Davis Signs Exemption From Sewage Fines
Gov. Gray Davis has signed a bill that exempts the Orange County Sanitation District from fines as long as it acts in good faith to upgrade sewage treatment by 2013.
The district holds a federal waiver from the Clean Water Act that allows it to discharge dirtier sewage than nearly all other sewage plants in the nation. Earlier this year, the district’s board of directors voted not to seek renewal of the waiver, which expires next year, and to instead upgrade to full secondary treatment.
Because of recent changes in state law, the district would have faced mandatory minimum fines of $3,000 a day for noncompliance since it technically would not have a waiver in place yet needs 11 years to complete the upgrade.
The bill holds those state fines in abeyance as long as the district implements the higher-grade treatment by 2013.
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