(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a regional water board shall not issue a waste discharge permit for a new landfill, or a lateral expansion of an existing landfill, which is used for the disposal of nonhazardous solid waste if the land has been primarily used at any time for the mining or excavation of gravel or sand.

(b) A regional water board, in a public meeting, may grant a variance from subdivision (a) if the applicant demonstrates and the regional water quality control board determines that the discharges to a new facility or expansion of an existing facility during its operation and postclosure period will not pollute or threaten to pollute the waters of the state. In deciding whether to grant a variance, the regional water board shall consider, among other factors, site characteristics, including permeability and transmissivity of the underlying soils and depth to groundwater. For the purpose of this section, “groundwater” means the uppermost aquifer usable for beneficial purposes.

(c) Nothing in this section precludes any local jurisdiction from exercising any power which it has pursuant to any other provision of law.

(d) The following definitions govern the construction of this section:

(1) “Landfill used for the disposal of nonhazardous solid waste” means a disposal site regulated by a regional water board as a Class III landfill pursuant to Sections 2533 and 2541 of Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations.

(2) “Lateral expansion” means a new or expanded waste management unit which is not authorized on January 1, 1989, under existing waste discharge requirements issued pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code and an existing solid waste facility permit issued pursuant to this title. For purposes of subdivision (f), “lateral expansion” does not include a new or expanded waste management unit for which waste discharge requirements were issued by a regional water board before January 1, 1989, but were subject to review after that date pursuant to Section 13320 of the Water Code.

(e) The regional water board may hold a single hearing for purposes of granting a variance pursuant to subdivision (b) and establishing waste discharge requirements.

(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), a regional water board shall not grant a variance from subdivision (a) if the variance is for a new landfill, or a lateral expansion of an existing landfill, located within the boundaries of the Main San Gabriel Groundwater Basin. For purposes of this subdivision, the boundaries of the Main San Gabriel Groundwater Basin are the boundaries described in Exhibit A of the judgment in Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District v. City of Alhambra, et al., Case Number 924128 of the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles.

(Added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 35, Sec. 17. Effective March 30, 1990.)