HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05101994 - 1.26 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS I
FROM: Mark Finucane, Health Services Director J::� Contra
Costa
DATE: May 10, 1994 County
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SUBJECT: LEGISLATION: PROVIDE COMMENT ON SB 1851 (CALDERON) - RE ADVANCE SUBMISSION OF
CHANGES TO A RISK MANAGEMENT AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS. SUPPORT IN PART;OPPOSE IN
PART UNLESS AMENDED.
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATION: SUPPORT SB 1851 in concept as it is the companion bill to AB 3263 (Campbell)
which was SPONSORED by this Board early this year. OPPOSE certain segments of SB 1851 UNLESS
AMENDED, as they conflict with key provisions of AB 3263 which were the primary goals of this Board's
sponsorship of that legislation.
FISCAL IMPACT: None,
BACKGROUND:
One of the items on the Board's 1994 Legislative Program is to sponsor legislation which would require
advance notification to the County when a firm that handles acutely hazardous materials modifies any process
that would materially affect the handling of an acutely hazardous material. The Board has already gone on
record as a sponsor of AB 3263 (Campbell) which addresses this exact issue. SB 1851 is the companion bill
to AB 3263, but significant differences between the bills suggest the Board should OPPOSE those portions
of SB 1851 which conflict with AB 3263 unless the author of SB 1851 is willing to amend the legislation to
reflect the following concerns.
The motivation for both bills comes from the General Chemical incident last summer. There was criticism
that the County and other regulatory agencies were unaware that General Chemical planned to change its
process in order to store oleum in railroad tank cars instead of fixed tanks on the ground.
Under current law, a firm that handles acutely hazardous materials and is required to submit an RMPP, is
required to amend the RMPP within 60 days following a process modification that would materially affect
the handling of an acutely hazardous material. This substantially precludes responsible governmental
agencies from being made aware of potentially dangerous changes in a process which may need inspection
in advance of the implementation of the change.
AB 3263 addressed this problem by requiring RELor written notification from an industrial facility to RMPP
staff before a potentially dangerous modification is made to the facility. SB 1851 mirrors AB 3263 except
for this critical provision. SB 1851 leaves the 60 day post-modification notification intact, thus conflicting
with the Board's key purpose in sponsoring AB 3263.
In addition, the Health Services Department RMPP Specialists believe that the State Office of Emergency
Services (OES) should develop "Guidelines" for how to modify RMPPs. In contrast, SB 1851 calls only for
the development of "guidance materials" which may not have the same import as Guidelines developed by
a lead state agency. Finally, RMPP Specialists are concerned about a provision in the bill that allows a
petition to OES to delete an extremely hazardous substance from the list of regulated substances. Such
deletion should require greater oversight and consultation with local administeringagenci s, such as the
Health Services Department.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: SIGNATURE �-
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S): /
ACTION OF BOARD ON ffi �T CI�' APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED r/ OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
/ I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
✓ UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ATTESTED a� Q C q
Contact Person: Dr.William Walker,370-5012 PHIL BATCHELOR, LE OF TH BOARD OF
CC: Health Services Director, Mark Finucane SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Health Officer,William Walker, MD
Hazardous Materials, Randy Sawyer BY �, , (���Q Q,,,,J DEPUTY