Water quality: state certification.

Corrected a typo in the legislative counsel's digest where 'facility. facility,' was changed to 'facility, as provided.'

Corrected a spelling artifact in Section 13160(b)(2)(B) where 'licence license' was changed to 'license'

Removed the phrase 'as amended' from the digest heading, consistent with final enrolled bill formatting

The public hearing for hydroelectric facility certifications changed from a mandatory requirement to one that is only required if the applicant requests it within 14 days of an initial draft certification being issued. Previously, the state board was always required to hold a hearing at least 21 days before acting on such applications.

The prohibition on delegating the authority to issue a hydroelectric facility certification is now conditional. It only applies when a public hearing has been requested on the draft certification, rather than applying unconditionally as in the prior version.

A new provision authorizes the state board to include in its fee schedule for hydroelectric facility applicants an amount not to exceed the reasonable costs incurred in holding a public hearing or issuing a certification when delegation was prohibited. This is tied to Section 13160.1.

The statutory structure was reorganized: the general certification authority remains in paragraph (b)(1), hydroelectric-specific provisions moved to a new paragraph (b)(2) with subparts (A) and (B), and the prior environmental review provision was renumbered from (b)(2) to (b)(3).

Added provision allowing the public hearing on a hydroelectric facility certification application to be conducted as part of a regularly scheduled state board meeting, provided that the hearing is specifically noticed and allows for public comment on the certification application.

Corrected duplicated words in the bill summary ('board board' to 'board', 'would would' to 'would') and fixed spelling error 'licence' to 'license' in the fee schedule provision.

The 21-day public hearing requirement was narrowed. Previously, the state board was required to hold a public hearing at least 21 days before taking action on ANY application for a certificate or statement under Section 13160(b)(1). Now, the general authorization to issue certificates and statements no longer includes that hearing requirement in its opening language. Instead, a new sentence specifically requires the 21-day public hearing only for certifications related to licenses to operate hydroelectric facilities.

Section 2 was deleted entirely. It had stated: 'It is the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would improve water delivery systems.' This removed a forward-looking legislative intent statement about water delivery infrastructure from the bill.

The bill's title and digest were updated to remove references to 'water delivery systems,' reflecting the deletion of Section 2. The digest now focuses solely on 'Water quality: state certification.'

The state board must now hold a public hearing at least 21 days before taking action on any application for a water quality certification or statement required by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

The authority to issue a certification for a license to operate a hydroelectric facility is explicitly prohibited from being delegated, keeping that decision at the state board level.

The state board may now issue a water quality certification before CEQA environmental review is complete if waiting would pose a substantial risk of federal waiver (federal law waives the requirement if the state does not act within one year). The board must reserve authority to reopen and revise the certification after environmental review.

The bill changed from a purely aspirational statement of intent with no legal effect to an operative amendment of Section 13160 of the Water Code that imposes binding procedural requirements on the state board.