DTSC will hold a public hearing on the proposed regulations at 10:00 a.m. on November 4, 2002 in the Central Valley Auditorium, 2 nd Floor, 1001 “I ” Street, Sacramento, California, at which time any person may present statements or arguments orally or in writing, relevant to this proposal. Please submit written comments to the contact person listed at the end of this notice. Written comments on the rulemaking submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on November 4, 2002 will be considered. Representatives of DTSC will preside at the hearing. Persons who wish to speak are requested to register before the hearing. Pre-hearing registration will be conducted at the location of the hearing from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Registered persons will be heard in the order of their registration. Any other person wishing to speak at the hearing will be afforded an opportunity after the registered persons have been heard. AUTHORITY AND REFERENCE These regulations are being proposed under the following authorities: Health and Safety Code section 58012. This section provides DTSC with the authority to adopt and enforce rules and regulations needed for the execution of its duties. The energy challenge facing California is real. Every Californian needs to take immediate action to reduce energy consumption. For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energy costs, see our Web-site at www.dtsc.ca.gov

Edwin F. Lowry

Gray Davis

Winston H. Hickox

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Department of Toxic Substances Control 
 
 
Edwin F. Lowry, Director 
1001 “I” Street, 25
th Floor 
 P.O. Box 806  
Sacramento, California 95812-0806 
Winston H. Hickox 
Agency Secretary 
California Environmental    
Protection Agency 
Gray Davis 
Governor 
The energy challenge facing California is real.  Every Californian needs to take immediate action to reduce energy consumption.   
For a list of simple ways you can reduce demand and cut your energy costs, see our Web-site at www.dtsc.ca.gov. 
 
  Printed on Recycled Paper 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 TITLE 22 
 
45-DAY PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT PERIOD 
 
Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Schools)   
 
Department Reference Number:  R-02-01 
 
 
 
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) 
proposes to add sections 69100 through 69107, including chapter 51.5, to division 4.5 
of title 22, California Code of Regulations.   
 
PUBLIC HEARING AND WRITTEN COMMENT PERIOD 
 
DTSC will hold a public hearing on the proposed regulations at 10:00 a.m. on  
November 4, 2002 in the Central Valley Auditorium, 2
nd Floor, 1001 “I” Street, 
Sacramento, California, at which time any person may present statements or arguments 
orally or in writing, relevant to this proposal.  Please submit written comments to the 
contact person listed at the end of this notice.  Written comments on the rulemaking 
submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on November 4, 2002 will be considered. 
 
Representatives of DTSC will preside at the hearing.  Persons who wish to speak are 
requested to register before the hearing.  Pre-hearing registration will be conducted at 
the location of the hearing from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.  Registered persons will be  
heard in the order of their registration.  Any other person wishing to speak at the hearing 
will be afforded an opportunity after the registered persons have been heard. 
 
AUTHORITY AND REFERENCE 
 
These regulations are being proposed under the following authorities:  
 
Health and Safety Code section 58012.  This section provides DTSC with the authority 
to adopt and enforce rules and regulations needed for the execution of its duties. 
 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Schools) 
Department Reference Number: R-02-01 
Page 2 
 
 
 
Education Code section 17210, subdivision (g).  This section authorizes DTSC to adopt 
final regulations that establish guidelines for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments 
for proposed school sites. 
 
These regulations implement, interpret, or make specific the following: 
 
Education Code section 17210, subdivision (g).  This section specifies the requirements 
for conducting a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in the absence of DTSC 
regulations and authorizes DTSC to adopt final regulations that establish different 
guidelines for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments for proposed school sites. 
Education Code section 17213.1.  This section specifies the role of DTSC in the Phase I 
environmental assessment process for proposed school sites. 
 
INFORMATIVE DIGEST/POLICY STATEMENT OVERVIEW 
 
The proposed regulations will benefit all school districts conducting environmental 
assessments.  However, there are at least 11 school districts (45 school sites) that were  
awaiting the implementation of the emergency regulations (effective September 3, 
2002) in order to expedite the completion of environmental assessments.  Lead 
assessments of these properties must be completed prior to school construction.  Under 
Department of General Services’ State Allocation Board regulations, once school 
districts obtain funding, they have only eighteen months to begin school facility 
construction, or they risk losing these funds.  These regulations will allow these school 
districts to submit a Phase I Addendum to DTSC for review, and proceed quickly with 
school construction if DTSC approves the Phase I Addendum.  Use of the Phase I 
Addendum, would reduce their environmental review process time by at least 30 days 
and possibly by as much as six months.  Without the emergency regulations, school 
districts under current law would need to prepare and submit a more extensive 
Preliminary Endangerment Assessment to DTSC, and go through a mandatory 30-day 
public review period.  DTSC’s evaluation of the Phase I Addendum under the 
emergency regulations will enable the school districts to move quickly into additional 
sampling and cleanup if it is needed, and/or to proceed with school construction, and 
will help them to avert the potential loss of substantial state funding.  Finalization of the 
emergency regulations is necessary to ensure the ongoing benefits of the Phase I 
process. 
 
