AB 231

Current law requires the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to maintain

a toll-free telephone number for receiving reports of violations of any statute or

administrative rule that DNR enforces or administers. This bill provides that DNR

may also establish other electronic methods to receive reports of these violations.

Under current law, DNR may recover forfeitures imposed for the violation of

certain natural resource and environmental laws using a citation procedure. This

bill allows DNR to use this citation procedure to enforce laws that regulate the

discharge of certain materials into wetlands.

Under current law, 12 is the minimum age for obtaining a sturgeon spearing

license. Also under current law, issuance of a sturgeon spearing license is generally

prohibited during a period beginning on November 1 and ending on the last day of

the open season for the spearing of lake sturgeon. One exception to this prohibition

is for a resident who has attained the age of 14 during that period. This bill lowers

this age to 12, consistent with the minimum age for obtaining a license.

Current law requires DNR to make specified findings before it issues certain

air pollution permits. Under current law DNR is not required to use air dispersion

modeling as a basis for making those findings for a minor source unless specifically

provided for under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), rules promulgated by DNR, or

a federal or state agreement. A minor source is a facility that emits air contaminants

from a fixed location in an amount that is less than an amount specified by DNR by

rule.

This bill prohibits DNR from requiring an applicant for certain air pollution

permits, including some permits for major sources, to conduct air dispersion

modeling unless required by the CAA. The bill also creates an exception to this

prohibition under certain circumstances affecting American Indian tribes or bands

(tribes). The exception applies if a tribe is treated as a state by the federal

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or if a tribe's reservation has been

designated by EPA as a class 1 area. Federal law gives class 1 areas special

protection under the CAA. This bill provides that DNR may require an applicant to

perform air dispersion modeling if that modeling is authorized under an agreement

between the tribe and this state or federal government, authorized under a CAA

implementation plan, or authorized under department rules.

Under current law, the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response Council (council)

in DNR is composed of six members. Of those members, one member must represent

dry cleaning operations with annual gross receipts of less than $200,000 and two

members must represent dry cleaning operations with annual gross receipts of at

least $200,000. This bill eliminates these gross receipts requirements for

representation on the council and provides, instead, that three members of the

council must represent dry cleaning operations, regardless of the amount of the

operation's annual gross receipts.