Title HSC — California Health & Safety Code

(a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989. (b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following: (1) In order to help ensure an efficient petroleum underground storage tank cleanup p…

“Adjudicative proceeding” has the same meaning as defined in Section 11405.20 of the Government Code.

“Bodily injury” has the same meaning as used in Subchapter IX (commencing with Section 6991) of Chapter 82 of Title 42 of the United States Code and the regulations adopted pursuant thereto.

“Claim” means a submittal to the fund for the reimbursement of costs incurred due to an occurrence. A claim consists of several documents, including, but not limited to, the fund application, reimbursement requests, and verification documents.

“Corrective action” includes, but is not limited to, evaluation and investigation of an unauthorized release, initial corrective actions measures, as specified in the federal act, and any actions necessary to investigate and remedy any residual effects remaining after the initial…

“Environmental impairment liability insurance” means liability insurance against liability for bodily injury, as defined in Section 25299.12, and for property damage, as defined in Section 25299.23, arising from an occurrence, as defined in Section 25299.19.

“Federal act” means Subchapter IX (commencing with Section 6991) of Chapter 82 of Title 42 of the United States Code, as added by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (P.L. 98-616), or as it may subsequently be amended or supplemented, and the regulations adopted purs…

“Fund” means the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund created pursuant to Section 25299.50.

“MTBE” means methyl tertiary-butyl ether.

“Occurrence” means an accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to conditions, which results in an unauthorized release of petroleum from an underground storage tank. Unauthorized releases at the same site which require only a single site investigation shall be consider…

“Operator” means any person in control of, or having responsibility for, the daily operation of an underground storage tank containing petroleum. “Operator” includes any city, county, or district, or any agency or department thereof, but does not include the state or any agency o…

“Owner” means the owner of an underground storage tank containing petroleum. “Owner” includes any city, county, or district, or any agency or department thereof, but does not include the state or any agency or department thereof, or the federal government.

“Petroleum” means crude oil, or any fraction thereof, which is liquid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure, which means at 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute.

(a) “Site” means the parcel of real property at which an underground storage tank is located. (b) If underground storage tanks are located at adjacent parcels of real property, the adjacent parcels together constitute one site if both of the following apply: (1) The underground s…

“Tank,” “underground storage tank,” “underground tank system,” and “tank system” have the same meaning as defined in Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 25280), except as follows: (a) These terms mean only those tanks that contain only petroleum or, consistent with the federal a…

For purposes of this chapter, “board,” “regional board,” “local agency,” “person,” “unauthorized release,” and “facility” shall have the same meanings as defined in Section 25281. Any other term used in this chapter which is not defined by this article has the same meaning as def…

Every owner and operator shall comply with Section 25299.31 at the time prescribed in the federal act for the establishment and maintaining of financial responsibility for taking corrective action and compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage arising from o…

(a) Every owner and operator shall establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility, as provided in this article, for taking corrective action and compensating third parties for bodily injury and property damage arising from operating an underground storage tank. (b) I…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (f), a claimant who meets any of the following requirements may use the fund to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility: (1) A claimant who meets the qualifications of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 25299.52 s…

(a) An owner and operator subject to Section 25299.30 may establish evidence of financial responsibility pursuant to this article by any one or more of the means specified in the federal act. (b) An owner or operator shall submit evidence of financial responsibility on a prepared…

(a) The total liability of any guarantor under this chapter is limited to the aggregate amount which the guarantor has provided as evidence of financial responsibility to the owner or operator pursuant to this article. This section does not limit any other state or federal statut…

The board, a regional board, or a local agency may undertake or contract for corrective action in response to an unauthorized release from an underground storage tank that is subject to this chapter, pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 25296.10 or if a situation exists that re…

(a) The local agency, the board, or the regional board shall advise and work with the owner, operator, or other responsible party on the opportunity to seek preapproval of corrective action costs pursuant to Section 2811.4 of Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations or any …

The board, a regional board, or local agency shall be permitted reasonable access to property owned or possessed by an owner, operator, or responsible party as necessary to perform corrective action pursuant to Section 25299.36. The access shall be obtained with the consent of th…

The Legislature hereby declares that the storage fees imposed by this article do not constitute a tax and are not collected for purposes of increasing state revenues pursuant to Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution.

