(a) The money in the subaccount, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the board, may be used by the board to award grants, not to exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) per project, to local public agencies or nonprofit organizations formed by landowners to prepare and implement local nonpoint source plans. Grants shall only be awarded for any of the following projects:

(1) A project that is consistent with local watershed management plans that are developed under subdivision (d) of Section 79080 and with regional water quality control plans.

(2) A broad-based nonpoint source project, including a project identified in the board’s “Initiatives in NPS Management,” dated September 1995, and nonpoint source technical advisory committee reports.

(3) A project that is 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 management measures and practices or other needed projects identified by the board pursuant to its nonpoint source pollution control program’s 15-year implementation strategy and five-year implementation plan that meets the requirements of Section 6217(g) of the federal Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990.

(b) The projects funded from the subaccount shall demonstrate a capability of sustaining water quality benefits for a period of 20 years. Categories of nonpoint source pollution addressed by projects may include, but are not limited to: silviculture, agriculture, urban runoff, mining, hydromodification, grazing, onsite disposal systems, boatyards and marinas, and animal feeding operations. Projects to address nonpoint source pollution may include, but are not 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. Projects shall have defined water quality or beneficial use goals.

(c) Projects funded from the subaccount shall utilize best management practices, management measures, or both.

(d) If projects include capital costs, those costs shall be identified by the project applicant. The grant recipient shall provide a matching contribution for the portion of the project consisting of capital expenditures for construction, according to the following formula:

Project Capital Cost/Capital Cost Match by Recipient

$1,000,000 to $5,000,000, inclusive ........................

20%

$125,000 to $999,999, inclusive ........................

15%

$1 to $124,999, inclusive ........................

10%

(e) Not more than 25 percent of a grant may be awarded in advance of actual expenditure.

(f) A proponent of a project funded from the subaccount shall be required to 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 waterbody 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 up to 5 percent of the total amount deposited in the subaccount 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 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. 1999, Ch. 725, Sec. 1. Approved in Proposition 13 at the March 7, 2000, election.)