Existing law, including the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, authorizes the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (“CalRecycle”) and certified local enforcement agencies to regulate solid waste facilities, including through solid waste facility permits. Existing law also authorizes the State Air Resources Board to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, including emissions associated with solid waste landfills.
AB 28 establishes new requirements for solid waste landfills experiencing a “subsurface elevated temperature event,” defined as persistently elevated subsurface gas or waste temperatures exceeding 131 degrees Fahrenheit over a substantial area and meeting other criteria determined by CalRecycle. An owner or operator of a landfill experiencing such an event must notify CalRecycle. CalRecycle may require the owner or operator to develop a corrective action plan, including an assessment of the cost of fully implementing the plan, and may assume enforcement responsibility for an affected landfill under specified circumstances. Failure to comply with applicable requirements may result in administrative civil penalties of up to $100,000 per day.
AB 28 also authorizes the Secretary for Environmental Protection to establish a multiagency coordination group to investigate a subsurface elevated temperature event and recommend measures to resolve it. If the group recommends a health assessment, the landfill owner or operator must fund the assessment, including all reasonable and necessary anticipated expenses, and the local health department must initiate the assessment within 60 days to identify and collect information regarding the event’s effects on the affected community. The local health department must post its findings on its website, and the State Department of Public Health must provide technical assistance as necessary. If requested by the multiagency group, landfill owners or operators must also develop and implement air monitoring and sampling plans. Landfill owners and operators must also reimburse participating agencies and the local health department for reasonable and necessary expenses associated with their response.
AB 28 creates the Landfill Subsurface Fire Mitigation Community Fund, into which penalties collected under the law are deposited. Funds are continuously appropriated for specified purposes, including mitigating harm to persons and communities affected by these events.
AB 28 adds Sections 43031 and 43031.2 to the Public Resources Code.
