As a condition of receiving state funds pursuant to Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 17070.10), all of the following apply:

(a) If a preliminary endangerment assessment prepared pursuant to Section 17213.1 discloses the presence of a hazardous materials release, or threatened release, or the presence of naturally occurring hazardous materials, at a proposed schoolsite at concentrations that could pose a significant risk to children or adults, and the school district owns the proposed schoolsite, the school district shall enter into an agreement with the Department of Toxic Substances Control to oversee response action at the site and shall take response action pursuant to the requirements of the state act as may be required by the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district need not take action in response to a release of hazardous material to groundwater underlying the schoolsite if the release occurred at a site other than the schoolsite and if the following conditions apply:

(1) The school district did not cause or contribute to the release of a hazardous material to the groundwater.

(2) Upon the request of the Department of Toxic Substances Control or its authorized representative the school district provides the Department of Toxic Substances Control or its authorized representative with access to the schoolsite.

(3) The school district does not interfere with the response action activities.

(c) If at anytime during the response action the school district determines that there has been a significant increase in the estimated cost of the response action, the school district shall notify the State Department of Education.

(d) A school district that is required by the Department of Toxic Substances Control to take response action at a proposed schoolsite is subject to both of the following prohibitions:

(1) The school district may not begin construction of a school building until the Department of Toxic Substances Control determines all of the following:

(A) That the construction will not interfere with the response action.

(B) That site conditions will not pose a significant threat to the health and safety of workers involved in the construction of the school building.

(C) That the nature and extent of any release or threatened release of hazardous materials or the presence of any naturally occurring hazardous materials have been fully characterized.

(2) The school district may not occupy a school building following construction until it obtains from the Department of Toxic Substances Control a certification that all response actions, except for operation and maintenance activities, necessary to ensure that hazardous materials at the schoolsite no longer pose a significant risk to children and adults at the schoolsite have been completed and that the response action standards and objectives established in the final removal action work plan or remedial action plan have been met and are being maintained. After a school building is constructed and occupied, a school district may continue with ongoing operation and maintenance activities if the Department of Toxic Substances Control certifies before occupancy that neither site conditions nor the ongoing operation and maintenance activities pose a significant risk to children or adults at the schoolsite.

(e) If, at anytime during construction at a schoolsite, a previously unidentified release or threatened release of a hazardous material or the presence of a naturally occurring hazardous material is discovered, the school district shall cease all construction activities at the sites notify the Department of Toxic Substances Control, and take actions required by subdivision (a) that are necessary to address the release or threatened release or the presence of any naturally occurring hazardous materials. Construction may be resumed if the Department of Toxic Substances Control determines that the construction will not interfere with any response action necessary to address the hazardous material release or threatened release or the presence of a naturally occurring hazardous material, determines that the site conditions will not pose a significant threat to the health and safety of workers involved in the construction of the schoolsite, and certifies that the nature and extent of the release, threatened release, or presence of a naturally occurring hazardous material have been fully characterized.

(f) Construction may proceed at any portions of the site that the Department of Toxic Substances Control determines are not affected by the release or threatened release of hazardous materials, or presence of any naturally occurring hazardous materials, provided that all of the following apply:

(1) Those portions of the site have been fully characterized.

(2) The Department of Toxic Substances Control determines that the construction will not interfere with any response action necessary to address the release or threatened release of hazardous materials, or presence of any naturally occurring hazardous materials.

(3) The site conditions will not pose a significant threat to the health and safety of workers involved with construction.

(g) The Department of Toxic Substances Control shall notify the State Department of Education, the Division of the State Architect, and the Office of Public School Construction when the Department of Toxic Substances Control certifies that all necessary response actions have been completed at a schoolsite. The Department of Toxic Substances Control shall also notify the Division of the State Architect whenever a response action has an impact on the design of a school facility and shall specify the conditions that must be met in the design of the school facility in order to protect the integrity of the response action.

(h) The school district shall reimburse the Department of Toxic Substances Control for all response costs incurred by the department.

(i) The costs incurred by the school districts when complying with this section are allowable costs for purposes of an applicant under Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 17070.10) of Part 10 and may be reimbursed in accordance with Section 17072.13.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 443, Sec. 5. Effective September 14, 2000.)