79110-79117
WATER CODE
SECTION 79110-79117
79110. The purpose of this article is to provide grant funding for
projects that protect the beneficial uses of water throughout the
state through the control of nonpoint source pollution.
79111. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this article:
(a) "Best management practices" means those practices or set of
practices determined by the board, a regional board, or the water
quality planning agency for a designated area to be the most
effective feasible means of preventing or reducing the generation of
a specific type of nonpoint source pollution, given technological,
institutional, environmental, and economic constraints.
(b) "Capital costs" has the same meaning as "cost," as defined in
Section 32025 of the Public Resources Code.
(c) "Management measures" means economically achievable measures
to prevent or control the addition of pollutants to state waters,
which reflect the greatest degree of pollutant prevention achievable
through the application of the best available nonpoint source
pollution control practices, technologies, processes, siting
criteria, operating methods, or other alternatives.
(d) "Regional board" means a regional water quality control board.
(e) "Subaccount" means the Nonpoint Source Pollution Control
Subaccount created by Section 79112.
79112. There is hereby created in the account the Nonpoint Source
Pollution Control Subaccount.
79113. The sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) is
hereby transferred from the account to the subaccount for the
purposes of implementing this article.
79114. (a) The money in the subaccount, upon appropriation by the
Legislature to the board, may be used by the board to award grants,
not to exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) per project, to local
public agencies or nonprofit organizations formed by landowners to
prepare and implement local nonpoint source plans. Grants shall only
be awarded for any of the following projects:
(1) A project that is consistent with local watershed management
plans that are developed under subdivision (d) of Section 79080 and
with regional water quality control plans.
(2) A broad-based nonpoint source project, including a project
identified in the board's "Initiatives in NPS Management," dated
September 1995, and nonpoint source technical advisory committee
reports.
(3) A project that is consistent with the "Integrated Plan for
Implementation of the Watershed Management Initiative" prepared by
the board and the regional boards.
(4) A project that implements management measures and practices or
other needed projects identified by the board pursuant to its
nonpoint source pollution control program's 15-year implementation
strategy and five-year implementation plan that meets the
requirements of Section 6217(g) of the federal Coastal Zone Act
Reauthorization Amendments of 1990.
(b) The projects funded from the subaccount shall demonstrate a
capability of sustaining water quality benefits for a period of 20
years. Categories of nonpoint source pollution addressed by projects
may include, but are not limited to: silviculture, agriculture, urban
runoff, mining, hydromodification, grazing, onsite disposal systems,
boatyards and marinas, and animal feeding operations. Projects to
address nonpoint source pollution may include, but are not limited
to, wildfire management, installation of vegetative systems to filter
or retard pollutant loading, incentive programs or large scale
demonstration programs to reduce commercial reliance on polluting
substances or to increase acceptance of alternative methods and
materials, and engineered features to minimize impacts of nonpoint
source pollution. Projects shall have defined water quality or
beneficial use goals.
(c) Projects funded from the subaccount shall utilize best
management practices, management measures, or both.
(d) If projects include capital costs, those costs shall be
identified by the project applicant. The grant recipient shall
provide a matching contribution for the portion of the project
consisting of capital expenditures for construction, according to the
following formula:
Project Capital Cost/Capital Cost Match by
Recipient
$1,000,000 to $5,000,000, inclusive...... 20%
$125,000 to $999,999, inclusive.......... 15%
$1 to $124,999, inclusive................ 10%
(e) Not more than 25 percent of a grant may be awarded in advance
of actual expenditure.
(f) A proponent of a project funded from the subaccount shall be
required to submit to the board a monitoring and reporting plan that
does all of the following:
(1) Identifies one or more nonpoint sources of pollution.
(2) Describes the baseline water quality of the waterbody
impacted.
(3) Describes the manner in which the proposed practices or
measures are implemented.
(4) Determines the effectiveness of the proposed practices or
measures in preventing or reducing pollution.
(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the board may award up to 5
percent of the total amount deposited in the subaccount for
demonstration projects that are intended to prevent, reduce, or treat
nonpoint source pollution.
(h) A grant recipient shall submit a report to the board, upon
completion of the project, that summarizes completed activities and
indicates whether the purposes of the project have been met. The
report shall include information collected by the grant recipient in
accordance with the project monitoring and reporting plan, including
a determination of the effectiveness of the best management practices
or management measures implemented as part of the project in
preventing or reducing nonpoint source pollution. The board shall
make the report available to watershed groups, and federal, state,
and local agencies.
79114.2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the
sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) is hereby appropriated from
the subaccount, to the board to be used by the board, after
consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, for loans,
not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per loan, to
provide low interest loans to finance the construction of projects
designed to manage animal nutrients from animal feeding operations.
Grants may be made available to local public agencies to pay for the
cost of developing ordinances, regulations, and elements for their
General Plan or other planning devices to assist in providing uniform
standards for the permitting and operation of animal feeding
operations within their jurisdictions. These funds may also be used
for the preparation of the related environmental reviews that may be
necessary under the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) for
approval of the devices.
79114.3. No project shall receive funds under this article if it
receives funds pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 79148).
79114.5. (a) Sixty percent of the money in the subaccount shall be
allocated to projects in the Counties of Riverside, Ventura, Los
Angeles, San Diego, Orange, or San Bernardino.
(b) Forty percent of the money in the subaccount shall be
allocated to projects in counties not described in subdivision (a).
(c) This section does not apply to Section 79114.2 or Section
79117.
79115. The board may adopt regulations to implement this article.
79116. Not more than 5 percent of the total amount deposited in the
subaccount may be used to pay the costs incurred in connection with
the administration of this article.
79117. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, of
the funds transferred pursuant to Section 79113, the sum of ten
million dollars ($10,000,000), upon appropriation by the Legislature
to the board, may be used by the board, after consultation with the
Department of Pesticide Regulation and the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, for grants as follows:
(1) Two million dollars ($2,000,000) for research and source
identification.
(2) Eight million dollars ($8,000,000) for mitigation measures to
protect water quality from potential adverse effects of pesticides,
which measures have the ability to provide benefits for a period of
20 years, as determined by the board after consultation with the
Department of Pesticide Regulation and the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment.
(b) The board shall adopt regulations to carry out this section.