Hazardous Materials Commission
Thursday, July 23, 2026 · 4:00 PM
Agenda (32 items)
- —Chair: Mark Hughes Vice Chair: Aaron Winer
- —Agenda Items: Items may be taken out of order based on the business of the day and preference of the Committee
- 1.Roll Call and Introductions
- 2.CONSIDER approval of the June 25, 2026 Hazardous Materials Commission meeting minutes.
- 3.Public comment on any item under the jurisdiction of the Committee and not on this agenda (speakers may be limited to two minutes).
- 4.RECEIVE a report from the Hazardous Materials Programs.
- 5.DISCUSS any updates to the priorities for 2026 and potential guest speakers.
- 6.DISCUSS the logistics of the public forum and the HMC’s readiness for the event and CONSIDER proceeding or postponing the event.
- 7.REVIEW the new organizational chart for the Hazardous Materials Programs and Contra Costa Fire Protection District post merge.
- 8.DISCUSS the USW Local 5 strike at Marathon and the regulatory authority of the Industrial Safety Ordinance.
- 9.DISCUSS the Triennial Review for years 2023, 2024, 2025 and CONSIDER designating this as a full commission, subcommittee, or ad hoc committee item.
- 10.DISCUSS any upcoming legislative issues of commission interest.
- 11.Announcements from commissioners on items of commission interest.
- 12.Plan next meeting agenda.
- —The next meeting is currently scheduled for August 27, 2026 at 4:00 PM.
- —Adjourn
- —The Committee will provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities planning to attend the Committee meetings. Contact the staff person listed below at least 72 hours before the meeting. Any disclosable public records related to an open session item on a regular meeting agenda and distributed by the County to a majority of members of the Committee less than 96 hours prior to that meeting are available for public inspection at 4005 Port Chicago Highway. Suite 120 Concord, CA 94520, during normal business hours. Staff reports related to items on the agenda are also accessible online at www.contracosta.ca.gov. If the Zoom connection malfunctions for any reason, the meeting may be paused while a fix is attempted. If the connection is not reestablished, the committee will continue the meeting in person without remote access. Public comment may be submitted via electronic mail on agenda items at least one full work day prior to the published meeting time.
- —For Additional Information Contact: Adam Springer at 925-655-3216
- —The meeting was called to order at 4:00 PM.
- —Commissioners Present: Drew Graham, Aaron Winer, Mark Hughes, Marielle Boortz, Ron Chinn, Maile Chinn, Eduardo Martinez, Lisa Martell, Soheila Bana, Jamin Pursell Commissioners Present Online: Madeline Kronenberg, Tim Bancroft, Maureen Brennan, Marisol Rubio Public Present: Cathy Ivers, Carl Smith, Jennifer Quallick, Cheryl Sudduth Staff Present: Adam Springer
- —The commissioners present voted to approve the June 25, 2026 Hazardous Materials Commission meeting minutes. Motion: Eduardo Martinez Second: Lisa Martell
- —There were not any comments made by members of the public.
- —There were not any major report items to share, any updates regarding the structure of the Hazardous Materials Programs will be shared under item number 7.
- —The commissioners present reviewed and discussed the priorities and shared some updates on guest speakers. Commissioner Martinez had attempted to schedule Raven to present at this meeting but they were not connected with staff so the presentation was not able to be agendized. The group discussed inviting Raven to speak at the public forum and considered scheduling them for next month's full commission meeting. Commissioner Maile Chinn had reached out to James Rector regarding the Montezuma Project and was informed that the project is on hold. Commissioner Flores spoke with a scientist from Lawrence Livermore Labs to present on the pro carbon capture perspective and will work to find a presenter for the con perspective.
- —The Operations Committee did not meet this month so they were unable to continue their planning for the public forum and requested this topic to be agendized so that the full commission could discuss their preparedness to proceed. The forum is scheduled for September 17th and the goal was to begin advertising two months in advance, but a flyer cannot yet be finalized until all guest speakers have been secured. The commissioners present reviewed the proposed topics and speakers for the forum: CCCFPD/CWS, carbon capture (pro: Lawrence Livermore Labs), hydrogen generation (Raven), PFAs, and the wastewater connection to hazardous materials (West County Waste Water). It was agreed that all guest speakers need to be confirmed by August 10th in order for the group to feel comfortable proceeding with the forum. Commissioner Flores expressed concerns regarding the readiness to move forward with this event and proposed creating a public forum planning ad hoc committee. The commissioners agreed with this proposal considering the Operations Committee will only meet two more times; Commissioners Flores, Brennan, and Pursell will make up the ad hoc committee. Cheryl Sudduth suggested reaching out to California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) and Bay Area Biosolids Coalition as they have experts who could provide a neutral perspective and a well rounded discussion on these topics of commission interest.
- —Staff reviewed the new organizational chart after the transfer of the Hazardous Materials Programs to Contra Costa County Fire Protection District effective July 1, 2026. The functional structure of the Hazardous Materials Programs has mostly remained the same, Adam Springer still oversees the same individuals: Mike Dossey (Supervising Accidental Release Prevention Engineer - CalARP and ISO) and the three hazardous materials captains which are over each of the CUPA programs (Above Ground Storage Tanks and Business Plan, Enforcement and Hazardous Waste, Underground Storage Tanks and Incident Response). These individuals oversee the engineers and inspectors under their respective CUPA programs.
- —Commissioner Flores posed questions regarding the regulation of facilities during strikes. Staff explained that Marathon Renewable Fuel Facility is not apart of the CalARP program, and therefore cannot be inspected due to a strike under the regulatory components of program 4. They are however subject to program 3 because they are under ISO regulation, 450-8.0161BF does require an organizational change or organizational change for temporary changes associated with strike preparations. The Hazardous Materials Programs has been out to the facility twice and as far as what they have seen, they are following all of the regulatory standards associated with the elements that the Hazardous Materials Programs can regulate at this moment. Carl Smith from USW Local 5 made a public comment and shared that they have been on strike for 89 days and are currently locked out. He relayed a report from a truck driver that occurred today: driver reported that he attempted to unload sulfuric acid and after waiting for over an hour and a half, a young operator he did not recognize appeared to unload and was assisted by a supervisor. He felt there was confusion and miscommunication and questioned whether the young operator was qualified and trained to do this. He also expressed concerns around fatigue management, noting that last year his guys were working between 700-1,000 hours of overtime while waiting for a new class to be hired. Cathy Ivers made a comment inquiring about the CWS dashboard and staff confirmed that the website is having issues with either the software or the API (application program interface) connection is down.
- —The commissioners present reviewed the Triennial Review document and discussed whether this should be assigned to a specific committee. It was decided that staff could handle filling out the majority of the document and would defer any additional questions to the Planning and Policy meeting at their August meeting. It is not due until December so staff can bring the completed document before the full commission before finalizing and submitting to the Clerk of the Board.
- —Commissioner Flores shared that SB 954 is being proposed and would restore vital safeguards for those who urgently depend on them. It is a bill that modifies CEQA by tightening and revising exemptions for advanced manufacturing facilities, day care centers, and family day care homes, adding new environmental and community-benefit requirements.
- —Commissioner Bana shared that a new food grade fire suppressant is being developed by a company called Citra Tech, she will meet with them and report back with more updates. Commissioner Winer shared a follow up about the February radiation incident at WCW, he was able to connect with Trisha Johnson and obtain the balance of information for them to finish their SOPs.
- —The meeting was adjourned at 5:32 PM.
- —Full meeting recording can be found here: https://contra-costa.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx