2007 California Water Code Chapter 5.9. The Storm Water Enforcement Act Of 1998 ... 13399.25-13399.43

CA Codes (wat:13399.25-13399.43)

13399.25.  This chapter supplements, and does not supplant, other
laws relating to the discharge of storm water.



13399.27.  On or before February 1, 2000, and on each February 1
thereafter, the state board, after any necessary investigation, shall
prepare, and make available to the public, a report that includes
both of the following:
   (a) A list of those persons that were notified of their duty to
comply with applicable general storm water NPDES permits pursuant to
Section 13399.30 and a description of the responses received to those
notifications, including the filing of notices of intent to obtain
coverage or notices of nonapplicability, returned mail and no
response, appeals of filing or permitting requirements pursuant to
this chapter, site inspections, enforcement actions taken, and
penalties assessed therefor.
   (b) A list of those dischargers identified pursuant to Section
13399.31 that, during the previous calendar year, failed to submit an
annual report or construction certification required by a regional
board, and any penalties assessed therefor.



13399.30.  (a) (1) Each year the regional boards shall undertake
reasonable efforts to identify dischargers of storm water that have
not obtained coverage under an appropriate storm water NPDES permit.

   (2) Any person, including a person subject to waste discharge
requirements under Section 1342(p) of Title 33 of the United States
Code, that discharges, proposes to discharge, or is suspected by a
regional board or the state board of discharging storm water
associated with industrial activity that has not obtained coverage
under an appropriate storm water NPDES permit, shall submit to the
regional board, within 30 days from the date on which a notice is
sent by the regional board, the appropriate notice of intent to
obtain coverage or a notice of nonapplicability that specifies the
basis for not needing to obtain coverage under an NPDES permit.
   (b) If a person to which a notice is sent pursuant to subdivision
(a) fails to submit the appropriate notice of intent to obtain
coverage or the required notice of nonapplicability to the regional
board within 30 days from the date on which that notice is sent, the
executive officer of the regional board shall send a second notice to
that discharger.
   (c) (1) If a person to which a notice is sent pursuant to
subdivision (b) fails to submit the required notice of
nonapplicability to the regional board within 60 days from the date
on which the notice pursuant to subdivision (a) was sent, the
regional board shall impose the penalties described in subdivision
(b) of Section 13399.33.
   (2) If a person to which a notice is sent pursuant to subdivision
(b) fails to submit the required notice of intent to obtain coverage
to the regional board within 60 days from the date on which the
notice pursuant to subdivision (a) was sent, the regional board shall
impose the penalties described in subdivision (a) of Section
13399.33.


13399.31.  (a) Each year the regional board shall conduct a review
of the annual reports and construction certifications submitted in
accordance with the requirements of an applicable NPDES permit and
Section 1342(p) of Title 33 of the United States Code and shall
identify the dischargers that have failed to submit that annual
report or construction certification required by the regional board.

   (b) The regional board shall notify each discharger that is
identified pursuant to subdivision (a) with regard to its
noncompliance and the penalties therefor.
   (c) If a discharger to which a notice is sent pursuant to
subdivision (b) fails to submit the annual report or construction
certification required by the regional board to the regional board
within 30 days from the date on which that notice is sent, the
executive officer of the regional board shall send a second notice to
that discharger.
   (d) If a discharger to which a notice is sent pursuant to
subdivision (c) fails to submit the annual report or construction
certification required by the regional board to the regional board
within 60 days from the date on which the notice is sent pursuant to
subdivision (b), the regional board shall impose the penalties
described in subdivision (c) of Section 13399.33.




13399.33.  Except as provided in Section 13399.35, the regional
board shall do all of the following with regard to a discharger that
is subject to the requirements prescribed in accordance with Section
1342(p) of Title 33 of the United States Code:
   (a) (1) With regard to a discharger of storm water associated with
industrial activity that fails to submit the required notice of
intent to obtain coverage in accordance with Section 13399.30, impose
civil liability administratively in an amount that is not less than
five thousand dollars (,000) per year of noncompliance or fraction
thereof, unless the regional board makes express findings setting
forth the reasons for its failure to do so, based on the specific
factors required to be considered pursuant to paragraph (2).
   (2) In determining the amount of the penalty imposed under this
section, the regional board shall consider the nature, circumstances,
extent, and gravity of the violation, and, with respect to the
violator, the ability to pay, any prior history of violations, the
degree of culpability, economic benefits or savings resulting from
the violation, and other matters as justice may require.  These
considerations shall be balanced against the need for the regulatory
costs of environmental protection to be borne equally by dischargers
throughout the state, and the need for predictability of enforcement
when making business decisions.
   (b) With regard to a person that fails to submit the required
notice of nonapplicability in accordance with Section 13399.30,
impose civil liability administratively in the amount of one thousand
dollars (,000).
   (c) With regard to a person that fails to submit an annual report
or construction certification in accordance with Section 13399.31,
impose civil liability administratively in an amount that is not less
than one thousand dollars (,000).
   (d) Recover from the persons described in subdivisions (a), (b),
and (c) the costs incurred by the regional board with regard to those
persons.
   (e) It is an affirmative defense to the penalties imposed under
this section for a person described in subdivision (a) or (b) to
prove that he or she did not, in fact, receive the notices required
under Section 13399.30 or 13399.31.



13399.35.  (a) The regional board may allow a person to reduce the
penalties described in subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section
13399.33 by up to 50 percent by undertaking a supplemental
environmental project in accordance with the enforcement policy of
the state board and any applicable guidance document.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, a "supplemental
environmental project" means an environmentally beneficial project
that a person agrees to undertake, with the approval of the regional
board, which would not be undertaken in the absence of an enforcement
action under Section 13399.33.



13399.37.  (a) The money generated from the imposition of liability
and cost recovery pursuant to Section 13399.33 shall be deposited,
and separately accounted for, in the Waste Discharge Permit Fund.
   (b) The money described in subdivision (a) shall be available,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the regional boards from
which the revenues were generated for the purpose of carrying out
storm water programs under this division.



13399.41.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, appropriate
state agencies, as requested by the executive director of the state
board, shall provide the state board with the names, addresses, and
standard industrial classifications or types of business facilities
that are subject to storm water programs under this division.  The
information obtained pursuant to this section shall be used by the
state board solely to regulate the discharge of storm water
associated with industrial activity under this division.  The state
shall reimburse state agencies for all reasonable expenses incurred
in connection with complying with this section.




13399.43.  For the purposes of this chapter, "NPDES permit" means a
permit issued under the national pollutant discharge elimination
system program in accordance with the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.A.
Sec. 1251 et seq.).