1. (a) At sites where investigations made pursuant to section 2671 indicate the presence of free product, a responsible party must comply with the requirements of this section. A responsible party must remove free product to the maximum extent practicable, as determined by the Cleanup Oversight Agency.
2. (b) Free product must be removed in a manner that minimizes the spread of contamination into previously uncontaminated areas by using recovery and disposal techniques appropriate to the hydrogeologic conditions at the site. The free product removal process must result in proper treatment, discharge, or disposal of recovery byproducts in compliance with applicable local, state, and federal regulations.
3. (c) At a minimum, the objective of the free product removal system must be abatement of free product migration.
4. (d) Flammable products must be handled in a safe manner consistent with state and local requirements.

5. (e) A responsible party must submit to the Cleanup Oversight Agency a free product removal report within 45 days of release confirmation, including at a minimum:

   1. (1) The name of the person(s) responsible for implementing the free product removal measures;
   2. (2) The estimated quantity, type, and thickness of free product observed or measured in wells, boreholes, and excavations;
   3. (3) The type of free product recovery system used;
   4. (4) Whether any discharge will take place on site or off site during the recovery operation and, if so, where this discharge will be located;
   5. (5) The type of treatment applied to, and the effluent quality expected in, any discharge;
   6. (6) The steps that have been or are being taken to obtain necessary permits for the discharge; and
   7. (7) The means of disposal or proposed disposition of the recovered free product.

Note: Authority cited: Sections 25299.3 and 25299.7, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 25296.10, 25296.15 and 25296.35, Health and Safety Code; and 40 CFR Section 280.64.

History

1. Amendment filed 8-9-91 as an emergency; operative 8-9-91. Text remains in effect uninterrupted pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 25299.7 (Register 92, No. 14).

2. Editorial correction of printing errors in History 1 (Register 92, No. 43).

3. Amendment of section and Note filed 4-5-94; operative 5-5-94 (Register 94, No. 14).

4. Amendment of subsection (c) and Note filed 10-27-98 as an emergency; operative 10-27-98 (Register 98, No. 44). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 2-24-99 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.

5. Editorial correction of History 4 (Register 2000, No. 24).

6. Reinstatement of section as it existed prior to 10-27-98 emergency amendment by operation of Government Code section 11346.1(f) (Register 2000, No. 24).

7. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (e) filed 4-3-2002 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2002, No. 14).

8. Amendment of subsections (e) and (f) filed 4-8-2004; operative 5-8-2004 (Register 2004, No. 15).

9. Amendment of subsections (c), (d) and (i) and amendment of Note filed 10-13-2016; operative 1-1-2017 (Register 2016, No. 42).

10. Amendment of section and Note filed 8-27-2018; operative 10-1-2018 (Register 2018, No. 35).

11. Repealer and new section heading and section filed 10-28-2025; operative 1-1-2026 (Register 2025, No. 44).