A. 
Any person who is reliably informed of, or discovers, a release of a hazardous substance shall notify the City’s designated Health Officer within 10 working days after receiving that information or making that discovery, except that if the release poses an immediate hazard to the public health or the environment the City Health Officer shall be notified within 24 hours. No such report shall be required if there is good cause to believe that such release has already been reported to the City Health Officer. Such notification shall include, to the extent known, the location of the release, the material released, the date of such release, the persons responsible, and the name of the reporting party. Notification received pursuant to this chapter or information obtained by the exploitation of such notification shall not be used against any such person in any criminal case.
B. 
For purposes of this section, “hazardous substance” means any substance or mixture of substances which:
1. 
Is toxic;
2. 
Is corrosive;
3. 
Is an irritant;
4. 
Is flammable or combustible;
5. 
Is radioactive; or
6. 
May cause substantial personal injury or substantial illness during or as a proximate result of any contact with human beings, including, but not limited to, reasonably foreseeable ingestion by children. The terms “toxic,” “corrosive,” “irritant,” “flammable,” “combustible,” and “radioactive” shall have the meanings prescribed in the California Hazardous Substances Act, Health and Safety Code Section 28740 et seq.
C. 
“Release” means significant spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment. “Release of a hazardous substance” shall not include the permitted use, storage, disposal, handling, blending, treatment, or transportation of such substances.
(Ord. 02-01 § 1; Ord. 12-02 § 14)
A. 
Whenever there is reason to believe that there is a continuing practice by any person in violation of this chapter, the City Attorney may make application to the superior court for an order enjoining such practice, or for an order directing compliance, and upon a showing that such person has engaged in or is about to engage in any such practice, a permanent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or other order may be granted.
B. 
Any person who willfully violates the provisions of this chapter shall, in addition to any other remedy, be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000.00 for each day that the violation continues to exist. Such civil penalty shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action commenced within one year from the date the failure to report is discovered.
(Ord. 02-01 § 1)
It is not the intention of this chapter to require handlers of hazardous materials to report to the City a release of hazardous materials which is not required to be reported under State or Federal law. If the release is not required to be reported under State or Federal law by the handler then no other person is placed under a duty to report such release.
(Ord. 02-01 § 1)
A. 
Upon a determination by the City Health Officer based upon at least two successive groundwater samples analyzed by a State-certified laboratory that there is evidence of groundwater contamination at a hazardous waste facility and that such contamination exceeds background levels for the site established by the Department of Health Care Services, the Health Officer may give notice to the facility that it must cooperate with the Health Officer to assemble all the further information reasonably necessary to achieve a characterization of the extent of the contamination, its probable environmental fate and an appraisal of the risks associated with the predicted levels of exposure. If at any point the Health Officer determines based upon the factors contained in the then most current version of the California Site Mitigation Decision Tree Manual prepared by the California Department of Health Services that a cleanup plan should be prepared to respond to the risks presented by the contamination he or she shall give notice of such determination to the facility. In the event of such notice the facility shall within a reasonable period of time as designated by the Health Officer submit a plan for cleanup of the contamination and a timetable for implementation of the plan or request within 14 days an opportunity to show cause at a public hearing to the satisfaction of the City Council why no cleanup of the contamination is necessary. If a public hearing is requested by the site operator it shall be commenced within 60 days of the date the Health Officer gave notice to the facility. If the board determines that no cleanup is necessary the site operator shall be excused from the requirement that it submit a cleanup plan as to the contamination identified. If the board determines that cleanup is necessary the site operator shall submit its cleanup plan within such time as the City Council shall then designate. “Cleanup,” as used in this section, means implementation of remedial action designed in accord with the most current version of the California Site Mitigation Decision Tree Manual.
“Background level,” as used in this section, means the highest level of contamination as determined by the Department of Health Care Services based upon well-monitoring data for the facility compiled in the files of the Regional Water Quality Control Board for calendar years 1984 through 1986. “Contamination,” as used in this section, means the presence of substances listed in Appendix IX of 40 Code of Federal Regulation 264 to the extent such substances were tested for in the well-monitoring data for the facility compiled in the files of the Regional Water Quality Control Board for calendar years 1984 through 1986.
B. 
A cleanup plan shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following elements:
1. 
A detailed description of the technology which is proposed to address the contamination including an assessment, based on actual case histories to the extent available, of how effectively the technology under consideration has performed under similar site conditions.
2. 
An assessment, utilizing actual case histories to the extent available, of how reliably the technology under consideration has performed with regard to operation and maintenance requirements under site conditions which are similar to those at the site in question.
3. 
An assessment, utilizing actual case histories to the extent available, of the degree of difficulty of constructing a given technology at the site. This shall include a discussion of any legal barriers such as zoning restrictions, permitting and other regulatory requirements.
4. 
An estimate of the cleanup level which will be obtained from implementing the technology.
5. 
