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AB-1333 Grease waste haulers.(2005-2006)



Current Version: 08/28/06 - Chaptered

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AB1333:v87#DOCUMENT

Assembly Bill No. 1333
CHAPTER 186

An act to add Section 374.5 to the Penal Code, and to add Division 12.4 (commencing with Section 16050) to the Public Resources Code, relating to grease waste haulers.

[ Approved by Governor  August 28, 2006. Filed with Secretary of State  August 28, 2006. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1333, Frommer. Grease waste haulers.
(1) Existing law generally regulates haulers of grease. Under existing law, the funds in the Environmental Enforcement and Training Account may be expended annually by the California Environmental Protection Agency, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide for statewide education and training programs in the enforcement of environmental laws and establish enhanced local environmental enforcement efforts.
This bill would prohibit a grease waste hauler from removing grease from a grease trap or grease interceptor unless the hauler removes all grease, greasy liquid, water, and solids from the grease trap or grease interceptor each time of removal, except as specified. The bill would subject a grease waste hauler to a civil penalty for a violation of these provisions and would allow for the enforcement of these provisions only against the grease waste hauling company.
The bill would require the civil penalties collected to be apportioned in a specified manner, of which 50% would be deposited in the Environmental Enforcement and Training Account and 50% to the local health officer or other local public officer or agency that investigated the matter that lead to bringing the action.
The bill would make it an offense for a grease waste hauler to reinsert, except as specified, or otherwise improperly deposit grease materials into a grease trap, manhole, or sewer appurtenance, discharge it in or on any waters of the state, or to transport grease removed from a grease trap or grease interceptor in the same vehicle used for transporting other waste. The bill would make the offenses punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 6 months, and a fine of $10,000 for a first offense, or one year imprisonment and a fine of $25,000 for a 2nd or subsequent offense. A court would be authorized to bar the defendant from engaging in grease hauling for up to 5 years, and could order, as a condition of probation, that the defendant remove or pay the cost of removing grease dumped in violation of these provisions, as specified.
By creating new offenses, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 374.5 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

374.5.
 (a) It is unlawful for any grease waste hauler to do either of the following:
(1) Reinsert, deposit, dump, place, release, or discharge into a grease trap, grease interceptor, manhole, cleanout, or other sanitary sewer appurtenance any materials that the hauler has removed from the grease trap or grease interceptor, or to cause those materials to be so handled.
(2) Cause or permit to be discharged in or on any waters of the state, or discharged in or deposited where it is, or probably will be, discharged in or on any waters of the state, any materials that the hauler has removed from the grease trap or grease interceptor, or to cause those materials to be so handled.
(b) The prohibition in subdivision (a), as it pertains to reinsertion of material removed from a grease trap or grease interceptor, shall not apply to a grease waste hauler if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The local sewer authority having jurisdiction over the pumping and disposal of the material specifically allows a registered grease waste hauler to obtain written approval for the reinsertion of decanted liquid.
(2) The local sewer authority has determined that, if reinsertion is allowed, it is feasible to enforce local discharge limits for fats, oil, and grease, if any, and other local requirements for best management or operating practices, if any.
(3) The grease waste hauler is registered pursuant to Section 19310 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
(4) The registered grease waste hauler demonstrates to the satisfaction of the local sewer authority all of the following:
(A) It will use equipment that will adequately separate the water from the grease waste and solids in the material so as to comply with applicable regulations.
(B) Its employees are adequately trained in the use of that equipment.
(5) The registered grease waste hauler demonstrates both of the following:
(A) It has informed the managerial personnel of the owner or operator of the grease trap or interceptor, in writing, that the grease waste hauler may reinsert the decanted materials, unless the owner or operator objects to the reinsertion.
(B) The owner or operator has not objected to the reinsertion of the decanted materials. If the owner or operator of the grease trap or interceptor objects to the reinsertion, no decanted material may be inserted in that grease trap or interceptor.
(c) A grease waste hauler shall not transport grease removed from a grease trap or grease interceptor in the same vehicle used for transporting other waste, including, but not limited to, yellow grease, cooking grease, recyclable cooking oil, septic waste, or fluids collected at car washes.
(d) For purposes of this section, a “grease waste hauler” is a transporter of inedible kitchen grease subject to registration requirements pursuant to Section 19310 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
(e) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than six months or a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both a fine and imprisonment.
A second and subsequent conviction, shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or a fine of not more than twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000), or both a fine and imprisonment.
(f) Notwithstanding Section 1463, the fines paid pursuant to this section shall be apportioned as follows:
(1) Fifty percent shall be deposited in the Environmental Enforcement and Training Account established pursuant to Section 14303, and used for purposes of Title 13 (commencing with Section 14300) of Part 4.
(2) Twenty-five percent shall be distributed pursuant to Section 1463.001.
(3) Twenty-five percent to the local health officer or other local public officer or agency that investigated the matter which lead to bringing the action.
(g) If the court finds that the violator has engaged in a practice or pattern of violation, consisting of two or more convictions, the court may bar the violating individual or business from engaging in the business of grease waste hauling for a period not to exceed five years.
(h) The court may require, in addition to any fine imposed upon conviction, that as a condition of probation and in addition to any other punishment or condition of probation, that a person convicted under this section remove, or pay the cost of removing, to the extent they are able, any materials which the convicted person dumped or caused to be dumped in violation of this section.
(i) This section does not prohibit the direct receipt of trucked grease by a publicly owned treatment works.

SEC. 2.

 Division 12.4 (commencing with Section 16050) is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

DIVISION 12.4. GREASE TRAP AND GREASE INTERCEPTOR WASTE

16050.
 For purposes of this division, “grease waste hauler” means a transporter of inedible kitchen grease subject to the registration requirements in Section 19310 of the Food and Agricultural Code.

16051.
 (a) A grease waste hauler shall not remove grease from a grease trap or grease interceptor unless the hauler removes all grease, greasy liquid, water, and solids from the grease trap or grease interceptor each time of removal.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not require a grease interceptor or grease trap to be cleaned of de minimus residue that cannot be removed by normal procedures, including, but not limited to, pumping or other cleaning, or residue resulting from systems that have continuous flow.

16052.
 A violation of this division may only be enforced against a grease waste hauling company and shall not be enforced against an employee of the grease waste hauler.

16053.
 (a) A grease waste hauler who violates this division shall be subject to a civil penalty, for the first violation, in an amount that does not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(b) A grease waste hauler who violates this division, for a second or subsequent violation, shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount that does not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
(c) A grease waste hauler who violates this division may also be subject to any further equitable remedy, as determined by the court.
(d) The civil penalties collected pursuant to this division shall be apportioned as follows:
(1) Fifty percent shall be deposited in the Environmental Enforcement and Training Account established pursuant to Section 14303 of the Penal Code, and used for purposes of Title 13 (commencing with Section 14300) of Part 4 of the Penal Code.
(2) Fifty percent to the local health officer or other local public officer or agency that investigated the matter that lead to bringing the action.

SEC. 3.

 Nothing in this act shall prevent punishment instead under any other criminal law. The imposition of a criminal fine, incarceration, or a civil penalty under this act may be in addition to any civil penalty imposed under any other law.

SEC. 4.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.