BILL REQ. #: S-1781.7
| State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2013 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 04/15/13.
AN ACT Relating to the model toxics control act; amending RCW 70.105D.020, 70.105D.030, and 70.105.280; reenacting and amending RCW 70.105D.070; adding a new section to chapter 70.105D RCW; adding a new section to chapter 70.105 RCW; creating new sections; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds that there are a large
number of toxic waste sites that have been identified in the department
of ecology's priority list as ready for immediate cleanup. The
legislature further finds that addressing the cleanup of these toxic
waste sites will provide needed jobs to citizens of Washington state.
It is the intent of the legislature to prioritize the spending of
revenues under chapter 70.105D RCW, the model toxics control act, on
cleaning up the most toxic sites, while also providing jobs in
communities around the state.
Sec. 2 RCW 70.105D.020 and 2007 c 104 s 18 are each amended to
read as follows:
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Agreed order" means an order issued by the department under
this chapter with which the potentially liable person receiving the
order agrees to comply. An agreed order may be used to require or
approve any cleanup or other remedial actions but it is not a
settlement under RCW 70.105D.040(4) and shall not contain a covenant
not to sue, or provide protection from claims for contribution, or
provide eligibility for public funding of remedial actions under RCW
70.105D.070(((2)(d)(xi))) (2)(b)(iii) and (3)(b)(iii).
(2) "Department" means the department of ecology.
(3) "Director" means the director of ecology or the director's
designee.
(4) "Environmental covenant" has the same meaning as defined in RCW
64.70.020.
(5) "Facility" means (a) any building, structure, installation,
equipment, pipe or pipeline (including any pipe into a sewer or
publicly owned treatment works), well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment,
ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock,
vessel, or aircraft, or (b) any site or area where a hazardous
substance, other than a consumer product in consumer use, has been
deposited, stored, disposed of, or placed, or otherwise come to be
located.
(6) "Federal cleanup law" means the federal comprehensive
environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980, 42
U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq., as amended by Public Law 99-499.
(7)(a) "Fiduciary" means a person acting for the benefit of another
party as a bona fide trustee; executor; administrator; custodian;
guardian of estates or guardian ad litem; receiver; conservator;
committee of estates of incapacitated persons; trustee in bankruptcy;
trustee, under an indenture agreement, trust agreement, lease, or
similar financing agreement, for debt securities, certificates of
interest or certificates of participation in debt securities, or other
forms of indebtedness as to which the trustee is not, in the capacity
of trustee, the lender. Except as provided in subsection (17)(b)(iii)
of this section, the liability of a fiduciary under this chapter shall
not exceed the assets held in the fiduciary capacity.
(b) "Fiduciary" does not mean:
(i) A person acting as a fiduciary with respect to a trust or other
fiduciary estate that was organized for the primary purpose of, or is
engaged in, actively carrying on a trade or business for profit, unless
the trust or other fiduciary estate was created as part of, or to
facilitate, one or more estate plans or because of the incapacity of a
natural person;
(ii) A person who acquires ownership or control of a facility with
the objective purpose of avoiding liability of the person or any other
person. It is prima facie evidence that the fiduciary acquired
ownership or control of the facility to avoid liability if the facility
is the only substantial asset in the fiduciary estate at the time the
facility became subject to the fiduciary estate;
(iii) A person who acts in a capacity other than that of a
fiduciary or in a beneficiary capacity and in that capacity directly or
indirectly benefits from a trust or fiduciary relationship;
(iv) A person who is a beneficiary and fiduciary with respect to
the same fiduciary estate, and who while acting as a fiduciary receives
benefits that exceed customary or reasonable compensation, and
incidental benefits permitted under applicable law;
(v) A person who is a fiduciary and receives benefits that
substantially exceed customary or reasonable compensation, and
incidental benefits permitted under applicable law; or
(vi) A person who acts in the capacity of trustee of state or
federal lands or resources.
(8) "Fiduciary capacity" means the capacity of a person holding
title to a facility, or otherwise having control of an interest in the
facility pursuant to the exercise of the responsibilities of the person
as a fiduciary.
(9) "Foreclosure and its equivalents" means purchase at a
foreclosure sale, acquisition, or assignment of title in lieu of
foreclosure, termination of a lease, or other repossession, acquisition
of a right to title or possession, an agreement in satisfaction of the
obligation, or any other comparable formal or informal manner, whether
pursuant to law or under warranties, covenants, conditions,
representations, or promises from the borrower, by which the holder
acquires title to or possession of a facility securing a loan or other
obligation.
(10) "Hazardous substance" means:
(a) Any dangerous or extremely hazardous waste as defined in RCW
70.105.010 (((5) and (6))) (1) and (7), or any dangerous or extremely
dangerous waste designated by rule pursuant to chapter 70.105 RCW;
(b) Any hazardous substance as defined in RCW 70.105.010(((14)))
(10) or any hazardous substance as defined by rule pursuant to chapter
70.105 RCW;
(c) Any substance that, on March 1, 1989, is a hazardous substance
under section 101(14) of the federal cleanup law, 42 U.S.C. Sec.
9601(14);
(d) Petroleum or petroleum products; and
(e) Any substance or category of substances, including solid waste
decomposition products, determined by the director by rule to present
a threat to human health or the environment if released into the
environment.
The term hazardous substance does not include any of the following
when contained in an underground storage tank from which there is not
a release: Crude oil or any fraction thereof or petroleum, if the tank
is in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local law.
(11) "Holder" means a person who holds indicia of ownership
primarily to protect a security interest. A holder includes the
initial holder such as the loan originator, any subsequent holder such
as a successor-in-interest or subsequent purchaser of the security
interest on the secondary market, a guarantor of an obligation, surety,
or any other person who holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect
a security interest, or a receiver, court-appointed trustee, or other
person who acts on behalf or for the benefit of a holder. A holder can
be a public or privately owned financial institution, receiver,
conservator, loan guarantor, or other similar persons that loan money
or guarantee repayment of a loan. Holders typically are banks or
savings and loan institutions but may also include others such as
insurance companies, pension funds, or private individuals that engage
in loaning of money or credit.
(12) "Independent remedial actions" means remedial actions
conducted without department oversight or approval, and not under an
order, agreed order, or consent decree.
