BILL NUMBER: AB 2335 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Beth Gaines
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to amend Section 13260 of add and
repeal Section 13172.6 of the Water Code, relating
to water quality. dredging.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2335, as amended, Beth Gaines. Waste discharge
reports. Suction dredge mining: permits: report.
Existing law prohibits the use of any vacuum or suction dredge
equipment by any person in any river, stream, or lake of this state
without a permit issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Existing law requires the department to issue a permit if the
department determines that the use does not cause any significant
effects to fish and wildlife and would authorize the department to
adjust the specified fee to an amount sufficient to cover all
reasonable costs of the department in regulating suction dredging
activities. Existing law authorizes the State Water Resources Control
Board or a California regional water quality control board to adopt
waste discharge requirements or a waiver of waste discharge
requirements that address certain water quality impacts, specify
conditions or areas where the discharge of waste or other adverse
impacts on beneficial uses of the waters of the state from the use of
vacuum or suction dredge equipment is prohibited, or prohibit
particular use of, or methods of using, vacuum or suction dredge
equipment, or any portion thereof, for the extraction of minerals,
that the state board or a regional board determines generally cause
or contribute to an exceedance of applicable water quality objectives
or unreasonably impact beneficial uses.
This bill would require the state board and the department to
report to the Legislature, on or before June 1, 2017, on the status
of the suction dredge permitting program.
Under existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act,
the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional
water quality control boards are the principal state agencies with
responsibility for the coordination and control of water quality in
the state. The act, with certain exceptions, requires a waste
discharger to file certain information with the appropriate regional
board and to pay an annual fee.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 13172.6 is added to
the Water Code , to read:
13172.6. (a) On or before June 1, 2017, the state board and the
Department of Fish and Wildlife shall report to the Legislature on
the status of the suction dredge permitting program established by
Chapter 680 of the Statutes of 2015 and include at least all of the
following information:
(1) The number or amount of permits issued statewide.
(2) The cost of permits and associated fees.
(3) The requirements and process for an individual to proceed with
obtaining waste discharge requirements or a waiver of waste
discharge requirements pursuant to Section 13172.5 and a permit
pursuant to Section 5653 of the Fish and Game Code.
(4) A discussion of the public workshops conducted pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 13172.5.
(b) (1) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed on June 1, 2021.
SECTION 1. Section 13260 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
13260. (a) Each of the following persons shall file with the
appropriate regional board a report of the discharge, containing the
information that may be required by the regional board:
(1) A person discharging waste, or proposing to discharge waste,
within any region that could affect the quality of the waters of the
state, other than into a community sewer system.
(2) A person who is a citizen, domiciliary, or political agency or
entity of this state discharging waste, or proposing to discharge
waste, outside the boundaries of the state in a manner that could
affect the quality of the waters of the state within any region.
(3) A person operating, or proposing to construct, an injection
well.
(b) A report of waste discharge is not required to be filed
pursuant to subdivision (a) if the requirement is waived pursuant to
Section 13269.
(c) Each person subject to subdivision (a) shall file with the
appropriate regional board a report of waste discharge relative to
any material change or proposed change in the character, location, or
volume of the discharge.
(d) (1) (A) Each person who is subject to subdivision (a) or (c)
shall submit an annual fee according to a fee schedule established by
the state board.
(B) The total amount of annual fees collected pursuant to this
section shall equal that amount necessary to recover costs incurred
in connection with the issuance, administration, reviewing,
monitoring, and enforcement of waste discharge requirements and
waivers of waste discharge requirements.
(C) Recoverable costs may include, but are not limited to, costs
incurred in reviewing waste discharge reports, prescribing terms of
waste discharge requirements and monitoring requirements, enforcing
and evaluating compliance with waste discharge requirements and
waiver requirements, conducting surface water and groundwater
monitoring and modeling, analyzing laboratory samples, adopting,
reviewing, and revising water quality control plans and state
policies for water quality control, and reviewing documents prepared
for the purpose of regulating the discharge of waste, and
administrative costs incurred in connection with carrying out these
actions.
(D) In establishing the amount of a fee that may be imposed on a
confined animal feeding and holding operation pursuant to this
section, including, but not limited to, a dairy farm, the state board
shall consider all of the following factors:
(i) The size of the operation.
(ii) Whether the operation has been issued a permit to operate
pursuant to Section 1342 of Title 33 of the United States Code.
(iii) Any applicable waste discharge requirement or conditional
waiver of a waste discharge requirement.
(iv) The type and amount of discharge from the operation.
(v) The pricing mechanism of the commodity produced.
(vi) Any compliance costs borne by the operation pursuant to state
and federal water quality regulations.
(vii) Whether the operation participates in a quality assurance
program certified by a regional water quality control board, the
state board, or a federal water quality control agency.
(2) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), the fees collected pursuant
to this section shall be deposited in the Waste Discharge Permit
Fund, which is hereby created. The money in the fund is available for
expenditure by the state board, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, solely for the purposes of carrying out this division.
