form for several years or more at a disposal site and which in its persistent form

          (i) presents a significant environmental hazard and may be concentrated by living organisms through a food chain or may affect the genetic make-up of man or wildlife, and

          (ii) is highly toxic to man or wildlife

          (b) if disposed of at a disposal site in such quantities as would present an extreme hazard to man or the environment.

          (7) "Person" means any person, firm, association, county, public or municipal or private corporation, agency, or other entity whatsoever.

          (8) "Pesticide" shall have the meaning of the term as defined in RCW 15.58.030 as now or hereafter amended.

          (9) "Solid waste advisory committee" means the same advisory committee as per RCW 70.95.040 through 70.95.070.

          (10) "Designated zone facility" means any facility that requires an interim or final status permit under rules adopted under this chapter and that is not a preempted facility as defined in this section.

          (11) "Facility" means all contiguous land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for recycling, storing, treating, incinerating, or disposing of hazardous waste.

          (12) "Preempted facility" means any facility that includes as a significant part of its activities any of the following operations:  (a) Landfill, (b) incineration, (c) land treatment, (d) surface impoundment to be closed as a landfill, or (e) waste pile to be closed as a landfill.

          (13) "Hazardous household substances" means those substances identified by the department as hazardous household substances in the guidelines developed under RCW 70.105.220.

          (14) "Hazardous substances" means any liquid, solid, gas, or sludge, including any material, substance, product, commodity, or waste, regardless of quantity, that exhibits any of the characteristics or criteria of hazardous waste as described in rules adopted under this chapter.

          (15) "Hazardous waste" means and includes all dangerous and extremely hazardous waste.

          (16) "Local government" means a city, town, or county.

          (17) "Moderate-risk waste" means (a) any waste that exhibits any of the properties of hazardous waste but is exempt from regulation under this chapter solely because the waste is generated in quantities below the threshold for regulation, and (b) any household wastes which are generated from the disposal of substances identified by the department as hazardous household substances.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 70.105 RCW to read as follows:

          The department of ecology may regulate all dangerous wastes, including those with radioactive components, to the extent it is not preempted by federal law.

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  Section 11, chapter 101, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess., section 3, chapter 237, Laws of 1984 and RCW 70.105.110 are each repealed.