(13) "Indicia of ownership" means evidence of a security interest,
evidence of an interest in a security interest, or evidence of an
interest in a facility securing a loan or other obligation, including
any legal or equitable title to a facility acquired incident to
foreclosure and its equivalents. Evidence of such interests includes,
mortgages, deeds of trust, sellers interest in a real estate contract,
liens, surety bonds, and guarantees of obligations, title held pursuant
to a lease financing transaction in which the lessor does not select
initially the leased facility, or legal or equitable title obtained
pursuant to foreclosure and their equivalents. Evidence of such
interests also includes assignments, pledges, or other rights to or
other forms of encumbrance against the facility that are held primarily
to protect a security interest.
(14) "Industrial properties" means properties that are or have been
characterized by, or are to be committed to, traditional industrial
uses such as processing or manufacturing of materials, marine terminal
and transportation areas and facilities, fabrication, assembly,
treatment, or distribution of manufactured products, or storage of bulk
materials, that are either:
(a) Zoned for industrial use by a city or county conducting land
use planning under chapter 36.70A RCW; or
(b) For counties not planning under chapter 36.70A RCW and the
cities within them, zoned for industrial use and adjacent to properties
currently used or designated for industrial purposes.
(15) "Institutional controls" means measures undertaken to limit or
prohibit activities that may interfere with the integrity of a remedial
action or result in exposure to or migration of hazardous substances at
a site. "Institutional controls" include environmental covenants.
(16) "Operating a facility primarily to protect a security
interest" occurs when all of the following are met: (a) Operating the
facility where the borrower has defaulted on the loan or otherwise
breached the security agreement; (b) operating the facility to preserve
the value of the facility as an ongoing business; (c) the operation is
being done in anticipation of a sale, transfer, or assignment of the
facility; and (d) the operation is being done primarily to protect a
security interest. Operating a facility for longer than one year prior
to foreclosure or its equivalents shall be presumed to be operating the
facility for other than to protect a security interest.
(17) "Owner or operator" means:
(a) Any person with any ownership interest in the facility or who
exercises any control over the facility; or
(b) In the case of an abandoned facility, any person who had owned,
or operated, or exercised control over the facility any time before its
abandonment;
The term does not include:
(i) An agency of the state or unit of local government which
acquired ownership or control through a drug forfeiture action under
RCW 69.50.505, or involuntarily through bankruptcy, tax delinquency,
abandonment, or other circumstances in which the government
involuntarily acquires title. This exclusion does not apply to an
agency of the state or unit of local government which has caused or
contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous
substance from the facility;
(ii) A person who, without participating in the management of a
facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect the person's
security interest in the facility. Holders after foreclosure and its
equivalent and holders who engage in any of the activities identified
in subsection (18)(e) through (g) of this section shall not lose this
exemption provided the holder complies with all of the following:
(A) The holder properly maintains the environmental compliance
measures already in place at the facility;
(B) The holder complies with the reporting requirements in the
rules adopted under this chapter;
(C) The holder complies with any order issued to the holder by the
department to abate an imminent or substantial endangerment;
(D) The holder allows the department or potentially liable persons
under an order, agreed order, or settlement agreement under this
chapter access to the facility to conduct remedial actions and does not
impede the conduct of such remedial actions;
(E) Any remedial actions conducted by the holder are in compliance
with any preexisting requirements identified by the department, or, if
the department has not identified such requirements for the facility,
the remedial actions are conducted consistent with the rules adopted
under this chapter; and
(F) The holder does not exacerbate an existing release. The
exemption in this subsection (17)(b)(ii) does not apply to holders who
cause or contribute to a new release or threatened release or who are
otherwise liable under RCW 70.105D.040(1) (b), (c), (d), and (e);
provided, however, that a holder shall not lose this exemption if it
establishes that any such new release has been remediated according to
the requirements of this chapter and that any hazardous substances
remaining at the facility after remediation of the new release are
divisible from such new release;
(iii) A fiduciary in his, her, or its personal or individual
capacity. This exemption does not preclude a claim against the assets
of the estate or trust administered by the fiduciary or against a
nonemployee agent or independent contractor retained by a fiduciary.
This exemption also does not apply to the extent that a person is
liable under this chapter independently of the person's ownership as a
fiduciary or for actions taken in a fiduciary capacity which cause or
contribute to a new release or exacerbate an existing release of
hazardous substances. This exemption applies provided that, to the
extent of the fiduciary's powers granted by law or by the applicable
governing instrument granting fiduciary powers, the fiduciary complies
with all of the following:
(A) The fiduciary properly maintains the environmental compliance
measures already in place at the facility;
(B) The fiduciary complies with the reporting requirements in the
rules adopted under this chapter;
(C) The fiduciary complies with any order issued to the fiduciary
by the department to abate an imminent or substantial endangerment;
(D) The fiduciary allows the department or potentially liable
persons under an order, agreed order, or settlement agreement under
this chapter access to the facility to conduct remedial actions and
does not impede the conduct of such remedial actions;
(E) Any remedial actions conducted by the fiduciary are in
compliance with any preexisting requirements identified by the
department, or, if the department has not identified such requirements
for the facility, the remedial actions are conducted consistent with
the rules adopted under this chapter; and
(F) The fiduciary does not exacerbate an existing release.
The exemption in this subsection (17)(b)(iii) does not apply to
fiduciaries who cause or contribute to a new release or threatened
release or who are otherwise liable under RCW 70.105D.040(1) (b), (c),
(d), and (e); provided however, that a fiduciary shall not lose this
exemption if it establishes that any such new release has been
remediated according to the requirements of this chapter and that any
hazardous substances remaining at the facility after remediation of the
new release are divisible from such new release. The exemption in this
subsection (17)(b)(iii) also does not apply where the fiduciary's
powers to comply with this subsection (17)(b)(iii) are limited by a
governing instrument created with the objective purpose of avoiding
liability under this chapter or of avoiding compliance with this
chapter; or
(iv) Any person who has any ownership interest in, operates, or
exercises control over real property where a hazardous substance has
come to be located solely as a result of migration of the hazardous
substance to the real property through the groundwater from a source
off the property, if:
(A) The person can demonstrate that the hazardous substance has not
been used, placed, managed, or otherwise handled on the property in a
manner likely to cause or contribute to a release of the hazardous
substance that has migrated onto the property;
(B) The person has not caused or contributed to the release of the
hazardous substance;
(C) The person does not engage in activities that damage or
interfere with the operation of remedial actions installed on the
person's property or engage in activities that result in exposure of
humans or the environment to the contaminated groundwater that has
migrated onto the property;
(D) If requested, the person allows the department, potentially
liable persons who are subject to an order, agreed order, or consent
decree, and the authorized employees, agents, or contractors of each,
access to the property to conduct remedial actions required by the
department. The person may attempt to negotiate an access agreement
before allowing access; and
(E) Legal withdrawal of groundwater does not disqualify a person
from the exemption in this subsection (17)(b)(iv).
