Mandatory minimum civil penalties: automatic composite sampler.

Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste discharge requirements in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (state act) . The state act, with certain exceptions, imposes a mandatory minimum penalty of $3,000 for each serious waste discharge violation or for certain other described violations if those violations occur 4 or more times in any period of 6 consecutive months. This bill would provide a publicly owned treatment works with the option of using an automatic composite sampler, in lieu of grab samples, to collect representative samples for monitoring constituents that are subject to the mandatory minimum penalties.