(a) The department shall establish a Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Facility Investigation and Cleanup Program, or LABRIC Program, which shall be responsible for identifying areas of the state that are eligible for expenditure of moneys from the Lead-Acid Battery Cleanup Fund pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 25215.5.

(b) The LABRIC Program shall provide public notice of the initiation of the investigation or site evaluation of any area reasonably suspected to have been contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility. The public notice shall provide a summary of the information relied on by the department, including, but not limited to, copies of any information or documents currently in the department’s possession that indicate that the facility might not be a lead-acid battery recycling facility, if subject to disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code). The department shall accept comments or information that the public submits within 90 days after issuance of the public notice required by this subdivision and, before the department completes its investigation pursuant to subdivision (c), shall review and provide written responses to any comments or information submitted.

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(c) (1) Upon completion of an investigation or site evaluation conducted pursuant to subdivision (b), the department, consistent with procedures included within the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), shall provide notice and an opportunity for comment on the proposed designation of a site as determined with reasonable certainty to have been contaminated by releases from the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility. Reasonable certainty shall be established based on all reasonably available information, including information provided by the public, to conclude that the contamination in a specific area was from the lead-acid battery recycling facility.

(2) Any proposed designation, as described in paragraph (1), shall include an explanation of the basis for the department’s designation, a summary of the evidence relied on by the department in reaching the proposed designation, including the assumptions and methodologies the department used to attribute any contamination to the lead-acid battery recycling facility, and including information indicating that the facility may not be a lead-acid battery recycling facility, and copies of any information or documents relied on during the investigation and evaluation of the site, if subject to disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act.

(3) The department shall accept comments from the public consistent with the procedures included within the Administrative Procedure Act. The department shall evaluate, investigate, if appropriate, and respond to any reliable information provided by the public indicating that the area was not contaminated by the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility, or that the facility in question was not involved in the recycling of lead-acid batteries.

(4) A site designation shall be considered a final action, subject to judicial review in the same manner as provided pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

(d) (1) If, within two years of a public notice required by subdivision (b), the department is unable to designate a site as determined with reasonable certainty to have been contaminated by releases from the operation of a lead-acid battery recycling facility, the public notice shall be deemed to have been withdrawn and expenditure pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 25215.5 for purposes of further investigation or evaluation for the site shall no longer be authorized, except as provided in paragraph (3).

(2) No less than 30 days before the deadline established pursuant to paragraph (1), the department may extend the deadline for the completion of an investigation initiated pursuant to subdivision (b), with good cause shown and adequate public notice of the basis for that extension, by up to three months, and may extend the deadline additional times in increments of up to three months, not to exceed one year after the deadline established pursuant to paragraph (1) in total.

(3) The department may, within its discretion, issue a new public notice pursuant to subdivision (b) for a site if the department determines that new evidence warrants continued or renewed investigation or evaluation of the site.

(e) Information regarding the department’s progress in implementing this section shall be included in the report required by subdivision (c) of Section 25215.5.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 615, Sec. 250. (AB 474) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 463 of Stats. 2021, Ch. 615.)