Immediate regulatory change in the environmental assessment process for school sites 
is also necessary to preserve the general welfare of our State, by promoting the 
construction of new or expanding schools, and to address severe over-crowding school 
facilities.  These procedural changes will expedite document preparation and review 
timeframes, saving public resources and minimizing the cost and burden on school 
districts.  In addition, these regulations will facilitate and clarify environmental Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Schools) 
Department Reference Number: R-02-01 
Page 3 
 
 
 
assessment statutory requirements in the Education Code.  The following is an 
overview of the environmental assessment review process:  
 
In order for a school district to receive state funds for acquisition or construction of 
schools, a school district must complete an environmental site assessment and, if 
necessary, select a response action that shall at a minimum be protective of children’s 
health, with an ample margin of safety. 
 
DTSC has developed a number of technical guidance documents to assist school 
districts, consultants, and the general public in understanding the environmental review 
process for proposed school sites.  However, there are no existing regulations 
establishing guidelines for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase Is) 
conducted at proposed school sites.  Since state funding for new schools requires 
completion of an environmental site assessment, several school districts and other 
stakeholders have been involved in reviewing the proposed regulations and are 
awaiting their implementation.  For example, the Los Angeles Unified School District 
and the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (a large statewide organization of about 
600 school districts) have expressed interest in the status of these emergency 
regulations. 
 
The existing statutory requirement is that a school district conducts a Phase I in 
accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.  If 
the Phase I indicates the presence of hazardous materials, the school district may 
conduct a Preliminary Endangerment Assessment (also called a Preliminary 
Environmental Assessment or PEA), which includes entering into an agreement with 
DTSC, sampling and analyzing potential contaminants, and meeting public participation 
requirements.  Completing a PEA is more time-consuming and costly than completing a 
Phase I.   
 
The existing requirement is that when DTSC determines that a Phase I indicates 
potential contamination of lead in soil from lead-based paint and for polychlorinated 
biphenyl (PCB) in soil from electrical transformers, the school district must conduct a 
PEA to determine the extent, if any, of lead or PCB contamination. These two 
contaminants commonly result from previously commercial or residential land uses at 
proposed school sites.  Old structures may contain lead-based paints.  Old electrical 
transformers may contain PCBs.  Both are likely to cause surface soil contamination 
with lead and/or PCBs.  The potential presence of these contaminants is often the only 
reason a PEA is required at many proposed school sites. 
 
Based upon past experience, numerous cases have shown that the PEA indicates 
levels of lead or PCBs that do not pose a health risk.  Nevertheless, because existing 
standards do not include a procedure for submitting lead and PCB samples and Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Schools) 
Department Reference Number: R-02-01 
Page 4 
 
 
 
analytical results during the Phase I, the school district has to go through the PEA 
process.   
 
The proposed regulations specify procedures for conducting a Phase I for proposed 
school sites and includes an Addendum for sampling and analysis for lead in soil from 
lead-based paint and for PCBs in soil from electrical transformers in the Phase I 
process.   
 
The proposed regulations enable school districts and their proponents to include the 
analytical results of sampling for lead in soil from lead-based paint and for PCBs in soil 
from electrical transformers in the Phase I.  If results of sampling for these two 
contaminants at a proposed school site indicate that these contaminants do not pose an 
excessive threat to human health or the environment under unrestricted land use, no 
further investigation of the site would be required by DTSC for those contaminants. 
Therefore, these guidelines will help expedite the environmental review process where 
appropriate, and allow focusing of resources where they are most needed. 
 
These regulations propose to incorporate by reference the following documents which, 
because of their length and complexity, would be impractical to duplicate in the 
regulatory text: 
 
(1) “American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard Practice for 
Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process,” 
ASTM Standard E-1527, adopted May 10, 2000; available from American Society for 
Testing and Materials, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, 
(610) 832-9585; website http://www.astm.org. 
 