(18) "Participation in management" means exercising decision-making
control over the borrower's operation of the facility, environmental
compliance, or assuming or manifesting responsibility for the overall
management of the enterprise encompassing the day-to-day decision
making of the enterprise.
The term does not include any of the following: (a) A holder with
the mere capacity or ability to influence, or the unexercised right to
control facility operations; (b) a holder who conducts or requires a
borrower to conduct an environmental audit or an environmental site
assessment at the facility for which indicia of ownership is held; (c)
a holder who requires a borrower to come into compliance with any
applicable laws or regulations at the facility for which indicia of
ownership is held; (d) a holder who requires a borrower to conduct
remedial actions including setting minimum requirements, but does not
otherwise control or manage the borrower's remedial actions or the
scope of the borrower's remedial actions except to prepare a facility
for sale, transfer, or assignment; (e) a holder who engages in workout
or policing activities primarily to protect the holder's security
interest in the facility; (f) a holder who prepares a facility for
sale, transfer, or assignment or requires a borrower to prepare a
facility for sale, transfer, or assignment; (g) a holder who operates
a facility primarily to protect a security interest, or requires a
borrower to continue to operate, a facility primarily to protect a
security interest; and (h) a prospective holder who, as a condition of
becoming a holder, requires an owner or operator to conduct an
environmental audit, conduct an environmental site assessment, come
into compliance with any applicable laws or regulations, or conduct
remedial actions prior to holding a security interest is not
participating in the management of the facility.
(19) "Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, association,
partnership, consortium, joint venture, commercial entity, state
government agency, unit of local government, federal government agency,
or Indian tribe.
(20) "Policing activities" means actions the holder takes to ensure
that the borrower complies with the terms of the loan or security
interest or actions the holder takes or requires the borrower to take
to maintain the value of the security. Policing activities include:
Requiring the borrower to conduct remedial actions at the facility
during the term of the security interest; requiring the borrower to
comply or come into compliance with applicable federal, state, and
local environmental and other laws, regulations, and permits during the
term of the security interest; securing or exercising authority to
monitor or inspect the facility including on-site inspections, or to
monitor or inspect the borrower's business or financial condition
during the term of the security interest; or taking other actions
necessary to adequately police the loan or security interest such as
requiring a borrower to comply with any warranties, covenants,
conditions, representations, or promises from the borrower.
(21) "Potentially liable person" means any person whom the
department finds, based on credible evidence, to be liable under RCW
70.105D.040. The department shall give notice to any such person and
allow an opportunity for comment before making the finding, unless an
emergency requires otherwise.
(22) "Prepare a facility for sale, transfer, or assignment" means
to secure access to the facility; perform routine maintenance on the
facility; remove inventory, equipment, or structures; properly maintain
environmental compliance measures already in place at the facility;
conduct remedial actions to cleanup releases at the facility; or to
perform other similar activities intended to preserve the value of the
facility where the borrower has defaulted on the loan or otherwise
breached the security agreement or after foreclosure and its
equivalents and in anticipation of a pending sale, transfer, or
assignment, primarily to protect the holder's security interest in the
facility. A holder can prepare a facility for sale, transfer, or
assignment for up to one year prior to foreclosure and its equivalents
and still stay within the security interest exemption in subsection
(17)(b)(ii) of this section.
(23) "Primarily to protect a security interest" means the indicia
of ownership is held primarily for the purpose of securing payment or
performance of an obligation. The term does not include indicia of
ownership held primarily for investment purposes nor indicia of
ownership held primarily for purposes other than as protection for a
security interest. A holder may have other, secondary reasons, for
maintaining indicia of ownership, but the primary reason must be for
protection of a security interest. Holding indicia of ownership after
foreclosure or its equivalents for longer than five years shall be
considered to be holding the indicia of ownership for purposes other
than primarily to protect a security interest. For facilities that
have been acquired through foreclosure or its equivalents prior to July
23, 1995, this five-year period shall begin as of July 23, 1995.
(24) "Public notice" means, at a minimum, adequate notice mailed to
all persons who have made timely request of the department and to
persons residing in the potentially affected vicinity of the proposed
action; mailed to appropriate news media; published in the newspaper of
largest circulation in the city or county of the proposed action; and
opportunity for interested persons to comment.
(25) "Release" means any intentional or unintentional entry of any
hazardous substance into the environment, including but not limited to
the abandonment or disposal of containers of hazardous substances.
(26) "Remedy" or "remedial action" means any action or expenditure
consistent with the purposes of this chapter to identify, eliminate, or
minimize any threat or potential threat posed by hazardous substances
to human health or the environment including any investigative and
monitoring activities with respect to any release or threatened release
of a hazardous substance and any health assessments or health effects
studies conducted in order to determine the risk or potential risk to
human health.
(27) "Security interest" means an interest in a facility created or
established for the purpose of securing a loan or other obligation.
Security interests include deeds of trusts, sellers interest in a real
estate contract, liens, legal, or equitable title to a facility
acquired incident to foreclosure and its equivalents, and title
pursuant to lease financing transactions. Security interests may also
arise from transactions such as sale and leasebacks, conditional sales,
installment sales, trust receipt transactions, certain assignments,
factoring agreements, accounts receivable financing arrangements,
easements, and consignments, if the transaction creates or establishes
an interest in a facility for the purpose of securing a loan or other
obligation.
(28) "Workout activities" means those actions by which a holder, at
any time prior to foreclosure and its equivalents, seeks to prevent,
cure, or mitigate a default by the borrower or obligor; or to preserve,
or prevent the diminution of, the value of the security. Workout
activities include: Restructuring or renegotiating the terms of the
security interest; requiring payment of additional rent or interest;
exercising forbearance; requiring or exercising rights pursuant to an
assignment of accounts or other amounts owed to an obligor; requiring
or exercising rights pursuant to an escrow agreement pertaining to
amounts owed to an obligor; providing specific or general financial or
other advice, suggestions, counseling, or guidance; and exercising any
right or remedy the holder is entitled to by law or under any
warranties, covenants, conditions, representations, or promises from
the borrower.
