SB404 - Hazardous materials: metal shredding facilities.

Enrolled September 17, 2025 Passed IN Senate September 13, 2025 Passed IN Assembly September 12, 2025 Amended IN Assembly September 04, 2025 Amended IN Assembly September 03, 2025 Amended IN Assembly July 17, 2025 Amended IN Assembly July 07, 2025 Amended IN Senate May 23, 2025 Amended IN Senate April 21, 2025 Amended IN Senate March 24, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Senate Bill No. 404 Introduced by Senator Caballero (Coauthors: Senators Arreguín, Grayson, and Pérez) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alvarez, Gipson, and Mark González) February 14, 2025 An act to amend Sections 25117, 25150.87, and 41514.6 of, to add Chapter 6.4 (commencing with Section 25095) to Division 20 of, and to repeal Sections 25150.82, 25150.84, and 25150.86 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 404, Caballero. Hazardous materials: metal shredding facilities. Existing law authorizes the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), in consultation with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the State Water Resources Control Board, and affected local air quality management districts, to adopt regulations to establish management standards for metal shredding facilities for hazardous waste management activities within the DTSC’s jurisdiction, as provided. Existing law provides that treated metal shredder waste that is managed in accordance with those regulations is deemed to be solid waste, and not hazardous waste, as provided. This bill would repeal those provisions. The bill would establish a comprehensive scheme for the regulation of metal shredding facilities that would be administered by the DTSC pursuant to authority separate from laws governing the control of hazardous waste. The bill would prohibit an owner or operator from operating a metal shredding facility, as defined, in the state unless they have a permit from the DTSC or are deemed to have a permit. The bill would prescribe the requirements for obtaining a permit, for being deemed to have a permit, for operating a metal shredding facility, and for transporting certain materials related to metal shredding, as specified. The bill would require, before a decision is made to approve or deny the application, the DTSC to hold a public meeting, as provided. The bill would require the department to take final action on a permit application by an existing facility within 3 years, as provided. The bill would require the department to post on its internet website general information about each metal shredding facility that has applied for or obtained a permit, and to conduct at least one site visit to the applicant’s facility after receipt of the permit application. The bill would provide that certain materials related to metal shredding are not hazardous waste if they meet specified requirements. The bill would require any report required to be submitted by a metal shredding facility pursuant to a permit issued to be signed by the owner or operator and certified under penalty of law, including criminal penalties, as specified. The bill would require the DTSC to have primary responsibility for enforcing these provisions, would require the DTSC to conduct an annual compliance evaluation inspection of each metal shredding facility, and would authorize the DTSC to refer violations to a district attorney or the Attorney General for prosecution. The bill would also require the DTSC to inform the local health officer and the director of environmental health of a county, city, or district within 15 days after the DTSC becomes aware of any unlawful disposal of materials, as provided, and of any enforcement action against a metal shredding facility as a result of that unlawful disposal. Because the bill would expand the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require an owner or operator of a metal shredding facility to report to the DTSC certain emergency situations, as specified. The bill would require an owner or operator of a metal shredding facility to submit to the DTSC a closure plan and a cost estimate for closing the metal shredding facility, as specified. The bill would also require the owner or operator of a metal shredding facility to provide written notice to the department at least 60 days before transferring ownership or operation of the facility. The bill would authorize the DTSC to enforce these provisions by revoking permits and by other specified means. The bill would authorize the DTSC to adopt regulations for the operation of metal shredding facilities as necessary to implement the requirements of the bill. The bill would require the DTSC to post information provided by owners and operators regarding a metal shredding facility on the department’s internet website in a manner that is readily accessible to the public, except as otherwise required pursuant to existing law. Existing law authorizes the DTSC to collect an annual fee from all metal shredding facilities subject to the requirements of hazardous waste control laws or the DTSC’s management standards for metal shredding facilities, as provided. Existing law requires the DTSC to adopt regulations necessary to administer the fee and authorizes the DTSC to adopt those regulations using emergency procedures, as provided. Existing law requires the Controller to establish a separate subaccount in the Hazardous Waste Control Account and for all fees collected to be placed into that subaccount, to be available for expenditure by the DTSC upon appropriation by the Legislature. This bill would instead require the DTSC to impose an annual fee on all metal shredding facilities subject to the provisions of this bill, as specified. The bill would require, beginning in the 2026–27 fiscal year, the rates established by the DTSC to be reviewed and increased or decreased annually, as provided. The bill would require the DTSC to adopt regulations necessary to administer the fee and would authorize the DTSC to adopt the regulations using emergency procedures, as specified. The bill would require a person who applies for a metal shredding facility permit to enter into a written agreement with the department pursuant to which that person would be required to reimburse the department for the direct costs reasonably incurred by the department in processing the application, as provided. The bill would require the Controller to establish a new and separate Metal Shredding Facility subaccount to be administered by the Director of Toxic Substances Control and would require all fees collected to be placed into that subaccount and made available for expenditure by the DTSC solely for the purpose of implementation and administration of these provisions, upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires the DTSC to require metal shredding facilities to monitor hazardous waste constituents requested by the DTSC and to report the results of that monitoring to the DTSC. Existing law also requires the DTSC to collect and analyze light fibrous material at the fence lines to determine the potential for release of hazardous waste. Existing law requires, on or before July 1, 2027, the