Any adverse environmental impacts which may result from the actual field implementation of the proposed technology, including potentially adverse effects to on-site personnel health during implementation. The facility operator shall be responsible for compliance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act applicable to the proposed cleanup plan.
6. 
An evaluation of the time required to complete construction and to achieve the response objectives, including proposed dates for commencing and completing the cleanup plan.
7. 
A cost analysis including capital and operating and maintenance costs. Capital costs consist of short-term installation costs such as engineering/design fees, materials and maintenance costs consist of long-term costs associated with operating and monitoring the remedial action.
8. 
A discussion of any alternatives considered by the site operator in sufficient detail to permit the Health Officer to meaningfully compare each alternative to the proposed cleanup plan.
9. 
A protocol for necessary sampling and other testing, including proposed quality assurance and quality control procedures.
C. 
In the event a remedial action plan has been approved by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the California Department of Health Services and/or the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Health Officer may accept such remedial action plan in partial or complete satisfaction of the requirements imposed pursuant to this section for submittal of a cleanup plan. Where such a remedial action plan has been approved the Health Officer may require only such modifications from the approved remedial action plan as will more effectively remedy the contamination or reduce the risk to human populations without conflicting with such approved plan.
D. 
Upon receipt of a complete cleanup plan the Health Officer shall as expeditiously as possible approve or modify the cleanup plan. If modifications are proposed by the Health Officer he or she shall provide an opportunity to the site operator and any interested person or entity who has filed a written request for notice of such opportunity to present responsive information as to the most reasonable and cost-effective cleanup plan. The plan shall then be finally approved or approved with further modifications by the Health Officer. The plan as finally approved by the Health Officer shall be implemented by the facility.
(Ord. 02-01 § 1)
A. 
The City Health Officer shall specify for each Class I hazardous waste facility located in the City the locations and numbers of all groundwater monitoring devices necessary in his or her opinion to constitute a system capable of detecting any off-site migration of liquid hazardous waste whether by seepage, groundwater contamination or surface drainage. Concurrently the City Health Officer, after consultation with the Director of the Air Pollution Control District, shall specify the location, number and kind of all air monitoring devices necessary in his or her opinion to constitute a system capable of detecting any on-site or off-site air pollution which could constitute a health hazard.
B. 
In the event that the operator of a Class I hazardous waste facility wishes to contend that the groundwater and/or air monitoring system specified by the City Health Officer is unreasonable or that it cannot be implemented in a timely manner, it shall file a notice of appeal with the City Clerk. A public hearing shall in that event be held within 30 days at which the City Council shall determine whether there is merit to any of the objections raised in the notice of appeal. If the board determines that any of the objections raised are meritorious it shall grant to the Class I hazardous waste facility such relief as in its discretion is reasonable.
(Ord. 02-01 § 1)
At any time following the time that air and groundwater monitoring has been put in place to the satisfaction of the City Health Officer that significant new information becomes available, or upon application by the operator of a Class I hazardous waste facility, and after public notice and hearing, the City Health Officer may require such changes in the kind, number, and/or location of air or groundwater monitoring devices as in his or her judgment are reasonable and will more effectively carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(Ord. 02-01 § 1)
The groundwater and air monitoring systems, including their associated sampling and testing programs and any necessary repair and maintenance, initially required by the City Health Officer, or required pursuant to this chapter, shall be put in place at the expense of the owner or operator of the Class I facility. Thereafter if the City Health Officer determines that any additional sampling and/or testing utilizing groundwater or air monitoring devices should be conducted in addition to that required by other regulatory agencies or otherwise regularly conducted by the site operator, such sampling and/or testing shall be conducted and the results promptly reported to the City Health Officer. The City Health Officer in his or her discretion shall specify whether such sampling and/or testing shall be conducted by the site operator, the City or any of its agents or employees, or by such independent laboratory or other personnel as the City Health Officer may designate to enter upon the site for such purpose. The operator of such a facility shall be entitled to a credit against the amount of the tax otherwise payable to the City under Titles 3 and 5 of this Code for the direct costs of such additional testing and/or sampling as it incurs which would not have been incurred in the absence of direction from the City Health Officer pursuant to this section. The site operator shall not be required to incur more than $100,000.00 of such expense in any calendar quarter nor shall more than $100,000.00 of tax credit be allowed in any quarterly reporting period unless the City Council has approved the incurring of such expense and tax credit in advance. All tax credits available under the terms of this section shall be claimed only in the quarter following that in which they are actually incurred. Such claims shall be substantiated with detailed actual expense reports and shall be subject to audit by the City or its agents. Any such tax credits shall be applied only after receipt and approval of the claims by the City. In instances where the facility has paid money to a trust fund administered by the City the facility shall be entitled to a tax credit on the quarterly return immediately following such payment. Operators of hazardous waste facilities shall keep and preserve all records, necessary to establish the amount of the tax credit, for a period of three years from the date the tax credit was allowed and shall allow City employees reasonable access to such records on demand.
(Ord. 02-01 § 1)