(2) “Test Methods for Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,” EPA 
Publication SW-846 Third Edition, November 1986, as amended by Updates I (July, 
1992), II (September, 1994), IIA (August, 1993), IIB (January, 1995), III (December, 
1996), IIIA (April, 1998), IVA (January, 1998) and IVB (November, 2000); available from 
the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, 
Washington, DC 20402, (202) 512-1800;  
website http://www.epa.gov/SW-846/main.htm. 
 
(3) “USEPA Contract Laboratory Program National Functional Guidelines for 
Organic Data Review,” EPA 540/R-94/012; February 1994, available from National 
Technical Information Service (NTIS), United States Department of Commerce,  
5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161; (703) 487-4650;  
website http://www.epa.gov/region09/qa/supfundclp.html. 
 
(4) “USEPA Contract Laboratory Program National Functional Guidelines for 
Inorganic Data Review,” EPA 540/R-94/013; February 1994, available from  Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Schools) 
Department Reference Number: R-02-01 
Page 5 
 
 
 
National Technical Information Service (NTIS); United States Department of Commerce,  
5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161; (703) 487-4650;  
website http://www.epa.gov/region09/qa/supfundclp.html. 
 
 (5) “Guidance on Environmental Data Verification and Data Validation,” 
EPAQA/G-8; Peer Review Draft, June 2001, available from United States  
Environmental Protection Agency, Quality Staff (2811 R), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 
NW, Washington, DC 20460; (202) 564-6830;  
website http://www.epa.gov/Region10/offices/oea/epaqag8.pdf. 
 
CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) COMPLIANCE 
 
DTSC has found this rulemaking project to be exempt under CEQA.  A draft of the 
Notice of Exemption (NOE) is available for review with the rulemaking file and the NOE 
will be filed with the State Clearinghouse when the regulations are adopted. 
  
PEER REVIEW 
 
Peer review under the provisions of Health and Safety Code section 57004 is not 
required since the proposed regulations do not establish a regulatory level, standard or 
other requirement subject to scientific peer review. 
 
BUSINESS REPORT 
 
DTSC has determined that this rulemaking will not require businesses to write a new 
report, as defined by Government Code section 11346.3(c). 
 
FISCAL IMPACT ESTIMATES: 
 
Mandates on Local Agencies and School Districts:  DTSC has made a 
determination that adoption of these regulations will create no new local mandates.  
These regulations provide a voluntary option for school districts that choose to conduct 
a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment.  Any mandates that are imposed on school 
districts already exist in statute and these regulations impose no new mandates. 
 
Estimate of Potential Cost or Savings to Local Agencies Subject to 
Reimbursement:  DTSC has made a determination that adoption of these regulations 
will not impose a local mandate or result in costs subject to reimbursement pursuant to 
part 7 of division 4, commencing with section 17500, of the Government Code or other 
nondiscretionary costs or savings to local agencies. 
 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Schools) 
Department Reference Number: R-02-01 
Page 6 
 
 
 
Cost or Savings to Any State Agency:  The requirements for completion of a Phase I 
Assessment in the regulations would have no fiscal impact on DTSC because the 
regulations merely clarify Phase I activities required by current law.  The regulations  
could result in some additional costs for DTSC to review a Phase I Addendum.  
However, any costs for DTSC to review the Phase I Addendum would be reimbursed by 
the school district. 
 
Cost or Savings in Federal Funding to the State: DTSC has made a determination 
that the proposed regulations will have no impact on Federal revenue or costs. 
 
Effect on Housing Costs: DTSC has made a determination that there will be no impact 
on housing costs. 
 
Cost Impacts on Representative Private Persons or Businesses: These regulations 
do not impose any costs over what is already required by statute.  Specifically, any such 
costs would have been as a result of implementation of Senate Bill 162 (Stats. of 1999, 
ch. 1002) and Assembly Bill 387 (Stats. of 1999, ch. 992).  Together these bills 
establish the authority for these regulations by requiring school districts, as a condition 
of receiving state funds, to enter into an agreement with DTSC to oversee response 
actions in certain instances as well as establishing the parameters for school districts 
conducting Phase I assessments.  The statues also have provisions for reimbursing 
DTSC for oversight costs.   Costs for site cleanup will vary greatly from site to site.    
 
Significant Statewide Adverse Economic Impact on Businesses: DTSC has made 
a determination that the proposed regulations will not have a statewide adverse 
economic impact directly affecting businesses, including the ability to compete with 
businesses in other states. 
 
