BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2595
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Pedro Nava, Chair
AB 2595 (Huffman) - As Amended: April 8, 2010
SUBJECT : Waste Water Discharge Permits.
SUMMARY : Requires that person receiving operator identification
numbers for the purpose of buying or using pesticides must
demonstrate compliance with waste water discharge requirements.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires County Agricultural Commissioners (CAC) to verify, as
a condition of issuing an operator identification number (OIN)
for pesticide use, that a landowner or grower has been issued
the appropriate water quality regulatory permit including
either: 1) waste discharge permit, or 2) a conditional waiver
of a waste discharge permit.
2)Requires the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) or a
Regional Water Quality control Board (RWQCB) to provide
information to the Department of Pesticide Regulations (DPR)
and the CAC for each property owner or operator who has
received a waiver of waste water discharge permit
requirements.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires that prior to the purchase and use of pesticides for
the production of an agricultural commodity, the operator of
the property must obtain an OIN from the CAC of each county
where pest control work will be performed. If the property
owner or operator has been issued a restricted materials
permit, the number on the permit may be substituted for the
OIN. (Title 3, California Code of Regulations, section 6622).
2)In accordance with the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control
Act (Commencing with Section 13000 of the Water Code) anyone
who discharges waste in the state, except to a community sewer
system, must obtain waste discharge requirements (i.e., a
water quality permit) from the regional board to ensure that
the requirements of the basin water quality control plan are
met, that water quality objectives are achieved and that the
beneficial uses of water are not impaired by the discharge.
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3)Authorizes regional water quality control boards to waive
certain waste discharge requirements for specific discharges
or specific types of discharges if the wavier is not against
the public interest.
FISCAL EFFECT : Not Known
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill: According to the author, many surface water
bodies in California are listed on the federal Clean Water Act
section 303(d) list as being impaired by agricultural sources.
The conditional agricultural waiver program has been in effect
since 2000 with the goal of improving water quality from
discharges on irrigated agricultural lands. However, the
majority of the initial 10 years was spent identifying and
enrolling growers in the program. This delay in enrollment
causes several problems - it delays the implementation of the
program to improve water quality, it imposes additional costs on
the regional and state boards to track down and issue
enforcement orders, and finally it unfairly imposes a burden on
those growers that are cooperating and paying their fees.
Waste discharge permits and agricultural waivers:
The Water Code authorizes the SWRCB and RWQCBs to conditionally
waive waste discharge requirements (WDRs) if this is in the
public interest. Historically these waivers had few conditions.
In general, they required that discharges not cause violations
of water quality objectives, but they did not require water
quality monitoring. Senate Bill 390, signed into law on October
6, 1999, required the RWQCBs to review their existing waivers
and to renew them or replace them with WDRs. Under SB 390,
waivers not reissued automatically expired on January 1, 2003.
The most controversial waivers were those for discharges from
irrigated agriculture. Discharges from agricultural lands
include irrigation return flow, flows from tile drains, and
storm water runoff. These discharges can affect water quality
by transporting pollutants including pesticides, sediment,
nutrients, salts (including selenium and boron), pathogens, and
heavy metals from cultivated fields into surface waters. Many
surface water bodies are impaired because of pollutants from
agricultural sources. Groundwater bodies have also suffered
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pesticide, nitrate and salt contamination. Statewide,
approximately 9,493 miles of rivers/streams and 513,130 acres of
lakes/reservoirs are listed on the 303(d) list as being impaired
by irrigated agriculture. Of these, approximately 2800 miles, or
approximately 28%, have been identified as impaired by
pesticides.
Double-referral to the Assembly Committee on Agriculture:
Should this measure be approved by this Committee, the do pass
motion must include the action to re-refer the bill to the
Assembly Committee on Agriculture.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Coastkeeper Alliance
Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Opposition
None Received
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965