Submission of Laboratory Analystical Data for UST Reports

Existing law requires that reports be submitted in order to comply with certain regulations, directives or orders issued by the SWRCB, a RWRCB, or a local agency under programs administered by the SWRCB. Assembly Bill 2886 (enacted as Chapter 727, Statutes of 2000 on September 27, 2000) calls for the SWRCB to adopt emergency regulations concerning electronic submission of reports. Specifically, these emergency regulations will require the electronic submission of laboratory data containing soil or water analysis generated for reports required under the UST program. The electronic submission will be in addition to the normal hard copy reports currently required. The format specified in the law and chosen for these regulations is the Electronic Deliverable Format (EDF) developed for the Army Corps of Engineers.

The destination of the electronic reporting will be the SWRCB GeoTracker database. GeoTracker was set up in response to 1997 laws to better identify and manage the threat to groundwater caused by MTBE releases to the environment. The intent of these regulations is to bring accurate and timely data about MTBE into GeoTracker, so that regulators can prioritize and manage threats to drinking water supplies more effectively and efficiently.

The proposed emergency regulations are the beginning of a three-step process: 1) emergency EDF regulations for UST reports, 2) final EDF regulations for UST reports and 3) SWRCB report to the governor and legislature and potential regulations for other SWRCB programs.

1) The emergency regulations are on the UST program webpage located at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/ust/index.html . These proposed emergency regulations will be discussed at the SWRCB Workshop at 9:00 AM, January 31, 2001 at the old Bonderson Building meeting room, 901 P Street Sacramento: web page http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/board_info/agendas/2001/february/0131wrk.htm . These regulations are scheduled for adoption at the Board meeting at the same location on February 15^th, 2001. After adoption, the regulations will be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for a 10-day review (the first five days will allow a short period for more public comment). Once OAL approves the regulations, they will become effective on July 1, 2001. However, after acceptance and filing with the Secretary of State (done by OAL after the 10-day review process) the formal regulation process will begin.

2) Following the approval of the emergency regulations, AB 2886 allows the SWRCB up to a year to issue final regulations for EDF electronic reporting of UST reports. This second step will include the full suite of regulatory documentation and roundtable meetings, as well as public meetings. A workgroup of interested parties will be established and consulted before the initial draft of the formal regulations will be completed. There will be at least one 45-day public comment period and response to comments before SWRCB submits the final draft of the regulations to OAL. This process will allow greater participation by regulators, affected businesses, and consultants in crafting the final regulations.

3) For the last step of the process, SWRCB will report to the governor and legislature on the feasibility and appropriateness of extending electronic report submission project to all state board programs. This evaluation report is due January 1, 2003. Depending on the SWRCB’s experience with the UST electronic reporting regulations, regulations requiring electronic submission for other SWRCB programs will be proposed.