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Recap of CA Cleanup Fund Task Force Meeting, 10-19-2009 Allan Patton told us today that he and the CUF Staff have heard us all “loud and clear” that they must mail out checks for Payments on Hold quickly and process existing RR’s faster. CUF issued a notice today (see below) that modifies the LOC Issuance process and the RR Form. Both of these changes were prompted to streamline their process directly due to result of input by the undergoing Audit and Task Force Members. Handouts from today’s Cleanup Fund Task Force Meeting (you may have already received some of these from either CIOMA or SWRCB): -> CIOMA Member Alert AB1188 – Passed the Senate on 10/15/09; moves to the Assembly floor for vote, possibly as early as today, 10/19/09. It is believed by Fund staff and majority of Task Force members that this bill will pass. The additional funds generated by this bill should take care of the existing backlog, however, it will take a year from Jan 2010 to generate enough fees to pay it off (so no real immediate relief for C claims, sorry). -> Status of Payments – As of 10/18/09 – no real change from last report. Additional $6M to be paid for Priority B Claims from July 2009 Revenues. Allan Patton stated today that 1st Quarter revenues always take longer to pay out than other quarters. -> Important Notice – Changes to Future Payment Review and Processing LOC Issuance – only one LOC will be issued per claim (unless claimant changes) and will not reflect any specific dollar amount, but state that the Fund will reimburse up to $1.5 M per occurrence (less deductible). You should receive a new LOC for all active claims that state this change as RR’s are processed. -> New Reimbursement Request Form – Biggest change to the form: Section for RR Contact Information, this section can be the Remediation Consultant or other Party. The Fund staff will contact this party first when requesting additional information/documentation for a RR. Phone and email address are included, so they will be making contact by these methods when they have questions. We asked the Fund if this section would also allow for the Payment Staff to send Payment Summaries, Hold Letters, etc. to the party indicated. Allan said that he will have to discuss that further with Staff. At a minimum, it means that the Fund staff would be able to release this information to the Consultant (if named by Claimant) if the Consultant called the Fund for a missing document. I’ve attached a Sample New RR Form. You will need to obtain a new RR Form Specific to your claim from the CUF Staff. They have asked that you send a request by email to USTCF_Payments@waterboards.ca.gov. Indicate in the subject line all of the claim numbers that you are requesting new forms. Attach a list if needed. Also state that you are requesting new RR forms. They would like you to start using the new forms as soon as possible, however they will continue to review claims on the old forms. -> Problem Areas for Reimbursement Requests (RR) – This was circulated by the Payments Section. We didn’t discuss it in any detail. Reading through it appears to be fairly self explanatory. Please read through the items that they deal with most frequently that delay review of RR’s. Update on Suspended Claims – no real news yet. It is anticipated that this will be addressed (at least in part) by Allan Patton at the Board meeting on November 17th. It is likely that some suspensions will be lifted as soon as they feel it is a responsible action (after substantial site closures are realized). They are talking about creating some type of “suspended Priority Class” of claim to promote submission of RR’s for costs incurred after the suspensions. But that doesn’t mean that these RR’s would be in line with the other claims to be paid with available revenues. They would not be paid until a time that their suspensions were lifted. This was brought up today by Allan Patton as an idea the CUF is discussing to address suspended sites. More to come on this topic… I suspect. We will be discussing in detail Fund processes/procedure improvements at our next meeting. Please let me know if you have any specific recommendations for the CUF, especially as it relates to: Claim/RR evaluation (technical); Cost Controls; Pre-Approval; Cost Guidelines; 5 Year Review. The next Task Force meeting is November 2nd in Sacramento. DFA is currently drafting a Resolution to present to the Board on November 17th to address our short term recommendations. A draft is expected to be available for Public comment no later than November 7th. It is highly recommended that you show up to be heard at this Board meeting. The following link provides additional information regarding the progress of the Cleanup Task Force including a list of all Task Force Members and meeting dates. http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/ustcf/taskforce.shtml If you are interested in receiving direct email updates after each Task Force Meeting, please submit name and email address to info@envirocap.com and include Task Force Updates in reference line.

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