BILL NUMBER: AB 2529	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Kehoe

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2004

   An act to amend Section 13170.2 of the Water Code, relating to
water.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2529, as introduced, Kehoe.  California Ocean Plan.
   (1) Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board
to adopt, and review at least every 3 years, a water quality control
plan for ocean waters that is known as the California Ocean Plan.
   This bill would require the state board to revise the plan, on or
before January 1, 2007, to require all regional water quality control
plans that include watersheds draining to coastal waters to provide
for the protection, maintenance, and restoration of marine
ecosystems, prohibit additional point source discharges that would
significantly affect a marine managed area, as described, and require
waste discharge reports and waste discharge requirements for certain
nonpoint source discharges.  Under existing law, a violation of
certain requirements relating to the discharge of waste, under
specified circumstances, is a crime.  By subjecting additional
discharges to these requirements, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program by expanding the scope of a crime.  The
bill, for the purposes of revising the plan, would require the state
board to consult with the Department of Fish and Game and the
Department of Parks and Recreation to determine the water quality
needs of certain designated marine protected areas and marine managed
areas.
  (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote:  majority.  Appropriation:  no.  Fiscal committee:  yes.
State-mandated local program:  yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 13170.2 of the Water Code is amended to read:
   13170.2.  (a) The state board shall formulate and adopt a water
quality control plan for ocean waters of the state which shall be
known as the California Ocean Plan.
   (b) The plan shall be reviewed at least every three years to
guarantee that the current standards are adequate and are not
allowing degradation to indigenous marine species or posing a threat
to human health.
   (c) In formulating the plan, the state board shall develop
bioassay protocols to evaluate the effect of municipal and industrial
waste discharges on the marine environment.
   (d) The state board shall adopt the bioassay protocols and
complementary chemical testing methods and shall require their use in
the monitoring of complex effluent ocean discharges.  For purposes
of this section, "complex effluent" means an effluent in which all
chemical constituents are not known or monitored.  The state board
shall adopt bioassay protocols and complementary chemical testing
methods for complex effluent ocean monitoring by January 1, 1990, and
shall require their use in monitoring complex effluent ocean
discharges by entities discharging 100 million gallons per day or
more by January 1, 1991.  The state board shall also adopt a schedule
for requiring the use of these protocols for complex effluent ocean
discharges of under 100 million gallons per day by January 1, 1992.

   (e) On or before January 1, 2007, the state board shall revise the
plan to require all regional water quality control plans that
include watersheds draining to coastal waters, including the San
Francisco Bay, to do all of the following:
   (1) Provide for the protection, maintenance, and restoration of
marine ecosystems.
   (2) Prohibit additional point source discharges that would
significantly affect a marine managed area designated pursuant to
Section 36725 of the Public Resources Code.
   (3) Require waste discharge reports and waste discharge
requirements for a nonpoint source discharge that individually, or in
combination with other discharges, significantly harms a marine
managed area described in paragraph (2) or impedes the restoration of
that area.
   (4) Include specific provisions to help restore marine managed
areas described in paragraph (2).
   (f) For the purposes of revising the plan, the state board shall
consult with the Department of Fish and Game and the Department of
Parks and Recreation, as appropriate, to determine the water quality
needs of marine protected areas designated pursuant to Chapter 10.5
(commencing with Section 2850) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game
Code and marine protected areas and marine managed areas designated
pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 36600) of Division 27
of the Public Resources Code. 
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.