Article 3. State Water Pollution Cleanup And Abatement Account of California Water Code >> Division 7. >> Chapter 6. >> Article 3.

There is in the State Water Quality Control Fund the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account (hereinafter called the "account"), to be administered by the state board.

There is to be paid into the account all moneys from the following sources:
  (a) All moneys appropriated by the Legislature for the account.
  (b) All moneys contributed to the account by any person and accepted by the state board.
  (c) One-half of all moneys collected by way of criminal penalty and all moneys collected civilly under any proceeding brought pursuant to any provison of this division.
  (d) All moneys collected by the state board for the account under Section 13304. The first unencumbered five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) paid into the account in any given fiscal year is available without regard to fiscal years, for expenditure by the state board in accordance with the provisions of this article. The next unencumbered five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), or any portion thereof, deposited in any given fiscal year, is available for expenditure by the state board for the purposes of this article, subject to the provisions set forth in Section 28 of the Budget Act of 1984 (Chapter 258 of the Statutes of 1984). The next unencumbered one million dollars ($1,000,000) deposited in the account in any given fiscal year is available for expenditure by the state board for the purposes of Section 13443. The remaining unencumbered funds deposited in the account in any given fiscal year is available without regard to fiscal years to the state board for expenditure for the purposes set forth in Section 13442.

The State Treasurer, when requested by the state board and approved by the Director of Finance, shall transfer moneys in the nature of a loan from the State Water Quality Control Fund to the account created pursuant to Section 13440, which shall be repayable from the account to such fund; provided, that the moneys transferred from the fund to the account shall not exceed the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) at any one time.

(a) Upon application by an eligible entity, as described in subdivision (b), the state board may approve the payment of moneys from the account to that entity to assist in cleaning up a waste, abating the effects of a waste on waters of the state, or addressing an urgent drinking water need without regard to whether the need for drinking water is a result of the discharge of waste.
  (b) An entity is eligible to apply for funding pursuant to this section if that entity has authority to undertake the activity for which it seeks moneys and the entity is any of the following:
  (1) A public agency.
  (2) A tribal government that is on the California Tribal Consultation List maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission and is a disadvantaged community, as defined in Section 79505.5, that agrees to waive tribal sovereign immunity for the explicit purpose of regulation by the state board pursuant to this division.
  (3) A not-for-profit organization serving a disadvantaged community, as defined in Section 79505.5.
  (4) A community water system, as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code, that serves a disadvantaged community, as defined in Section 79505.5.
  (c) An eligible entity shall not become liable to the state board for repayment of moneys paid to the entity under this section and expended in accordance with the state board's approval of payment, but this shall not be a defense to an action brought pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 13304 for the recovery of moneys paid under this section.
  (d) Projects using moneys that are paid to an eligible entity pursuant to this section shall be exempt from state contracting and procurement requirements set forth in the Government Code and the Public Contract Code to the extent necessary to take immediate action to protect public health and safety.
  (e) The state board may adopt guidelines for the allocation and administration of these moneys that shall not be subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
  (f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2018, and, as of January 1, 2019, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

(a) Upon application by a public agency, a tribal government that is on the California Tribal Consultation List maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission and is a disadvantaged community, as defined in Section 79505.5, that agrees to waive tribal sovereign immunity for the explicit purpose of regulation by the state board pursuant to this division, or a not-for-profit organization serving a disadvantaged community, as defined in Section 79505.5, with authority to clean up a waste or abate the effects of a waste, the state board may order moneys to be paid from the account to the agency, tribal government, or organization to assist it in cleaning up the waste or abating its effects on waters of the state.
  (b) The agency, a tribal government that is on the California Tribal Consultation List maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission and is a disadvantaged community, as defined in Section 79505.5, that agrees to waive tribal sovereign immunity for the explicit purpose of regulation by the state board pursuant to this division, or a not-for-profit organization serving a disadvantaged community, as defined in Section 79505.5, shall not become liable to the state board for repayment of moneys paid under this section, but this shall not be a defense to an action brought pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 13304 for the recovery of moneys paid under this section.
  (c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2018.

Upon application by a regional board that is attempting to remedy a significant unforeseen water pollution problem, posing an actual or potential public health threat, or is overseeing and tracking the implementation of a supplemental environmental project required as a condition of an order imposing administrative civil liability, and for which the regional board does not have adequate resources budgeted, the state board may order moneys to be paid from the account to the regional board to assist it in responding to the problem.