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) 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.
