The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Hazardous waste discharged into land treatment units may migrate beyond the treatment zone of the land treatment unit and thereby threaten the public health and the environment and pose a serious threat to the quality of the waters of this state.
(b) With the exception of land treatment units, all major forms of land disposal units are required by law to be equipped with liner and leachate collection and removal systems to ensure sufficient protection of the public health and safety and the environment and to protect the quality of the waters of this state. It is in the public interest to extend these requirements to include land treatment units.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a uniform and workable procedure for implementing requirements for liner and leachate collection and removal systems in all existing land treatment units, and replacements and lateral expansions of existing and new land treatment units, and to ensure that the vadose zone and groundwater beneath all land treatment units is adequately monitored to detect the presence of any contamination. Land treatment units in operation in this state must be made safe, or closed if necessary, to protect public health and safety and the environment, including the waters of the state.
(Added by Stats. 1987, Ch. 1374, Sec. 1.)