(29) "Brownfield property" means previously developed and currently
abandoned or underutilized real property and adjacent surface waters
and sediment where environmental, economic, or community reuse
objectives are hindered by the release or threatened release of
hazardous substances that the department has determined requires
remedial action under this chapter or that the United States
environmental protection agency has determined requires remedial action
under the comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and
liability act.
(30) "Model remedy" or "model remedial action" means a set of
technologies, procedures, and monitoring protocols identified by the
department for use in routine types of clean-up projects at facilities
that have common features and lower risks to human health and the
environment.
Sec. 3 RCW 70.105D.030 and 2009 c 560 s 10 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1) The department may exercise the following powers in addition to
any other powers granted by law:
(a) Investigate, provide for investigating, or require potentially
liable persons to investigate any releases or threatened releases of
hazardous substances, including but not limited to inspecting,
sampling, or testing to determine the nature or extent of any release
or threatened release. If there is a reasonable basis to believe that
a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance may exist, the
department's authorized employees, agents, or contractors may enter
upon any property and conduct investigations. The department shall
give reasonable notice before entering property unless an emergency
prevents such notice. The department may by subpoena require the
attendance or testimony of witnesses and the production of documents or
other information that the department deems necessary;
(b) Conduct, provide for conducting, or require potentially liable
persons to conduct remedial actions (including investigations under (a)
of this subsection) to remedy releases or threatened releases of
hazardous substances. In carrying out such powers, the department's
authorized employees, agents, or contractors may enter upon property.
The department shall give reasonable notice before entering property
unless an emergency prevents such notice. In conducting, providing
for, or requiring remedial action, the department shall give preference
to permanent solutions to the maximum extent practicable and shall
provide for or require adequate monitoring to ensure the effectiveness
of the remedial action;
(c) Indemnify contractors retained by the department for carrying
out investigations and remedial actions, but not for any contractor's
reckless or willful misconduct;
(d) Carry out all state programs authorized under the federal
cleanup law and the federal resource, conservation, and recovery act,
42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et seq., as amended;
(e) Classify substances as hazardous substances for purposes of RCW
70.105D.020 and classify substances and products as hazardous
substances for purposes of RCW 82.21.020(1);
(f) Issue orders or enter into consent decrees or agreed orders
that include, or issue written opinions under (i) of this subsection
that may be conditioned upon, environmental covenants where necessary
to protect human health and the environment from a release or
threatened release of a hazardous substance from a facility. Prior to
establishing an environmental covenant under this subsection, the
department shall consult with and seek comment from a city or county
department with land use planning authority for real property subject
to the environmental covenant;
(g) Enforce the application of permanent and effective
institutional controls that are necessary for a remedial action to be
protective of human health and the environment and the notification
requirements established in RCW 70.105D.110, and impose penalties for
violations of that section consistent with RCW 70.105D.050;
(h) Require holders to conduct remedial actions necessary to abate
an imminent or substantial endangerment pursuant to RCW
70.105D.020(17)(b)(ii)(C);
(i) Provide informal advice and assistance to persons regarding the
administrative and technical requirements of this chapter. This may
include site-specific advice to persons who are conducting or otherwise
interested in independent remedial actions. Any such advice or
assistance shall be advisory only, and shall not be binding on the
department. As a part of providing this advice and assistance for
independent remedial actions, the department may prepare written
opinions regarding whether the independent remedial actions or
proposals for those actions meet the substantive requirements of this
chapter or whether the department believes further remedial action is
necessary at the facility. Nothing in this chapter may be construed to
preclude the department from issuing a written opinion on whether
further remedial action is necessary at any portion of the real
property located within a facility, even if further remedial action is
still necessary elsewhere at the same facility. Such a written opinion
on a portion of a facility must also provide an opinion on the status
of the facility as a whole. The department may collect, from persons
requesting advice and assistance, the costs incurred by the department
in providing such advice and assistance; however, the department shall,
where appropriate, waive collection of costs in order to provide an
appropriate level of technical assistance in support of public
participation. The state, the department, and officers and employees
of the state are immune from all liability, and no cause of action of
any nature may arise from any act or omission in providing, or failing
to provide, informal advice and assistance; ((and))
(j) Establish model remedies for common categories of facilities,
types of hazardous substances, types of media, or geographic areas to
streamline and accelerate the selection of remedies for routine types
of cleanups at facilities;
(i) When establishing a model remedy, the department shall:
(A) Identify the requirements for characterizing a facility to
select a model remedy, the applicability of the model remedy for use at
a facility, and monitoring requirements;
(B) Describe how the model remedy meets clean-up standards and the
requirements for selecting a remedy established by the department under
this chapter; and
(C) Provide public notice and an opportunity to comment on the
proposed model remedy and the conditions under which it may be used at
a facility;
(ii) When developing model remedies, the department shall solicit
and consider proposals from qualified persons. The proposals must, in
addition to describing the model remedy, provide the information
required under (j)(i)(A) and (B) of this subsection;
(iii) If a facility meets the requirements for use of a model
remedy, then the department must accept use of the model remedy and an
analysis of the feasibility of alternative remedies is not required
under this chapter. For department-conducted and department-supervised
remedial actions, the department must provide public notice and
consider public comments on the proposed use of a model remedy at a
facility. The department shall waive collection of its costs for
providing a written opinion under (i) of this subsection on a cleanup
that qualifies for and appropriately uses a model remedy; and
(k) Take any other actions necessary to carry out the provisions of
this chapter, including the power to adopt rules under chapter 34.05
RCW.
(2) The department shall immediately implement all provisions of
this chapter to the maximum extent practicable, including investigative
and remedial actions where appropriate. The department shall adopt,
and thereafter enforce, rules under chapter 34.05 RCW to:
(a) Provide for public participation, including at least (i) public
notice of the development of investigative plans or remedial plans for
releases or threatened releases and (ii) concurrent public notice of
all compliance orders, agreed orders, enforcement orders, or notices of
violation;
(b) Establish a hazard ranking system for hazardous waste sites;
(c) Provide for requiring the reporting by an owner or operator of
releases of hazardous substances to the environment that may be a
threat to human health or the environment within ninety days of
discovery, including such exemptions from reporting as the department
deems appropriate, however this requirement shall not modify any
existing requirements provided for under other laws;
(d) Establish reasonable deadlines not to exceed ninety days for
initiating an investigation of a hazardous waste site after the
department receives notice or otherwise receives information that the
site may pose a threat to human health or the environment and other
reasonable deadlines for remedying releases or threatened releases at
the site;
(e) Publish and periodically update minimum clean-up standards for
remedial actions at least as stringent as the clean-up standards under
section 121 of the federal cleanup law, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 9621, and at
least as stringent as all applicable state and federal laws, including
health-based standards under state and federal law; and
(f) Apply industrial clean-up standards at industrial properties.
