Bill Text: CA AB275 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Hazardous substances: liability recovery actions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 458, Statutes of 2015. [AB275 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB275-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 275 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 458
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 2, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 2, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 13, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials
(Assembly Members Alejo (Chair), Gonzalez, McCarty, and Ting)
FEBRUARY 11, 2015
An act to amend Sections 25360.4, 25363, and 25366.5 of the Health
and Safety Code, relating to hazardous substances.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 275, Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.
Hazardous substances: liability recovery actions.
(1) Existing law, the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance
Account Act, imposes liability for hazardous substances removal or
remedial actions and requires the Attorney General to recover from
the liable person, as defined, certain costs incurred by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control or a California regional water
quality control board, upon the request of the department or
regional board. The act authorizes, except as specified, a party
found liable for any costs or expenditures recoverable under the act
for those actions to establish, as specified, that only a portion of
those costs or expenditures are attributable to the party, and
requires the party to pay only for that portion. If each party does
not establish its liability, the act requires a court to apportion
those costs or expenditures, as specified, among the defendants and
the remaining portion of the judgment is required to be paid from the
Toxic Substances Control Account. Existing law authorizes the money
deposited in the Toxic Substances Control Account in the General Fund
to be appropriated to the Department of Toxic Substances Control for
specified purposes, including the payment of the costs incurred by
the state for those actions.
This bill would specifically apply those provisions to response
and corrective actions, instead of to removal and remedial actions,
and would delete the requirement that the remaining portion of a
judgment for costs and expenditures that is not apportioned among the
liable persons be paid from that account.
(2) The act requires an action brought pursuant to it for the
recovery of the costs of a removal or remedial action, or for the
recovery of specified administrative costs, to be commenced within 3
years after completion of the removal or remedial action has been
certified by the department.
This bill would, except as provided, instead allow an action for
the recovery of the costs of carrying out or overseeing a response or
corrective action to be commenced either within that 3-year period
or, if operation and maintenance is required as part of the response
or corrective action, within 3 years after completion of operation
and maintenance has been certified by the department or a regional
board.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 25360.4 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
25360.4. (a) (1) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) and
paragraph (2), an action under Section 25360 for the recovery of
costs incurred by the department or a regional board in carrying out
or overseeing a response or corrective action pursuant to this
chapter or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), or as
otherwise authorized by law, shall be commenced within three years
after completion of all response or corrective actions has been
certified by the department or a regional board.
(B) If operation and maintenance is required as part of the
response or corrective action, the action for recovery of costs
incurred by the department or a regional board shall be commenced
within three years after completion of operation and maintenance has
been certified by the department or a regional board.
(2) No action described in paragraph (1) may be brought that, as
of December 31, 2015, had not been commenced by the department within
three years after the certification of the completion of the removal
or remedial action.
(b) An action under subdivision (c) of Section 25352 for costs
incurred by the department for the purposes specified in subdivision
(a) or (b) of Section 25352 shall be commenced within three years
after certification by the department of the completion of the
activities authorized under subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section
25352.
(c) In an action described in subdivision (a) or (b) for recovery
of response or corrective action costs, oversight costs, or damages,
where the court has entered a judgment for past costs or damages, the
court shall also enter an order reserving jurisdiction over the case
and the court shall have continuing jurisdiction to determine any
future liability and the amount of the future liability. The
department or regional board may immediately enforce the judgment for
past costs and damages. The department or the regional board may
apply for a court judgment for further costs and damages that have
been incurred during the response or corrective action, operation and
maintenance, or during the performance of the activities authorized
by Section 25352, but the application shall be made not later than
three years after the certification of completion of the response or
corrective action, operation and maintenance, or activities
authorized pursuant to Section 25352.
(d) An action may be commenced under Section 25360 or subdivision
(c) of Section 25352 at any time prior to expiration of the
applicable limitations period provided for by this section.
(e) This section does not apply to a cost recovery action brought
by a regional board under the Water Code.
SEC. 2. Section 25363 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
25363. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (e), a party found
liable for costs recoverable under this chapter who establishes by a
preponderance of the evidence that only a portion of those costs are
attributable to that party's actions shall be required to pay only
for that portion.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (e), if the trier of fact
finds the evidence insufficient to establish each party's portion of
costs under subdivision (a), the court shall apportion those costs,
to the extent practicable, according to equitable principles, among
the defendants.
(c) The standard of liability for costs recoverable pursuant to
this chapter is strict liability.
(d) A person who has incurred response or corrective action costs
in accordance with this chapter, Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section
25100), or the federal act may seek contribution or indemnity from
any person who is liable pursuant to this chapter. An action to
enforce a claim may be brought as a cross-complaint by any defendant
in an action brought pursuant to Section 25360 or this section, or in
a separate action after the person seeking contribution or indemnity
has paid response or corrective action costs in accordance with this
chapter, Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100), or the federal
act. A plaintiff or cross-complainant seeking contribution or
indemnity shall give written notice to the director upon filing an
action or cross-complaint under this section. In resolving claims for
contribution or indemnity, the court may allocate costs among liable
parties using appropriate equitable factors.
(e) Notwithstanding this chapter, a response action contractor who
is found liable for any costs recoverable under this chapter and who
establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that only a portion
of those costs are attributable to the response action contractor's
actions shall be required to pay only that portion of the costs
attributable to the response action contractor's actions.
SEC. 3. Section 25366.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
25366.5. (a) A public agency operating a household hazardous
waste collection program or a person operating such a program under a
written agreement with a public agency, or, for material received
from the public as used oil, a person operating a certified used oil
collection center as provided in Section 48660 of the Public
Resources Code, shall not be held liable in a cost recovery action
brought pursuant to Section 25360, including, but not limited to, an
action to recover the fees imposed by Section 25343 or an action
brought pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 25363, for waste that
has been properly handled and transported to an authorized hazardous
waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility at a location other
than that of the collection program.
(b) For purposes of this section, "household hazardous waste
collection program" means a program or facility, specified in Section
25218.1, in which hazardous wastes from households and conditionally
exempt small quantity generators are collected and ultimately
transferred to an authorized hazardous waste treatment, storage, or
disposal facility.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (a), this section does not
affect or modify the obligations or liabilities of a person imposed
pursuant to state or federal law.
