BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1842|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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
AB 1842
Page 2
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)
AB 1842
Page 3
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
AB 1842
Page 4
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
AB 1842
Page 5
**** END ****