BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1842
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1842 (Levine) - As Amended April 27, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill imposes an additional civil penalty of up to $10 per
gallon or pound of polluting material illegally discharged into
state waterways. This bill requires the penalty to be reduced
by every gallon or pound of the illegally discharged material
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recovered and properly disposed of by the responsible party.
This bill prohibits a person from being subject to both this
penalty and the civil penalties imposed under the Oil Spill
Prevention and Response Act.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Potential increased state (Fish and Wildlife Pollution
Account) and local revenues from civilly-imposed penalties.
As an example, for the 2014/2015 fiscal year, penalty
assessments for marine oil spills were approximately $148,000,
but this figure includes all penalty monies (administrative,
civil and criminal) and varies from year-to-year.
2)The initial and long-term costs to DFW for implementation of
this authority is minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, California is home to some
of the most beautiful coastline, bays, estuaries, streams, and
rivers in the nation. The author intends this bill to protect
California's waterways by providing sanctions that reflect the
severity of a pollution violation.
2)Background. Existing law provides a base fine or penalty of
up to $2,000 for criminal violations or $25,000 for civil
violations of the laws that protect the waters of the state
from illegal discharges. In addition these criminal and civil
penalties, a surcharge of between $1 and $10 per gallon or
pound may be imposed for material that is not removed from
state waters. However, this surcharge is not available for
civil proceedings.
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Criminal proceedings require an offender to be proven guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. A prosecutor who believes the
illegal discharge falls short of a provable crime must forgo
the surcharge when filing a civil action, or file less severe
administrative actions and pursue the surcharge. This bill
extends the surcharge for administrative and criminal
penalties to civil actions.
3)The Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act. The Act
establishes various criminal and civil penalties for the
intentional or negligent discharge of oil into waters of the
state. Civil and criminal penalties are in addition to any
other civil or criminal remedies. Instead, this bill
prohibits subjecting violators to both the civil penalties
imposed under the Act and this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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