Amended in Senate June 25, 2015

Amended in Senate June 11, 2015

Amended in Assembly May 28, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 7, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 5, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 300

Introduced by Assembly Member Alejo

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Dodd and Mark Stone)

(Coauthor: Senator Monning)

February 12, 2015

An act to add Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 31420) to Division 21 of, and to repeal Sections 31422 and 31423 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to coastal wildlife protection.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 300, as amended, Alejo. Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016.

Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy and prescribes the membership and functions and duties of the conservancy with respect to preservation of coastal resources in the state.

This bill would enact the Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016, which would require the State Water Resources Control Board to establish and coordinate the Algal Bloom Task Force, comprised of specified representatives of state agencies, including the conservancy, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, and would prescribe the functions and duties of the task force. The bill would require the task force to review the risks and negative impacts of toxic algal blooms and microcystin pollution and to submit a summary of its findings and recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, and the secretary on or before January 1, 2017. The act would require the task force, before providing funding recommendations or submitting a summary of findings, to notify the public about ongoing activities and provide opportunities for public review and comment on applied research, projects, and programs. The act would authorize the conservancy, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Wildlife Conservation Board, and the State Water Resources Control Board to enter into contracts and provide grants, upon appropriation, from specified bond funds available under the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 or from other appropriate funds for applied research, projects, and programs, recommended by the task force, aimed at preventing or sustainably mitigating toxic blooms of cyanotoxins and microcystin pollution in the waters of the state.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Toxic blooms of cyanobacteria in the waters of the state,
including, but not limited to, coastal lakes, estuaries, rivers and
streams, wetlands, and inland lakes and reservoirs, represent a
threat to water supplies, human health, endangered wildlife, and
recreational activities.

(b) Cyanobacteria are widespread bacteria that are capable of
forming toxic blooms and super-blooms in the waters of the state.

(c) Degradation of watersheds, nutrient loading, increased water
diversions, and climate change have been linked to the global
expansion of cyanobacterial blooms, with high toxin production
noted regularly in lakes, rivers, and other waters of the state.

(d) The state’s waters are especially prone to toxic
cyanobacterial blooms due to our warm climate, numerous water
diversions, and stressed waterways.

(e) Cyanobacteria produce potent hepatotoxins and neurotoxins,
collectively referred to as cyanotoxins. Microcystins are the most
commonly found cyanotoxin in the state’s impacted waters. Other
cyanotoxins, such as the neurotoxins anatoxin-a and saxitoxin, are
also present in California’s waters, but, at present, little is known
about them.

(f) Cyanotoxins are poisonous to humans, pets, livestock, birds,
and other wildlife via ingestion, inhalation, or skin exposure. A
single dose of microcystin can cause prolonged toxicity by cycling
repeatedly between the liver and intestines.

(g) Blooms of microcystins and other toxic cyanobacteria are
occurring in waters throughout California, and are threatening our
water supply and health. Areas with recurrent and worsening
cyanotoxin pollution include the Klamath and Sacramento Rivers,
the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers (from the Sacramento
Delta to San Francisco Bay), and Clear Lake. Pinto Lake, Copco
Lake, Iron Gate Reservoir, and three segments of the Klamath
River have been listed as impaired due to cyanobacteria. Bird
deaths attributed to microcystins have also been reported from the
Salton Sea.

(h) The Pinto Lake watershed is being evaluated for total
maximum daily load (TMDL) regulation for microcystin, and was
considered for remediation as an Environmental Protection Agency
“superfund” site.

(i) California’s southern sea otters, a state and federally listed
threatened species, have died from microcystin poisoning. The
source of sea otter exposure appears to be
microcystin-contaminated freshwater runoff and possibly
contaminated prey species.

(j) Sea otters and humans eat some of the same marine foods
that can concentrate microcystin in body tissues; hence, food safety
is a public health concern. Freshwater and marine fish and shellfish
have not been routinely tested for cyanotoxins in California and
limited diagnostic testing is available.

(k) The state needs a coordinated multiagency effort to develop
actions and projects that will prevent or mitigate toxic blooms and
associated cyanotoxin pollution.

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 31420) is added
to Division 21 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

 

Chapter  10. Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act
of 2016

 

31420.  

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016.

31421.  

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have
the following meanings:

(a) “Board” means the State Water Resources Control Board.

(b)  “Task force” means the Algal Bloom Task Force created
pursuant to Section 31422.

(c) “Waters of the state” means any surface waters in the state,
including, but not limited to, coastal lakes, lagoons and estuaries,
rivers, streams, inland lakes and reservoirs, begin delete and wetlands. end delete begin insert wetlands,
and marine waters. end insert

31422.  

(a) The board shall establish and coordinate the Algal
Bloom Task Force, comprised of a representative of each of the
State Department of Public Health, the Department of Fish and
Wildlife, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the conservancy,
and other relevant agency representatives, to be determined by the
chairperson of the board, in consultation with the Secretary for
Environmental Protection. The board may augment an existing
task force or network to accomplish the requirements of this
chapter.

(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.

31423.  

The functions and duties of the task force include all
of the following:

(a) Assess and prioritize the actions and research necessary to
develop measures that prevent or sustainably mitigate toxic algal
blooms in the waters of the state. The assessment shall consider
the linked impacts of toxic algal blooms and cyanotoxins on human
and animal health, as well as in the context of ecosystem health
and water quality.

(b) Solicit and review proposals from universities, local
governments, California Native American tribes, and nonprofit
organizations for applied research, projects, and programs that
accomplish both of the following:

(1) Contribute to development of strategies or implementation
of activities that prevent or sustainably mitigate toxic blooms of
cyanotoxins and microcystin pollution in the waters of the state.

(2) Establish cyanotoxin monitoring programs or develop
laboratory capacity for analyzing water samples for cyanotoxin
pollution.

(c) Provide funding recommendations to the chairperson of the
board and to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Wildlife
Conservation Board, the conservancy, other members of the task
force, and other relevant agency representatives for those proposals
for applied research, projects, and programs, described in
subdivision (b), that the task force determines will contribute to
the development of prevention strategies and sustainable mitigation
actions to address toxic blooms of cyanotoxins and microcystin
pollution in waters of the state.

(d) Review the risks and negative impacts of toxic algal blooms
and microcystin pollution on humans, wildlife, fisheries, livestock,
pets, and aquatic ecosystems, and develop recommendations for
prevention and long-term mitigation. The task force shall submit
a summary of its findings based on the review, including its
recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees
of the Legislature, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, and
the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency on or before January
1, 2017. The recommendations shall provide guidance on what
type of programs or state resources will be required to prevent
damaging toxic algal blooms and microcystin pollution in the
waters of the state over time.

(e) Organize meetings and workshops of experts and
stakeholders as needed to implement this section.

(f) Before providing funding recommendations pursuant to
subdivision (c), or submitting a summary of findings pursuant to
subdivision (d), the task force shall establish a notification
procedure and publish notices to inform the public about ongoing
activities, and provide opportunities for public review and comment
on applied research, projects, and programs solicited pursuant to
subdivision (b).

(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.

31424.  

The conservancy, the Department of Fish and Wildlife,
the Wildlife Conservation Board, and the board, or any of them,
may enter into contracts and provide grants, upon appropriation,
from funds available pursuant to Section 79730 of the Water Code
or from other appropriate funds accessible by any of these
departments and agencies for applied research, projects, and
programs recommended by the task force pursuant to subdivision
(c) of Section 31423.