BILL NUMBER: AB 2529 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Kehoe
FEBRUARY 20, 2004
An act to amend Section 13170.2 of the Water Code,
relating to water. An act to amend Section 30906 of,
and to add Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 30920) to Division
20.4 of, the Public Resources Code, and to amend Section 13170.2 of
the Water Code, relating to water, and making an appropriation
therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2529, as amended, Kehoe. California Ocean Plan
Water quality: ocean waters .
(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. update the plan to include
among the beneficial uses of the ocean waters certain designated
marine protected areas, marine life reserves, state marine reserves,
state marine parks, state marine conservation areas, state marine
cultural preservation areas, and state marine recreational management
areas. The bill would require the state board to include in the
plan numeric standards to protect these described beneficial uses.
The bill would establish a program for marine managed areas
pursuant to which the state board would award grants, upon the
appropriation of funds for that purpose, to local public agencies and
nonprofit organizations to restore and protect the water quality and
environment of marine managed areas. The bill would require the
state board to appoint a marine managed areas water quality task
force for the purpose of recommending projects to fund in connection
with that program. The bill would appropriate an unspecified amount
of certain bond funds made available by the Water Security, Clean
Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002 to the state
board for grants to carry out the marine managed areas program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no yes
. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program:
yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 30906 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:
30906. It is the intent of the Legislature to invest in clean
water projects that will do all of the following:
(a) Assist small local communities in meeting water pollution
control requirements.
(b) Improve agricultural water quality and reduce pollutants in
agricultural drainage water.
(c) Implement urban stormwater treatment programs and reduce
nonpoint sources of pollution.
(d) Provide comprehensive capability to monitor and analyze water
quality in groundwater basins throughout the state.
(e) Improve water quality in coastal and marine waters,
particularly those waters that affect marine protected areas and
marine managed areas.
SEC. 2. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 30920) is added to
Division 20.4 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3.5. MARINE MANAGED AREAS PROGRAM
30920. (a) The purpose of this chapter is to provide
authorization for projects that restore and protect the water quality
and environment of marine managed areas, as defined in subdivision
(d) of Section 36602, including areas of special biological
significance, as defined in the California Ocean Plan adopted
pursuant to Section 13170.2 of the Water Code.
(b) The board shall give priority to projects that treat or
otherwise remove existing waste discharges, or prevent probable waste
discharges, into areas of special biological significance.
30921. (a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature for that
purpose, funds may be expended by the board, in consultation with the
State Coastal Conservancy and, as appropriate, the Department of
Fish and Game, to award grants, not to exceed ____ million dollars
($____) per project, to local public agencies and nonprofit
organizations for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) The projects funded to carry out this chapter shall
demonstrate the capability of contributing to sustained, long-term
water quality or environmental restoration or protection benefits for
a period of 20 years, address the causes of degradation rather than
the symptoms, and be consistent with water quality control plans and
resource protection plans prepared, implemented, or adopted by the
board, the applicable regional board, the Department of Fish and Game
and the State Coastal Conservancy.
(c) An applicant for funds to carry out this chapter shall be
required to submit to the board a monitoring and reporting plan that
does all of the following:
(1) Identifies the sources of pollution to be prevented or reduced
by the project.
(2) Describes the baseline water quality or environmental quality
to be addressed.
(3) Describes the manner in which the project will be effective in
preventing or reducing pollution and in demonstrating the desired
environmental results.
(4) Describes the monitoring program, including, but not limited
to, the methodology, frequency, and duration of monitoring.
(d) Upon completion of the project, a recipient of funds to carry
out this chapter shall submit a report to the board that summarizes
the completed activities and indicates whether the purposes of the
project have been met. The report shall include information collected
by the recipient in accordance with the project monitoring and
reporting plan, including a determination of the effectiveness of the
project in preventing or reducing pollution, and the results of the
monitoring program. The board shall make the report available to the
public, watershed groups, and federal, state, and local agencies.
(e) The board may not award more than 25 percent of a grant to
carry out this chapter in advance of the expenditure of funds by a
grantee.
(f) An applicant for funds to carry out this chapter shall inform
the board of any necessary public agency approvals, entitlements, and
permits that may be necessary to implement the project. The
applicant shall certify to the board, at the appropriate time, that
those approvals, entitlements, and permits have been granted.
(g) Where recovery plans for coho salmon, steelhead trout, or
other threatened or endangered coastal and marine aquatic species
exist, projects funded to carry out this chapter shall be consistent
with those plans and, to the extent feasible, shall seek to implement
actions specified in those plans.
(h) The board shall appoint a marine managed areas water quality
task force comprised of individuals representing the breadth and
diversity of coastal communities, interested nonprofit groups, and
marine resource users. All proposals for grant funding to carry out
this chapter shall be reviewed by the task force. The task force may
recommend projects to the board for funding consideration.
(i) The board shall provide opportunity for public review and
comment in awarding funds to carry out this chapter.
SEC. 3. 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) On or before February 1, 2006, the state board shall
update the plan to include among the beneficial uses of the ocean
waters all of the following:
(1) Marine protected areas and marine life reserves, as defined in
Section 2852 of the Fish and Game Code.
(2) State marine reserves, state marine parks, state marine
conservation areas, state marine cultural preservation areas, and
state marine recreational management areas, as defined in Section
36700 of the Public Resources Code.
(d) On or before July 1, 2007, the state board shall include in
the plan numeric standards to protect the beneficial uses described
in subdivision (c).
(e) For the purposes of carrying out subdivisions (c) and (d), the
state board shall consult with the Department of Fish and Game and
the Department of Parks and Recreation, as appropriate.
(f) 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)
(g) 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.
SEC. 4. (a) Of the funds made available pursuant to Section 79543
of the Water Code, the sum of ____ dollars ($____) is hereby
appropriated to the State Water Resources Control Board for grants to
carry out Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 30920) of Division
20.4 of the Public Resources Code in accordance with Section 16727 of
the Government Code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the funds
appropriated pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be available for
encumbrance until December 31, 2008.
(c) Of the total amount of funds appropriated by subdivision (a),
not more than 5 percent may be expended for administrative purposes.
(d) The board may only allocate funds pursuant to subdivision (a)
if it determines that the allocation meets the requirements of
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 79540) of Division 26.5 of the
Water Code.