(B) (i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the fees collected
pursuant to this section from stormwater dischargers that are subject
to a general industrial or construction stormwater permit under the
national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) shall be
separately accounted for in the Waste Discharge Permit Fund.
(ii) Not less than 50 percent of the money in the Waste Discharge
Permit Fund that is separately accounted for pursuant to clause (i)
is available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for expenditure
by the regional board with jurisdiction over the permitted industry
or construction site that generated the fee to carry out stormwater
programs in the region.
(iii) Each regional board that receives money pursuant to clause
(ii) shall spend not less than 50 percent of that money solely on
stormwater inspection and regulatory compliance issues associated
with industrial and construction stormwater programs.
(3) A person who would be required to pay the annual fee
prescribed by paragraph (1) for waste discharge requirements
applicable to discharges of solid waste, as defined in Section 40191
of the Public Resources Code, at a waste management unit that is also
regulated under Division 30 (commencing with Section 40000) of the
Public Resources Code, shall be entitled to a waiver of the annual
fee for the discharge of solid waste at the waste management unit
imposed by paragraph (1) upon verification by the state board of
payment of the fee imposed by Section 48000 of the Public Resources
Code, and provided that the fee established pursuant to Section 48000
of the Public Resources Code generates revenues sufficient to fund
the programs specified in Section 48004 of the Public Resources Code
and the amount appropriated by the Legislature for those purposes is
not reduced.
(e) Each person that discharges waste in a manner regulated by
this section shall pay an annual fee to the state board. The state
board shall establish, by regulation, a timetable for the payment of
the annual fee. If the state board or a regional board determines
that the discharge will not affect, or have the potential to affect,
the quality of the waters of the state, all or part of the annual fee
shall be refunded.
(f) (1) The state board shall adopt, by emergency regulations, a
schedule of fees authorized under subdivision (d). The total revenue
collected each year through annual fees shall be set at an amount
equal to the revenue levels set forth in the Budget Act for this
activity. The state board shall automatically adjust the annual fees
each fiscal year to conform with the revenue levels set forth in the
Budget Act for this activity. If the state board determines that the
revenue collected during the preceding year was greater than, or less
than, the revenue levels set forth in the Budget Act, the state
board may further adjust the annual fees to compensate for the over
and under collection of revenue.
(2) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this
subdivision, any amendment thereto, or subsequent adjustments to the
annual fees, shall be adopted by the state board in accordance with
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code. The adoption of these regulations
is an emergency and shall be considered by the Office of
Administrative Law as necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, safety, and general welfare. Notwithstanding
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code, any emergency regulations adopted
by the state board, or adjustments to the annual fees made by the
state board pursuant to this section, shall not be subject to review
by the Office of Administrative Law and shall remain in effect until
revised by the state board.
(g) The state board shall adopt regulations setting forth
reasonable time limits within which the regional board shall
determine the adequacy of a report of waste discharge submitted under
this section.
(h) Each report submitted under this section shall be sworn to, or
submitted under penalty of perjury.
(i) The regulations adopted by the state board pursuant to
subdivision (f) shall include a provision that annual fees shall not
be imposed on those who pay fees under the national pollutant
discharge elimination system until the time when those fees are again
due, at which time the fees shall become due on an annual basis.
(j) A person operating or proposing to construct an oil, gas, or
geothermal injection well subject to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a)
shall not be required to pay a fee pursuant to subdivision (d) if
the injection well is regulated by the Division of Oil, Gas, and
Geothermal Resources of the Department of Conservation, in lieu of
the appropriate California regional water quality control board,
pursuant to the memorandum of understanding, entered into between the
state board and the Department of Conservation on May 19, 1988. This
subdivision shall remain operative until the memorandum of
understanding is revoked by the state board or the Department of
Conservation.
(k) In addition to the report required by subdivision (a), before
a person discharges mining waste, the person shall first submit both
of the following to the regional board:
(1) A report on the physical and chemical characteristics of the
waste that could affect its potential to cause pollution or
contamination. The report shall include the results of all tests
required by regulations adopted by the board, any test adopted by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control pursuant to Section 25141 of
the Health and Safety Code for extractable, persistent, and
bioaccumulative toxic substances in a waste or other material, and
any other tests that the state board or regional board may require,
including, but not limited to, tests needed to determine the
acid-generating potential of the mining waste or the extent to which
hazardous substances may persist in the waste after disposal.
(2) A report that evaluates the potential of the discharge of the
mining waste to produce, over the long term, acid mine drainage, the
discharge or leaching of heavy metals, or the release of other
hazardous substances.
(l) Except upon a written request of the regional board, a report
of waste discharge need not be filed pursuant to subdivision (a) or
(c) by a user of recycled water that is being supplied by a supplier
or distributor of recycled water for whom a master recycling permit
has been issued pursuant to Section 13523.1.