Mandatory minimum civil penalties: publicly owned treatment works.

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, as defined, or for certain other described violations if those violations occur 4 or more times in any period of 6 consecutive months, as prescribed. The state act authorizes the state board or a regional board to elect to require a publicly owned treatment works (POTWS) serving a small community, in lieu of assessing the mandatory minimum penalty against that POTWS, to spend an equivalent amount towards the completion of a compliance project proposed by that POTWS if certain requirements are met, including a requirement that the POTWS prepare a financing plan to complete the compliance project. Existing law defines "a publicly owned treatment works serving a small community" to mean a publicly owned treatment works serving a population of 10,000 persons or fewer or a rural county, with a financial hardship as determined by the state board after considering specified factors. This bill would require the financing plan prepared by the POTWS to include the completion of the compliance project within 5 years. The bill would authorize the state board, when determining financial hardship, if the state board finds that the review of the specified factors does not adequately represent the range of economic circumstances in a community, to also consider the impact of the penalties on individual ratepayers.