BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1200
Page 1
GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB 1200 (Levine)
As Amended August 27, 2013
2/3 vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |72-0 |(May 24, 2013) |SENATE: |36-0 |(September 3, |
| | | | | |2013) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |78-0 |(September 6, | | | |
| | |2013) | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: W., P. & W.
SUMMARY : Allows the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality
Control Board (SF Regional Board) to authorize a five year pilot
project in Sonoma County that would study the effects, if any,
of allowing small agricultural irrigation ponds containing
recycled water to occasionally overflow during storm events into
adjacent areas that are already irrigated by recycled water.
Currently such overflows would be unauthorized waste discharges.
The Senate amendments :
1)Allow, rather than require, the SF Regional Board to approve a
pilot project.
2)Specify that the pilot project must obtain a National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit under
the federal Clean Water Act and perform all tasks needed to
obtain the NPDES permit including modeling, habitat
evaluations, and other data collection.
3)Require pilot project proponents to identify and secure
funding for project development in addition to project
implementation.
AB 1200
Page 2
4)State the SF Regional Board, upon review of the final report
on the pilot project, may work to develop a formula to
streamline approval for future comparable projects and will
report to the State Water Resources Control Board and the
Legislature with recommendations for similar policies within
the SF Regional Board's region or statewide.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time costs up to $65,000 to the Waste Discharge Permit
Fund (special) for the SF Regional Board to permit the pilot
project and participate in the stakeholder advisory group.
2)Ongoing cost pressures of $65,000 annually for three years to
the Waste Discharge Permit Fund (special) for the SF Regional
Board to consider the development of a formula for future
waste discharge permits for discharges similar to the pilot
project.
COMMENTS : The Senate Environmental Quality Committee (Senate
EQ) recognized the proponents of this project were in a
Catch-22: They could not get a project authorized because the
SF Regional Board lacked information, but there was no way to
gather information without an authorized project. While Senate
EQ found the goal of the pilot project laudable, it did not
agree with requiring the SF Regional Board to conduct the
desired pilot project without giving the SF Regional Board the
discretion to determine whether the pilot project would be done
safely within the context of the Clean Water Act. As a result,
Senate amendments were added to make the SF Regional Board's
approval discretionary and to make NPDES permitting and other
requirements explicit.
The Senate amendments are also intended to encourage the SF
Regional Board to work with the Sonoma County Water Agency,
based on the data collected from the pilot project, to develop a
formula to expedite future permits that are issued for similar
purposes.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE :
AB 1200
Page 3
This bill would allow the San Francisco Bay Regional
Water Quality Control Board to authorize voluntary
pilot projects to investigate the effects of overflow
from agricultural ponds containing tertiary treated
recycled water into the San Pablo Bay.
Instead of spending time on a multi-year pilot project
to justify a permit process that does not require it,
let's focus on getting more irrigators to use recycled
water.
I have asked the State Water Board and the Regional
Board to work with the Sonoma Valley County Sanitation
District to take the necessary steps to issue a permit
that would allow the discharge of treated recycled
water from agricultural ponds no later than August
2014. This permit should facilitate the use of
recycled water for agricultural irrigation.
Analysis Prepared by: Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
FN: 0002933