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AB1876 (passed)
AB1876, authored by Assembly member Wilma Chan, amended AB411, the State's Beach Bathing Water Standards and Public Notification Program, to add additional beach monitoring locations in the San Francisco Bay. There are more than 450 ocean shoreline locations currently being monitored statewide. The original regulation only required the monitoring of ocean shoreline beaches with 50,000 visitors and impacted by a pollution source, such as a storm drain, river, or creek, from April through October. This bill expands the existing monitoring coverage so that San Francisco Bay beachgoers can experience the same level of protection their ocean counterparts currently enjoy. Numerous locations in San Francisco Bay are now monitored on a weekly basis and subject to public notification when state beach bathing water standards are exceeded. Heal the Bay is currently in the process of incorporating these new sites into the Beach Report Card.
AB359 (pending)
AB359, authored by Assemblymember Mike Gordon, would authorize the California State
Department of Parks and Recreation, Coastal Commission, the County of Los Angeles, City of
Los Angeles, and other interested parties to enter into a one-year agreement to establish, manage,
and evaluate an off-leash dog beach pilot program at Dockweiler State Beach. Private funding
sources would be used to pay for the costs of the pilot program.
While Heal the Bay is not necessarily opposed to dogs on the beach, we do have a list of criteria
that should be met, which address public safety and environmental health issues, prior to
allowing dogs on the beach. As long as dogs are not allowed below the high tide line, there is
daily beach monitoring, and the dog area is fenced in or completely enclosed, Heal the Bay
does not oppose dog beaches. Unfortunately, the pilot program in AB 359 contains none of
these requirements; therefore, Heal the Bay opposes the bill.
ACA13 (pending)
ACA 13, authored by Assembly Member Tom Harman, would give local governments more flexibility to achieve reductions in stormwater and urban runoff pollution. If passed by the legislature, ACA 13 would appear on the next statewide general election. If passed by the voters, it would authorize cities and counties to raise storm water and flood control fees without voter approval. Currently, sewer, water and refuse collection services fees are already exempt from the voter approval process of Proposition 218, but flood control and storm water fees are not. This change would be within the spirit of Prop 218, yet afford localities the ability to reduce this health, environmental, and economic threat. Without this change in the state constitution, cities and counties will continue to have no new source of dedicated revenue for flood control and
stormwater programs and structural best management practice operations and maintenance.
Currently, the State legislature has failed to act on this critical issue. Heal the Bay and the
California League of Cities are working with the Schwarzenegger administration to try to get
the bill through the legislature and on the ballot as soon as possible.
AB885 (update)
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) finally released draft AB 885 regulations in April. The law required for the SWRCB to set final regulations for siting, monitoring and water treatment performance for California's on-site water treatment systems (OWTS) by January of 2004. The regulatory process has been extremely controversial and incredibly slow. Elements in the regulation consist of: minimum separation requirements for on-site systems and groundwater; a specific methodology for determining the seasonal high groundwater level; a septic tank inspection requirement upon transfer of property ownership; a requirement, upon transfer of property ownership, for groundwater monitoring where domestic wells are used at or near a property with an OWTS; a requirement for upgrading the performance of OWTS adjacent to (within 600 feet of) impaired water bodies, such as Malibu Creek and Lagoon, where a Regional Water Board has identified OWTS as contributing to the impairment; a requirement for mechanisms to prevent solids in excess of 1/8 inches in diameter from entering the dispersal system in all new OWTS; a minimum application rates for wastewater discharged to the soil dispersal systems; and specific performance requirements for OWTS that include supplemental treatment units where such units are allowed or required by the permitting agency.
Although these regulations would apply throughout the state, they will have special importance at California beaches and coastal watersheds that are impaired for fecal bacteria. Systems within 600 feet of impaired waters will have to upgrade to provide disinfection and nutrient removal. Heal the Bay strongly believes that the nutrient reduction requirements are not adequate for aquatic resource protection, but the disinfection requirements for fecal bacteria should be adequate to protect public health providing the new, upgraded systems are adequately maintained.
The draft regulations are out for public review and soon an Environmental Impact report will be released on the regulations. The earliest the regulations will become law is 2006: a full two years after the legislative deadline.
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