BILL NUMBER: SB 263 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 10, 2011
An act to amend Section 13752 of the Water Code, relating to
water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 263, as amended, Pavley. Wells: reports: public availability.
Existing
(1) Existing law requires a
person who digs, bores, or drills a water well, cathodic protection
well, or a monitoring well, or abandons or destroys a well, or
deepens or reperforates a well, to file a report of completion with
the Department of Water Resources. Existing law prohibits those
reports from being made available to the public, except
under certain circumstances to governmental agencies
for use in making studies, to any person who obtains a written
authorization from the owner of the well, and to a person
performing an environmental cleanup study under certain circumstances
.
This bill would instead require the department to make
the reports available to the public remove the
exception for persons performing an environmental cleanup study, and
would additionally authorize the department to make the reports
available to academics affiliated with institutions of postsecondary
education for specified purposes and to geologists, geophysicists,
hydrologists, civil engineers, and persons possessing a specified
well contractor's license . The bill would require the
department to provide a specified disclaimer when providing the
reports to the public. The bill would require the department to
require a person seeking a report to identify the intended use of the
report. The bill would prohibit specified persons receiving the
report pursuant to these provisions from disclosing the exact
location of a well in the report; providing the report to other
persons or entities not involved in the conduct of a study; and
utilizing the report, or information or data in the
report, for the sale, resale, solicitation, or advertisement for
sales or services. The bill would provide that knowingly violating
this prohibition would be a misdemeanor that would be punishable,
upon conviction, by a fine, by imprisonment in the county jail, or by
both, as specified.
By creating a new crime, this bill would establish a
state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 13752 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13752. (a) The department shall make available to the public a
report made in accordance with paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of
Section 13751.
13752. (a) A report made in accordance with
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 13751 shall not be made
available for inspection by the public. However, a report shall be
made available to the following:
(1) Governmental agencies for use in making studies.
(2) Academics affiliated with an institution of postsecondary
education for the purpose of scientific or public research.
(3) A geologist or geophysicist licensed and registered pursuant
to Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 7800) of Division 3 of the
Business and Professions Code.
(4) A professional hydrologist registered with the American
Institute of Hydrology.
(5) A civil engineer licensed and registered pursuant to Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the Business and
Professions Code.
(6) A person who possesses a California C-57 Water Well Contractor'
s License.
(7) Any person who obtains a written authorization from the owner
of the well.
(b) When providing a report to the public
pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall also provide a
statement that includes all of the following:
(1) The information provided in a report varies in accuracy,
scale, origin, and completeness.
(2) The information is provided without warranty of the
suitability of the information for any particular purpose.
(3) Use of the information in the report may require professional
interpretation or judgment.
(4) Any use of the information provided in a report is at the user'
s own risk.
(c) The department shall require a person seeking a report
pursuant to subdivision (a) to identify the intended use of the
report.
(d) A person who receives a report pursuant to subdivision (a),
and any person involved in the conduct of a study who receives the
report, shall not do any of the following:
(1) Disclose the exact location of any well in the report.
(2) Provide the report to other persons or entities that are not
involved in the conduct of the study.
(3) Utilize the report, or information or data in the report, for
sale, resale, solicitation, or advertisement for sales or services.
(e) Any person who knowingly violates subdivision (d) is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, may be punished by a fine of not
more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each day of the
violation, by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one
year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.