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.

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.

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:

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.

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

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.

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