(a) (1) Each certified unified program agency shall institute a single fee system, which shall replace the fees levied pursuant to Sections 25201.14 and 25205.14, except for transportable treatment units permitted under Section 25200.2, and which shall also replace any fees levied by a local agency pursuant to Sections 25143.10, 25287, 25513, and 25535.5, or any other fee levied by a local agency specifically to fund the implementation of the provisions specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404. The single fee system shall additionally include the fee established pursuant to Section 25270.6. Notwithstanding Sections 25143.10, 25201.14, 25287, 25513, and 25535.5, a person who complies with the certified unified program agency’s “single fee system” fee shall not be required to pay any fee levied pursuant to those sections, except for transportable treatment units permitted under Section 25200.2.

(2) (A) The governing body of the local certified unified program agency shall establish the amount to be paid by each person regulated by the unified program under the single fee system at a level sufficient to pay the necessary and reasonable costs incurred by the certified unified program agency and by any participating agency pursuant to the requirements of subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 25404.3.

(B) The secretary shall establish the amount to be paid when the unified program agency is a state agency.

(3) The fee system may also be designed to recover the necessary and reasonable costs incurred by the certified unified program agency, or a participating agency pursuant to the requirements of subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 25404.3, in administering provisions other than those specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404, if the implementation and enforcement of those provisions has been incorporated as part of the unified program by the certified unified program agency pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 25404.2, and if the single fee system replaces any fees levied as of January 1, 1994, to fund the implementation of those additional provisions.

(4) The amount to be paid by a person regulated by the unified program may be adjusted to account for the differing costs of administering the unified program with respect to that person’s regulated activities.

(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d), the single fee system instituted by each certified unified program agency shall include an assessment on each person regulated by the unified program of a surcharge, the amount of which shall be determined by the secretary annually, to cover the necessary and reasonable costs of the state agencies in carrying out their responsibilities under this chapter. The secretary may adjust the amount of the surcharge to be collected by different certified unified program agencies to reflect the different costs incurred by the state agencies in supervising the implementation of the unified program in different jurisdictions, and in supervising the implementation of the unified program in those jurisdictions for which the secretary has waived the assessment of the surcharge pursuant to subdivision (d). The certified unified program agency may itemize the amount of the surcharge on any bill, invoice, or return that the agency sends to a person regulated by the unified program. Each certified unified program agency shall transmit all surcharge revenues collected to the secretary on a quarterly basis. The surcharge shall be deposited in the Unified Program Account, which is hereby created in the General Fund and which may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by state agencies for the purposes of implementing this chapter.

(2) On or before January 10, 2001, the secretary shall report to the Legislature on whether the number of persons subject to regulation by the unified program in any county is insufficient to support the reasonable and necessary cost of operating the unified program using only the revenues from the fee. The secretary’s report shall consider whether the surcharge required by subdivision (a) should include an assessment to be used to supplement the funding of unified program agencies that have a limited number of entities regulated under the unified program.

(c) Each certified unified program agency and the secretary shall, before the institution of the single fee system and the assessment of the surcharge, implement a fee accountability program designed to encourage more efficient and cost-effective operation of the program for which the single fee and surcharge are assessed. The fee accountability programs shall include those elements of the requirements of the plan adopted pursuant to former Section 25206, as it read on January 1, 1995, that the secretary determines are appropriate.

(d) The secretary may waive the requirement for a county to assess a surcharge pursuant to subdivision (b), if both of the following conditions apply:

(1) The county meets all of the following conditions:

(A) The county submits an application to the secretary for certification on or before January 1, 1996, that incorporates all of the requirements of this chapter, and includes the county’s request for a waiver of the surcharge, and contains documentation that demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the secretary, both of the following:

(i) That the assessment of the surcharge will impose a significant economic burden on most businesses within the county.

(ii) That the combined dollar amount of the surcharge and the single fee system to be assessed by the county pursuant to subdivision (a) exceeds the combined dollar amount of all existing fees that are replaced by the single fee system for most businesses within the county.

(B) The application for certification, including the information required by subparagraph (A), is determined by the secretary to be complete, on or before April 30, 1996. The secretary, for good cause, may grant an extension of that deadline of up to 90 days.

(C) The county is certified by the secretary on or before December 31, 1996.

(D) On or before January 1, 1994, the county completed the consolidation of the administration of the hazardous waste generator program, the hazardous materials release response plans and inventories program, and the underground storage tank program, referenced in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 25404, into a single program within the county’s jurisdiction.

(E) The county demonstrates that it will consolidate the administration of all programs specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404, and that it will also consolidate the administration of at least one additional program that regulates hazardous waste, hazardous substances, or hazardous materials, as specified in subdivision (d) of Section 25404.2, other than the programs specified in subdivision (c) of Section 25404, into a single program to be administered by a single agency in the county’s jurisdiction at the time that the county’s certification by the secretary becomes effective.

(2) The secretary makes all of the following findings:

(A) The county meets all of the criteria specified in paragraph (1).

(B) The assessment of the surcharge would impose a significant economic burden on most businesses within the county.

(C) The combined dollar amount of the surcharge and the single fee system to be assessed by the county pursuant to subdivision (a) would exceed the combined dollar amount of all existing fees that are replaced by the single fee system for most businesses within the county.

(D) The waiver of the surcharge for those counties applying for and qualifying for a waiver, and the resulting increase in the surcharge for other counties, would not, when considered cumulatively, impose a significant economic burden on businesses in any other county that does not apply for, or does not meet the criteria for, a waiver of the surcharge.

(e) The secretary shall review all of the requests for a waiver of the surcharge made pursuant to subdivision (d) simultaneously, so as to adequately assess the cumulative impact of granting the requested waivers on businesses in those counties that have not applied, or do not qualify, for a waiver, and shall grant or deny all requests for a waiver of the surcharge within 30 days from the date that the secretary certifies all counties applying, and qualifying, for a waiver. If the secretary finds that the grant of a waiver of the surcharge for all counties applying and qualifying for the waiver will impose a significant economic burden on businesses in one or more other counties, the secretary shall take either of the following actions:

(1) Deny all of the applications for a waiver of the surcharge.

(2) Approve only a portion of the waiver requests for counties meeting the criteria set forth in subdivision (d), to the extent that the approved waivers, when taken as a whole, meet the condition specified in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (d). In determining which of the counties’ waiver requests to grant, the secretary shall consider all of the following factors:

(A) The relative degree to which the assessment of the surcharge will impose a significant economic burden on most businesses within each county applying and qualifying for a waiver.

(B) The relative degree to which the combined dollar amount of the surcharge and the single fee system to be assessed, pursuant to subdivision (a), by each county applying and qualifying for a waiver exceeds the combined dollar amount of all existing fees that are replaced by the single fee system for most businesses within the county.

(C) The relative extent to which each county applying and qualifying for a waiver has incorporated, or will incorporate, upon certification, additional programs pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 25404.2, into the unified program within the county’s jurisdiction.

(f) The secretary may, at any time, terminate a county’s waiver of the surcharge granted pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e) if the secretary determines that the criteria specified in subdivision (d) for the grant of a waiver are no longer met.

(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 626, Sec. 23. Effective January 1, 2008.)