AN ACT Relating to the imposition of services charges at facilities handling mixed wastes; amending RCW 70.105.010; adding a new section to chapter 70.105 RCW; creating new sections; making an appropriation; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the safe immobilization, treatment, and storage of waste resulting from decades of defense materials production at Hanford is a vital concern to the citizens of the state. The legislature further finds that the state has a role in assuring adequate oversight of the cleanup activities at Hanford and that the state should be empowered to charge fees which meet but do not exceed the costs of overseeing such cleanup activities.

Sec. 2. Section 1, chapter 101, Laws of 1975-'76 2nd ex. sess. as last amended by section 1, chapter 488, Laws of 1987 and RCW 70.105.010 are each amended to read as follows:

The words and phrases defined in this section shall have the meanings indicated when used in this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Department" means the department of ecology.

(2) "Director" means the director of the department of ecology or his designee.

(3) "Disposal site" means a geographical site in or upon which hazardous wastes are disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(4) "Dispose or disposal" means the discarding or abandoning of hazardous wastes or the treatment, decontamination, or recycling of such wastes once they have been discarded or abandoned.

(5) "Dangerous wastes" means any discarded, useless, unwanted, or abandoned substances, including but not limited to certain pesticides, or any residues or containers of such substances which are disposed of in such quantity or concentration as to pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health, wildlife, or the environment because such wastes or constituents or combinations of such wastes:

(a) Have short-lived, toxic properties that may cause death, injury, or illness or have mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic properties; or

(b) Are corrosive, explosive, flammable, or may generate pressure through decomposition or other means.

(6) "Extremely hazardous waste" means any dangerous waste which

(a) will persist in a hazardous form for several years or more at a disposal site and which in its persistent form

(i) presents a significant environmental hazard and may be concentrated by living organisms through a food chain or may affect the genetic make-up of man or wildlife, and

(ii) is highly toxic to man or wildlife

(b) if disposed of at a disposal site in such quantities as would present an extreme hazard to man or the environment.

(7) "Person" means any person, firm, association, county, public or municipal or private corporation, agency, or other entity whatsoever.

(8) "Pesticide" shall have the meaning of the term as defined in RCW 15.58.030 as now or hereafter amended.

(9) "Solid waste advisory committee" means the same advisory committee as per RCW 70.95.040 through 70.95.070.

(10) "Designated zone facility" means any facility that requires an interim or final status permit under rules adopted under this chapter and that is not a preempted facility as defined in this section.

(11) "Facility" means all contiguous land and structures, other appurtenances, and improvements on the land used for recycling, storing, treating, incinerating, or disposing of hazardous waste.

(12) "Preempted facility" means any facility that includes as a significant part of its activities any of the following operations: (a) Landfill, (b) incineration, (c) land treatment, (d) surface impoundment to be closed as a landfill, or (e) waste pile to be closed as a landfill.

(13) "Hazardous household substances" means those substances identified by the department as hazardous household substances in the guidelines developed under RCW 70.105.220.

(14) "Hazardous substances" means any liquid, solid, gas, or sludge, including any material, substance, product, commodity, or waste, regardless of quantity, that exhibits any of the characteristics or criteria of hazardous waste as described in rules adopted under this chapter.

(15) "Hazardous waste" means and includes all dangerous and extremely hazardous waste, including substances composed of radioactive and hazardous components.

(16) "Local government" means a city, town, or county.

(17) "Moderate-risk waste" means (a) any waste that exhibits any of the properties of hazardous waste but is exempt from regulation under this chapter solely because the waste is generated in quantities below the threshold for regulation, and (b) any household wastes which are generated from the disposal of substances identified by the department as hazardous household substances.

(18) "Mixed waste" means all dangerous or extremely hazardous waste that contains both a nonradioactive hazardous component and a radioactive component.

(19) "Service charge" means an assessment imposed under section 2 of this 1989 act against those facilities that store, treat, incinerate, or dispose of mixed waste. Service charges shall also apply to facilities undergoing closure under this chapter in those instances where closure entails the physical characterization of remaining wastes or the management of such wastes through treatment or removal.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 70.105 RCW to read as follows:

Following the signing of a formal, enforceable agreement with a regulated entity:

(1) The department may assess reasonable service charges against those facilities that store, treat, incinerate, or dispose of mixed waste or which are undergoing closure under section 1(19) of this act. Charges are not to exceed the expected costs of the department in carrying out the duties of this section.

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.

Service charges may not be assessed for activities determined by the department or a court of competent jurisdiction to be inconsistent with the federal atomic energy act, 42 U.S.C., sec. 2011, et seq.

(2) Moneys collected through the imposition of such service charges shall be deposited in the state toxics control account.

(3) The department shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section. Mixed waste facilities shall not be subject to service charges prior to such rule making.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department may adopt rules specific to mixed waste covered under this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The sum of two million six hundred fifty-three thousand nine hundred three dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the state toxics control account to the department of ecology to carry out the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. 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 shall take effect immediately.