Assembly Bill 993 (Hadwick), co-sponsored by RCRC and the California Association of Environmental Health Administrators, has passed the Legislature and awaits consideration by Governor Newsom.
AB 993 expands eligibility for CalEPA’s Rural Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) Reimbursement program. Under that program, small counties with a population under 150,000 residents whose CUPAs were established after January 1, 2000, are eligible for state reimbursement of up to 75% of program implementation costs, up to $60,000, annually. Thirteen counties are currently eligible for the Rural CUPA Reimbursement Program. Twelve additional counties meet the population threshold, but had CUPAs certified before January 1, 2000, and so are ineligible for reimbursement.
AB 993 expands program eligibility to the remaining twelve rural counties, which include Alpine, Amador, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Mono, Napa, Nevada, San Benito, Siskiyou, and Tuolumne Counties. These changes strengthen the ability of all rural counties with populations of 150,000 residents or less to prevent and respond to local hazardous waste and materials emergencies.
AB 993 will increase local capacity to respond to wildfires and other hazardous material emergencies, ensure first responders are aware of the dangerous chemicals and substances stored in the buildings throughout the communities they protect, and help prevent underground and aboveground storage tank leaks that may contaminate land and drinking water supplies.
RCRC’s letter requesting Governor Newsom’s signature on AB 993 can be found here.
For more information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate, John Kennedy.