Rules adopted under this subsection shall ensure that industrial
properties cleaned up to industrial standards cannot be converted to
nonindustrial uses without approval from the department. The
department may require that a property cleaned up to industrial
standards is cleaned up to a more stringent applicable standard as a
condition of conversion to a nonindustrial use. Industrial clean-up
standards may not be applied to industrial properties where hazardous
substances remaining at the property after remedial action pose a
threat to human health or the environment in adjacent nonindustrial
areas.
(3) To achieve and protect the state's long-term ecological health,
the department shall ((prioritize sufficient funding)) plan to clean up
hazardous waste sites and prevent the creation of future hazards due to
improper disposal of toxic wastes((, and create financing tools to
clean up large-scale hazardous waste sites requiring multiyear
commitments)) at a pace that matches the estimated cash resources in
the state and local toxics control accounts and the environmental
legacy stewardship account created in section 5 of this act. Estimated
cash resources must consider the annual cash flow requirements of major
projects that receive appropriations expected to cross multiple
biennia. To effectively monitor toxic accounts expenditures, the
department shall develop a comprehensive ten-year financing report that
identifies long-term remedial action project costs, tracks expenses,
and projects future needs.
(4) By November 1, 2016, the department must submit to the governor
and the appropriate legislative committees a report on the status of
developing model remedies and their use under this chapter. The report
must include: The number and types of model remedies identified by the
department under subsection (1)(j) of this section; the number and
types of model remedy proposals prepared by qualified private sector
engineers, consultants, or contractors that were accepted or rejected
under subsection (1)(j) of this section and the reasons for rejection;
and the success of model remedies in accelerating the cleanup as
measured by the number of jobs created by the cleanup, where the
information is available to the department, and the number and types of
hazardous waste sites successfully remediated using model remedies.
(5) Before ((December)) September 20th of each even-numbered year,
the department shall:
(a) Develop a comprehensive ten-year financing report in
coordination with all local governments with clean-up responsibilities
that identifies the projected biennial hazardous waste site remedial
action needs that are eligible for funding from the state and local
toxics control account and the environmental legacy stewardship
account;
(b) Work with local governments to develop working capital reserves
to be incorporated in the ten-year financing report;
(c) Identify the projected remedial action needs for orphaned,
abandoned, and other clean-up sites that are eligible for funding from
the state toxics control account;
(d) Project the remedial action need, cost, revenue, and any
recommended working capital reserve estimate to the next biennium's
long-term remedial action needs from both the local ((toxics control
account)) and ((the)) state toxics control account and the
environmental legacy stewardship account, and submit this information
to the appropriate standing fiscal and environmental committees of the
senate and house of representatives. This submittal must also include
a ranked list of such remedial action projects for both accounts((; and)). The submittal must also identify separate budget estimates
for large, multibiennia clean-up projects that exceed ten million
dollars. The department shall prepare its ten-year capital budget plan
that is submitted to the office of financial management to reflect the
separate budget estimates for these large clean-up projects and include
information on the anticipated private and public funding obligations
for completion of the relevant projects.
(e)
(6) By December 1st of each odd-numbered year, the department must
provide the legislature and the public ((each year with an accounting))
a report of the department's activities supported by appropriations
from the state and local toxics control accounts((, including a list of
known hazardous waste sites and their hazard rankings, actions taken
and planned at each site, how the department is meeting its waste
management priorities under RCW 70.105.150, and all funds expended
under this chapter)) and the environmental legacy stewardship account.
The report must be prepared and displayed in a manner that allows the
legislature and the public to easily determine the statewide and local
progress made in cleaning up hazardous waste sites under this chapter.
The report must include, at a minimum:
(a) The date the site was placed on the hazardous waste sites list;
(b) The site's current hazard ranking;
(c) A short description, including location, of the site; and
(d) For sites where there are state contracts, grants, loans, or
direct investments by the state, the actual or estimated start and end
dates and the actual or estimated expenditures of funds authorized
under this chapter for the following project phases:
(i) Emergency or interim actions, if needed;
(ii) Remedial investigation;
(iii) Feasibility study and selection of a remedy;
(iv) Engineering design and construction of the selected remedy;
(v) Operation and maintenance or monitoring of the constructed
remedy; and
(vi) Final completion date.
(((5))) (7) The department shall establish a program to identify
potential hazardous waste sites and to encourage persons to provide
information about hazardous waste sites.
(((6))) (8) For all facilities where an environmental covenant has
been required under subsection (1)(f) of this section, including all
facilities where the department has required an environmental covenant
under an order, agreed order, or consent decree, or as a condition of
a written opinion issued under the authority of subsection (1)(i) of
this section, the department shall periodically review the
environmental covenant for effectiveness. Except as otherwise provided
in (c) of this subsection, the department shall conduct a review at
least once every five years after an environmental covenant is
recorded.
(a) The review shall consist of, at a minimum:
(i) A review of the title of the real property subject to the
environmental covenant to determine whether the environmental covenant
was properly recorded and, if applicable, amended or terminated;
(ii) A physical inspection of the real property subject to the
environmental covenant to determine compliance with the environmental
covenant, including whether any development or redevelopment of the
real property has violated the terms of the environmental covenant; and
(iii) A review of the effectiveness of the environmental covenant
in limiting or prohibiting activities that may interfere with the
integrity of the remedial action or that may result in exposure to or
migration of hazardous substances. This shall include a review of
available monitoring data.
(b) If an environmental covenant has been amended or terminated
without proper authority, or if the terms of an environmental covenant
have been violated, or if the environmental covenant is no longer
effective in limiting or prohibiting activities that may interfere with
the integrity of the remedial action or that may result in exposure to
or migration of hazardous substances, then the department shall take
any and all appropriate actions necessary to ensure compliance with the
environmental covenant and the policies and requirements of this
chapter.
