Section 13272 Of Article 4. Waste Discharge Requirements From California Water Code >> Division 7. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 4.
13272
. (a) Except as provided by subdivision (b), any person who,
without regard to intent or negligence, causes or permits any oil or
petroleum product to be discharged in or on any waters of the state,
or discharged or deposited where it is, or probably will be,
discharged in or on any waters of the state, shall, as soon as (1)
that person has knowledge of the discharge, (2) notification is
possible, and (3) notification can be provided without substantially
impeding cleanup or other emergency measures, immediately notify the
Office of Emergency Services of the discharge in accordance with the
spill reporting provision of the California oil spill contingency
plan adopted pursuant to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 8574.1)
of Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(b) The notification required by this section shall not apply to a
discharge in compliance with waste discharge requirements or other
provisions of this division.
(c) Any person who fails to provide the notice required by this
section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of
not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand
dollars ($5,000) per day for each day of failure to notify, or
imprisonment of not more than one year, or both. Except where a
discharge to the waters of this state would have occurred but for
cleanup or emergency response by a public agency, this subdivision
shall not apply to any discharge to land that does not result in a
discharge to the waters of this state. This subdivision shall not
apply to any person who is fined by the federal government for a
failure to report a discharge of oil.
(d) Notification received pursuant to this section or information
obtained by use of that notification shall not be used against any
person providing the notification in any criminal case, except in a
prosecution for perjury or giving a false statement.
(e) Immediate notification to the appropriate regional board of
the discharge, in accordance with reporting requirements set under
Section 13267 or 13383, shall constitute compliance with the
requirements of subdivision (a).
(f) The reportable quantity for oil or petroleum products shall be
one barrel (42 gallons) or more, by direct discharge to the
receiving waters, unless a more restrictive reporting standard for a
particular body of water is adopted.