AB 619: Sierra Lakes County Water District.

Existing law, the County Water District Law, provides for the formation and operation of county water districts, and specifies the powers and purposes of those districts.

Existing law provides for the regulation by the State Water Resources Control Board of underground storage tanks, as defined, designed to contain an accumulation of hazardous substances. The Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act generally regulates aboveground storage tanks, as defined, that contain petroleum and that meet certain requirements.

This bill would specifically authorize the Sierra Lakes County Water District, in order to regulate, prohibit, or control the discharge of pollutants, waste, or other materials in groundwater or surface waters, (1) to adopt by ordinance requirements relating to the installation and use of small aboveground or small underground tanks, as defined, designed to contain an accumulation of hazardous substances, and (2) to prohibit by ordinance the installation of new small underground tanks or new underground storage tanks, as defined, for the storage of petroleum within the tributary watershed of Lakes Serena and Dulzura. The bill would authorize an adopted ordinance to provide that a violation of the ordinance is an infraction, constitutes a nuisance, or both. The bill would authorize an adopted ordinance to provide that a violation of the ordinance may be redressed by a civil action brought by the district and to provide that each day of the violation constitutes a separate offense.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Sierra Lakes County Water District.