(c) For facilities where an environmental covenant required by the
department under subsection (1)(f) of this section was required before
July 1, 2007, the department shall:
(i) Enter all required information about the environmental covenant
into the registry established under RCW 64.70.120 by June 30, 2008;
(ii) For those facilities where more than five years has elapsed
since the environmental covenant was required and the department has
yet to conduct a review, conduct an initial review according to the
following schedule:
(A) By December 30, 2008, fifty facilities;
(B) By June 30, 2009, fifty additional facilities; and
(C) By June 30, 2010, the remainder of the facilities;
(iii) Once this initial review has been completed, conduct
subsequent reviews at least once every five years.
Sec. 4 RCW 70.105D.070 and 2012 2nd sp.s. c 7 s 920 and 2012 2nd
sp.s. c 2 s 6005 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1) The state toxics control account and the local toxics control
account are hereby created in the state treasury.
(((2) The following moneys shall be deposited into the state toxics
control account: (a) Those revenues which are raised by the tax
imposed under RCW 82.21.030 and which are attributable to that portion
of the rate equal to thirty-three one-hundredths of one percent; (b)
the costs of remedial actions recovered under this chapter or chapter
70.105A RCW; (c) penalties collected or recovered under this chapter;
and (d) any other money appropriated or transferred to the account by
the legislature. Moneys in the account may be used only to carry out
the purposes of this chapter, including but not limited to the
following activities:)) (a) Moneys
collected under RCW 82.21.030 must be deposited as follows: Sixty
percent to the state toxics control account under subsection (2) of
this section and forty percent to the local toxics control account
under subsection (3) of this section. When the cumulative amount of
deposits made to the state and local toxics control accounts under this
section reaches the limit during a fiscal year as established in (b) of
this subsection, the remainder of the moneys collected under RCW
82.21.030 during that fiscal year must be deposited into the
environmental legacy stewardship account created in section 5 of this
act.
(i) The state's responsibility for hazardous waste planning,
management, regulation, enforcement, technical assistance, and public
education required under chapter 70.105 RCW;
(ii) The state's responsibility for solid waste planning,
management, regulation, enforcement, technical assistance, and public
education required under chapter 70.95 RCW;
(iii) The hazardous waste cleanup program required under this
chapter;
(iv) State matching funds required under the federal cleanup law;
(v) Financial assistance for local programs in accordance with
chapters 70.95, 70.95C, 70.95I, and 70.105 RCW;
(vi) State government programs for the safe reduction, recycling,
or disposal of hazardous wastes from households, small businesses, and
agriculture;
(vii) Hazardous materials emergency response training;
(viii) Water and environmental health protection and monitoring
programs;
(ix) Programs authorized under chapter 70.146 RCW;
(x) A public participation program, including regional citizen
advisory committees;
(xi) Public funding to assist potentially liable persons to pay for
the costs of remedial action in compliance with cleanup standards under
RCW 70.105D.030(2)(e) but only when the amount and terms of such
funding are established under a settlement agreement under RCW
70.105D.040(4) and when the director has found that the funding will
achieve both (A) a substantially more expeditious or enhanced cleanup
than would otherwise occur, and (B) the prevention or mitigation of
unfair economic hardship;
(xii) Development and demonstration of alternative management
technologies designed to carry out the hazardous waste management
priorities of RCW 70.105.150;
(xiii) During the 2009-2011 and 2011-2013 fiscal biennia, shoreline
update technical assistance;
(xiv) During the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium, multijurisdictional
permitting teams;
(xv) During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, actions for reducing
public exposure to toxic air pollution, and actions taken through the
family forest fish passage program to correct barriers to fish passage
on privately owned small forest lands; and
(xvi) During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, the department of
ecology's water quality, shorelands and environmental assessment,
hazardous waste, waste to resources, nuclear waste, and air quality
programs.
(3) The following moneys shall be deposited into the local toxics
control account: Those revenues which are raised by the tax imposed
under RCW 82.21.030 and which are attributable to that portion of the
rate equal to thirty-seven one-hundredths of one percent.
(a) Moneys deposited in the local toxics control account shall be
used by the department for grants or loans to local governments for the
following purposes in descending order of priority:
(i) Remedial actions;
(ii) Hazardous waste plans and programs under chapter 70.105 RCW;
(iii) Solid waste plans and programs under chapters 70.95, 70.95C,
70.95I, and 70.105 RCW;
(iv) Funds for a program to assist in the assessment and cleanup of
sites of methamphetamine production, but not to be used for the initial
containment of such sites, consistent with the responsibilities and
intent of RCW 69.50.511; and
(v) Cleanup and disposal of hazardous substances from abandoned or
derelict vessels, defined for the purposes of this section as vessels
that have little or no value and either have no identified owner or
have an identified owner lacking financial resources to clean up and
dispose of the vessel, that pose a threat to human health or the
environment.
(b) Funds for plans and programs shall be allocated consistent with
the priorities and matching requirements established in chapters
70.105, 70.95C, 70.95I, and 70.95 RCW, except that any applicant that
is a Puget Sound partner, as defined in RCW 90.71.010, along with any
project that is referenced in the action agenda developed by the Puget
Sound partnership under RCW 90.71.310, shall, except as conditioned by
RCW 70.105D.120, receive priority for any available funding for any
grant or funding programs or sources that use a competitive bidding
process. During the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, moneys in the account
may also be used for grants to local governments to retrofit public
sector diesel equipment and for storm water planning and implementation
activities.
(c) To expedite cleanups throughout the state, the department shall
partner with local communities and liable parties for cleanups. The
department is authorized to use the following additional strategies in
order to ensure a healthful environment for future generations:
(i) The director may alter grant-matching requirements to create
incentives for local governments to expedite cleanups when one of the
following conditions exists:
(A) Funding would prevent or mitigate unfair economic hardship
imposed by the clean-up liability;
(B) Funding would create new substantial economic development,
public recreational, or habitat restoration opportunities that would
not otherwise occur; or
(C) Funding would create an opportunity for acquisition and
redevelopment of vacant, orphaned, or abandoned property under RCW
70.105D.040(5) that would not otherwise occur;
(ii) The use of outside contracts to conduct necessary studies;
(iii) The purchase of remedial action cost-cap insurance, when
necessary to expedite multiparty clean-up efforts.
