(a) The board may award grants under this article to local public agencies and nonprofit organizations for projects that protect the beneficial uses of water throughout the state through the control of nonpoint source pollution.

(b) Except as authorized under subdivision (g), grants may be awarded only for projects that are one or more of the following:

(1) Consistent with local watershed management plans and with regional water quality control plans.

(2) Broad-based nonpoint source pollution projects, including, but not limited to, projects identified in the board’s “Initiatives in NPS Management,” dated September 1995, and in the nonpoint source technical advisory committee reports.

(3) Consistent with the “Integrated Plan for Implementation of the Watershed Management Initiative” prepared by the board and the regional boards.

(4) A project that implements watershed best management practices and measures.

(5) Consistent with the requirements of Section 6217(g) of the federal Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 and has been identified as a needed project by the board under the 15-year implementation strategy and five-year implementation plan of the board’s nonpoint source pollution control program.

(6) A project that improves the quality of drinking water supplies and addresses contamination by pathogens, organic carbon, or salinity.

(c) Projects funded under this article shall demonstrate a capability of sustaining water quality benefits for a period of not less than 20 years. Categories of nonpoint source pollution addressed by projects may include, but need not be limited to, silviculture, agriculture, urban runoff, mining, hydromodification, grazing, onsite disposal systems, boatyards and marinas, and animal feeding operations.

(d) Projects to address nonpoint source pollution may include, but need not be limited to, wildfire management, installation of vegetative systems to filter or retard pollutant loading, incentive programs or large-scale demonstration programs to reduce commercial reliance on polluting substances or to increase acceptance of alternative methods and materials, and engineered features to minimize impacts of nonpoint source pollution.

(e) Projects funded under this article shall have defined water quality or beneficial use goals.

(f) A local public agency or nonprofit organization that has a project funded under this article shall submit to the board a monitoring and reporting plan that does all of the following:

(1) Identifies one or more nonpoint sources of pollution.

(2) Describes the baseline water quality of the body of water impacted.

(3) Describes the manner in which the proposed practices or measures are implemented.

(4) Determines the effectiveness of the proposed practices or measures in preventing or reducing pollution.

(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the board may award grants for demonstration projects that are intended to prevent, reduce, or treat nonpoint source pollution.

(h) A grant recipient shall submit a report to the board, upon completion of the project, that summarizes completed activities and indicates whether the purposes of the project have been met. The report shall include information collected by the grant recipient in accordance with the project monitoring and reporting plan, including, but not limited to, a determination of the effectiveness of the best management practices or management measures implemented as part of the project in preventing or reducing nonpoint source pollution. The board shall make the report available to watershed groups, and federal, state, and local agencies.

(Added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 727, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2003.)