Assembly Bill 332, authored by the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, nears the finish line in the Legislature and will soon head to the Governor for signature. AB 332 seeks to prevent illegal disposal and facilitate the safe and proper management of treated wood waste (TWW). In particular, AB 332 codifies the Alternative Management Standards for TWW that sunset at the beginning of this year. Those standards significantly eased the burdens associated with proper transportation, management, and disposal of TWW.
Last year, Governor Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 68 (Galgiani), which would have permanently allowed the generators and the solid waste industry to manage and dispose of TWW through a far less onerous process than otherwise exists for hazardous waste. SB 68’s veto left residential and commercial customers with no practical disposal options because of the significantly greater costs and complexities of managing and transporting these materials as hazardous wastes to a Class I hazardous waste disposal facility. To address the immediate problem, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) began issuing temporary variances to generators, transporters, and disposal facilities earlier this year. Those temporary variances were only intended to address the immediate issue while the Legislature worked out a more permanent solution.
AB 332 has passed the policy and fiscal committees in both houses, is expected to pass the Senate on Monday, and will go back to the Assembly for concurrence in Senate amendments immediately thereafter. This important legislation could well be signed into law within the next two weeks.
RCRC helped facilitate DTSC’s issuance of temporary variances and coordinate a large coalition of solid waste and local government support for AB 332. For a list of coalition partners and to read the support letter, see here. For more information, contact John Kennedy, RCRC Legislative Advocate, by email or call (916) 447-4806.