(a) No contractor may engage in a removal or remedial action, as defined in subdivision (d), unless the qualifier for the license has passed an approved hazardous substance certification examination.

(b) (1) The Contractors’ State License Board, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Department of Industrial Relations, and the Department of Toxic Substances Control shall jointly select an advisory committee, which shall be composed of two representatives of hazardous substance removal workers in California, two general engineering contractors in California, and two representatives of insurance companies in California who shall be selected by the Insurance Commissioner.

(2) The Contractors’ State License Board shall develop a written test for the certification of contractors engaged in hazardous substance removal or remedial action, in consultation with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the advisory committee.

(c) The Contractors’ State License Board may require additional updated approved hazardous substance certification examinations of licensees currently certified based on new public or occupational health and safety information. The Contractors’ State License Board, in consultation with the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the State Water Resources Control Board, shall approve other initial and updated hazardous substance certification examinations and determine whether to require an updated certification examination of all current certificate holders.

(d) For purposes of this section “removal or remedial action” has the same meaning as found in Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 25300) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code, if the action requires the contractor to dig into the surface of the earth and remove the dug material and the action is at a site listed pursuant to Section 25356 of the Health and Safety Code or any other site listed as a hazardous substance release site by the Department of Toxic Substances Control or a site listed on the National Priorities List compiled pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq.). “Removal or remedial action” does not include asbestos-related work, as defined in Section 6501.8 of the Labor Code, or work related to a hazardous substance spill on a highway.

(e) (1) A contractor may not install or remove an underground storage tank, unless the contractor has passed the hazardous substance certification examination developed pursuant to this section.

(2) A contractor who is not certified may bid on or contract for the installation or removal of an underground tank, if the work is performed by a contractor who is certified pursuant to this section.

(3) For purposes of this subdivision, “underground storage tank” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (y) of Section 25281 of the Health and Safety Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 999, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2003.)