ARTICLE 16. Illegal Drug Lab Cleanup [79350. - 79385.]

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC 16.

in effect

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 79350. Section 79350.

(a) The department may expend funds appropriated from the Illegal Drug Lab Cleanup Account created pursuant to Section 78370 to pay the costs of removal actions required by this article. (b) The department may enter into oral contracts, not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in obligation, when, in the judgment of the department, immediate corrective action to a hazardous substance subject to this article is necessary to remedy or prevent an emergency.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 79355. Section 79355.

A state or local law enforcement officer or investigator or other law enforcement agency employee who, in the course of an official investigation or enforcement action regarding the manufacture of an illegal controlled substance, comes in contact with, or is aware of, the presence of a substance that the person suspects is a hazardous substance at a site where an illegal controlled substance is or was manufactured, shall notify the department for the purpose of taking removal action, as necessary, to prevent, minimize, or mitigate damage that might otherwise result from the release or threatened release of the hazardous substance, except for samples required under Section 11479.5 to be kept for evidentiary purposes.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 79360. Section 79360.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon receipt of a notification pursuant to Section 79355, the department shall take removal action, as necessary, with respect to a hazardous substance that is an illegal controlled substance, a precursor of a controlled substance, a material intended to be used in the unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, and a container for the material, a waste material from the unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, or any other item contaminated with a hazardous substance used or intended to be used in the manufacture of a controlled substance.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 79365. Section 79365.

The department shall, as soon as the information is available, report the location of a removal action that will be carried out pursuant to Section 79360, and the time that the removal action will be carried out, to the local environmental health officer within whose jurisdiction the removal action will take place, if the local environmental officer does both of the following: (a) Requests, in writing, that the department report this information to the local environmental health officer. (b) Provides the department with a single 24-hour telephone number to which the information can be reported.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 79370. Section 79370.

(a) For purposes of Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 25100) of Division 20, Chapter 6.9.1 (commencing with Section 25400.10) of Division 20, or this part, a person who is found to have operated a site for the purpose of manufacturing an illegal controlled substance or a precursor of an illegal controlled substance is the generator of a hazardous substance at, or released from, the site that is subject to removal action pursuant to this article. (b) During the removal action, for purposes of complying with the manifest requirements in Section 25160, the department, the county health department, the local environmental health officer, or their designee may sign the hazardous waste manifest as the generator of the hazardous waste. In carrying out that action, the department, the county health department, the local environmental health officer, or their designee shall be considered to have acted in furtherance of their statutory responsibilities to protect the public health and safety and the environment from the release, or threatened release, of hazardous substances, and the department, the county health department, the local environmental health officer, or their designee is not a responsible party for the release, or threatened release, of the hazardous substances. (c) The officer, investigator, or agency employee specified in Section 79355 is not a responsible party for the release, or threatened release, of hazardous substances at, or released from, the site.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 79375. Section 79375.

The department may adopt regulations to implement this article in consultation with appropriate law enforcement and local environmental agencies.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 79380. Section 79380.

(a) The department shall develop sampling and analytical methods for the collection of methamphetamine residue. (b) The department shall, to the extent funding is available, develop health-based target remediation standards for iodine, methyl iodide, and phosphine. (c) To the extent that funding is available, the department, using guidance developed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, may develop additional health-based target remediation standards for additional precursors and byproducts of methamphetamine. (d) The department shall adopt investigation and cleanup procedures for use in the remediation of sites contaminated by the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine. The procedures shall ensure that contamination by the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine can be remediated to meet the standards adopted pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c), to protect the health and safety of all future occupants of the site. (e) The department shall implement this section in accordance with Section 79375.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 79385. Section 79385.

The responsibilities assigned to the department by this article apply only to the extent that sufficient funding is made available for that purpose.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026