(1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that the hazardous waste control program shall be implemented to protect human health and the environment in a manner that:

(a) Maintains program authorization by the federal government;

(b) Promotes a community ethic to reduce or eliminate waste problems;

(c) Is credible and accountable to industry and the public;

(d) Is innovative and cost-effective; and

(e) Protects the environmental quality of life for impacted residents as required by other provisions of this part 3 and rules promulgated in connection therewith.

(2) The department shall develop, implement, and continuously improve policies and procedures for carrying out its statutory responsibilities at the lowest possible cost without jeopardizing the intent stated in subsection (1) of this section. At a minimum, these policies and procedures shall, to the extent practicable, include the following:

(a) Establish cost-effective level-of-effort guidelines for reviewing submittals including, but not limited to, permit applications and corrective action plans, to assure conformity with regulatory requirements, taking into consideration the degree of risk addressed and the complexity of the issues raised;

(b) Establishcost-effective level-of-effort guidelines for performing inspections that focus on major violations of regulatory requirements that pose an immediate and significant threat to human health and the environment;

(c) Streamline the corrective action process with features that include, without limitation, the following:

(I) Cost-effective level-of-effort guidelines for site investigations and remediation that focus on result-based outcomes and performance-based oversight by the department;

(II) Cost-effective level-of-effort guidelines for reviewing site investigation reports and corrective action plans;

(III) The use of enforceable institutional controls to avoid unnecessary cleanup costs; and

(IV) Realistic cleanup standards that address actual risk to human health and the environment on a site-specific basis and that take into account any applicable institutional controls.

(d) Establish cost-effective level-of-effort guidelines for enforcement activities;

(e) Establish schedules for timely completion of department activities including, but not limited to, submittal reviews, inspections and inspection reports, and corrective action activities;

(f) Establish a prioritization methodology for completing activities that focuses on actual risk to human health and the environment;

(g) Establish a preference for compliance assistance with at least ten percent of the annual budget amount being allocated to compliance assistance efforts;

(h) Establish a preference for alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to timely resolve disputed issues; and

(i) Establish a mechanism that continually values and provides incentives for further improvements in the policies and procedures of the department.

(3) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), the department is directed to submit a report to the general assembly on or before February 1, 2002, and annually on or before each February 1 thereafter that describes the status of the hazardous waste control program, the department's efforts to carry out its statutory responsibilities at the lowest possible cost without jeopardizing the intent stated in subsection (1) of this section, and the department's implementation of the authority to accept environmental covenants created pursuant to section 25-15-321.