Cal. Health & Safety Code § 25421
Landfill Gas
Redline — January 1, 2011 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2013
As of January 1, 2011
(a) Until the rule or order specified in subdivision (b) is adopted, no gas producer shall knowingly sell, supply, or transport landfill gas to a gas corporation, and no gas corporation shall knowingly purchase landfill gas, if that gas contains vinyl chloride in a concentration that exceeds the operative no significant risk level set forth in Article 7 (commencing with Section 12701) of Chapter 3 of Division 2 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
(b) On or before January 1, 1990, the Public Utilities Commission shall, by rule or order, specify the maximum amount of vinyl chloride that may be found in landfill gas pursuant to the requirements of subdivision (a).
(c) No gas corporation shall knowingly and intentionally expose any customer, employee, or other person to gas from a landfill if that gas contains any chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first giving clear and reasonable warning to that individual, except as provided by Section 25249.10.
(d) Every person who produces, sells, supplies, or releases landfill gas for sale offsite to a gas corporation shall, twice each month, sample and test the gas at the point of distribution for the presence of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity in accordance with the test guidelines prepared under Section 41805.5. The air pollution control district or air quality management district within which the landfill is situated shall review the testing procedures for compliance with the guidelines and require the correction of any deficiencies. The district shall require, among other things, that the gas be analyzed by a laboratory certified by the department and shall transmit the results of the analysis to the department for its determination of compliance or noncompliance with subdivisions (a) and (b). The department shall fix and impose upon the gas producer a fee to cover its costs under this subdivision. The results of each sample and test shall be reported promptly to the gas corporation to which the landfill gas is sold, and any person or public agency requesting a copy of the report.
(e) Nothing in this section prohibits the direct delivery of landfill gas for the generation of electricity, the production of steam, or other industrial application.
(f) The gas corporation shall obtain the results of the test conducted pursuant to subdivision (d) and shall purchase no gas which the test shows to contain vinyl chloride that exceeds the amount permitted in subdivision (a), or if the rule or order has been adopted, as specified in subdivision (b).
(g) This section applies only to landfill gas delivered to the pipeline of a gas corporation.
(a) On or before May 15, 2013, all of the following shall be completed:
(1) The office, in consultation with the board, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall compile a list of constituents of concern that could pose risks to human health and that are found in biogas at concentrations that significantly exceed the concentrations of those constituents in natural gas. The office, in consultation with the board, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall update this list at least every five years.
(2) The office shall determine health protective levels for the list of constituents of concern identified pursuant to paragraph (1). In determining those health protective levels, the office shall consider potential health impacts and risks, including, but not limited to, health impacts and risks to utility workers and gas end users. The office shall update these levels at least every five years.
(3) The board shall identify realistic exposure scenarios and, in consultation with the office, shall identify the health risks associated with the exposure scenarios for the constituents of concern identified by the office pursuant to paragraph (1). The board shall update the exposure scenarios, and, in consultation with the office, the health risks associated with the exposure scenarios, at least every five years.
(4) Upon completion of the responsibilities required pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (3), the board, in consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency shall determine the appropriate concentrations of constituents of concern. In determining those concentrations, the board shall use the health protective levels identified pursuant to paragraph (2) and the exposure scenarios identified pursuant to paragraph (3). The concentrations shall be updated at least every five years by the board in consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency.
(5) The board, in consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, shall identify reasonable and prudent monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements, separately for each source of biogas, that are sufficient to ensure compliance with the health protective standards adopted pursuant to subdivision (d). The board, in consultation with the office, the department, CalRecycle and the California Environmental Protection Agency shall update the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements at least every five years.
(b) Actions taken pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not constitute regulations and shall be exempt from the administrative regulations and rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(c) On or before December 31, 2013, for biomethane that is to be injected into a common carrier pipeline, the commission shall, by rule or order, adopt standards that specify, for constituents that may be found in that biomethane, concentrations that are reasonably necessary to ensure both of the following:
(1) The protection of human health. In making this specification, the commission shall give due deference to the determinations of the board pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a).
(2) Pipeline and pipeline facility integrity and safety.
(d) To ensure pipeline and pipeline facility integrity and safety, on or before December 31, 2013, the commission, giving due deference to the board’s determinations, shall, by rule or order, adopt the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements identified pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (a).
(e) Every five years, or earlier if new information becomes available, the commission shall review and update the standards for the protection of human health and pipeline integrity and safety adopted pursuant to subdivision (c), as well as the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements adopted pursuant to subdivision (d).
(f) (1) A person shall not inject biogas into a common carrier pipeline unless the biogas satisfies both the standards set by the commission pursuant to subdivision (c), as well as the monitoring, testing, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements of subdivision (d).
(2) The commission shall require gas corporation tariffs to condition access to common carrier pipelines on the applicable customer meeting the standards and requirements adopted by the commission pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d).
(g) (1) A person shall not knowingly sell, supply, or transport, or knowingly cause to be sold, supplied, or transported, biogas collected from a hazardous waste landfill to a gas corporation through a common carrier pipeline.
(2) A gas corporation shall not knowingly purchase gas collected from a hazardous waste landfill through a common carrier pipeline.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.