DTSC to develop a procedure for community notification of the public for the area in which the metal shredding facility is located if that monitoring indicates any release of light fibrous material. In addition, existing law requires, on or before January 1, 2027, an air pollution control district or an air quality management district the jurisdiction of which includes metal shredding facilities, in consultation with the DTSC and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), to develop requirements for facilitywide fence-line air quality monitoring at metal shredding facilities. Existing law authorizes any reasonable regulatory costs incurred by the DTSC in implementing, and requires that the OEHHA’s costs to implement, the above-described duties be reimbursed from a subaccount established in the Hazardous Waste Control Account for the deposit of fees from metal shredding facilities. This bill would limit the scope of those provisions to metal shredding facilities that are subject to the other provisions of the bill and would provide for the reimbursement of those costs from the Metal Shredding Facility Subaccount. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Chapter 6.4 (commencing with Section 25095) is added to Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, to read: CHAPTER 6.4. Metal Shredding Facilities Article 1. Findings and Declarations 25095. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) Metal shredding facilities are essential to a thriving circular economy in the State of California because they provide an efficient, reliable, and effective means of recycling the millions of tons of recyclable metal, including end-of-life vehicles and household appliances, that are generated annually in the state. (2) Metal shredding facilities enable the recycling of end-of-life metal products and other metal-containing materials by reducing them in size and facilitating the recovery of ferrous and nonferrous metals and other recyclable commodities. These activities conserve energy and natural resources and support the state’s goal of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases and combating climate change. (3) Metal shredding facilities differ in important respects from waste management facilities. For this reason, regulation and oversight of metal shredding facilities are most appropriately addressed through requirements that are specific to the metal shredding industry, and to individual facilities based on their size and nature of operations, while fully protecting human health and the environment. It is the intent of the Legislature that metal shredding facilities be regulated pursuant to this chapter and not Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100). (4) The purpose of this chapter is to establish operating standards and other requirements applicable to metal shredding facilities and to resolve ongoing legal disputes over the regulatory status of metal shredding facilities that operate in the state. The department, the metal shredding industry, and neighboring communities would all benefit from clear, enforceable requirements to govern oversight of metal shredding facilities and their operations and to proactively protect public health and the environment. (5) Metal shredding operations have the potential to release hazardous materials and impact neighboring communities and the environment if the materials are not properly managed. (6) This chapter does not alter or override the authority of any other federal, state, or local agency with jurisdiction to regulate the activities of a metal shredding facility in accordance with any other applicable law. (7) This chapter does not impair the rights of any person under any state or federal law. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that this chapter be implemented in a manner that achieves all of the following: (1) Promotes the economic viability of all metal shredding facilities, regardless of size, so as to ensure the continued capacity of the state to manage the large volume of scrap metal that is produced in California every year. (2) Protects public health and the environment and all communities, including those that have been designated as disadvantaged or vulnerable pursuant to state law. (3) Does not cause disproportionate and potentially discriminatory impacts on local communities, consistent with Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352) and Section 11135 of the Government Code. Article 2. Definitions and General Provisions 25095.1. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) “Chemically treated metal shredder residue” or “CTMSR” means the waste generated from the processing of shredded metallic materials, which may include, but is not limited to, end-of-life vehicles, appliances, and other metal-containing items, by a metal shredding facility where recoverable ferrous or nonferrous metals have been removed and the remaining metal shredder residue has been treated by a waste stabilization process, as described in this chapter. (b) “Corrective action” means all actions necessary to mitigate any public health or environmental threat resulting from a release into the environment of hazardous substances from an operating or closed metal shredding facility and to restore the environmental conditions as necessary to protect human health and the environment. (c) “Department” means the Department of Toxic Substances Control. (d) “Effective date” means the date that this chapter becomes operative. (e) “Existing metal shredding facility” means a metal shredding facility that is conducting metal shredding and metal processing operations as of the date that the act adding this chapter is signed into law by the Governor. (f) “Feeder yard” means a metal recycling facility that collects, sorts, or processes scrap metal, through means other than the use of a hammer mill, from which scrap metal is sold to customers or transferred to a metal shredding facility for further processing and recycling. (g) “Feedstock” means material received by a metal shredding facility before shredding and processing, including, but not limited to, end-of-life vehicles, household appliances, or other forms of light gauge metal suitable for processing in a metal shredder. “Feedstock” is often referred to as light iron or tin. (h) “Light fibrous material” means a fibrous mixture of nonmetallic materials, including, but not limited to, synthetic fabric and carpet fibers, and entrained metallic particles, often representing the lightest fraction of metal shredder aggregate produced from the shredding of end-of-life vehicles and other metallic items, that is susceptible to dispersal into the environment. (i) “Metal processing operations” means the stockpiling and handling of metal shredder aggregate, the operations undertaken to separate, sort, and remove ferrous or nonferrous scrap metal from metal shredder aggregate, and the treatment and storage of metal shredder residue. “Metal processing operations” does not include shredding, crushing, baling, shearing, cutting, or other metal recycling operations unrelated to the handl [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]