SECTIONS 13220-13228.15 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 13220-13228.15

13220. Each regional board shall do all of the following:
(a) Establish an office.
(b) Select one of its members as chairperson at the first regular
meeting held each year.
(c) Appoint as its confidential employee, who may be exempt from
civil service under Section 4 of Article VII of the California
Constitution, and fix the salary of, an executive officer who shall
meet technical qualifications as defined by the state board. The
executive officer shall serve at the pleasure of the regional board.
(d) Employ any other assistants that may be determined necessary
to assist the executive officer.

13221. Members of the regional board shall be empowered to
administer oaths and issue subpoenas for the attendance and giving of
testimony by witnesses and for the production of evidence in any
proceeding before the board in any part of the region. The provisions
of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 1075) of Part I of Division 2
of this code shall apply to regional boards within their own regions,
where they shall have the same power as the state board within the
state.

13222. Pursuant to such guidelines as the state board may
establish, each regional board shall adopt regulations to carry out
its powers and duties under this division.

13223. (a) Each regional board may delegate any of its powers and
duties vested in it by this division to its executive officer
excepting only the following: (1) the promulgation of any regulation;
(2) the issuance, modification, or revocation of any water quality
control plan, water quality objectives, or waste discharge
requirement; (3) the issuance, modification, or revocation of any
cease and desist order; (4) the holding of any hearing on water
quality control plans; and (5) the application to the Attorney
General for judicial enforcement but excluding cases of specific
delegation in a cease and desist order and excluding the cases
described in subdivision (c) of Section 13002 and Sections 13304 and
13340.
(b) Whenever any reference is made in this division to any action
that may be taken by a regional board, such reference includes such
action by its executive officer pursuant to powers and duties
delegated to him by the regional board.

13224. Each regional board may issue policy statements relating to
any water quality matter within its jurisdiction.

13225. Each regional board, with respect to its region, shall do
all of the following:
(a) Coordinate with the state board and other regional boards, as
well as other state agencies with responsibility for water quality,
with respect to water quality control matters, including the
prevention and abatement of water pollution and nuisance.
(b) Encourage and assist in waste disposal programs, as needed and
feasible, and upon application of any person, advise the applicant
of the condition to be maintained in any disposal area or receiving
waters into which the waste is being discharged.
(c) Require as necessary any state or local agency to investigate
and report on any technical factors involved in water quality control
or to obtain and submit analyses of water; provided that the burden,
including costs, of such reports shall bear a reasonable
relationship to the need for the report and the benefits to be
obtained therefrom.
(d) Request enforcement by appropriate federal, state and local
agencies of their respective water quality control laws.
(e) Report rates of compliance with the requirements of this
division.
(f) Recommend to the state board projects which the regional board
considers eligible for any financial assistance which may be
available through the state board.
(g) Report to the state board and appropriate local health officer
any case of suspected contamination in its region.
(h) File with the state board, at its request, copies of the
record of any official action.
(i) Take into consideration the effect of its actions pursuant to
this chapter on the California Water Plan adopted or revised pursuant
to Division 6 (commencing with Section 10000) and on any other
general or coordinated governmental plan looking toward the
development, utilization, or conservation of the water resources of
the state.
(j) Encourage coordinated regional planning and action for water
quality control.
(k) In consultation with the state board, identify and post on the
Internet a summary list of all enforcement actions undertaken by
that regional board and the dispositions of those actions, including
any fines assessed. This list shall be updated at least quarterly.

13226. Consistent with classifications adopted by the state board
pursuant to Section 13172, each regional board shall review and
classify any proposed or currently operating waste disposal site,
except any sewage treatment plant or any site which primarily
contains fertilizer or radioactive material, within its region.

13227. (a) Each regional board, with respect to its region, shall
review the facility closure and postclosure plans submitted pursuant
to Section 25246 of the Health and Safety Code, to ensure that water
quality is adequately protected during closure and the post-closure
maintenance period.
(b) The regional board shall approve the facility closure and
postclosure plans if it finds that the plans comply with applicable
state and federal laws and regulations relating to water quality
protection and monitoring.
(c) The regional board may condition its approval of the plans in
accordance with the requirements of this section.

13228. (a) Concerning any matter that may be submitted to a
regional board by a person or entity that is subject to regulation by
more than one regional board, the person or entity may submit the
matter to one of those regional boards if both of the following
requirements are met:
(1) The person or entity submits a written request to all affected
regional boards that one regional board be designated to regulate
the matter.
(2) All affected regional boards agree in writing to the
designation. Unless the board of any affected regional board denies
the request, the executive officer of a regional board may grant a
request submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) on behalf of that board.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any regional board that is
affected by a matter for which a designation is made in accordance
with subdivision (a) may take enforcement action with regard to that
matter.

13228.14. (a) Any hearing or investigation by a regional board
relating to investigating the quality of waters of the state,
prescribing waste discharge requirements, issuing cease and desist
orders, requiring the cleanup or abatement of waste, or imposing
administrative civil liabilities or penalties may be conducted by a
panel of three or more members of the regional board, but any final
action in the matter shall be taken by the regional board. Due notice
of any hearing shall be given to all affected persons. After a
hearing, the panel shall report its proposed decision and order to
the regional board and shall supply a copy to all parties who
appeared at the hearing and requested a copy.
(b) No party who appears before the panel is precluded from
appearing before the regional board at any subsequent hearing
relating to the matter. Members of the panel are not disqualified
from sitting as members of the regional board in deciding the matter.
(c) The regional board, after making an independent review of the
record and taking additional evidence as may be necessary, may adopt,
with or without revision, or reject, the proposed decision and order
of the panel.

13228.15. The members of a regional board, or their designees, with
respect to matters within the regional board's jurisdiction, may
carry out prehearing conferences to address any of the matters
described in subdivision (b) of Section 11511.5 of the Government
Code. No party who appears at a prehearing conference is precluded
from appearing before the regional board at any subsequent hearing
relating to the matter.