Per the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, page 5, Board staff's economic research indicated the initial cost to at least seven facilities potentially subject to the regulations within six months of the effective date would be $2,043. The CDC disagrees with this amount and questions the extent of the research. Numerous facility operators have indicated their costs have been or will be much higher.

One facility operator, in anticipation of implementation of the Proposed Regulations, began the process last year to acquire a new permit to operate in a higher tier as would be required by the Proposed Regulations. The operator has indicated his costs have exceeded $50,000 so far in consultant work to prepare the various studies and reports to satisfy the local planning department. Because of the wide-ranging requirements (and barriers) of jurisdictions throughout the state, it is unpredictable to what extent facilities must submit in order to acquire the necessary permits to comply with new "tier placement" as established by the Proposed Regulations.

The impacted facilities may require time extensions to comply with their local jurisdiction's conditions prior to issuance of permits due to the increasingly restrictive nature of acquiring the permits. If, under the Proposed Regulations, a facility must upgrade its permit, the facility may be in violation of the Proposed Regulations when implemented. These facilities could be required to cease all or part of their operations until the proper permits are obtained, thereby accumulating financial impacts over and above the costs of acquiring a new permit.

The CDC strongly recommends the Proposed Regulations include a Phase-In period of at least twelve (12) months from implementation of the Proposed Regulations to allow impacted facilities time to obtain the appropriate permits.

Section 17384, Approval of Alternatives, of the Proposed Regulations, provides flexibility for the Enforcement Agency (EA) to determine compliance in meeting the standard. The CDC strongly recommends this Section be amended to include "discretionary authority" of the EA to establish an extension of this Phase-In period conditioned upon the facility's ability to demonstrate good faith efforts to acquire the appropriate permit(s). The EA's are intimately familiar with the operators/facilities for which they perform regular inspections and can determine whether or not the operator's efforts adequately justify an extension.

Section 17383.4 sub (a) states, "CDI debris stored for more than 30 days that has not been processed or sorted for resale or reuse shall be deemed to have been disposed." Sub (b) applies the same condition to processed and sorted material stored for greater than one-year. Other Sections have similar language with different time periods related to when the materials will be deemed disposed. There has been confusion among facilities and jurisdictions on how this would be reported and how it might affect diversion ratings.

Board staff provided clarification that the intent is to provide authorization for the EA's to issue a Notice and Order for abatement. The CDC recommends that the Proposed Regulations be amended to reflect that clarification.