BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2595
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2595 (Huffman)
As Amended April 22, 2010
Majority vote
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 6-3 AGRICULTURE
7-0
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|Ayes:|Nava, Chesbro, Davis, |Ayes:|Galgiani, Tom Berryhill, |
| |Feuer, Monning, Ruskin | |Conway, Fuller, Hill, Ma, |
| | | |Yamada |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Miller, Blakeslee, Smyth | | |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, Hill, |
| |Bradford, Charles |
| |Calderon, Coto, Davis, |
| |Hall, Harkey, Miller, |
| |Nielsen, Norby, Skinner, |
| |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| |Torrico |
| | |
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SUMMARY : Requires that a 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 a waste discharge permit, or a conditional waiver of a
waste discharge permit.
2)Require the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to
notify the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and the
agricultural commissioner if, after exhausting all
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administrative proceedings and appeals, an operator fails to:
a) Furnish pesticide use report to DPR and the county
agricultural commissioners, as required by current law;
and,
b) Enroll in the Irrigated Lands Conditional Waiver Program
(ILCWP), or obtain an individual or general waiver of waste
discharge requirements related to irrigated agriculture.
1)Authorizes a county agricultural commissioner to levy a civil
penalty of up to $5,000 against an operator who fraudulently
obtains an OIN.
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 Water Code Section 13000) 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee this bill would result in state and local agency
costs, including:
1)One-time costs to DPR, likely in the tens of thousands of
dollars, to adopt regulations and to develop a system to track
increased workload of county agricultural commissioners, which
DPR partially reimburses (Department of Pesticide Regulation
Fund (DPRF) or other special fund).
2)Ongoing local costs of an unknown amount to the state's county
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agricultural commissioners. The commissioners were unable to
estimate the range of potential costs because, they contend,
this bill involves them in an area that currently is outside
their experience and jurisdiction-water quality enforcement.
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 regional water quality
control boards (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
pesticide, nitrate and salt contamination. Statewide,
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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.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN: 0004399