Hazardous waste: generator fees.

Existing law requires a generator of hazardous waste to pay the State Board of Equalization a generator fee for each generator site for each calendar year, unless the generator has paid a facility fee or received a specified credit for each specific site for that calendar year. The generator fee is determined pursuant to a base fee rate multiplied in a specified manner determined by the amount of waste generated during the prior calendar year. Existing law sets the base fee rate at $2,748 for the 1997 calendar year and requires the board to adjust the base fee rate annually to reflect changes in the cost of living. The generator fee is required to be deposited in the Hazardous Waste Control Account. A violation of hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill instead would specify that the base fee rate is $3,949 for the 2010 calendar year. The bill would authorize the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adjust the base fee rate annually to reflect increases or decreases in the cost of implementing programs supported by the account, rather than require the board to adjust the base fee rate to reflect changes in the cost of living. The bill would prohibit an increase from exceeding more than 5% from one calendar year to another and would prohibit an increase in any calendar year in which there is an account reserve balance greater than 13 of the annual revenue generated by the generator fee or in which there is an outstanding loan from the account to the General Fund.