1810-S.E AAS 4/14/95 S3300.1

1810-S.E AAS 4/14/95 S3300.1

ESHB 1810 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Ways & Means

ADOPTED 4/14/95

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The department of ecology shall establish a policy advisory committee to provide advice to the legislature and the department on administrative and legislative actions to more effectively implement the model toxics control act, chapter 70.105D RCW. The committee shall consist of the following members:

(a) Four legislative members selected as provided in subsection (2) of this section;

(b) Four representatives of citizen and environmental organizations;

(c) Four representatives of business, including two representatives of small business and two representatives of large business;

(d) One representative of counties;

(e) One representative of cities;

(f) One representative of ports;

(g) One member of the scientific advisory board created under RCW 70.105D.030(4);

(h) One representative of an environmental consulting firm engaged in the remediation of contaminated sites;

(i) Not more than three additional members selected by the department from recommendations provided by the committee; and

(j) The directors of the departments of ecology and health or their designees.

(2) The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives may each appoint one member from each major caucus in the senate and the house of representatives, respectively, to serve as members of the committee.

(3) In making appointments under subsection (1) (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) of this section, the department shall select from the lists of recommendations submitted by recognized regional or state-wide organizations representing the interests of that category.

(4) The initial meeting of the committee shall be scheduled no later than August 1, 1995. At the initial meeting the members shall select a presiding officer and adopt procedures for carrying out their duties under sections 2 and 3 of this act. In conducting its review the committee shall, wherever possible, operate on a consensus basis and, when consensus is not possible to achieve, the committee should encourage the development of recommendations that are broadly supported within the committee. Where consensus is not achieved, other views within the committee shall be included in any reports required by sections 2 and 3 this act.

(5) The committee may divide itself into subcommittees. The committee should seek input from people who are interested in its work and who will, in the committee's view, bring experience or technical or interdisciplinary insight to a thoughtful consideration of the issues before the committee.

(6) The department shall provide staffing and other assistance to the committee, including facilitators from within or outside of state government if requested. Such assistance shall include information in response to reasonable requests from the committee, provided that the information is not protected by attorney-client privilege.

(7) Legislative members of the committee shall be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW 44.04.120. If other members would not be able to participate in the committee's activities because of travel expenses or other financial limitations on the ability to participate fully, the department shall certify the members as entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(8) At the initial meeting attended by a committee member, the member shall identify the nature of his or her interest in the outcome of matters before the committee. This information shall include the type of organization to which the member belongs and the general nature of the membership and/or business interest of that organization. Thereafter, a committee member shall disclose any potential conflicts of interest or bias that subsequently arise or of which the committee member subsequently becomes aware. A member shall refrain from participating in any matter that the member for any reason cannot act fairly, objectively, and in the public interest with regard to that matter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The policy advisory committee shall review, provide advice, and develop recommendations on the following subjects, at a minimum:

(a) Clean-up standards and clean-up levels, including the use of site-specific risk assessment;

(b) Policies, rules, and procedures, including the use of cost, current and future land use, and other criteria in the selection of clean-up remedies;

(c) How the department carries out the clean-up program in practice, including training, and accountability for clean-up decisions and their implementation;

(d) Improving the clean-up process to provide additional incentives to potentially liable parties to fully and expeditiously fund cleanups;

(e) The need for adoption of and recommended levels for ecologically based clean-up standards; and

(f) A review of the effectiveness of independent cleanups.

(2) The committee shall begin meeting no later than August 1, 1995, to review the model toxics control act and its implementation to date. The committee is encouraged to submit recommendations on policies of state-wide or regional significance to the department at any point during its review. The committee shall submit a preliminary report not later than December 15, 1995, to the appropriate legislative committees, that identifies priority questions and issues that the committee intends to address. The preliminary report shall identify the schedule and approach planned for analyzing these priority issues. The committee shall develop a procedure to allow other interested parties to propose additional questions and issues for review. Any questions and issues the committee chooses to address shall be of regional or state-wide significance. It is not the intent that this committee become engaged in site-specific clean-up decisions at pilot projects or any other sites.

(3) The committee shall submit a final report to the department and the appropriate legislative committees not later than December 15, 1996, on the priority issues it has identified for review. In addition to action recommendations, the final report may identify issues and priorities for further study, including a recommendation as to whether the committee should continue in existence.

