Bill Text: CA AB719 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 719 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Underground storage tanks: Expedited Claim Pilot Project.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2018-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB719 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB719-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 17, 2017

Amended IN Assembly March 27, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 719

Introduced by Assembly Member Fong

February 15, 2017

An act to amend Section ~~50111 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation.~~ 25299.50.7 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous substances.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 719, as amended, Fong. ~~Underground Storage Tank Maintenance Fee Law: returns and payments: extensions.~~ Underground storage tanks: Expedited Claim Pilot Project.

Under existing law, the Barry Keene Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Trust Fund Act of 1989, every owner of an underground storage tank is required to pay a storage fee for each gallon of petroleum placed in the tank. The act requires the fees to be deposited in the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund, and authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board to expend the moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for various purposes, including the payment of claims to aid owners and operators of petroleum underground storage tanks who take corrective action to clean up unauthorized releases from those tanks, the cleanup and oversight of unauthorized releases at abandoned tank sites, and grants to small businesses to retrofit certain hazardous substance underground storage tanks.
The act requires the board, until January 1, 2026, to establish the Expedited Claim Pilot Project to investigate and implement methods to improve claim processing procedures to reduce the overall cost for site cleanup and time to reach closure. The act, until January 1, 2026, establishes the Expedited Claim Account in the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, requires the moneys in the account to be expended for the implementation of the pilot program. The act requires the board to prepare a report, on or before January 1, 2018, analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Expedited Claim Pilot Project in expediting the funding of claims and completions of site cleanups. Existing law requires the report to be posted on the board’s Internet Web site and updated periodically.
This bill would extend the deadline for that report to January 1, 2020, and would require the report to be submitted to the Legislature on or before that date.
The Underground Storage Tank Maintenance Fee Law authorizes the State Board of Equalization to extend the time, for up to one month for good cause and up to 3 months in the case of a disaster, for a taxpayer to submit a report or pay a sum of money pursuant to that law. Existing law, with regard to an extension for good cause, requires a request to be filed within, or prior to the commencement of, the period for which the extension may be granted.
This bill would authorize the board to allow an extension of time for a taxpayer to submit a report or pay a sum of money under that law of up to one year for good cause and up to 2 years in the case of a disaster. The bill would revise the filing requirement, with regard to an extension for good cause, to instead require that the request be filed within the period for which the extension may be granted.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 25299.50.7 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

25299.50.7.

(a) The Expedited Claim Account is hereby created in the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup 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 2015–16 fiscal year from the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund to the Expedited Claim Account for expenditure, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the payment of claims pursuant to this section. Claims shall be paid from the Expedited Claim Account until moneys in the account are exhausted.

(c) Funds in the Expedited Claim Account that are not expended in a fiscal year shall remain in the Expedited Claim Account. Funds remaining in the Expedited Claim Account on January 1, 2026, shall be transferred to the Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund.

(d) The board shall, with stakeholder input, establish the Expedited Claim Pilot Project to reduce the overall cost for site cleanup and the time to reach closure by increasing coordination with the responsible party, consultant, regulator, and the fund and by using multiyear budgets.

(1) The board shall, with stakeholder input, investigate potential methods for reducing the overall cost for site cleanup and the time to reach ~~closure~~ closure, including, but not limited to, establishment of multiyear funding for claims, increased collaboration between fund staff, regulatory staff, and claimants and their contractors, establishment of project milestones and cost estimates, and establishment of reimbursement submission schedules.

(2) The board shall solicit fund claims from all priority rankings for participation in the pilot project to implement potential improvement methods. The board shall select a limited number of claims to participate in the project.

(3) The board shall develop criteria for the selection of claims to participate in the pilot project and, at a minimum, shall consider the threat to human health, safety, or the environment caused by contamination at the site that is the subject of the claim, the priority ranking assigned to the claim pursuant to Section 25299.52, and the progress of cleanup at the site that is the subject of the claim.

(4) The development of criteria and procedures pursuant to this subdivision shall not be considered as regulations subject to, and shall be exempt from, Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(e) The board shall include information on the expenditure of funds transferred to the Expedited Claim Account, as well as the amount of all claims filed by claimants participating in the Expedited Claim Pilot Project and the amount of reimbursements made to claimants in the pilot project, in its annual report.

(f) On or before January 1, ~~2018,~~ 2020, the board shall ~~prepare~~ submit a report to the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Expedited Claim Pilot Project in expediting the funding of claims and completions of site cleanups. The board, in consultation with stakeholders, shall work to develop metrics to forecast long-term demand on the fund and shall include this information in the report. This report shall be posted on the board’s Internet Web site, and updated periodically.

(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2026, deletes or extends that date.

SECTION 1.Section 50111 of the Revenue and Taxation Code is amended to read:
50111.
(a)Except as provided in subdivision (b), the board for good cause may extend, for up to one year, the time period within which a person is required to submit a report or pay a sum of money under this part. The extension may be granted at any time if a request is filed with the board within the period for which the extension may be granted.
(b)(1)In the case of a disaster, the board, for a period not to exceed two years, may extend the time for making any report or return or paying any fee required under this part. The extension may be granted at any time provided a request therefor is filed with the board within or before the period for which the extension may be granted.
~~(2)For purposes of this section, “disaster” means fire, flood, storm, tidal wave, earthquake, or similar public calamity, whether or not resulting from natural causes.~~
(c)Any person to whom an extension is granted shall pay, in addition to the fee, interest at the modified adjusted rate per month, or fraction thereof, established pursuant to Section 6591.5, from the date on which the fee would have been due without the extension until the date of payment.