State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account.

The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act grants to the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards the authority to regulate water quality in the state. The act creates the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account in the State Water Quality Control Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in the account to the state board for the purposes of cleaning up waste or abating its effects on state waters. Existing law, until July 1, 2018, authorizes the state board to pay these moneys from the account to, among others, a community water system that services a disadvantaged community to be used to assist in addressing urgent drinking water need, among other purposes. This bill would limit the above-described payments to grants, and would delete the July 1, 2018, sunset date. By extending the term of an existing appropriation, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would authorize the state board, upon application by a public agency, a not-for-profit organization, or community water system, to make funds available from the account for a loan to that entity to assist in cleaning up the waste, abating the effects of a waste, or addressing an urgent drinking water need, as provided. By authorizing new expenditures from a continuously appropriated account, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require that the loan be secured by adequate collateral and would prohibit the term of the loan from exceeding 10 years. The bill would exempt projects that are funded by the loan from certain state contracting and procurement requirements, and would require the state board to adopt guidelines for the allocation and administration of loans from the account. The act requires all moneys collected civilly under the act and all moneys collected by the state board in connection with a specified cleanup or abatement action to be deposited in the account. This bill would require all of the following to be deposited into the account: (1) moneys collected by the state board or regional board for the account pursuant to specific underground storage tank provisions; (2) moneys collected by the state board for the account under provisions allowing recovery of costs for cleanup, abatement of waste, pollution, or contamination of water; (3) repayments of principal, interest, and fees on loans issued for purposes of the account; (4) repayments of loan and grant moneys paid to a loan or grant recipient for purposes of the account in which the recipient was not eligible for the loan or grant; and (5) interest earned upon moneys in the account. By requiring additional moneys to be deposited into a continuously appropriated account, this bill would make an appropriation.