Papan Bill to Direct Water Polluter Penalties to Most Impacted Communities Approved by the Legislature

SAN MATEO – Assembly Bill 753, a bill to ensure that communities impacted by water pollution receive appropriate remediation funds from state water boards authored by Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo), is now awaiting action by Governor Newsom after approval by the State Legislature.

Assembly Bill 753 will reform the State Water Board’s Cleanup and Abatement Account to ensure that fines and penalties paid by water quality violators are sent back to the impacted communities most affected by polluted waterways.

“With limited resources available to remediate polluted waterways we must ensure that highly impacted communities receive the necessary funds to maintain a clean and healthy environment,” said Papan. “This is an important equity and public health safety issue.”

State and Regional water boards in California are charged with enforcing the federal Clean Water Act, setting water quality standards and issuing regulations. Water boards are also required to enforce water quality rules and penalize violators.

Typically, violators pay fines that go into the State Water Board’s Cleanup & Abatement Account which supports the clean-up of waterways in communities most impacted by pollution. In recent years, however, the State Water Board has sent an increasing share of Cleanup and Abatement Account monies to only a select few Regional Boards leaving many California communities -- including many low-income communities of color -- without the funding necessary to clean up polluted waters.

Assembly Bill 753 will require that 40% of Cleanup and Abatement Account funding be returned to Regional Water Boards to clean up affected waterways. The bill will require that funds be distributed proportionally to each regional board based on enforcement fines generated in each region, and would require the regional boards to allocate those funds to support restoration projects with multiple benefits to improve water quality for underserved communities. This measure will ensure that the Water Boards are using limited resources to clean up the most polluted waterways in communities that most need it, while providing additional benefits.

 “Ensuring equitable distribution of these critical pollution remediation funds is only fair and will promote improved community health and safety in communities that need it most,” said Papan.

Assembly Bill 753 has been enrolled to the Governor who has until October 14, 2023 to take action on the bill.