Today's Law As Amended


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AB-1415 Department of Water Resources: reporting requirements: civil penalties.(2019-2020)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Chapter 3.8 (commencing with Section 390) is added to Division 1 of the Water Code, to read:

CHAPTER  3.8. Civil Penalties for Failure to Report
390.
 (a) This section applies to all of the following reports and plans required to be provided to the department:
(1) A report that summarizes aggregated farm-gate delivery data, as described in Section 531.10.
(2) A water loss audit report, and accompanying information, as described in Section 10608.34.
(3) An urban water management plan or plan update, as described in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 10620) of Part 2.6 of Division 6.
(4) A report on the implementation and enforcement of the model water efficient landscape ordinance, or a locally modified water efficient landscape ordinance that is at least as effective in conserving water, as described in Section 495 of Title 23 of the California Code of Regulations.
(b) An entity that fails to file with the department a report or plan described in subdivision (a) by the deadline required for that particular report or plan shall be subject to civil liability as described in subdivision (c).
(c) The department shall impose a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the failure to timely file a report or plan described in subdivision (a). If an entity does not file the report or plan within 60 days after the department has notified the entity of the failure to timely file the report or plan, the department may impose an additional penalty of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) per day for each day the violation continues after the date on which the department initially notified the entity of the failure to timely file the report or plan.
(d) The department may reduce or waive any civil penalty described in this section if any of the following occurs:
(1) Within 30 days after the department notifies an entity of the failure to timely file a report or plan described in subdivision (a), the entity provides the department with a written assurance that the required report or plan will be filed within 90 days of the assurance, and the department receives the report or plan within 90 days.
(2) The department finds that the timely submission of the report or plan was impeded by equipment failure, work stoppage, or natural disaster, and the entity submits a revised schedule for submission that is acceptable to the department.
(3) (A) The entity is located in a disadvantaged community and submits a revised schedule for submission that is acceptable to the department.
(B) For purposes of this chapter, “disadvantaged community” means a community with an annual median household income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual median household income.
(e) Not later than February 1, 2021, and not later than February 1 each year thereafter, the department shall prepare and submit a report to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water and the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife listing each entity that, during the preceding calendar year, failed to timely file a report or plan described in subdivision (a).
391.
 Moneys recovered pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in the Department of Water Resources Reporting Penalties Account, which is hereby established in the General Fund. Moneys in the account shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department for the costs of administering this chapter.