SB 158 Summary

• Establishes a five-member Board of Environmental Safety within the Department of Toxic Substances Control with authority to set fees, hear permit appeals, and conduct analysis of hazardous waste management.

• Replaces existing disposal and generator fees with a new generation and handling fee of $49.25 per ton (effective January 1, 2022), with rates to be adjusted by the board starting July 1, 2023, not to exceed $98.50 per ton.

• Creates a Hazardous Waste Facilities Account (effective July 1, 2022) within the Hazardous Waste Control Account to separately fund facility-related regulatory activities from general hazardous waste program activities.

• Modifies hazardous waste facility permit procedures to require applications 180 days before expiration (for permits expiring before January 1, 2025) or two years before expiration (for permits expiring on or after January 1, 2025), with specified decision deadlines and public reporting requirements for delays.

• Appropriates $822.4 million from the General Fund and Toxic Substances Control Account over three fiscal years (2021-22 through 2023-24) for contaminated site cleanup, brownfield remediation, job training programs, and community technical assistance, with loans for lead cleanup in the former Exide Technologies area.