(a) The state board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control shall concurrently establish policies and procedures consistent with this division that the state board’s representatives and the representatives of regional boards shall follow in overseeing and supervising the activities of persons who are carrying out the investigation of, and cleaning up or abating the effects of, a discharge of a hazardous substance which creates, or threatens to create, a condition of contamination, pollution, or nuisance. The policies and procedures shall be consistent with the policies and procedures established pursuant to Section 79000 of the Health and Safety Code and shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The procedures the state board and the regional boards will follow in making decisions as to when a person may be required to undertake an investigation to determine if an unauthorized hazardous substance discharge has occurred.
(2) Policies for carrying out a phased, step-by-step investigation to determine the nature and extent of possible soil and groundwater contamination or pollution at a site.
(3) Procedures for identifying and utilizing the most cost-effective methods for detecting contamination or pollution and cleaning up or abating the effects of contamination or pollution.
(4) Policies for determining reasonable schedules for investigation and cleanup, abatement, or other remedial action at a site. The policies shall recognize the dangers to public health and the waters of the state posed by an unauthorized discharge and the need to mitigate those dangers while at the same time taking into account, to the extent possible, the resources, both financial and technical, available to the person responsible for the discharge.
(b) The state board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control shall jointly review the policies and procedures that were established pursuant to this section and Section 79000 of the Health and Safety Code prior to the enactment of this subdivision and shall concurrently revise those policies and procedures as necessary to make them as consistent as possible. Where they cannot be made consistent because of the differing requirements of this chapter and Part 2 (commencing with Section 78000) of Division 45 of the Health and Safety Code, the state board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control shall, by July 1, 1994, jointly develop, and send to the Legislature, recommendations for revising this chapter and Part 2 (commencing with Section 78000) of Division 45 of the Health and Safety Code in order to make consistent the hazardous substance release cleanup policies and procedures followed by the state board, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the regional boards.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 258, Sec. 126. (AB 2327) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 130 of Stats. 2022, Ch. 258.)