California Public Resources Code 71118 – (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the …
(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Agency” means the California Environmental Protection Agency.
Terms Used In California Public Resources Code 71118
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(2) “Disadvantaged community” means a community identified pursuant to § 39711 of the Health and Safety Code.
(3) “Supplemental environmental project” means an environmentally beneficial project that a person subject to an enforcement action voluntarily agrees to undertake in settlement of the action and to offset a portion of a civil penalty.
(b) Each board, department, and office within the agency that has enforcement authority shall establish a policy on supplemental environmental projects that benefits disadvantaged communities. The policy shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) A public process to solicit potential supplemental environmental projects from disadvantaged communities.
(2) Allowing the amount of a supplemental environmental project to be up to 50 percent of the enforcement action brought under the jurisdiction of a board, department, or office within the agency.
(3) An annual list of supplemental environmental projects that may be selected to settle a portion of an enforcement action under the jurisdiction of a board, department, or office within the agency.
(4) A consideration of the relationship between the location of the violation and the location of the proposed supplemental environmental project.
(c) The Secretary for Environmental Protection shall consolidate the projects compiled pursuant to subdivision (b) into one list and post that list on the agency’s Internet Web site.
(Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 585, Sec. 2. (AB 1071) Effective January 1, 2016.)