BILL NUMBER: AB 2063	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Alejo

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2012

   An act  to add Sections 13293 and 13294 to the Water Code,
  relating to water quality.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2063, as amended, Alejo.  Regional water quality
control boards.   Ex parte communi   cations.

   Under existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act,
the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional
water quality control boards are the principal state agencies with
responsibility for the coordination and control of water quality in
the state. The act requires the state board to formulate and adopt
state policies for water quality control, and  authorizes the
state board to hold any hearings and conduct any investigations in
any part of the state necessary to carry out the powers vested in the
state board, as specified. The act also  requires the regional
boards to adopt regional water quality control plans in compliance
with the state policies. Existing law requires each regional board to
conduct certain proceedings, including, but not limited to, holding
at least 6 regular meetings each calendar year.
   Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, provides for the
conduct of administrative adjudication proceedings of state agencies.
Existing law generally prohibits  ex parte communication
including  communication during a pending proceeding, regarding
any issue in the proceeding, to the presiding officer by an employee
or representative of an agency that is a party to the proceeding
without notice and opportunity for all parties to participate, except
as specified. 
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to permit the interaction and communication between board
members of a regional board and interested parties that are members
of the community so that the regional board conducts its affairs in
an open objective manner with public awareness and participation.
 
   This bill would provide that the ex parte communications
provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act do not apply to state
or regional board proceedings regarding water quality. This bill
would prohibit a board member, or any interested person, as defined,
from engaging in an ex parte communication, as defined, unless the
board member fully discloses and makes public the ex parte
communication by providing a full report of the communication to the
board on the record of the proceeding at the first hearing that
occurs after ex parte communication occurs. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    Section 13293 is added to the 
 Water Code   , to read:  
   13293.  (a) For the purposes of Section 13294, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
   (1) "A matter within a board's jurisdiction" means a
quasi-judicial matter requiring board action, pursuant to this
division.
   (2) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board or a
regional water quality control board.
   (3) "Ex parte communication" is an oral or written communication
between a member of a board and an interested person, about a matter
within the board's jurisdiction, which does not occur in a public
hearing, workshop, or other official proceeding, or on the official
record of the proceeding on the matter. The following communications
are not ex parte communications:
   (A) A communication between a staff member acting in his or her
official capacity and a board member or an interested person.
   (B) A communication limited entirely to procedural issues,
including, but not limited to, the hearing schedule, location,
format, or filing date.
   (C) A communication which takes place on the record during an
official proceeding of a state, regional, or local agency that
involves a member of a board who also serves as an official of that
agency.
   (D) A communication between a member of a board, with regard to an
action of another state agency or of a regional or local agency of
which the member is an official, and any other official or employee
of that agency, including any person who is acting as an attorney for
the agency.
   (E) A communication between a nonvoting board member and a staff
member of a state agency where both the board member and the staff
member are acting in an official capacity.
   (F) A communication to a nonvoting board member relating to an
action pending before a board, where the nonvoting board member does
not participate in that action, either through written or verbal
communication, on or off the record, with other members of the board.

   (4) "Interested person" means:
   (A) A participant in the proceeding regarding a matter before a
board, or an agent, employee, or a person receiving consideration for
representing that participant.
   (B) A person with a financial interest, as described in Article 1
(commencing with Section 87100) of Chapter 7 of Title 9 of the
Government Code, in a matter before a board, or an agent or employee
of the person with a financial interest, or a person receiving
consideration for representing the person with a financial interest.
   (C) A representative acting on behalf of a civic, environmental,
neighborhood, business, labor, trade, or similar organization who
intends to influence the decision of a board member on a matter
before the board. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 13294 is added to the  
Water Code   , to read:  
   13294.  (a) A board member, or any interested person, shall not
engage in an ex parte communication unless the board member fully
discloses and makes public the ex parte communication by providing a
full report of the communication to the board on the record of the
proceeding at the first hearing that occurs after ex parte
communication occurs.
   (b) (1) The state board shall adopt, and provide to the regional
board for adoption, standard disclosure forms for reporting ex parte
communications which shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following information:
   (A) The date, time, and location of the communication.
   (B) The identity of the person or persons initiating, and the
person or persons receiving, the communication.
   (C) A complete description of the content of the communication,
including the complete text of any written material that was a part
of the communication.
   (2) A board shall place in the public record any report of an ex
parte communication involving a member of that board.
   (c) Communications shall not be prohibited ex parte communications
when fully disclosed and placed in a board's official record.
   (d) Nothing in this section prohibits any person or any interested
person from testifying at a board hearing, workshop, or other
official proceeding, or from submitting written comments for the
record on a matter before a board. Written comments shall be
submitted by mail or delivered to a board office, or may be delivered
to the board at the time and place of a scheduled hearing.
   (e) Notwithstanding Section 11425.10 of the Government Code, the
ex parte communications provisions of the Administrative Procedure
Act (Article 7 (commencing with Section 11430.10) of Chapter 4.5 of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) do not apply
to proceedings of a board authorized under this division. 

  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to permit the interaction and communication
between board members of a regional water quality control board and
interested parties that are members of the community so that the
regional board conducts its affairs in an open objective manner with
public awareness and participation.