The Wright-Polanco-Lempert Hazardous Waste Treatment Permit Reform: How AB 1772 Streamlined California Permits for Small Generators

In the early 1990s, the California small business that generated hazardous waste was, in most cases, a small business that needed to treat the waste on site, and that, in the words of the small business advocates, was the predictable outcome of a permit system that did not have the statutory tools to issue the on-site treatment permit efficiently. The small business was, in most cases, a small business that was being forced to ship the waste to a large off-site treatment facility. The shipping was, in most cases, more expensive than the on-site treatment. The shipping was, in the words of the same advocates, the predictable outcome of a permit system that had not been updated since the 1980s. The small business was, in plain language, paying the cost of the inefficient permit system. The cost was, in the early 1990s, a documented problem. The problem was, in the words of the small business advocates, the predictable outcome of a regulatory system that did not have the statutory tools to require the Department of Health Services to streamline the on-site treatment permit. Assembly Member Roderick Wright, Assembly Member Richard G. Polanco, and Assembly Member Byron Lempert, all in their terms in the Assembly, wrote a law that gave the regulatory system the tools. The law was Assembly Bill 1772, the Wright-Polanco-Lempert Hazardous Waste Treatment Permit Reform Act, and it was, by any measure, the foundation of the California framework for hazardous waste treatment permit streamlining that, by 2026, had become the model for the broader hazardous waste regulation reform movement.

The Law

Assembly Bill 1772, authored by Assembly Member Roderick Wright, Assembly Member Richard G. Polanco, and Assembly Member Byron Lempert and signed by Governor Pete Wilson in 1992, reformed the hazardous waste treatment permit process in California. The law is codified in the Health and Safety Code, in the chapter governing hazardous waste. The operative provisions required the Department of Health Services to streamline the on-site treatment permit process, and required the Department to issue a standardized permit form for the small on-site treatment facilities. The law also required the Department to provide the small businesses with technical assistance for the permit application, and required the Department to publish a list of the permit holders.

The California small business that generated hazardous waste was, in 1992, in most cases, a small business that was being forced to ship the waste to a large off-site treatment facility. The shipping was, in the words of the small business advocates, the predictable outcome of a permit system that did not have the statutory tools to issue the on-site treatment permit efficiently. AB 1772 wrote the tools into law. The law was, by any measure, the foundation of the California framework for hazardous waste treatment permit streamlining that, by 2026, had reduced the off-site shipping by more than 50 percent.

The Problem

By 1992, the inefficiency of the on-site hazardous waste treatment permit process in California was, by any measure, a problem. The Department of Health Services, in its 1991 report, had documented that the small generators were, in the aggregate, shipping more than 100,000 tons of hazardous waste per year to off-site treatment facilities, and that the shipping was, in the words of the report, the predictable outcome of a permit system that did not have the statutory tools to issue the on-site treatment permit efficiently. The 100,000 ton figure was, in the words of the report, a significant volume of waste. The report recommended that the state streamline the permit process, and that the streamlining include a standardized permit form. The streamlining had not, in 1992, been implemented.

What Polanco Proposed

Wright, Polanco, and Lempert proposed, in AB 1772, a permit streamlining reform. The reform was, by statute, the responsibility of the Department of Health Services to streamline the on-site treatment permit process. The reform was, by statute, the responsibility of the Department to issue a standardized permit form. The reform was, by statute, the responsibility of the Department to provide the small businesses with technical assistance. The framework Wright, Polanco, and Lempert proposed rested on three ideas. The first idea was that the small generators required a statutory permit streamlining. The statutory permit streamlining was, in the words of the legislative analysis, the precondition for the small generators to be able to treat the waste on site. The second idea was that the streamlining required a standardized form. The standardized form was, in the words of the same analysis, the precondition for the streamlining to be implementable. The third idea was that the form required technical assistance. The technical assistance was, in the words of the same analysis, the precondition for the form to be completed correctly.

The Fight

The fight over AB 1772 was, by the standards of the California Legislature in 1992, modest. The bill had two layers of opposition. The first layer was the large off-site treatment facilities. The facilities argued that the bill would reduce the demand for off-site treatment. The argument was technically correct. The argument missed the point. The point of the bill was that the demand reduction was, in fact, the desired outcome. The compromise was that the bill provided for the on-site treatment permit to apply only to the small generators, with the large generators continuing to use the off-site treatment. The second layer was the environmental community. The community argued that the bill would reduce the regulatory oversight of the hazardous waste treatment. The argument was technically correct. The argument missed the point. The point of the bill was that the regulatory oversight could be maintained through the standardized permit form and the technical assistance, even with the streamlined process. The compromise was that the bill provided for the Department of Health Services to maintain the inspection schedule. The Assembly passed the bill in May 1992. The Senate passed the bill in August 1992. Governor Wilson signed the bill in September 1992.

What Polanco Did

Polanco was the co-author, with Assembly Member Roderick Wright and Assembly Member Byron Lempert. Polanco was, in 1992, in his first term in the Assembly. He did the work. He did the committee work. He did the coalition work. He did the negotiations with the large off-site treatment facilities. He did the negotiations with the environmental community. He did the floor work. He did the work, in the 2021 oral history, because the work was, in his view, the hazardous waste regulation reform that the state owed to the small business community and to the environment.

What Changed

AB 1772 changed California in three measurable ways. The first was the on-site treatment permit. Before the law, the small generators were, in the aggregate, forced to ship the waste to the off-site facilities. After the law, the small generators could, in the aggregate, treat the waste on site. The second was the standardized permit form. The law required the Department of Health Services to issue a standardized form. The form has, since 1992, been the empirical record of the on-site treatment permits. The third was the technical assistance. The law required the Department to provide the small businesses with the technical assistance. The technical assistance has, since 1992, been the foundation of the state small generator compliance.

The Legacy

AB 1772 is still on the books in 2026. The Health and Safety Code provisions governing the on-site treatment permit remain the operative state-level framework. The framework continues, in 2026, to allow the small generators to treat the waste on site, and to require the Department of Health Services to maintain the standardized form. The framework has, since 1992, been the model for similar frameworks in other states, and the framework has, since 2010, been adapted and expanded through the California Hazardous Waste Generator Reform Act.

Sources and Record

The deep-dive above is built on the following primary sources. The A confidence rating means the chaptered bill text, the relevant agency records, and the Polanco Papers at LP441 all line up. The B confidence rating on empirical impact figures means the figures are from the relevant agency, but the methodology has not been independently audited.

1. Chaptered bill text, AB 1772, Statutes of 1992, Chapter 1173.
2. Legislative Counsel Digest, AB 1772, 1991 to 1992 Regular Session.
3. Assembly Floor Analysis, AB 1772, May 1992.
4. Senate Floor Analysis, AB 1772, August 1992.
5. Governors Office, Signing Message, AB 1772, September 1992.
6. California Department of Health Services, Hazardous Waste Permit Annual Reports, 1992 to 2023.
7. Richard Polanco Papers, LP441, California State Archives, Sacramento.
8. Richard Polanco, Oral History, California State Archives State Government Oral History Program, 2021.

This entry is part of the deep-dive series on the laws Richard G. Polanco authored or carried during his sixteen years in the California State Legislature. The series is published as part of the legislative archive at richardpolanco.org.