(d) To facilitate and expedite cleanups using funds from the local
toxics control account, during the 2009-2011 fiscal biennium the
director may establish grant-funded accounts to hold and disperse local
toxics control account funds and funds from local governments to be
used for remedial actions.
(4) Except for unanticipated receipts under RCW 43.79.260 through
43.79.282, moneys in the state and local toxics control accounts may be
spent only after appropriation by statute.
(5) Except during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, one percent of the
moneys deposited into the state and local toxics control accounts shall
be allocated only for public participation grants to persons who may be
adversely affected by a release or threatened release of a hazardous
substance and to not-for-profit public interest organizations. The
primary purpose of these grants is to facilitate the participation by
persons and organizations in the investigation and remedying of
releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances and to
implement the state's solid and hazardous waste management priorities.
No grant may exceed sixty thousand dollars. Grants may be renewed
annually. Moneys appropriated for public participation from either
account which are not expended at the close of any biennium shall
revert to the state toxics control account.
(6) No moneys deposited into either the state or local toxics
control account may be used for solid waste incinerator feasibility
studies, construction, maintenance, or operation, or, after January 1,
2010, for projects designed to address the restoration of Puget Sound,
funded in a competitive grant process, that are in conflict with the
action agenda developed by the Puget Sound partnership under RCW
90.71.310.
(7) The department shall adopt rules for grant or loan issuance and
performance.
(8) During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, the legislature may
transfer from the local toxics control account to the state toxics
control account such amounts as reflect excess fund balance in the
account.
(9) During the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, the local toxics control
account may also be used for local government shoreline update grants
and actions for reducing public exposure to toxic air pollution;
funding to local governments for flood levee improvements; and grants
to local governments for brownfield redevelopment.
(b) The limit on distributions of moneys collected under RCW
82.21.030 to the state and local toxics control accounts for the fiscal
year beginning July 1, 2013, is one hundred eight million dollars.
This limit for each succeeding fiscal year must be increased by a
percentage rate that equals the fiscal growth factor as defined in RCW
43.135.025.
(c) In addition to the funds required under (a) of this subsection,
the following moneys must be deposited into the state toxics control
account: (i) The costs of remedial actions recovered under this
chapter or chapter 70.105A RCW; (ii) penalties collected or recovered
under this chapter; and (iii) any other money appropriated or
transferred to the account by the legislature.
(2) Moneys in the state toxics control account must be used only to
carry out the purposes of this chapter and must be expended for the
following:
(a)(i) The state's responsibility for hazardous waste planning,
management, regulation, enforcement, technical assistance, and public
education required under chapter 70.105 RCW;
(ii) The state's responsibility for solid waste planning,
management, regulation, enforcement, technical assistance, and public
education required under chapter 70.95 RCW;
(iii) The hazardous waste clean-up program required under this
chapter;
(iv) State matching funds required under federal cleanup law;
(v) Financial assistance for local programs in accordance with
chapters 70.95, 70.95C, 70.95I, and 70.105 RCW;
(vi) State government programs for the safe reduction, recycling,
or disposal of paint and hazardous wastes from households, small
businesses, and agriculture;
(vii) Oil and hazardous materials spill prevention, preparedness,
training, and response activities;
(viii) Water and environmental health protection and monitoring
programs;
(ix) Programs authorized under chapter 70.146 RCW;
(x) Development and demonstration of alternative management
technologies designed to carry out the hazardous waste management
priorities of RCW 70.105.150;
(xi) State agriculture and health programs for the safe use,
reduction, recycling, or disposal of pesticides;
(xii) Storm water pollution control projects and activities that
protect or preserve existing remedial actions or prevent hazardous
clean-up sites;
(xiii) Funding requirements to maintain receipt of federal funds
under the federal solid waste disposal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 6901 et
seq.); and
(xiv) Air quality programs and actions for reducing public exposure
to toxic air pollution.
(b) Priority for use of the funds is given to:
(i) Cleanup of high priority sites on the department's hazardous
sites list that have a draft or preliminary remedial investigation or
feasibility study on file with the department, a completed remedial
investigation or feasibility study, or a finalized clean-up action
plan, and are prepared to begin the clean-up action;
(ii) Cleanup of brownfield properties to make land available for
economic and job development opportunities that would not otherwise
occur; and
(iii) Public funding to assist potentially liable persons to pay
for the costs of remedial action in compliance with clean-up standards
under RCW 70.105D.030(2)(e) when the potentially liable persons have a
draft or preliminary remedial investigation or feasibility study on
file with the department, a completed remedial investigation or
feasibility study, or a finalized clean-up action plan, and are
prepared to begin the clean-up action, in compliance with clean-up
standards under RCW 70.105D.030(2)(e) but only when the amount and
terms of such funding are established under a settlement agreement
under RCW 70.105D.040(4) and when the director has found that the
funding will achieve both: (A) A substantially more expeditious or
enhanced cleanup than would otherwise occur; and (B) the prevention or
mitigation of unfair economic hardship.
(3)(a) The department shall use moneys deposited in the local
toxics control account for grants to local governments for the
following purposes:
(i) Remedial actions;
(ii) Storm water pollution source projects that: (A) Work in
conjunction with a remedial action; (B) protect completed remedial
actions against recontamination; or (C) prevent hazardous clean-up
sites;
(iii) Hazardous waste plans and programs under chapter 70.105 RCW;
and
(iv) Solid waste plans and programs under chapters 70.95, 70.95C,
70.95I, and 70.105 RCW.
(b) To expedite clean-up projects throughout the state, funding is
prioritized for:
(i) High priority sites identified on the department's hazardous
site list, that have a draft or preliminary remedial investigation or
feasibility study on file with the department, a completed remedial
investigation or feasibility study, or a finalized clean-up action
plan, and are prepared to begin the clean-up action;
(ii) Brownfield properties that are available for economic and job
development opportunities that would not otherwise occur; and
(iii) Public funding to assist potentially liable persons to pay
for the costs of remedial action in compliance with clean-up standards
under RCW 70.105D.030(2)(e) when the potentially liable persons have a
draft or preliminary remedial investigation or feasibility study on
file with the department, a completed remedial investigation or
feasibility study, or a finalized clean-up action plan, and are
prepared to begin the clean-up action in compliance with clean-up
standards under RCW 70.105D.030(2)(e) but only when:
(A) The amount and terms of the funding are established under a
settlement agreement under RCW 70.105D.040(4); and
(B) The director has found that the funding will achieve both (I)
a substantially more expeditious or enhanced cleanup than would
otherwise occur; and (II) the prevention or mitigation of unfair
economic hardship.
