California Water Code 13307 – (a) The state board and the Department of Toxic Substances …
(a) The state board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control shall concurrently establish policies and procedures consistent with this division that the state board’s representatives and the representatives of regional boards shall follow in overseeing and supervising the activities of persons who are carrying out the investigation of, and cleaning up or abating the effects of, a discharge of a hazardous substance which creates, or threatens to create, a condition of contamination, pollution, or nuisance. The policies and procedures shall be consistent with the policies and procedures established pursuant to § 79000 of the Health and Safety Code and shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The procedures the state board and the regional boards will follow in making decisions as to when a person may be required to undertake an investigation to determine if an unauthorized hazardous substance discharge has occurred.
Terms Used In California Water Code 13307
- Contamination: includes any equivalent effect resulting from the disposal of waste, whether or not waters of the state are affected. See California Water Code 13050
- Hazardous substance: means either of the following:
California Water Code 13050
- Nuisance: means anything which meets all of the following requirements:
California Water Code 13050
- Person: includes any city, county, district, the state, and the United States, to the extent authorized by federal law. See California Water Code 13050
- Pollution: means an alteration of the quality of the waters of the state by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects either of the following:
California Water Code 13050
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Water Code 18
- State board: means the State Water Resources Control Board. See California Water Code 13050
- Waters of the state: means any surface water or groundwater, including saline waters, within the boundaries of the state. See California Water Code 13050
(2) Policies for carrying out a phased, step-by-step investigation to determine the nature and extent of possible soil and groundwater contamination or pollution at a site.
(3) Procedures for identifying and utilizing the most cost-effective methods for detecting contamination or pollution and cleaning up or abating the effects of contamination or pollution.
(4) Policies for determining reasonable schedules for investigation and cleanup, abatement, or other remedial action at a site. The policies shall recognize the dangers to public health and the waters of the state posed by an unauthorized discharge and the need to mitigate those dangers while at the same time taking into account, to the extent possible, the resources, both financial and technical, available to the person responsible for the discharge.
(b) The state board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control shall jointly review the policies and procedures that were established pursuant to this section and § 79000 of the Health and Safety Code prior to the enactment of this subdivision and shall concurrently revise those policies and procedures as necessary to make them as consistent as possible. Where they cannot be made consistent because of the differing requirements of this chapter and Part 2 (commencing with Section 78000) of Division 45 of the Health and Safety Code, the state board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control shall, by July 1, 1994, jointly develop, and send to the Legislature, recommendations for revising this chapter and Part 2 (commencing with Section 78000) of Division 45 of the Health and Safety Code in order to make consistent the hazardous substance release cleanup policies and procedures followed by the state board, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the regional boards.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 258, Sec. 126. (AB 2327) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 130 of Stats. 2022, Ch. 258.)