SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The County of San Mateo and each of the 20 incorporated cities within this county have joined together to form the 21-member City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County, a joint powers agency that addresses issues of countywide significance, including water pollution prevention programs.
(b) Each of the 21-member agencies of the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County is mandated to comply with municipal stormwater permit requirements issued by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.
(c) The City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County helps coordinate municipal stormwater permit compliance activities among its member agencies and, in cases where compliance activities are more effectively implemented at a countywide level, does so on their behalf as directed by its member agencies.
(d) The addition of Section 65089.50 to the Government Code will better enable the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County to do, among other things, all of the following:
(1) In conjunction with its member agencies, protect the watersheds and natural resources within the County of San Mateo and restore and enhance the environment, including the long-term protection of the waters of local creeks and waterways, the San Francisco Bay, and the coastline along the Pacific Ocean.
(2) Develop and adopt a countywide stormwater management program designed to coordinate, fund, and implement water pollution prevention programs within the County of San Mateo, by the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County or its member agencies.
(3) Impose, consistent with and pursuant to the California Constitution, a special tax or property-related fee within its boundaries to fund activities outlined in its joint powers agreement and consistent with municipal stormwater permit requirements mandated by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board.
(e) The provisions of this act respond to the specific and unique circumstances of the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County by affirming the association’s authority to impose, consistent with and pursuant to the California Constitution, a special tax or property-related fee within its boundaries to fund activities outlined in its joint powers agreement. It is the intent of the Legislature that this act shall not be construed to limit, expand, or otherwise change any local agency’s authority to exercise power under the Joint Exercise of Powers Act.