Article 5. Coastal Nonpoint Source Control Program of California Water Code >> Division 26. >> Chapter 7. >> Article 5.

The purpose of this article is to provide funding for projects that restore and protect the water quality and environment of coastal waters, estuaries, bays, and near shore waters and groundwaters.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern the construction of this article:
  (a) "Educational institution" means community colleges, state colleges, and the University of California.
  (b) "Local public agency" means any city, county, city and county, district, or other political subdivision of the state.
  (c) "Municipality" has the same meaning as defined in the Clean Water Act and also includes the state or any agency, department, or political subdivision thereof, and applicants eligible for technical assistance under Section 319 (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1329) or grants under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1330).
  (d) "Nonprofit organization" means any California corporation organized under Section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code.
  (e) "Regional board" means a regional water quality control board.
  (f) "Subaccount" means the Coastal Nonpoint Source Control Subaccount created by Section 79148.4.

There is hereby created in the account the Coastal Nonpoint Source Control Subaccount.

The sum of ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) is hereby transferred from the account to the subaccount for the purposes of implementing this article.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the sum of four million dollars ($4,000,000), upon appropriation by the Legislature to the board, shall be allocated by the board to the City of Huntington Beach to fund multiagency studies to establish recommendations to address coastal nonpoint source pollution in the tidal marshes and coastal waters, and to implement those recommendations. Agencies authorized to conduct the studies and implement the recommendations may include, but need not be limited to, municipal and county governments, flood control districts, and sanitation districts.

(a) The money in the subaccount, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the board, may be used by the board, in consultation with the California Coastal Commission, to award loans as provided in subdivision (b), and to award grants not to exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) per project, to municipalities, local public agencies, educational institutions, or nonprofit organizations for the purposes of this article. Grants may be awarded for any of the following projects:
  (1) A project designed to improve water quality at public beaches and to make improvements for the purpose of ensuring that coastal waters adjacent to public beaches meet the bacteriological standards set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 115875) of Chapter 5 of Part 10 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code.
  (2) A project to provide comprehensive capability for monitoring, collecting, and analyzing ambient water quality, including monitoring technology that can be entered into a statewide information base with standardized protocols and sampling, collection, storage and retrieval procedures.
  (3) A project to make improvements to existing sewer collection systems and septic systems for the restoration and protection of coastal water quality.
  (4) A project designed to implement storm water and runoff pollution reduction and prevention programs for the restoration and protection of coastal water quality.
  (5) A project that is consistent with the state's nonpoint source control program, as revised to meet the requirements of Section 6217 of the federal Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990, Section 319 of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1329), and the requirements of Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000).
  (b) In addition to the grants authorized pursuant to subdivision (a), the board may make loans not to exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) per project to municipalities, local public agencies, educational institutions, or nonprofit organizations for the purposes set forth in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
  (c) The projects funded from the subaccount shall demonstrate the capability of contributing to sustained, long-term water quality or environmental restoration or protection benefits for a period of 20 years, shall address the causes of degradation, rather than the symptoms, and shall be consistent with water quality and resource protection plans prepared, implemented, or adopted by the board, the applicable regional water quality control board, and the California Coastal Commission.
  (d) An applicant for funds from the subaccount shall be required to submit to the board a monitoring and reporting plan that does all of the following:
  (1) Identifies the nonpoint source or sources of pollution to be prevented or reduced by the project.
  (2) Describes the baseline water quality or quality of the environment to be addressed.
  (3) Describes the manner in which the project will be effective in preventing or reducing pollution and in demonstrating the desired environmental results.
  (e) Upon completion of the project, a recipient of funds from the subaccount shall submit a report to the board that summarizes the completed activities and indicates whether the purposes of the project have been met. The report shall include information collected by the recipient in accordance with the project monitoring and reporting plan, including a determination of the effectiveness of the project in preventing or reducing pollution. The board shall make the report available to the public, watershed groups, and federal, state, and local agencies.
  (f) If projects include capital costs for construction, 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 costs for construction, according to the following formula:

Capital Cost Project 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%

For the purposes of this subdivision, "capital costs" has the same meaning as "cost" as defined in Section 32025 of the Public Resources Code.
  (g) Not more than 25 percent of a grant may be awarded in advance of actual expenditure.
  (h) An applicant for funds from the subaccount shall inform the board of any necessary public agency approvals, entitlements, and permits that may be necessary to implement the project. The application shall certify to the board, at the appropriate time, that those approvals, entitlements, and permits have been granted.
  (i) Where recovery plans for coho salmon, steelhead trout, or other threatened or endangered aquatic species exist, projects funded under this article shall be consistent with those plans, and to the extent feasible, shall seek to implement actions specified in those plans.

(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 the counties not described in subdivision (a).

The board shall provide opportunity for public review and comment in awarding funds pursuant to this article, and may, in consultation with the California Coastal Commission, adopt regulations to implement this article.

No project shall receive funds under this article if it receives funds pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 79110).

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, three million dollars ($3,000,000), upon appropriation by the Legislature to the board, shall be allocated by the board to the San Diego County Water Authority for environmental studies and engineering studies for the San Diego Regional Conveyance Facility.

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.