1810-S.E

AN ACT Relating to the authority of the state for cleanup standards under the model toxics control act; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) A legislative task force to review the model toxics control act is hereby created.

(2) The purpose of the task force is to make recommendations and submit a report to the legislature, including proposed statutory amendments as necessary, regarding the application and implementation of the model toxics control act, chapter 70.105D RCW, and its implementing rules, chapter 173-340 WAC. In fulfilling its responsibilities, the task force shall consider, at a minimum, the following issues under chapter 70.105D RCW and its implementing rules:

(a) Revisions to the method A standards in the rules, including, but not limited to, exclusion of any proposed regulatory levels that have not been adopted on a final basis on a federal level;

(b) Revisions to the method B formulae to reflect, at a minimum, current risk assessment methodology and to provide flexibility by developing a range of values to be considered in the risk formulae, as an alternative to using extremely conservative default values compounded for risk and exposure assumptions;

(c) Revisions to the methods used in setting cleanup standards to consider site-specific factors and to consider acceptable cancer risk between the levels of one in ten thousand and one in one million;

(d) Review preference for treatment and preference for mitigation or management of risk through nontreatment technology such as containment, capping, and institutional controls where nontreatment technologies may be less costly than treatment and equally effective;

(e) Use of cleanup standards that provide for site-specific risk reduction while ensuring that the incremental risk reduction is proportionate to the total cost of the remedial action, and that the overall remedial action is cost-effective including the development of standard procedures to establish cost-effectiveness;

(f) Cleanup standards that provide that remedial action be based on current and reasonably anticipated future land and resource uses, taking into account that, if the use is converted to one requiring the application of more stringent applicable cleanup standards, additional remediation may be required in the future;

(g) Review of exposure parameters and assumptions used in risk assessment equations for development of cleanup standards, including potential errors and safety factors, and the overall impact on the certainty of the risk estimate;

(h) Consideration of the potential use of ground water as a drinking water source in areas zoned for industrial use, in areas where perched ground water is not a reasonable water supply source, or in areas where a local water purveyor supplies drinking water to a particular area;

(i) Review of soil contaminant leaching protocols to determine impact on ground water;

(j) Review of petroleum contamination evaluation procedures and cleanup standards;

(k) Review of remedy selection and cleanup action decision-making criteria, including, but not limited to, such issues as points of compliance, practicability, and the definition of substantial and disproportionate as it relates to defining the appropriateness of cleanup actions;

(l) Creation of additional land-use categories based on alternative exposure scenarios in addition to the current residential and industrial scenarios such as commercial, open space, recreational, agricultural, and light industrial;

(m) Options available to potentially liable parties who voluntarily undertake a remediation under a consent decree or an agreed order to develop cleanup standards and cleanup levels using a site-specific risk assessment that takes into consideration the following:

(i) Generally accepted and peer reviewed scientific evidence or methodology;

(ii) Reasonable assumptions of exposure scenarios as to amounts of contaminants to which humans or other receptors will be exposed;

(iii) When and where the exposures will occur, and the amount of the exposure; and

(iv) Avoiding the use of redundant conservative assumptions;

(n) Review and revision of cleanup standards on an annual or biannual basis to reflect current scientific evidence, methodologies, and default assumptions; and

(o) Review of the use of the state toxics control account by the department of ecology.

(3) These issues are intended as guidelines for the work of the task force, and are not intended to limit the scope of its review or its recommendations.

(4) The task force shall consist of the following members:

(a) One representative from each caucus of the senate, selected by the president of the senate;

(b) One representative from each caucus of the house of representatives, selected by the speaker of the house of representatives;

(d) One representative of port districts in the state of Washington selected by the Washington public ports association;

(e) One representative of small business, selected by an organization of small businesses;

(f) One representative of large business or industry, selected by the association of Washington business;

(g) One representative of environmental restoration or remediation businesses, selected by the Washington environmental industry association;

(h) Two representatives of local government, selected by the association of Washington counties and the Washington association of cities;

(i) One representative of an environmental organization; and

(j) One representative of the department of ecology, as a nonvoting ex officio member.

