(a) For the purposes of this article, “solid waste landfill” means a disposal site that is required to maintain evidence of financial ability pursuant to Part 4 (commencing with Section 43600) of Chapter 2 of Part 4.
(b) The board may expend money in the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund to pay for corrective action and postclosure activities that have not been performed by the owner or operator of a solid waste landfill, upon a determination by the board that all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The solid waste landfill owner or operator has failed to comply with a final enforcement order issued by the enforcement agency, the regional water board, or the board.
(2) The financial assurance mechanisms are inadequate to pay for the required corrective action or postclosure maintenance activities or both that action and those activities.
(3) The solid waste landfill was operating pursuant to a valid solid waste facilities permit on or after January 1, 1988, when the state’s requirements for solid waste landfill financial assurances went into effect as a result of Assembly Bill 2448 of the 1987–88 Regular Session, and is required to have financial assurances pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 43600) of Chapter 2 of Part 4.
(4) The board has first used and exhausted all immediately available financial assurance mechanisms provided by the operator.
(5) The solid waste landfill owner and operator are otherwise unable or unwilling to pay, in a timely manner, for the required corrective action or postclosure maintenance activities or both that action and those activities.
(c) The board may adopt regulations, if necessary, setting forth additional criteria for making expenditures from the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 10295 of the Public Contract Code, a contract entered into by the board for the purposes of this article is not subject to approval by the Department of General Services.
(e) No liability or obligation is imposed on the state under this article, and the board shall not incur any obligation beyond the extent to which money is expended from the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund pursuant to this article.
(f) The board shall, to the maximum extent feasible, recover from the landfill owner or operator the amount of money expended from the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund, including a reasonable amount for any board contract administration costs and an amount equal to the interest that would have been earned on the expended funds. The board shall deposit all funds recovered pursuant to an action authorized by this section into the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund.
(g) The amount of any cost incurred by the board pursuant to this section is recoverable from the landfill owner or operator in a civil action brought by the Attorney General pursuant to Section 40432.
(h) The board may, consistent with Section 48023.5, impose a lien on the owner’s or operator’s assets or real property as an additional remedy to recover funds from the operator for expenditures from the State Solid Waste Postclosure and Corrective Action Trust Fund.
(Added by Stats. 2009, Ch. 318, Sec. 4. (AB 274) Effective January 1, 2010.)