BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 1842|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 1842
          Author:   Levine (D) 
          Amended:  8/2/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE:  5-1, 6/29/16
           AYES:  Wieckowski, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
           NOES:  Gaines
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bates

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  66-7, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Water:  pollution:  fines


          SOURCE:    California District Attorneys Association


          DIGEST:   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 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.


          ANALYSIS:  

          Existing law:

          1)Provides for a base fine/ penalty of up to $2,000 on criminal  








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            or $25,000 on civil polluters of state waters.

          2)Provides, under criminal proceedings, for up to a $10  
            additional fine/penalty per gallon or pound of material that  
            is not removed from state waters.  Provides for a similar  
            penalty under administrative proceedings.

          This bill:  


          1)Imposes an additional civil penalty of up to $10 per gallon or  
            pound of polluting material illegally discharged into state  
            waterways.  

          2)Requires the penalty to be reduced for every gallon or pound  
            of the illegally discharged material recovered and properly  
            disposed of by the responsible party.  

          3)Prohibits a person from being subject to both this penalty and  
            the civil penalties imposed under the Lempert-Keene-Seastrand  
            Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act.


          Comments
          
          1)Purpose of Bill.  According to the author, AB 1842 protects  
            California's waterways by underscoring the importance of  
            appropriate sanctions that reflect the severity of a  
            violation.  California is home to some of the most beautiful  
            coastline, bays, estuaries, streams, and rivers in the nation.  
             Gross polluters of our waterways must be held accountable and  
            strong enforcement is needed.



          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/8/16)










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          California District Attorneys Association (source)
          California League of Conservation Voters
          Natural Resources Defense Council  
           Sierra Club


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/8/16)


          Association of California Water Agencies
          California Association of Sanitation Districts
          El Dorado Irrigation District  


           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:  According to the California District  
          Attorneys Association, which is the sponsor of the legislation,  
          the inability to utilize the surcharge as an enforcement tool  
          for civil actions hampers a prosecutors flexibility and in many  
          cases is an impediment to environmental protection.   

          Environmental prosecution units throughout California help  
          ensure that those who pollute state waters are held accountable  
          for their conduct.

          When a polluter fouls state waters, the violator may face an  
          administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding.

          The polluter is also required to take clean up action and is  
          held responsible for removing and properly disposing of the  
          pollutant.  

          To help ensure that the polluter did as much clean up as  
          possible, the law also provides for a surcharge of $1 to $10 per  
          gallon or pound of material that is not removed from state  
          waters.  Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, this surcharge  
          is available only for criminal and administrative proceedings.   
          Not authorized for civil proceedings. 

          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:According to the opposition the  
          disparity in existing law creates a loophole.  A prosecutor who  
          cannot bring an administrative action, and believes that the  
          conduct fell short of a criminal action, must then forego the  








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          surcharge when filing a civil action.
            
           AB 1842 would expose public wastewater agencies to double  
          penalties for the same event. The bill would expand existing  
          penalty authority under the Fish and Game Code by authorizing  
          all 58 California District Attorneys (DAs) to pursue per gallon  
          penalties for pollutant discharges to state waters in a civil  
          proceeding. DAs are already allowed to pursue these penalties  
          criminally, and may also pursue a penalty of $25,000 for such  
          violations civilly.  While expanding the DAs ability to pursue  
          per gallon penalties civilly may be warranted to fill a gap, the  
          bill would result in the possibility of double penalties from  
          multiple sources being imposed on our members.

          California Association of Sanitation Districts states that  
          "dischargers, including local wastewater agencies, which have  
          already paid penalties to the State Water Resources Control  
          Board and/or Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Water  
          Boards) on a per gallon basis, could face another set of per  
          gallon penalties from local DAs for the same discharge. This is  
          both duplicative and unnecessarily punitive."


          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  66-7, 6/1/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,  
            Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  
            Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,  
            Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,  
            Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández,  
            Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine,  
            Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,  
            Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Quirk,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,  
            Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
          NOES:  Brough, Chávez, Dahle, Gallagher, Grove, Melendez, Wagner
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Bigelow, Beth Gaines, Harper, Obernolte,  
            Patterson, Steinorth, Waldron

          Prepared by:Rachel Machi Wagoner / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
          8/10/16 15:53:16










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