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California Water Boards' Annual Performance Report - Fiscal Year  2017-18 

ENFORCE: PENALTY ACTIONS

GROUP:
ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS ALL PROGRAMS

MESSAGE:  The NPDES program issued the largest number of penalties.
MEASURE:
PENALTIES FOR ALL PROGRAMS

Key Statistics for FY 2017-18
Penalties Assessed:$20,023,059
Cash Liability:$12,943,826
Project Liability:$7,079,233

MEASUREMENTS  - Data Last Updated on: 10-29-2018 (8:50 am)

Program Number
of Penalty
Actions in FY 17-18		 Total Liability
Assessed		 Cash Liability Project
Liability
NPDES132$9,332,142$5,630,257$3,701,885
Waste Discharge to Land2$923,288$779,144$144,144
Stormwater Construction9$106,884$106,884$0
Stormwater Industrial17$177,078$171,078$6,000
Stormwater Municipal3$3,393,275$1,782,943$1,610,332
Dredge and Fill2$2,316,455$2,129,023$187,432
Land Disposal0$0$0$0
Irrigated Lands11$351,621$333,951$17,670
Confined Animal Operations1$75,600$75,600$0
All Other Programs9$3,346,716$1,934,946$1,411,770
TOTAL186$20,023,059$12,943,826$7,079,233

abcdefhiklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0285684112140NPDESWaste Discharge to LandStormwater ConstructionStormwater IndustrialStormwater MunicipalDredge and FillLand DisposalIrrigated LandsConfined Animal OperationsAll Other ProgramsNumber of Actions
abcdefhiklmnopqrstuvwxyzCash/Project Liability

WHAT THE MEASURE IS SHOWING

During fiscal year 2017-18, a significant number of Administrative Civil Liability actions were issued under all programs. The large number of penalties for the NPDES program is mostly due to the assessment of mandatory minimum penalties.

 

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

  • Data Source: CIWQS. Period: July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.
  • Unit of Measure: Number of penalties assessed during the fiscal year.
  • Data Definitions: Penalties Assessed: Amounts assessed in an ACL, settlement agreements or any other penalty action. Projects include Compliance Projects (CPs), Enhanced Compliance Actions (ECAs), and Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs).
  • All Other Programs: Include Timber Harvest operations, Irrigated Lands, Underground Storage Tanks and Site Cleanup.
  • References: Administrative Civil Liability Report
    Office of Enforcement
    The Water Boards' Enforcement Policy
    State Water Board SEP Policy

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 of administrative civil liability can be either negotiated pursuant to a settlement agreement or imposed after an administrative adjudication.

Compliance Project (CP)
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.
Enhanced Compliance Action (ECA)
Enhanced Compliance Actions are projects that enable a discharger to make capital or operational improvements beyond those required by law, and are separate from projects designed to merely bring a discharger into compliance. The Water Boards may approve a settlement with a discharger that includes suspension of a portion of the monetary liability of a discretionary ACL for completion of an ECA.
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.