(a) The department shall adopt, and revise when appropriate, standards and regulations which shall do both of the following:
(1) Specify the financial assurances to be provided by the owner or operator of a hazardous waste facility that are necessary to respond adequately to damage claims arising out of the operation of that type of facility and to provide for the cost of closure and subsequent maintenance of the facility, including, but not limited to, the monitoring of groundwater and other aspects of the environment after closure. If the facility is required to obtain a permit under the federal act, the financial assurance shall be a trust fund, surety bond, letter of credit, insurance, or any other mechanism authorized under the federal act and the regulations adopted pursuant to the federal act. If the facility is not required to obtain a permit under the federal act, the financial assurance may include any other equivalent financial arrangement acceptable to the department.
(2) Provide that every hazardous waste facility can be closed and maintained for at least 30 years subsequent to its closure in a manner that protects human health and the environment and minimizes or eliminates the escape of hazardous waste constituents, leachate, contaminated rainfall, and waste decomposition products to ground and surface waters and to the atmosphere.
(b) In adopting regulations pursuant to subdivision (a), to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the department may specify policy or other contractual terms, conditions, or defenses which are necessary or are unacceptable in establishing evidence of financial responsibility.
(1) If an owner or operator is in bankruptcy pursuant to Title 11 of the United States Code, or where, with reasonable diligence, jurisdiction in any state or federal court cannot be obtained over an owner or operator likely to be solvent at the time of judgment, any claim arising from conduct for which this section requires evidence of financial responsibility may be asserted directly against the guarantor who provided the evidence of financial responsibility.
(2) The total liability of any guarantor is limited to the aggregate amount which the guarantor has provided as evidence of financial responsibility to the owner or operator under this chapter.
(3) This subdivision does not limit any other state or federal statutory, contractual, or common law liability of a guarantor to the owner or operator, including, but not limited to, the liability of the guarantor for bad faith in either negotiating or in failing to negotiate the settlement of any claim.
(4) This subdivision does not diminish the liability of any person under Section 107 or 111 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. Secs. 9607 and 9611).
(5) For purposes of this subdivision, “guarantor” means any person, other than the owner or operator, who provides evidence of financial responsibility for an owner or operator under this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 500, Sec. 52. (AB 1059) Effective January 1, 2010.)