Chapter 3. Unified Air Pollution Control Districts of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 26. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 3.

Two or more contiguous counties, all or part of which are county districts, may merge those county districts into one unified district pursuant to this chapter.

The board of supervisors of any county may, by a vote of its members, appoint two of its members to meet with an equal number appointed in a like manner from other counties and agree to form a unified district, which agreement, upon ratification by the boards of supervisors, shall create a unified district out of the county districts under their jurisdiction.

(a) On and after July 1, 1994, the membership of the governing board of each unified district, including any district formed on or after that date, shall include (1) one or more members who are mayors, city council members, or both, and (2) one or more members who are county supervisors.
  (b) The number of those members and their composition shall be determined jointly by the counties and cities within the district, and shall be approved by a majority of the counties, and by a majority of the cities which contain a majority of the population in the incorporated area of the district.
  (c) The governing board shall reflect, to the extent feasible and practicable, the geographic diversity of the district and the variation of population between the cities in the district.
  (d) The members of the governing board who are mayors or city council members shall be selected by a majority of the cities in the district. The members of the governing board who are county supervisors shall be selected by a majority of the counties in the district.
  (e) If a district fails to comply with subdivisions (a) and (b), the membership of the governing board shall be determined as follows:
  (1) In districts in which the population in the incorporated areas represents 35 percent or less of the total district population, one-fourth of the members of the governing board shall be mayors or city council members, and three-fourths shall be county supervisors.
  (2) In districts in which the population in the incorporated areas represents between 36 and 50 percent of the total county population, one-third of the members of the governing board shall be mayors or city council members, and two-thirds shall be county supervisors.
  (3) In districts in which the population in the incorporated areas represents more than 50 percent of the total county population, one-half of the members of the governing board shall be mayors or city council members, and one-half shall be county supervisors.
  (4) The number of those members shall be determined as provided in subdivision (b) and the members shall be selected pursuant to subdivision (d).
  (5) For purposes of paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, if any number which is not a whole number results from the application of the term "one-fourth," "one-third," "one-half," "two-thirds," or "three-fourths," the number of county supervisors shall be increased to the nearest integer, and the number of mayors or city council members decreased to the nearest integer.
  (f) This section does not apply to a district if the membership of the governing board of the district includes both county supervisors and mayors or city council members on June 30, 1994.

(a) Section 40152 shall not apply to a unified district if each city in the district consents, by the adoption of an ordinance or resolution, to the exclusion of the district from the requirements of Section 40152.
  (b) Within 60 days from the date of the adoption of an ordinance or resolution by all cities in the district to exclude the district from the requirements of Section 40152, if requested by a majority of the cities in the district, the district shall establish an advisory committee consisting of a mayor, or a city council member, from each city in the district. Each city shall select its representative to the advisory committee.
  (c) Subdivision (a) shall become inapplicable, and Section 40152 shall apply, if, at any time after the condition prescribed in subdivision (a) has been met, a majority of the cities which contain a majority of the population in the incorporated areas of the district, as established by the most recent census data, have adopted resolutions requesting the application of Section 40152.

Each member of the unified district board shall, upon the adoption of a resolution by the unified district board, receive the actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties, plus a compensation of one hundred dollars ($100) for each day attending the meetings of the unified district board or any committee of the unified district board or, upon authorization by the unified district board, while engaged in official business of the unified district, but that compensation shall not exceed three thousand six hundred dollars ($3,600) in any one year.

The boundaries of a unified district shall be the same as the boundaries of the counties of which it is comprised, or the balance of a county not included in another district, or such portion of a county as may be agreed upon.

The unified district board may designate zones within the unified district.

All county officers and employees of the counties entirely within the unified district, and all other county employees of the zones within the unified district where the county is not entirely therein, shall be ex officio officers and employees of the unified district only within the county in which they are employed.

(a) The board of supervisors of each county included, in whole or in part, within the unified district shall appropriate such funds as are necessary to carry out the purposes of the unified district, as determined by the unified district board, in accordance with the funding provisions specified in the agreement which created the unified district under Section 40151.
  (b) A unified district may contract, by a memorandum of understanding, joint powers agreement, or other agreement, with a county or counties in which the unified district is functioning, to provide facilities and administrative, legal, health coverage, risk management, clerical, and other support services, including, but not limited to, those facilities and services that the county or counties provided to the unified district prior to July 1, 1994.

(a) All appropriations made pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 40158 are legal charges against the county in which the board of supervisors voted the appropriation.
  (b) The treasurer of the county shall pay the amount so appropriated into the treasury of the unified district.

By the agreement ratified pursuant to Section 40151 or by resolution, a county treasurer of a member county shall be designated and shall act as the unified district treasurer.

When a unified district ceases to function and exercise its powers because it is included entirely within a regional district created pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 40300), the regional district shall succeed to all the funds, property, and obligations of the unified district. Where the unified district is included within two or more such regional districts, the funds, property, and obligations of the unified district shall be apportioned to the regional districts as agreed upon by the regional districts and unified district.

Funding of the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, or, if the unified district ceases to exist, of the valley district if created pursuant to Section 5 of Chapter 915 of the Statutes of 1994, may be provided by, but is not limited to, grants, subventions, permit fees, penalties, and vehicle license fees. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funding contribution shall be required from the counties or cities included in the unified district or valley district.