Article 2. Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program of California Water Code >> Division 26. >> Chapter 7. >> Article 2.

The purpose of this article is to provide grant funding for projects that protect the beneficial uses of water throughout the state through the control of nonpoint source pollution.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern the construction of this article:
  (a) "Best management practices" means those practices or set of practices determined by the board, a regional board, or the water quality planning agency for a designated area to be the most effective feasible means of preventing or reducing the generation of a specific type of nonpoint source pollution, given technological, institutional, environmental, and economic constraints.
  (b) "Capital costs" has the same meaning as "cost," as defined in Section 32025 of the Public Resources Code.
  (c) "Management measures" means economically achievable measures to prevent or control the addition of pollutants to state waters, which reflect the greatest degree of pollutant prevention achievable through the application of the best available nonpoint source pollution control practices, technologies, processes, siting criteria, operating methods, or other alternatives.
  (d) "Regional board" means a regional water quality control board.
  (e) "Subaccount" means the Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Subaccount created by Section 79112.

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

The sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) is hereby transferred from the account to the subaccount for the purposes of implementing this article.

(a) The money in the subaccount, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the board, may be used by the board to award grants, not to exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) per project, to local public agencies or nonprofit organizations formed by landowners to prepare and implement local nonpoint source plans. Grants shall only be awarded for any of the following projects:
  (1) A project that is consistent with local watershed management plans that are developed under subdivision (d) of Section 79080 and with regional water quality control plans.
  (2) A broad-based nonpoint source project, including a project identified in the board's "Initiatives in NPS Management," dated September 1995, and nonpoint source technical advisory committee reports.
  (3) A project that is consistent with the "Integrated Plan for Implementation of the Watershed Management Initiative" prepared by the board and the regional boards.
  (4) A project that implements management measures and practices or other needed projects identified by the board pursuant to its nonpoint source pollution control program's 15-year implementation strategy and five-year implementation plan that meets the requirements of Section 6217(g) of the federal Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990.
  (b) The projects funded from the subaccount shall demonstrate a capability of sustaining water quality benefits for a period of 20 years. Categories of nonpoint source pollution addressed by projects may include, but are not limited to: silviculture, agriculture, urban runoff, mining, hydromodification, grazing, onsite disposal systems, boatyards and marinas, and animal feeding operations. Projects to address nonpoint source pollution may include, but are not limited to, wildfire management, installation of vegetative systems to filter or retard pollutant loading, incentive programs or large scale demonstration programs to reduce commercial reliance on polluting substances or to increase acceptance of alternative methods and materials, and engineered features to minimize impacts of nonpoint source pollution. Projects shall have defined water quality or beneficial use goals.
  (c) Projects funded from the subaccount shall utilize best management practices, management measures, or both.
  (d) If projects include capital costs, 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 expenditures for construction, according to the following formula:

Project Capital 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%

(e) Not more than 25 percent of a grant may be awarded in advance of actual expenditure.
  (f) A proponent of a project funded from the subaccount shall be required to submit to the board a monitoring and reporting plan that does all of the following:
  (1) Identifies one or more nonpoint sources of pollution.
  (2) Describes the baseline water quality of the waterbody impacted.
  (3) Describes the manner in which the proposed practices or measures are implemented.
  (4) Determines the effectiveness of the proposed practices or measures in preventing or reducing pollution.
  (g) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the board may award up to 5 percent of the total amount deposited in the subaccount for demonstration projects that are intended to prevent, reduce, or treat nonpoint source pollution.
  (h) A grant recipient shall submit a report to the board, upon completion of the project, that summarizes completed activities and indicates whether the purposes of the project have been met. The report shall include information collected by the grant recipient in accordance with the project monitoring and reporting plan, including a determination of the effectiveness of the best management practices or management measures implemented as part of the project in preventing or reducing nonpoint source pollution. The board shall make the report available to watershed groups, and federal, state, and local agencies.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the subaccount, to the board to be used by the board, after consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, for loans, not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) per loan, to provide low interest loans to finance the construction of projects designed to manage animal nutrients from animal feeding operations. Grants may be made available to local public agencies to pay for the cost of developing ordinances, regulations, and elements for their General Plan or other planning devices to assist in providing uniform standards for the permitting and operation of animal feeding operations within their jurisdictions. These funds may also be used for the preparation of the related environmental reviews that may be necessary under the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) for approval of the devices.

No project shall receive funds under this article if it receives funds pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 79148).

(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 counties not described in subdivision (a).
  (c) This section does not apply to Section 79114.2 or Section 79117.

The board may adopt regulations to implement this article.

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.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, of the funds transferred pursuant to Section 79113, the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000), upon appropriation by the Legislature to the board, may be used by the board, after consultation with the Department of Pesticide Regulation and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, for grants as follows:
  (1) Two million dollars ($2,000,000) for research and source identification.
  (2) Eight million dollars ($8,000,000) for mitigation measures to protect water quality from potential adverse effects of pesticides, which measures have the ability to provide benefits for a period of 20 years, as determined by the board after consultation with the Department of Pesticide Regulation and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
  (b) The board shall adopt regulations to carry out this section.