(5) The department of ecology shall provide the task force with information and assistance as needed.

(6) The legislature intends to determine whether the cleanup process mandated under chapter 70.105D RCW may be enhanced, simplified, and made more cost-effective, and whether coordination between the department of ecology and the potentially liable parties may be improved, when site-specific cleanup factors, cost-benefit analysis, and alternative risk assessment approaches are applied to the cleanup process.

(7) The task force shall convene commencing July 1, 1995, and shall report its final findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature no later than December 31, 1995.

(8) Nonlegislative members of the task force shall be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(9) Legislative members of the task force shall be reimbursed for travel expenses under RCW 44.04.120.

(10) Funding for the task force shall be provided by the state toxics control account as established in RCW 70.105D.070.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The department of ecology shall undertake pilot projects on model toxics control act cleanups to determine if the review process and selection of cleanup standards, cleanup levels, and a cleanup action can be improved. Cleanup standards, cleanup levels, and cleanup actions for such pilot projects should be selected based upon the following:

(a) Cleanup standards and cleanup levels shall be protective of public health, safety, welfare, and the environment;

(b) Use of redundant conservative assumptions in risk formulae shall be avoided;

(c) Cleanup standards and cleanup levels shall be based upon generally accepted and peer reviewed scientific evidence or methodologies; reasonable assumptions of exposure scenarios as to amounts of contaminants to which humans or other receptors will be exposed; and when and where those exposures will occur and the amount of the exposure;

(d) Cleanup standards and cleanup levels shall be based upon site-specific risk;

(e) Cleanup standards and cleanup levels shall provide for site-specific risk reduction that ensures that incremental risk reduction is proportionate to the total cost of the remedial action and the overall remedial action is cost-effective;

(f) Cleanup standards and cleanup levels shall require that remedial actions be based upon a consideration of technical practicability, and shall give equal consideration to engineering controls, institutional controls, other nontreatment technologies, as well as treatment; and

(g) Cleanup standards and cleanup levels shall provide that remedial action shall be based on current and reasonably anticipated future land and resource uses, and provide that if the use is converted to one requiring the application of more stringent applicable cleanup standards, additional remediation may be required in the future.

(2) The department of ecology shall establish, in cooperation with business, industry, and other interested parties, at least three but not more than five pilot projects, for the purposes outlined in section 1(2) and (6) of this act. In selecting pilot projects, the department of ecology shall select sites that are large complex industrial sites, where the potential cost of cleanup exceeds five million dollars, and where the potentially liable parties have prepared or are in the process of preparing a risk assessment. The risk assessment information shall be used to determine the appropriate cleanup standards and levels, as well as the appropriate remedial action.

(3) The project managers representing the department of ecology and the lead potentially liable party for each pilot project shall prepare interim reports for the legislative task force created in section 1(1) of this act, including such findings and recommendations as may be appropriate. Interim reports shall be due August 15, 1995, and October 1, 1995. A final report prepared by the project manager for the department of ecology and the project manager for the lead potentially liable party shall be presented to the legislative task force created in section 1 of this act no later than December 1, 1995.

(4) Not later than December 31, 1995, the legislative task force shall evaluate the overall progress of the pilot projects under this section, and the effectiveness of the application of the standards in subsection (1)(a) through (g) of this section, and shall:

(a) Provide a report of its findings to appropriate standing committees of the legislature with such recommendations as may be appropriate, including the need, if any, for further legislation;

(b) Consider adoption of any further rules or guidelines as may be appropriate to assist the department of ecology in meeting the requirements of chapter 70.105D RCW; and

(c) Prepare and circulate such information derived from the pilot projects as will assist the department of ecology and potentially liable parties in meeting the requirements and objectives of chapter 70.105D RCW in the most expeditious and efficient manner.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall expire January 31, 1996.