S-3216

AN ACT Relating to hazardous waste management; and amending RCW 70.105.005, 70.105.007, 70.105.010, and 70.105.150.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 70.105.005 and 1985 c 448 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

The legislature hereby finds and declares:

(1) The health and welfare of the people of the state depend on clean and pure environmental resources unaffected by hazardous waste contamination. At the same time, the quality of life of the people of the state is in part based upon a large variety of goods produced by the economy of the state. The complex industrial processes that produce these goods also generate waste byproducts, some of which are hazardous to the public health and the environment if improperly managed.

(2) Safe and responsible management of hazardous waste is necessary to prevent adverse effects on the environment and to protect public health and safety.

(3) The availability of safe, effective, economical, and environmentally sound facilities for the management of hazardous waste is essential to protect public health and the environment and to preserve the economic strength of the state.

(4) Strong and effective enforcement of federal and state hazardous waste laws and regulations is essential to protect the public health and the environment and to meet the public's concerns regarding the acceptance of needed new hazardous waste management facilities.

(5) Negotiation, mediation, and similar conflict resolution techniques are useful in resolving concerns over the local impacts of siting hazardous waste management facilities.

(6) Safe and responsible management of hazardous waste requires an effective planning process that involves local and state governments, the public, and industry.

(7) Public acceptance and successful siting of needed new hazardous waste management facilities depends on several factors, including:

(a) Public confidence in the safety of the facilities;

(b) Assurance that the hazardous waste management priorities established in this chapter are being carried out to the maximum degree practical;

(c) Recognition that all state citizens benefit from certain products whose manufacture results in the generation of hazardous byproducts, and that all state citizens must, therefore, share in the responsibility for finding safe and effective means to manage this hazardous waste; and

(d) Provision of adequate opportunities for citizens to meet with facility operators and resolve concerns about local hazardous waste management facilities.

(8) Due to the controversial and regional nature of facilities for the disposal and incineration of hazardous waste, the facilities have had difficulty in obtaining necessary local approvals. The legislature finds that there is a state-wide interest in assuring that such facilities can be sited.

It is therefore the intent of the legislature to preempt local government's authority to approve, deny, or otherwise regulate disposal and incineration facilities, and to vest in the department of ecology the sole authority among state, regional, and local agencies to approve, deny, and regulate preempted facilities, as defined in this chapter.

In addition, it is the intent of the legislature that such complete preemptive authority also be vested in the department for treatment and storage facilities, in addition to disposal and incineration facilities, if a local government fails to carry out its responsibilities established in RCW 70.105.225.

It is further the intent of the legislature that no local ordinance, permit requirement, other requirement, or decision shall prohibit on the basis of land use considerations the construction of a hazardous waste management facility within any zone designated and approved in accordance with this chapter, provided that the proposed site for the facility is consistent with applicable state siting criteria.

(9) With the exception of the disposal site authorized for acquisition under this chapter, the private sector has had the primary role in providing hazardous waste management facilities and services in the state. It is the intent of the legislature that this role be encouraged and continue into the future to the extent feasible. Whether privately or publicly owned and operated, hazardous waste management facilities and services should be subject to ((~~strict~~)) governmental regulation ((~~as provided under this chapter~~)) that is effective to accomplish the goals of subsections (1), (2), and (3) of this section and RCW 70.105.215.

(10) Wastes that are exempt or excluded from full regulation under this chapter due to their small quantity or household origin have the potential to pose significant risk to public health and the environment if not properly managed. It is the intent of the legislature that the specific risks posed by such waste be investigated and assessed and that programs be carried out as necessary to manage the waste appropriately. In addition, the legislature finds that, because local conditions vary substantially in regard to the quantities, risks, and management opportunities available for such wastes, local government is the appropriate level of government to plan for and carry out programs to manage moderate-risk waste, with assistance and coordination provided by the department.

Sec. 2. RCW 70.105.007 and 1985 c 448 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:

The purpose of this chapter is to establish a comprehensive state-wide framework for the planning, regulation, control, and management of hazardous waste which will prevent land, air, and water pollution and conserve the natural, economic, and energy resources of the state. To this end it is the purpose of this chapter:

(1) To provide broad powers of regulation to the department of ecology relating to management of hazardous wastes and releases of hazardous substances, except that regulations that thwart or tend to thwart the goals of RCW 70.105.005 (1), (2), and (3), and 70.105.215 are invalid and unenforceable;

(2) To promote waste reduction and to encourage other improvements in waste management practices;

(3) To promote cooperation between state and local governments by assigning responsibilities for planning for hazardous wastes to the state and planning for moderate-risk waste to local government;

(4) To provide for prevention of problems related to improper management of hazardous substances before such problems occur; and

(5) To assure that needed hazardous waste management facilities may be sited in the state, and to ensure the safe operation of the facilities.

Sec. 3. RCW 70.105.010 and 1989 c 376 s 1 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 the director's 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 substances, including but not limited to 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, including substances composed of both radioactive and hazardous components.

(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.

(18) "Service charge" means an assessment imposed under RCW 70.105.280 against those facilities that store, treat, incinerate, or dispose of dangerous or extremely hazardous waste that contains both a nonradioactive hazardous component and a radioactive component. Service charges shall also apply to facilities undergoing closure under this chapter in those instances where closure entails the physical characterization of remaining wastes which contain both a nonradioactive hazardous component and a radioactive component or the management of such wastes through treatment or removal, except any commercial low-level radioactive waste facility.

Sec. 4. RCW 70.105.150 and 1983 1st ex.s. c 70 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

The legislature hereby declares that:

(1) The health and welfare of the people of the state depend on clean and pure environmental resources unaffected by hazardous waste contamination. Management and regulation of hazardous waste disposal should encourage practices which result in the least amount of waste being produced. Towards that end, the legislature finds that the following priorities in the management of hazardous waste are necessary and should be followed in order of descending priority as applicable:

(a) Waste reduction;

(b) Waste recycling;

(d) Incineration;

(e) Solidification/stabilization treatment;

(f) Landfill.

(2) As used in this section:

(a) "Waste reduction" means reducing waste so that hazardous byproducts are not produced;

(b) "Waste recycling" means reusing waste materials and extracting valuable materials from a waste stream;

(c) "Physical, chemical, and biological treatment" means processing the waste to render it completely innocuous, produce a recyclable byproduct, reduce toxicity, or substantially reduce the volume of material requiring disposal. When a waste has been processed so that it is completely innocuous or has been processed to a recyclable product, it ceases to be under the management control of the department;

(d) "Incineration" means reducing the volume or toxicity of wastes by use of an enclosed device using controlled flame combustion;

(e) "Solidification/stabilization treatment" means the use of encapsulation techniques to solidify wastes and make them less permeable or leachable; and

(f) "Landfill" means a disposal facility, or part of a facility, at which waste is placed in or on land and which is not a land treatment facility, surface impoundment, or injection well.