Assessment Statement:  
 
(A) Creation or elimination of jobs within California – DTSC has made a 
determination that no jobs will be created or eliminated in California as a result of 
the proposed regulations. 
 
(B) Creation of new businesses or the elimination of existing businesses 
within California – DTSC has made a determination that no businesses will be 
created or eliminated in California as a result of the proposed regulations. 
 
(C) Expansion of businesses currently doing business in California – DTSC has 
made a determination that it is not likely that businesses in California will be 
expanded as a result of the proposed regulations. 
 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Schools) 
Department Reference Number: R-02-01 
Page 7 
 
 
 
Effect on Small Businesses:  DTSC has determined that these regulations do not 
have an effect on small businesses because the regulations apply only to school 
districts seeking state funding for acquisition of property or construction projects.   
 
CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES 
 
DTSC must determine that no reasonable alternative it considered or that has otherwise 
been identified and brought to the attention of DTSC would be more effective in carrying 
out the purpose for which the action is proposed, or would be as effective and less 
burdensome to affected private persons than the proposed action.  DTSC invites 
interested persons to present arguments, with respect to the various options, at the 
scheduled hearing, or during the written comment period. 
 
AVAILABILITY OF TEXT OF REGULATIONS AND STATEMENT OF REASONS 
 
Copies of the Notice, Initial Statement of Reasons and the text of the proposed 
regulations are posted to DTSC’s Internet site at http://www.dtsc.ca.gov or may be 
obtained from Ms. Joan Ferber of DTSC’s Environmental Analysis and Regulations 
Section as specified below.  The information upon which DTSC relied is also available 
at the address listed below.   
 
 POST-HEARING CHANGES 
 
After the close of the comment period, DTSC may adopt the proposed regulations.  If 
substantial changes are made, the modified text will be made available for comment for 
at least 15 days prior to adoption.  Only persons who request the specific proposed 
regulations, attend the hearing, or provide written comments on these specific 
regulations will be sent a copy of the modified text, if substantive changes are made. 
 
Once regulations have been adopted, DTSC prepares a Final Statement of Reasons, 
which updates the Initial Statement of Reasons, summarizes how DTSC addressed 
comments and includes other materials, as required by Government Code section 
11346.9.  Copies of the Final Statement of Reasons may be obtained from Ms. Joan 
Ferber at the address listed below.  A copy of the Final Statement of Reasons will also 
be posted on DTSC’s Internet site at http://www.dtsc.ca.gov, along with the date the 
rulemaking is filed with the Secretary of State and the effective date of the regulations. 
 
CONTACT PERSONS 
 
Inquiries regarding technical aspects of the proposed regulations or CEQA documents 
may be directed to Laurie Grouard of DTSC at (916) 323-3394 or, if unavailable, 
Kathleen Hartshorne of DTSC at (916) 323-3395.  However, such oral inquiries are not 
part of the rulemaking record. Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Schools) 
Department Reference Number: R-02-01 
Page 8 
 
 
 
 
Statements, arguments or contentions regarding rulemaking and/or supporting 
documents must be submitted in writing or may be presented orally or in writing at the 
public hearing in order for them to be considered by DTSC before it adopts, amends or 
repeals these regulations.  To be included in this regulation package’s mailing list, and 
to receive updates of this rulemaking, please leave a message on the DTSC mailing list 
phone line at (916) 324-9933 or e-mail: regs@dtsc.ca.gov. 
 
Please direct all written comments, procedural inquiries and requests for documents by 
mail, e-mail or fax to: 
 
Ms. Joan Ferber, Regulations Coordinator 
Environmental Analysis and Regulations Section 
Department of Toxic Substances Control 
 
Mailing Address:  P.O. Box 806 
      Sacramento, CA  95812-0806 
 
E-mail Address:  regs@dtsc.ca.gov 
 
Fax Number:   (916) 323-3215 
 
Ms. Ferber’s phone number is (916) 322-6409.  If Ms. Ferber is unavailable, please call 
Ms. Nicole Sotak at (916) 327-4508 or Mr. James McRitchie at (916) 327-8642. 
 
 
 
Dated:__________________        __________________________ 
                James McRitchie, Chief 
                Office of Environmental Analysis, 
                  Regulations and Audits 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

45-DAY PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT PERIOD Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Schools)

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45-DAY PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT PERIOD Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Schools)

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