(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) There are ongoing discharges to the Los Osos Discharge Prohibition Zone established in the Water Quality Control Plan for the Central Coast Basin. (2) The agency responsible for eliminating these discharges is the Los Osos Community Services District, which is a relatively new agency, formed in 1998. (3) The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board has imposed substantial fines on the Los Osos Community Services District for failing to make adequate progress toward eliminating these discharges. (4) The Los Osos Community Services District has a relatively small staff that has no experience of successfully designing and constructing facilities of the size and type needed to eliminate these discharges. (5) The County of San Luis Obispo has a larger staff that has experience in successfully designing large public works projects. (6) There is an urgent need to protect the public health and safety by eliminating these discharges and the most feasible alternative is best accomplished by a temporary realignment of certain wastewater collection and treatment powers between the Los Osos Community Services District and the County of San Luis Obispo. (7) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section and amending Section 61105 to authorize the County of San Luis Obispo to design, construct, and operate a wastewater collection and treatment project that will eliminate these discharges, particularly in the prohibition zone, to avoid a wasteful duplication of effort and funds, and to temporarily prohibit the Los Osos Community Services District from exercising those powers. (b) As used in this section, the following definitions apply: (1) âBoardâ means the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Luis Obispo. (2) âCountyâ means the County of San Luis Obispo. (3) âDistrictâ means the Los Osos Community Services District, formed pursuant to the Community Services District Law (Division 3 (commencing with Section 61000) of Title 6) located in San Luis Obispo County. (4) âProhibition zoneâ means that territory within the Baywood Park-Los Osos area of the county that is subject to the wastewater discharge prohibition imposed by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board pursuant to Resolution 83-13. (c) The county may undertake any efforts necessary to construct and operate a community wastewater collection and treatment system to meet the wastewater collection and treatment needs within the district. These efforts may include programs and projects for recharging aquifers, preventing saltwater intrusion, and managing groundwater resources to the extent that they are related to the construction and operation of the community wastewater collection and treatment system. These efforts shall include any services that the county deems necessary, including, but not limited to, any planning, design, engineering, financial analysis, pursuit of grants to mitigate affordability issues, administrative support, project management, and environmental review and compliance services. The county shall not exercise any powers authorized by this section outside the district. (d) Nothing in this section shall affect the districtâs power to do any of the following: (1) Operate wastewater collection and treatment facilities within the district that the district was operating on January 1, 2006. (2) Provide facilities and services, other than wastewater collection and treatment. (e) To finance the construction and operation of a wastewater collection and treatment system, the county may levy benefit assessments consistent with the requirements of Article XIII D of the California Constitution, pursuant to any of the following: (1) The Improvement Act of 1911 (Division 7 (commencing with Section 5000) of the Streets and Highways Code). (2) The Improvement Bond Act of 1915 (Division 10 (commencing with Section 8500) of the Streets and Highways Code). (3)
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