The department shall take the following actions with regard to the department’s relationship with the parties who are performing the investigation and cleanup of the hazardous substance release site or taking a hazardous waste corrective action or response action:
(a) Adopt procedures to improve communication, facilitate the exchange of ideas, eliminate surprises, and allow better financial planning by the department and potentially responsible parties, including a meet and confer process which includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) An estimate of the cost of site remediation by the department for the next phase of the site remediation activity, including a list of estimated personnel labor rates.
(2) An estimate of the total hours that the department expects the department staff to incur in the next phase of the site mitigation process, to the extent that the department can project its time and costs in advance. That estimate shall include the projected hours of the project manager, and the costs of public participation, legal counsel, and technical consultations.
(3) A discussion of the schedule for the remediation action, including a thorough review of the services that the department expects to provide, deliverables, timeframes, expectations of both parties, a process for status reporting by both parties, systematic billing at least once every three months by the department, and an agreement on how the work plan will be modified, and how the costs will be estimated.
(b) Develop a concise statement of its cost recovery policies and billing procedures, including dispute resolution procedures and the availability of program guidance and policies, which shall be distributed to all potentially responsible parties before any site remediation commences, as part of the meet and confer process.
(c) Review all informal guidance documents for the cost recovery program, including fee bulletins, management memos, policies, and procedures, and review and update those documents, as appropriate.
(d) Establish a procedure, when there is a change of project manager for a remediation action, to provide for a detailed status briefing to identify the highlights of past work and identify the current areas of agreement and disagreement among the parties.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 576, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 1997.)
Copyright ©2024 LegalFix. All rights reserved. LegalFix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and does not provide legal advice, services, or representation. The information on this website is an overview of the legal plans you can purchase—or that may be provided by your employer as an employee benefit or by your credit union or other membership group as a membership benefit.
LegalFix provides its members with easy access to affordable legal services through a network of independent law firms. LegalFix, its corporate entity, and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors do not provide legal advice, services, or representation—directly or indirectly.
The articles and information on the site are not legal advice and should not be relied upon—they are for information purposes only. You should become a LegalFix member to get legal services from one of our network law firms.
You should not disclose confidential or potentially incriminating information to LegalFix—you should only communicate such information to your network law firm.
The benefits and legal services described in the LegalFix legal plans are not always available in all states or with all plans. See the legal plan Benefit Overview and the more comprehensive legal plan contract during checkout for coverage details in your state.
Use of this website, the purchase of legal plans, and access to the LegalFix networks of law firms are subject to the LegalFix Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.