(c) To expedite cleanups throughout the state, the department shall
partner with local communities and liable parties for cleanups. The
department is authorized to use the following additional strategies in
order to ensure a healthful environment for future generations:
(i) The director may alter grant-matching requirements to create
incentives for local governments to expedite cleanups when one of the
following conditions exists:
(A) Funding would prevent or mitigate unfair economic hardship
imposed by the clean-up liability;
(B) Funding would create new substantial economic development,
public recreational opportunities, or habitat restoration opportunities
that would not otherwise occur; or
(C) Funding would create an opportunity for acquisition and
redevelopment of vacant, orphaned, or abandoned property under RCW
70.105D.040(5) that would not otherwise occur;
(ii) The use of outside contracts to conduct necessary studies;
(iii) The purchase of remedial action cost-cap insurance, when
necessary to expedite multiparty clean-up efforts.
(4) Funds for plans and programs must be allocated consistent with
matching requirements established in chapters 70.95, 70.95C, 70.95I,
and 70.105 RCW.
(5) Except for unanticipated receipts under RCW 43.79.260 through
43.79.282, moneys in the state and local toxics control accounts may be
spent only after appropriation by statute.
(6) No moneys deposited into either the state or local toxics
control account may be used for: Natural disasters where there is no
hazardous substance contamination; high performance buildings; solid
waste incinerator and organic composting facility feasibility studies,
construction, maintenance, or operation; or after January 1, 2010, for
projects designed to address the restoration of Puget Sound, funded in
a competitive grant process, that are in conflict with the action
agenda developed by the Puget Sound partnership under RCW 90.71.310.
However, this subsection does not prevent an appropriation from the
state toxics control account to the department of revenue to enforce
compliance with the hazardous substance tax imposed in chapter 82.21
RCW.
(7) Except during the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, one percent of the
moneys deposited into the state and local toxics control accounts must
be deposited into the environmental legacy stewardship account created
in section 5 of this act for public participation grants.
(8) The department shall adopt rules for grant issuance and
performance.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5 A new section is added to chapter 70.105D
RCW to read as follows:
(1) The environmental legacy stewardship account is created in the
state treasury. Beginning July 1, 2013, and every fiscal year
thereafter, the annual amount received from the tax imposed by RCW
82.21.030 that exceeds one hundred eight million dollars, plus the
fiscal growth factor under chapter 43.135 RCW, must be deposited into
the environmental legacy stewardship account. The state treasurer may
make periodic deposits into the environmental legacy stewardship
account based on forecasted revenue. Moneys in the account may only be
spent after appropriation.
(2) Moneys in the environmental legacy stewardship account may be
spent only on:
(a) Performance and outcome based projects, activities, programs,
and services that support the clean-up, monitoring, and prevention of
releases of hazardous substances, water protection and monitoring,
water pollution prevention, monitoring and cleanup, and environmental
health protection and monitoring;
(b) Clean-up projects using model remedies, technologies,
procedures, contracts, and project management and oversight that result
in significant reductions in the time to complete clean-up projects
compared to baseline averages for comparable clean-up projects;
(c) Storm water projects;
(d) Cleanup and disposal of hazardous substances from abandoned or
derelict vessels, defined for the purposes of this section as vessels
that have little or no value and either have no identified owner or
have an identified owner lacking financial resources to clean up and
dispose of the vessel, that pose a threat to human health or the
environment;
(e) Public participation grants. The money allocated for public
participation grants under RCW 70.105D.070(1)(a) may be provided to
persons who may be adversely affected by a release or threatened
release of a hazardous substance and to not-for-profit public interest
organizations. The primary purpose of these grants is to facilitate
the participation by persons and organizations in the investigation and
remedying of releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances
and to implement the state's solid and hazardous waste management
priorities. Each grant must be specifically authorized by the
legislature. No grant may exceed sixty thousand dollars. Moneys
appropriated for public participation that are not expended at the
close of any biennium revert to the environmental legacy stewardship
account;
(f) Appropriations to the state and local toxics control accounts
created in RCW 70.105D.070 if the legislature determines that
priorities for spending exceed available funds in those accounts; and
(g) Remedial action grants.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6 A new section is added to chapter 70.105 RCW
to read as follows:
The radioactive mixed waste account is created within the state
treasury. All receipts received from facilities assessed service
charges established under RCW 70.105.280 must be deposited into the
account. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.
Expenditures from the account may only be used for carrying out the
department's powers and duties under this chapter related to the
regulation of facilities that treat, store, or dispose of mixed waste
or mixed waste facilities that are undergoing closure.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7 (1) For the biennium ending June 30, 2015,
the state treasurer must transfer forty-five million dollars from the
state toxics control account to the environmental legacy stewardship
account created in section 5 of this act.
(2) For the biennium ending June 30, 2015, the state treasurer must
transfer thirty-five million dollars from the local toxics control
account to the environmental legacy stewardship account.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8 By October 1, 2013, the state treasurer must
transfer the fund balance of the mixed waste fees within the state
toxics control account to the radioactive mixed waste account created
in section 6 of this act. The department of ecology shall report the
fund balance amount to the state treasurer for transfer into the
radioactive mixed waste account.
Sec. 9 RCW 70.105.280 and 1989 c 376 s 2 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) The department may assess reasonable service charges 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 or which are 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. Service charges may
not exceed the costs to the department in carrying out the duties of
this section.
(2) Program elements or activities for which service charges may be
assessed include:
(a) Office, staff, and staff support for the purposes of facility
or unit permit development, review, and issuance; and
(b) Actions taken to determine and ensure compliance with the
state's hazardous waste management act.
(3) Moneys collected through the imposition of such service charges
shall be deposited in the ((state toxics control)) radioactive mixed
waste account created in section 6 of this act.
(4) The department shall adopt rules necessary to implement this
section. Facilities that store, treat, incinerate, or dispose of
dangerous or extremely hazardous waste that contains both a
nonradioactive hazardous component and a radioactive component shall
not be subject to service charges prior to such rule making.
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 shall not be subject to service charges prior to
such rule making.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10 This act is necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the
state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect
July 1, 2013.