(a)  Except as provided in subdivision (c), the department or the regional board shall require any responsible party who is required to comply with operation and maintenance requirements as part of a response action, to demonstrate and to maintain financial assurance in accordance with this section. The responsible party shall demonstrate financial assurance prior to the time that operation and maintenance activities are initiated and shall maintain it throughout the period of time necessary to complete all required operation and maintenance activities.

(b)  (1)  For purposes of subdivision (a), the responsible party shall demonstrate and maintain one or more of the financial assurance mechanisms set forth in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(2)  As an alternative to the requirement of paragraph (1), a responsible party may demonstrate and maintain financial assurance by means of a financial assurance mechanism other than those listed in paragraph (1), if the alternative financial assurance mechanism has been submitted to, and approved by, the department or the regional board as being at least equivalent to the financial assurance mechanisms specified in paragraph (1). The department or the regional board shall evaluate the equivalency of the proposed alternative financial assurance mechanism principally in terms of the certainty of the availability of funds for required operation and maintenance activities and the amount of funds that will be made available. The department or the regional board shall require the responsible party to submit any information necessary to make a determination as to the equivalency of the proposed alternative financial assurance mechanism.

(c)  The department or the regional board shall waive the financial assurance required by subdivision (a) if the department or the regional board makes one of the following determinations:

(1)  The responsible party is a small business and has demonstrated all of the following:

(A)  The responsible party cannot qualify for any of the financial assurance mechanisms set forth in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(B)  The responsible party financially cannot meet the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(C)  The responsible party is not capable of meeting the eligibility requirements set forth in subdivision (e) of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(2)  The responsible party is a small business and has demonstrated that the responsible party financially is not capable of establishing one of the financial assurance mechanisms set forth in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 66265.143 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations while at the same time financing the operation and maintenance requirements applicable to the site.

(3)  The responsible party is not separately required to demonstrate and maintain a financial assurance mechanism for operation and maintenance activities at a site because of all of the following conditions:

(A)  The site is a multiple responsible party site.

(B)  Financial assurance that operation and maintenance activities at the site will be carried out is demonstrated and maintained by a financial assurance mechanism established jointly by all, or some, of the responsible parties.

(C)  The financial assurance mechanism specified in subparagraph (B) meets the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b).

(4)  The responsible party is a federal, state, or local government entity.

(d)  The department or the regional board shall withdraw a waiver granted pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (c) if the department or the regional board determines that the responsible party that obtained the waiver no longer meets the eligibility requirements for the waiver.

(e)  Notwithstanding Section 7550.5 of the Government Code, on or before January 15, 2001, the department shall report to the Legislature all of the following:

(1)  The number of requests the department and the regional boards have received for waivers from the financial assurance requirements of this section during the period between May 26, 1999, and January 1, 2001.

(2)  The disposition of the requests that were received and the reasons for granting the waivers that were allowed and rejecting the waivers that were disallowed.

(3)  The total number of businesses or other entities that were required by this section to demonstrate and maintain financial assurance, the number of businesses or other entities that were able to comply with the requirement, the number that were unable to comply and the reasons why they could not or did not comply, and the history of compliance with this chapter and Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) by responsible parties that requested waivers.

(4)  Financial assurance mechanisms other than the financial assurance mechanisms referenced in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) that may be available to responsible parties.

(f)  For purposes of this section, “small business” is a business that meets the requirements set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 14837 of the Government Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 912, Sec. 14. Effective September 29, 2000.)