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SB-258 Water use fees.(2007-2008)

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SB258:v95#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 25, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  May 15, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  April 16, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  March 26, 2007

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 258

Introduced  by  Senator Ducheny

February 14, 2007

An act relating to water.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 258, as amended, Ducheny. Water use fees.
Existing law requires a person who files a specified application, registration, petition, or request relating to water use to pay certain fees imposed by the State Water Resources Control Board. The board is required to adopt a fee schedule so that the total amount of fees collected equals that amount necessary to recover costs incurred in connection with the issuance, administration, review, monitoring, and enforcement of permits, licenses, certificates, and registrations to appropriate water, water leases, and orders approving changes in points of discharge, place of use, or purpose of use of treated wastewater. The board is required to set the amount of total revenue collected each year through the fees at an amount equal to the revenue levels set forth in the annual Budget Act for this activity. The revenue generated by those fees is required to be deposited in the Water Rights Fund. The board is authorized to expend the money in the fund, upon appropriation, for the administration of certain provisions of the Water Code. The work of the board is divided into specified divisions, 1 one of which is the Division of Water Rights.
This bill would require the board, as part of the preparation of the Governor’s Budget submitted in January 2008, to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature with regard to the alternatives for financing the Division of Water Rights. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The adjudicatory and enforcement functions related to the administration of water rights in California are vital to the environment, economy, and well-being of all Californians.
(b) Equal access to a fair and impartial quasi-judicial forum to arbitrate and resolve water right disputes is an essential right afforded to all Californians. Moreover, the administrative resolution of water rights relieves the judicial system from handling many of these disputes.
(c) The funding of the Division of Water Rights of the State Water Resources Control Board should reflect the core values of equal access, equity, and affordability.
(d) The Division of Water Rights of the State Water Resources Control Board should impose fees only to the extent that the charge to a payor bears a fair and reasonable relationship to the payor’s burdens or benefits resulting from regulatory activity by the division.

(e)The imposition of fees on the holder of a permit or license to appropriate water for the operation of a hydroelectric facility should be undertaken in a manner that does not deter or impair the development of environmentally compatible hydroelectric facilities that otherwise assist the state in meeting its commitments to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in accordance with the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and Chapter 598 of the Statutes of 2006.

SEC. 2.

 (a) The State Water Resources Control Board shall prepare and submit a report to the Legislature with regard to the alternatives for financing the Division of Water Rights. The alternatives shall be consistent with judicial precedent.
(b) The State Water Resources Control Board shall prepare the report as part of the preparation of the Governor’s Budget submitted to the Legislature in January 2008.
(c) For the purpose of subdivision (a), the State Water Resources Control Board, to the extent feasible, shall utilize readily available audit findings and relevant reports.