Welcome to the State Water Resources Control Board Welcome to the California Environmental Protection Agency
Governor's Website Visit the Water Board Members Page
Agendas
My Water Quality
Performance Report
PERFORMANCE REPORT The Water Boards...

State Water Board Logo

The California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year 2010-11

ENFORCE: WASTE DISCHARGE REQUIREMENTS

GROUP:  WASTE DISCHARGE TO LAND-NON 15 FACILITIES
MEASURE: PENALTIES
MESSAGE:  Of the penalties assessed in FY 10-11, almost 18% has thus far been collected
KEY STATISTICS FOR FY 2010-11

 

MEASUREMENTS  - Data last updated on: 

Region Number of Penalty Actions in FY 10-11 Total Liability Assessed Cash Liability Collected Projects Completed Percent of Liabilities Resolved

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

During fiscal year 2010-2011 almost twice as many as FY 2009-10 of Administrative Civil Liability actions were issued under the WDR program in. This large number of actions assessed a significant amount in penalty liability of which approximately 18% has thus far been resolved. Of the liability amount thus far resolved, a very small percentage (3%) contributed to approved compliance and supplemental environmental projects and the rest was collected as direct payments into the Cleanup and Abatement Account or into the Waste Discharge Permit Fund. It is also significant to point out the large number of cases that remain in progress from previous years.

 

WHY THIS MEASURE IS IMPORTANT

Liabilities imposed by the Water Boards are an important part of the Water Board's enforcement authority. California law and the Water Boards enforcement policy establish the circumstances for which violations must receive a penalty and in what amount. In certain cases, the Water Boards have the discretion of imposing administrative civil liabilities after considering certain factors. For other types of violations, mandatory minimum penalties must be imposed and settlement conditions for those violations are also limited. The Regional Boards must consider whether the discharger should be allowed to satisfy some or all of the monetary assessment by completing or funding one or more compliance or supplemental environmental projects or by depositing the penalty amount in a specified fund. Preparing each case for prosecution requires a significant amount of time and resources. This measure describes a significant workload for the enforcement program.

 

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

 

GLOSSARY

Administrative Civil Liability (ACL)
Administrative Civil Liabilities means monetary assessments imposed by a RWQCB or the SWRCB. The California Water Code and the Health and Safety Code authorize ACLs in several circumstances. California Water Code sections 13323-13327 describe the process to be used to assess ACLs. Assessments od administrative civil liability can be either negotiated pursuant to a settlement agreement or imposed after an administrative adjudication.

Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP)
Supplemental environmental projects are defined as environmentally beneficial projects which a defendant/respondent agrees to undertake in settlement of an enforcement action, but which the defendant respondent is not otherwise legally required to perform. Environmentally beneficial means a SEP must improve, protect, or reduce risks to public health, of the environment at large. While in some cases a SEP may provide the alleged violator with certain benefits, there must be no doubt, that the project primarily benefits the public health or the environment.

Compliance Project
A Compliance Project (CP) is a project designed to address problems related to the violation and bring the discharger back into compliance in a timely manner. CPs can only be considered where they are authorized by statute. At this time, CPs are authorized by statute only in connection with MMPs if the POTW serves a small community with a financial hardship.

( Page last updated:  10/5/11 )

 
 

.