SECTIONS 6300-6309 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 6300-6309

6300. (a) The application for a new dam or reservoir or enlargement
shall set forth the estimated cost, as defined in this article, of
the dam or reservoir or enlargement and shall be accompanied by a
filing fee based upon the estimated cost and according to the
following schedule:
(1) For the first three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000), a fee
of 3 percent of the estimated cost.
(2) For the next seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000), a fee
of 2 percent.
(3) For the next one million dollars ($1,000,000), a fee of 1 1/2
percent.
(4) For the next one million dollars ($1,000,000), a fee of 1 1/4
percent.
(5) For the next two million dollars ($2,000,000), a fee of 1
percent.
(6) For the next two million dollars ($2,000,000), a fee of
three-fourths of 1 percent.
(7) For all costs in excess of seven million dollars ($7,000,000),
a fee of one-half of 1 percent.
(b) In no case, however, shall the minimum fee be less than three
hundred dollars ($300).

6301. One filing fee only shall be collected for an enlargement to
be effected by flashboards, sandbags, earthen levees, gates, or other
works, devices, or obstructions which are, from time to time, to be
removed and replaced or opened and shut and thereby operated so as to
vary the surface elevation of the impounded water.

6302. For the purposes of this part, the estimated cost of the dam
or reservoir or enlargement involved shall include the following:
(a) The cost of all labor and materials entering into the
construction of the dam and appurtenant works or reservoir
(b) The cost of preliminary investigations and surveys.
(c) The cost of the construction plant properly chargeable to the
cost of the dam or reservoir.
(d) Any and all other items entering directly into the cost of the
dam or reservoir.

6303. The costs of right-of-way, detached powerhouses, electrical
generating machinery, and roads and railroads affording access to the
dam or reservoir shall not be included among the items used in the
determination of cost.

6304. An application shall not be considered by the department
until the filing fee is received.

6305. In the event the actual cost exceeds the estimated cost by
more than 15 percent, a further fee shall be required by the
department before final approval and shall be 115 percent of the
amount by which the original fee is less than it would have been had
the cost it was based upon been the same as the actual cost. No
further fee shall be required, however, if such fee is to be computed
at less than twenty dollars ($20).

6306. Applications for dams found by the department to have been
less than 90 per cent constructed on August 14, 1929, shall be
accompanied by fees as much less than provided for dams commenced
after the date as the percentage of construction found by the
department to have been completed on that date.

6307. (a) (1) The department shall adopt, by regulation, a schedule
of fees to cover the department's costs in carrying out the
supervision of dam safety.
(2) The revenue generated by the fees imposed under this section
shall be adjusted periodically for cost-of-living increases. If the
director determines that the revenue collected during the preceding
fiscal year was greater or less than the cost to operate the program,
the director shall adjust the fees to compensate for the
overcollection or undercollection of revenue. The department shall
provide a schedule of fees to the Legislature and to every dam owner
that has a permit or has applied for a permit, when any adjustment is
made to the fees under this section.
(b) (1) An annual fee shall be paid on or before January 31, 2004,
July 1, 2004, and on or before July 1 of each succeeding year, based
upon a fixed rate and height of the dam, including all enlargements
thereto, substantially completed by or in operation on June 30, 2003,
and on June 30 of each succeeding year. The fees collected on
December 31, 2003, will be credited toward the fees due January 31,
2004. The annual fee shall be four hundred dollars ($400) per dam,
plus one hundred ten dollars ($110) per foot of height. This fee
shall be periodically adjusted, as described in subdivision (a).
(2) A penalty plus interest, as set forth in Section 6428 of the
Water Code, shall be imposed for fees received after July 1 in any
year, except that for the year 2003, the penalty plus interest shall
be imposed for any fees received after January 31, 2004.
(c) For the purposes of this section, "height of the dam" means
the vertical distance, to the nearest foot, from the natural bed of
the stream or watercourse at the downstream toe of the barrier, as
determined by the department, or from the lowest elevation of the
outside limit of the barrier, as determined by the department, if it
is not across a stream channel or watercourse, to the maximum
possible water storage elevation.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the department shall limit
the total annual fee per dam to not more than seventy-five dollars
($75) if both of the following apply:
(1) The dam has a storage capacity of not more than 100 acre-feet.
(2) The governing body of a private school or the governing board
of a public school certifies that the dam is used as a subject of
study by its students.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the department shall
limit the total annual fee for dams or reservoirs located on farms or
ranch properties to one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per dam, and
sixteen dollars ($16) per foot of height.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "farm" has the same meaning
as defined in Section 52262 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
(f) (1) Privately owned dams with less than 100 acre-feet of
storage capacity shall be assessed an annual fee in accordance with
paragraph (1) of subdivision (e).
(2) As used in this subdivision, "privately owned" does not
include dams owned by municipalities, water districts or companies,
irrigation districts, private, investor owned or publicly owned
utilities, or public agencies.

6308. All fees, penalties, interest, fines, or charges collected by
the department under this division shall be deposited in the Dam
Safety Fund, which is hereby established in the State Treasury. The
money in that fund shall be available to the department, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for the administration of the dam
safety program.

6309. The fees provided for in this chapter shall be required of
any "owner," as defined in Section 6005.