Business licenses: stormwater discharge compliance.

(1) Existing law requires, when applying to a city or a county for an initial business license or business license renewal, a person who conducts a business operation that is a regulated industry, as defined, to demonstrate enrollment with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program by providing specified information, under penalty of perjury, on the application, including, among other things, the Standard Industrial Classification Code for the business, and an applicable identification number, as specified. Existing law applies these provisions to all applications for initial business licenses and business license renewals submitted on and after January 1, 2020. This bill would expand the application of these provisions to instruments or permits equivalent to business licenses and to the renewals of those equivalent instruments or permits. By expanding the crime of perjury and by expanding the duties of cities and counties relative to those equivalent instruments or permits, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires all records to be open to inspection and provides that every person has a right to inspect any public record, except public records exempt from disclosure by express provisions of law. This bill would require the city or county to make the applicable identification number available to the public upon request, as provided. (2) Under existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards are the principal state agencies with responsibility for the coordination and control of water quality in the state. The act, with certain exceptions, requires a waste discharger to file certain information with the appropriate regional board. Existing law, the Storm Water Enforcement Act of 1998, dischargers exempt from NPDES permitting requirements, as defined, are required to obtain "notice of nonapplicability" (NONA) identification numbers or "no exposure certification" (NEC) identification numbers, as issued by the State Water Resources Control Board, to signify that stormwater discharge requirements do not apply to their facilities or that the federal government has certified the stormwater they discharge has not been exposed to industrial materials. Existing law requires the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards to regulate water quality throughout the state, including by collecting reports of stormwater discharge activities from dischargers. Existing law, the Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Rule issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , facilitates e-reporting for information systems that receive reports and other documents electronically for EPA-authorized programs, including receiving information of discharge compliance from dischargers. Existing law authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board to implement these provisions, including by creating a database of compliance reports from dischargers, such as the Stormwater Multiple Application and Report Tracking System. This bill would require, on or before June 1, 2023, the state board to require all recipients of a NONA identification number or NEC identification number issued for a facility by the state board on or after January 1, 2020, to upload all pertinent information used to seek a NONA or NEC to the state board's Stormwater Multiple Application and Report Tracking System database. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.