AB 411 (Wayne) Beach Sanitation: Posting

AB 411 would require the State Department of Health Services to adopt regulations requiring the testing of all beaches for total coliform, fecal coliform, enterococci, and streptococci bacteria, establish protective minimum standards for the location of monitoring sites and monitoring frequency, to require posting in clearly visible points along affected beaches whenever state standards are violated, and to require that beaches be tested for total coliform, fecal coliform, enterococci, and streptococci bacteria and chemical pollutants including, but not limited to, PCBs, PAHs, and mercury on a weekly basis from April 1 to October 31, inclusive, of each year if certain conditions are met. AB 411 would require the local health officer to notify the Director of Parks and Recreation within 24 hours of any beach posting, closure, or restriction, and would require the Director of Parks and Recreation to establish a telephone hotline and update it daily to inform the public of beach postings, closures, and restrictions.

AB 548 (Aroner) Water Quality: Coastal Bays

AB 548 would require the regional boards for the North Coast, San Francisco Bay, Central Coast, Los Angeles, and San Diego Regions to conduct unannounced inspections of waste discharges that require an NPDES permit and which could affect the quality of the waters of San Francisco Bay, Humboldt Bay, Tomales Bay, Monterey Bay, Santa Monica Bay, or San Diego Bay, at least 4 times annually for major dischargers, as defined, and 2 times annually for other dischargers, as defined, to determine compliance with applicable requirements, and would prescribe related duties of the regional boards. The bill would provide for these provisions to be incorporated in all NPDES permits issued on and after January 1, 1998, and to become effective upon the permit issuance. The bill would require the regional board to publish on a quarterly basis the names of persons discharging waste in violation of any requirement prescribed under Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code.

AB 982 (Aroner) Water Quality: Enclosed Bays and Estuaries

Existing law, until January 1, 1998, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to establish fees applicable to dischargers who discharge into enclosed bays, estuaries, or any adjacent waters in the contiguous zone or the ocean. This bill would delete the January 1, 1998 repeal date, thus continuing those provisions indefinitely.

AB 1097 (Committee on Governmental Organization) Open Meetings

Existing law authorizes a state body to hold an open or closed meeting by teleconference as defined and repeals that authority on January 1, 1998. This bill would delete that repeal date.

AB 1241 (Keeley) Marine Resources

AB 1241 would enact the Sea Life Recovery and Management Act of 1997. The bill would create the Marine Life Management Commission and would delegate to that commission the authority to determine and declare, by regulation, state policy on marine ecosystems, anadromous fisheries and their habitat, and ecosystems, marine mammals, birds, fish, invertebrates, and other wildlife and their habitats in the coastal zone and all marine and tidal waters of the state. The bill would require that commission to regulate the taking or possession of birds, mammals, fish, amphibia, and reptiles in the coastal zone and all marine and tidal waters of the state.

AB 1429 (Shelley) Water Quality

AB 1429 would require the state board to do all of the following: (a) Continue to implement the California State Mussel Watch Program, as specified. (b) On or before January 1, 1999, to prepare and make available to the public a report with regard to all water quality monitoring activities undertaken within coastal watersheds by public and private entities. (c) On or before January 1, 2001, to prepare and implement a comprehensive program to monitor the quality of coastal watersheds and to prepare and make available to the public a related annual report, as prescribed. (d) To establish a uniform system for monitoring and reporting on the mass discharge of pollutants from storm water discharges and other point source discharges. (e) To monitor the discharge of pollutants into the Santa Monica Bay through storm drains, as specified. (f) On or before June 1, 1998, to establish a prescribed citizen volunteer coastal water quality monitoring program. (g) To provide assistance to appropriate agencies with regard to the Monterey Bay Water Quality Protection Program and undertake related activities. The bill would appropriate, from the General Fund to the state board, funds to implement these measures.

AB 1464 (Strom-Martin) Water Quality

AB 1464 would require the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards to prepare and publicize a list of high quality water bodies within coastal watersheds that may constitute outstanding national resources and to establish a program by which the public may nominate, and the state board may review, water bodies for possible inclusion in that list. This bill would also require the state board to establish three pilot wastewater treatment projects that use alternative municipal wastewater treatment methods in three coastal communities.

SB 62 (McPherson) California State Mussel Watch Program

SB 62 would require the State Water Resources Control Board, in conjunction with the Department of Fish and Game, to continue to implement a long-term coastal monitoring program known as the California State Mussel Watch Program.

SB 65 (McPherson) Public Beaches: Contamination: Warning Signs

SB 65 would require, when a public beach has failed to meet bacteriological standards, that warning signs be visible from all beach access points.

SB 87 (O’Connell) Land and Water Conservation

SB 87 would enact the California Land and Water Conservation Act of 1997, pursuant to which the Secretary of the Resources Agency would implement a program under which qualified property, as defined, may be contributed to the state, any local government, as defined, or to any nonprofit organization designated by a local government, based on specified criteria in order to provide for the specified protection of wildlife habitat, open space, and agricultural lands. This bill would also authorize a credit, in an amount equal to the qualified percentage, as defined, of the fair market value of any qualified contribution, as defined, contributed during the taxable or income year.

SB 1048 (Sher) Coastal Conservancy: San Francisco Bay Area Program

SB 1048 would establish the San Francisco Bay Area Program, administered by the conservancy, for the purpose of ensuring that a coordinated, comprehensive, and effective program is implemented to address the resource and recreational needs of the San Francisco Bay area, and to improve public access to and around the San Francisco Bay and coastal areas through completion of specified trails projects and related facilities. The bill would require the conservancy to cooperate with cities, counties, and districts, regional governmental bodies, and nonprofit land trusts in identifying and adopting long-term resources and outdoor recreational goals for the San Francisco Bay area. The bill would create the San Francisco Bay Area Account in the State Coastal Conservancy Fund, for the purpose of depositing and disbursing funds for the administration and implementation of the program. The program would become operative if and when the sum of $1,000,000 is appropriated by the Legislature for deposit in the San Francisco Bay Area Program Account, and would prohibit any existing funds that are available to the conservancy for other purposes from being used to fund the program.

SB 1228 (Hayden) Wildlife: Salmon and Steelhead

SB 1228 would declare that it is the policy of this state that salmon and steelhead fisheries, and the watershed features that affect these fisheries, are to be protected and restored. The bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and every registered professional forester to ensure that the uses of watercourses are protected from impacts of timber harvesting, as specified, and that salmon and steelhead habitat be evaluated and mapped for every proposed project involving timber operations.