United Artists Theater etc. v. Regional Wat. Quality Control etc.11/27/19 CA1/5 Case Details

BACKGROUND

Statutory Background In 1967, the Legislature created the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) within what was then the Resources Agency and is now the California Environmental Protection Agency. (§ 175; Stats. 1967, ch. 284, § 2.4, p. 1442, eff. Dec. 1, 1967.) In 1968, the Assembly Committee on Water suggested that the State Board

2 Because section 13304 uses the term “waste,” the waste discharged need not qualify as a “hazardous substance” as defined in section 13050 in order to be the subject of a section 13304 cleanup order. Section 13050, subdivision (d), broadly defines “waste” to include “sewage and any and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing, or processing operation. . . .” Wastes are “hazardous” as used in this decision for the purpose of section 13304 where an owner knows or should know that the wastes can create or threaten to create a condition of pollution or nuisance if discharged into waters of the state.

2 “establish a task force to develop a comprehensive review of the Water Quality Control Act . . . .”…