(4) The department shall assist the committee's review under this section by preparing case studies of a variety of site cleanups involving differing contaminants, quantities of contaminants, media affected, populations exposed, present and future land and resource uses, and other factors. The committee shall seek input from the affected community, potentially liable persons involved in the cleanup and other participants in the clean-up process at the site and include this input in the information included on the case study. The case studies, along with the other information gathered in the review, shall be used by the committee to provide advice and develop recommendations on the questions and issues addressed by the committee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Not later than October 1, 1995, the policy advisory committee shall select two pilot projects from a list of proposed pilot project sites provided by the department. The purpose of the pilot projects is to evaluate alternative methods for accomplishing faster, less-expensive, and an equally protective degree of cleanup at complex sites, within the framework provided by the model toxics control act and the rules adopted under the model toxics control act. Pilot projects shall comply with the model toxics control act and the rules adopted under the model toxics control act. Public participation in the clean-up process for these sites shall be as provided in such rules. In order to be eligible for a pilot project, a site shall be conducting remedial actions under an order, agreed order, or consent decree under the model toxics control act and there shall not be significant opposition from the public potentially affected by the site. In addition, the following criteria shall be used by the department and the committee when recommending and selecting a site as a pilot project site:

(a) The presence of multiple parties at the site and the willingness of these persons to participate in a pilot project;

(b) The source of contamination at the site. Sites contaminated as a result of current or past industrial activities shall be given a preference over other sites;

(c) The stage of cleanup at the site. Sites that are in the process of preparing or for which there is recently completed a remedial investigation/feasibility study shall be given preference over other sites; and

(d) The degree of community support for selecting a site as a pilot project site. To determine the degree of community support, the department shall first consult with interested community and environmental groups. Thereafter, before proposing a site as a pilot project the department shall issue a public notice identifying the site and seeking public comment on the potential for the site to be a pilot project site.

(2) In the pilot projects the department shall include with the remedial investigation/feasibility study required under the model toxics control act any additional or alternative risk assessments or other analyses that potentially liable persons may wish to prepare at their expense for the purpose of exploration of improved methods to accomplish cleanup under the model toxics control act. The department shall provide technical assistance to identify an appropriate scope for such supplemental analyses, so that the analyses may prove useful in considering improvements to existing practices, policies, rules, and procedures. The department may establish a reasonable schedule for the preparation of any supplemental analyses. The preparation and evaluation of any supplemental analyses shall not result in a delay in remedial actions at the pilot sites. The analyses shall be included in the remedial investigation/feasibility study regardless of whether the department fully concurred in their scope. The department may simultaneously prepare or commission its own supplemental analyses at its own expense, as distinct from department-conducted or department-commissioned or contracted technical review of supplemental analyses prepared by potentially liable persons, which shall remain subject to cost recovery under the model toxics control act.

(3) In consultation with the potentially liable persons and affected public for each site, the department's site managers shall to the fullest extent possible use the administrative principles set forth, for both the clean-up process and for clean-up standards, as well as other flexible tools available in the rules adopted under the model toxics control act.

(4) In order to avoid misunderstanding and promote constructive dialogue, the public participation plan for each site shall be designed or revised to educate and involve the public on the nature of the pilot project, the specific issues being explored at the site, and the purpose and scope of any alternative or supplemental analyses.

(5) The department shall prepare a report on each pilot project highlighting any policy issues raised as a result of the pilot project and providing a copy of the remedial investigation/feasibility study and any supplemental analyses and public comments received for each pilot project to the policy advisory committee. The report shall be submitted to the committee within ninety days after the comment period ends on the remedial investigation/feasibility study for that site. The department shall also keep the committee informed about decisions made regarding the pilot project sites and progress made in implementation of cleanup at these sites. The intent is for the committee to use the information acquired from the pilot projects to supplement other information used in developing policy recommendations under section 2 of this act. The department shall submit a status report to the policy advisory committee no later than March 31, 1996, including an estimated schedule for reporting on each pilot project.

(6) Nothing in this act shall be construed to prevent or limit the department from fully employing all procedures and standards available under the model toxics control act or the rules adopted to implement the model toxics control act with respect to any site, whether or not it is being considered as a possible pilot project under this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill number, is not provided by June 30, 1995, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act shall expire January 15, 1997."

ESHB 1810 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Ways & Means

ADOPTED 4/14/95

On page 1, line 2 of the title, after "act;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "creating new sections; and providing an expiration date."