BILL NUMBER: AB 2529 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 20, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Kehoe
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Koretz)
FEBRUARY 20, 2004
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.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2529, as amended, Kehoe. Water quality: ocean
waters marine managed areas .
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 , the Marine Managed Areas Improvement Act,
establishes a program pursuant to which various geographic areas are
classified as marine managed areas for the purposes of regulating
activities within, and otherwise protecting, those areas .
This bill would require the state board to 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: 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.
(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.