For the purpose of implementing this chapter, every owner of an underground storage tank for which a permit is required pursuant to Section 25284 shall pay a storage fee of six mills ($0.006) for each gallon of petroleum placed in an underground storage tank that the person owns.…

(a) The State Board of Equalization may adopt regulations to carry out Section 25299.41, including, but not limited to, provisions governing collections, reporting, refunds, and appeals. (b) The State Board of Equalization shall collect the fee imposed by this article commencing …

(a) To implement the changes to this chapter made by Chapter 1191 of the Statutes of 1994, and consistent with Section 25299.40, effective January 1, 1995, every owner subject to Section 25299.41 shall pay a storage fee of one mill ($0.001) for each gallon of petroleum placed in …

(a) The Expedited Claim Account is hereby created in the fund for expenditure by the board to pay claims that have been selected to participate in the pilot project established by this section. (b) The sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) shall be transferred in the …

(a) On or before June 1, 2016, the board shall conduct an analysis of whether the ranking criteria for the payment of claims pursuant to Sections 25299.57 and 25299.58, with regard to owners and operators of tanks that are small businesses, as specified in subparagraph (A) of par…

(a) The board shall adopt a priority ranking list at least annually for awarding claims pursuant to Section 25299.57 or 25299.58. Any owner or operator eligible for payment of a claim pursuant to Section 25299.54 shall file an application with the board within a reasonable period…

(a) A regional board or a local agency taking, or contracting for, corrective action pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 25296.10 in response to an unauthorized release from an underground storage tank subject to this chapter shall, before commencing the corrective action, tak…

(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), (e), (g), and (h), an owner or operator, required to perform corrective action pursuant to Section 25296.10, or an owner or operator who, as of January 1, 1988, is required to perform corrective action, who has initiated this …

The board shall prescribe appropriate forms and procedures for claims filed pursuant to Section 25299.54 that shall include, at a minimum, all of the following: (a) A provision requiring the claimant to make a sworn verification of the claim to the best of the claimant’s knowledg…

(a) The board shall determine an applicant’s eligibility for a claim for corrective action costs or third-party compensation costs pursuant to Section 25299.57 or 25299.58 and notify the applicant of that determination within 60 days from the date of the receipt of the fund appli…

(a) (1) If the board makes the determination specified in subdivision (d) for a claim filed on or before December 31, 2014, the board may only pay for the costs of a corrective action that exceed the level of financial responsibility required to be obtained pursuant to Section 25…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (d), if the board makes the determination specified in subdivision (b), the board may reimburse only those costs that are related to the compensation of third parties for bodily injury and property damages and that exceed the level of financi…

(a) If the board has paid out of the fund for any costs of corrective action, the board shall not pay any other claim out of the fund for the same costs. (b) (1) Notwithstanding Sections 25299.57 and 25299.58, for a claim filed on or before December 31, 2014, the board shall not …

(a) The board shall not pay any claims against or presented to the fund pursuant to this article if the claim exceeds the total money in the fund at any one time. The board shall pay these claims only when additional money is collected, appropriated, or otherwise added to the fun…

The board shall not pay any claims against or presented to the fund pursuant to this article if the claims are in connection with an unauthorized release of petroleum into the environment from an underground storage tank resulting from the gross negligence or the intentional or r…

If funding is available, all reimbursement requests that are approved shall be forwarded to the Controller within 10 days from the date of approval, for payment by the Controller. If a reimbursement request is approved but not forwarded to the Controller because funding is unavai…

This article does not require any person to pursue a claim against the board pursuant to this article before seeking any other remedy. This section does not affect the requirement for exhaustion of administrative remedies before obtaining judicial review of any action of the boar…

(a) For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply: (1) “Baseline concentration” means the initial concentration of a constituent of concern prior to conducting corrective action pursuant to a performance-based contract. (2) “Constituent of concern” means the…

(a) The claimant shall submit multiple bids for a performance-based contract in accordance with paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) of Section 25299.57 and any regulations adopted by the board to implement that section. (b) To assist claimants in soliciting bids for performance-base…

This article does not limit or abridge the powers and duties granted to the board, the regional board, or local agency pursuant to any other provision of law.

(a) The board may recover any costs incurred and payable from the fund pursuant to subdivisions (c), (e), (h), and (n) of Section 25299.51 from the owner or operator of the underground storage tank which released the petroleum and which is the subject of those costs or from any o…

(a) (1) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), if a person is convicted under Section 25299.80.5 or is found to be civilly liable under Section 25299.78 or 25299.80, the executive director of the board may permanently disqualify that person from receiving any moneys from…

Upon motion and sufficient showing by any party, the court shall join to the action any person who may be liable for costs or expenditures of the type recoverable pursuant to this article.

The standard of liability for any costs of corrective action recoverable pursuant to this chapter is strict liability.

(a) No indemnification, hold harmless, conveyance, or similar agreement shall be effective to preclude any liability for costs recoverable under this article. This section does not bar any agreement to insure, hold harmless, or indemnify a party to the agreement for any costs und…