BILL NUMBER: SB 615	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 6, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Berryhill

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act  to add Section 13269.1 to the Water Code, 
relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 615, as amended, Berryhill.  Groundwater basin
adjudication.   Waste discharge requirements: waivers:
managed   wetlands.  
   The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, with certain
exceptions, requires a waste discharger to file certain information
with the appropriate California regional water quality control board.
The act prohibits a waste discharger from taking certain actions
relating to the discharge of waste before filing the information with
the regional board and also prohibits a waste discharger from taking
those actions after filing the report but before the occurrence of
certain events. The act requires each regional board to prescribe
waste discharge requirements, as specified, that implement relevant
water quality control plans. Under the act, the State Water Resources
Control Board or a regional board may waive requirements regarding a
specific discharge or type of discharge if the state board or
regional board determines that the waiver is consistent with any
applicable state or regional water quality control plan and is in the
public interest. The act requires that the waiver shall not exceed 5
years in duration, but permits the state board or a regional board
to renew the waiver. The act requires the waiver to be conditional on
specified monitoring requirements but authorizes the state board or
a regional board to waive the monitoring requirements for discharges
it determines do not pose a significant threat to water quality.
 
   This bill would require that managed wetlands be presumed to not
pose a significant threat to water quality and would require, with
respect to managed wetlands, the state board and regional boards to
waive the above-described reporting requirements, regional board
prescribed waste discharge requirements, and monitoring requirements
of the waiver program, except that the state board or a regional
board shall require water quality monitoring of a managed wetland not
more than once during the duration of each waiver period unless
results of downstream monitoring demonstrate a violation of water
quality discharge standards. The bill would limit this monitoring to
contaminants that are actually applied by wetland managers to the
wetland and contaminants that are known to be naturally present in
the wetland environment.  
   Existing law specifies the jurisdiction of the courts. Under
existing law, courts may adjudicate rights to produce groundwater and
exercise other powers relating to the supervision of a groundwater
basin.  
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to streamline the process for the adjudication of
groundwater rights. 
   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.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) Before European and American settlement, approximately four
million acres in California flooded on a seasonal basis, forming
wetlands.  
   (b) These wetlands supported migratory birds in the tens of
millions, as well as other wetlands-dependent wildlife and fish,
including several endangered species.  
   (c) Following reclamation of the wetlands in the past two
centuries, less than 10 percent of the historical seasonal wetlands
are still in existence.  
   (d) These wetlands consist largely of private lands, federal
refuges, and state wildlife areas.  
   (e) Approximately five million migratory waterfowl, traveling on
the Pacific Flyway, now winter in California on the remaining
wetlands.  
   (f) A variety of other wildlife species, including shorebirds,
resident waterfowl, sandhill cranes, giant garter snakes, white-faced
ibis, and other wetlands-dependent species, depend on the remaining
wetlands for their survival.  
   (g) These species are public trust resources, protected by the
North American Waterfowl Management Plan, the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act, the state and federal Endangered Species Acts, and other state,
federal, and international statutes and treaties.  
   (h) Most of the remaining seasonal wetlands are managed to
optimize habitat values, with the intent of providing adequate
nutrients, nesting cover, and brood water, and other habitat values
for migratory waterfowl and other wetlands-dependent species. 

   (i) Managed wetlands have been shown to provide improved habitat
values not just for migratory waterfowl and other wetlands-dependent
species, but also for salmonids and other fish species that find
refuge and nutrition in order to grow strong enough to move on into
open waters.  
   (j) Seasonal and managed wetlands can improve the quality of water
that is used to flood habitat and then discharged for reuse
elsewhere.  
   (k) Water quality regulations should not impose a cost on
wetlands, as an important public trust resource, beyond the extent to
which wetlands actually contribute to nonpoint source pollution of
the waters of the state. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 13269.1 is added to the  
Water Code   , to read:  
   13269.1.  (a) As a public trust resource, managed wetlands,
whether owned and operated by state, federal, or local agencies, or
private landowners, shall be presumed not to pose a significant
threat to water quality. In accordance with paragraphs (1) and (3) of
subdivision (a) of Section 13269, the state board or a regional
board shall waive the provisions of subdivisions (a) and (c) of
Section 13260, subdivision (a) of Section 13263, and subdivision (a)
of Section 13264 with respect to managed wetlands.
   (b) (1) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (a)
of Section 13269, unless the results of downstream monitoring of a
managed wetland demonstrate a violation of water quality discharge
standards, the state board or a regional board shall require water
quality monitoring, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a)
of Section 13269, of the managed wetland not more than once during
the duration of each waiver period granted pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 13269.
   (2) Monitoring pursuant to this subdivision shall be limited to
contaminants that are actually applied by wetland managers to the
managed wetland and contaminants that are known to be naturally
present in the wetland environment. Monitoring shall not include
contaminants that are present in the managed wetland as a result of
third-party activities outside of the managed wetland area. 

  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to streamline the process for the adjudication
of groundwater rights.