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AB 972 (Calderon) became effective October 13, 2001. This bill changed the Preliminary Endangerment Assessment (PEA) public review and approval process. These changes are not yet reflected on this website. Please contact the SFPD representative assigned to your county, or the DTSC, for more information on the effects of AB 972. This website is being updated to reflect the changes made by AB 972 and AB 1367 (Wiggins). AB 1367 takes effect on January 1, 2002.
If you have questions about developing a response action (RA), or you need assistance completing any of these tasks, please contact the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).
- Obtain Contingent Site Approval
- Enter into Voluntary Cleanup Agreement
- Develop a Response Action
- Obtain Approval
- Perform Cleanup
- Obtain Site Certification
Neither the State nor most school districts want to see school districts spend a great deal of time and money cleaning up sites that ultimately will not be approved. Consequently, if your district is planning to apply for State funds, it must obtain Contingent Site Approval from the School Facilities Planning Division (SFPD) before implementing an RA.
Obtaining Contingent Site Approval requires your district to:
- Prepare a financial analysis that estimates the cost of the required RA.
- Assess the benefits that accrue from using the site as compared to alternative sites.
- Obtain the approval of the SFPD that the site meets site selection standards, along with an evaluation of the suitability of the site in light of recommended alternative locations.
As of January 1, 2000, the SFPD uses a contingent site approval letter to notify districts that sites meet selection standards (other than the DTSC approval and the completion of CEQA).
Once your district obtains SFPD Contingent Site Approval, it may, if necessary, acquire the site and then continue with the remaining RA tasks. Your district must notify the SFPD if there is a significant increase above the estimated cost of the RA.
Once it has obtained Contingent Site Approval from the SFPD, your district must enter into a Voluntary Cleanup Agreement with the DTSC before developing an RA.
Investigation and cleanup of suspected contamination requires your district to prepare one of the following:
- Removal Action Workplan (RAW)
For small and relatively non-complex clean-ups costing less than $1 million to implement, your district may prepare a draft RAW.
- Remedial Action Plan (RAP)
For cleanups costing $1 million or more to implement, the DTSC will require your school district to prepare a Remediation Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) leading to a draft of a more extensive RAP.
The DTSC will determine when it is appropriate to use a RAW or a RAP. Both procedures necessitate hiring a consultant, and require DTSC approval under a new agreement within the Voluntary Cleanup Program.
If the DTSC determines that an RA is required and that it will take 6 months or more to complete, your district may be eligible for environmental hardship assistance.
The RAW or RAP will identify cleanup options and goals for the site.
If the DTSC determines that your district must prepare a RAP, as part of the RI/FS leading to a draft of a more extensive RAP, your district must complete all of the following items:
- A complete study of the site to identify contaminants, levels of concentration, and the extent of contamination, including identification of contamination in all environmental media, including soil and ground water
- A human and ecological risk assessment to establish cleanup levels conforming to a residential standard
- A feasibility study to identify alternative means of mitigating the contamination so that the DTSC can select a method that will meet the cleanup objectives
Both RAWs and RAPs require districts to develop a public participation plan for the site.
In preparing the draft RA, your district should consult with the DTSC about complying with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), including requirements to analyze potential impacts of the RA and to obtain public review and input.
Your school district may fulfill CEQA requirements relative to its RA in any one of the following ways:
- Incorporate the draft RA into the project description as part of your district's Negative Declaration or Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which is then noticed, circulated, and adopted in accordance with the requirements of the Public Resource Code.
- If the Negative Declaration or EIR has been completed, your district may prepare, notice, circulate, and adopt a supplement or addendum to cover the RA pursuant to CEQA.
- Request that the DTSC act as lead agency and complete its own CEQA process on the RA.
- Obtain DTSC concurrence that the proposed RAW is categorically exempt under CEQA guidelines.
For more information, please contact the DTSC's Site Mitigation Program and Public Participation Branch.
The DTSC will approve the district's RA after it completes the CEQA process.
Cleanup of some sites, such as those with extensive groundwater contamination, may take years or even decades to achieve the goals specified in the RAP. In other cases, engineered systems (such as caps, conduits, berms, or barriers) may have to be put in place and maintained until they are no longer needed. The DTSC monitors these long-term operations and maintenance activities to ensure that the site is being properly maintained and that systems are working as designed.
Your school district will not be required to take action in response to a release of hazardous materials to groundwater underlying the school site, if the release occurred at a site other than the school site and if other specified conditions are met.
To protect the integrity of the RA, AB 2644 (Statutes of 2000) requires the DTSC to notify the Division of the State Architect (DSA) whenever an RA has an impact on the design of a school. For example, remediation may affect building construction if gas venting/extraction systems are required. The DSA will specify testing and inspection protocols for each school site.
Once a district completes the remedial action and demonstrates to the DTSC's satisfaction that all RA objectives have been met, the DTSC will certify the completion.
The DTSC notifies the SFPD, the DSA, and the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) when it certifies that all necessary RAs have been completed and the cleanup goals have been achieved at the site.
Because the CEQA review is completed as part of the Response Action process, your district may continue with the SFPD site approval process, task 6, Assemble Required Documents.
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