12878. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions apply throughout this chapter:
(a) "Department" means Department of Water Resources.
(b) "Director" means the Director of Water Resources.
(c) "Board" means the State Reclamation Board.
(d) Wherever the words "board or department" or "board or director"
are used together in this chapter they shall mean board as to any
project in the Sacramento or San Joaquin Valleys or on or near the
Sacramento River or the San Joaquin River or any of their
tributaries, and department or director as to any project in any
other part of the state outside of the jurisdiction of the board.
(e) "Project" means any project that has been authorized pursuant
to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) or Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 12850) and concerning which assurances have been given
to the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture that the
state or a political subdivision thereof will operate and maintain
the project works in accordance with regulations prescribed by the
federal government or any project upon which assurances have been
given to the Secretary of the Army and upon which the Corps of
Engineers, United States Army, has performed work pursuant to Section
208 of Public Law 780, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session, approved
September 3, 1954.
(f) "Maintenance" means work described as maintenance by the
federal regulations issued by the Secretary of the Army, the
Secretary of Agriculture, the department, or the board for any
project.
(g) "Maintenance area" means described or delineated lands that
are found by the board or department to be benefited by the
maintenance and operation of a particular unit of a project.
(h) "Unit" means any portion of the works of a project designated
as a unit by the board or department, other than the works prescribed
in Section 8361, or works operated and maintained by the United
States.
(i) "Land" includes improvements.
(j) "Local agency" means and includes all districts or other
public agencies responsible for the operation of works of any project
under Section 8370, Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) or
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 12850) or any other law of this
state.
(k) "Cost of operation and maintenance" means, for the purposes of
maintenance areas established after July 31, 2004, as the result of
relinquishment by a local agency pursuant to Section 12878.1 only,
the cost of all maintenance, as defined in subdivision (f), and shall
also include, but is not limited to, all of the following costs:
(1) All costs incurred by the department or the board in the
formation of the maintenance area under this chapter.
(2) Any costs, if deemed appropriate by the department, to secure
insurance covering liability to others for damages arising from the
maintenance activities of the department or from flooding in the
maintenance area.
(3) Any costs of defending any action brought against the state,
the department, or the board, or any employees of these entities, for
damages arising from the maintenance activities of the department or
from flooding in the maintenance area.
(4) Any costs incurred in the payment of any judgment or
settlement of an action against the state, the department, or the
board, or any employees of these entities, for damages arising from
the formation of the maintenance area or from any maintenance
activities of the department or flooding in the maintenance area.
12878.1. (a) If the department determines that a unit of a project
is not being operated or maintained in accordance with the standards
established by federal regulations, if the department determines
that the modification of a unit of a project that has been permitted
by the board and that provides flood protection is not being operated
or maintained in accordance with the requirements established by the
board or the department, or if the governing body of a local agency
obligated to operate and maintain that unit by resolution duly
adopted and filed with the department declares that it no longer
desires to operate and maintain the project unit, the department
shall prepare a statement to that effect specifying in detail the
particular items of work necessary to be done in order to comply with
the standards of the federal government and the requirements of the
board or the department together with an estimate of the cost thereof
for the current fiscal year and for the immediately ensuing fiscal
year.
(b) Subject to subdivision (c), but notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the board or the department is not required to
proceed in accordance with subdivision (a) or with the formation of a
maintenance area under this chapter if neither the board nor the
department has given the nonfederal assurances to the United States
required for the project. If neither the board nor the department has
given the nonfederal assurances to the United States required for
the project, the board or department may elect to proceed with the
formation if it determines that the formation of a maintenance area
is in the best interest of the state.
(c) If a local agency requests the department to form a
maintenance area by resolution duly adopted and filed with the
department, the department shall estimate the cost of preparing the
statement of necessary work and the cost thereof, and all other
applicable costs incurred by the department before the formation of
the maintenance area. The department shall submit that estimate to
the local agency. The department is not required to perform any
additional work to form that maintenance area until the local agency
pays the department the amount estimated pursuant to this
subdivision.
12878.2. The statement shall include a description of the unit and
the name of the local agency, if any, responsible for its operation
and maintenance and such statement shall be transmitted to the
affected local agency in all cases and also to the board as to
projects under its jurisdiction.
12878.3. Any such statement shall not be admissible as evidence in
any court action brought against the local agency, its governing body
or any member thereof or the State or any of its officials, nor
shall the failure of the local agency, its governing body, or any
member thereof, or the State or any of its officials, to comply with
anything which may be specified as necessary in any such statement,
be construed as negligence in any such action.
12878.4. If the local agency, within 45 days after the date of
receipt of the said statement of the department, files a protest
thereto with the board or department setting forth in detail the
basis of its objections, then the board or department shall schedule
a hearing to be held within 30 days of the filing of the said protest
to hear any relevant information which said local agency may care to
present in support of its protest. As to projects under the
jurisdiction of the board, the board shall make such investigation as
it deems necessary to determine the likelihood that the unit will
thereafter be operated and maintained satisfactorily by the local
agency. The said local agency shall be given at least 10 days written
notice of the date and place of said hearing. Representatives of the
local agency, the department and other interested parties may appear
at the said hearing and present any information relevant to the said
protest of the local agency or in support of the statement of the
department. Upon conclusion of said hearing, if the board or
department finds that there are no items of defective maintenance, or
that the local agency will correct the deficiencies and maintain and
operate the project works in accordance with the standards
established by the federal regulations, there shall be no further
proceedings under the provisions of this chapter.
12878.5. If no protest is received by the board or department
pursuant to the provisions of the preceding section, the board or
department shall adopt and establish the estimated sum previously set
forth in the statement of the department made pursuant to Section
12878.1 of this code as the amount necessary to maintain the unit
during the current and the ensuing fiscal year and shall thereupon
proceed with the formation of a maintenance area in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter.
12878.6. If, within 30 days after conclusion of the hearing held
pursuant to Section 12878.4 of this code, the governing body of the
local agency has not given assurances satisfactory to the board or
department that the said local agency will correct the deficiencies
and maintain and operate the project works in accordance with the
standards established by the federal regulations, or that such local
agency does not desire to continue to operate and maintain such unit,
or that there is no such local agency obligated to so maintain and
operate such unit, the board or department shall establish the amount
of money necessary to maintain the unit during the current and
ensuing fiscal year and shall proceed with the formation of a
maintenance area in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
12878.7. The board or department shall prepare a description of the
proposed boundaries together with a map thereof for each maintenance
area to be formed. For the purpose of preparing these boundaries and
this map, the board or department shall make such investigations as
may be necessary and may utilize any and all books, maps, or other
relevant records, whether or not on file in the offices of the board
or department or any other office or agency of the State. All
officers or agencies of the State shall render whatever assistance
may be required to facilitate the work of the board or department
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
12878.8. Any maintenance area may be divided into zones when it is
determined by the investigation that the benefit to the land in the
area is not uniform throughout the area.
12878.9. If a maintenance area is divided into zones, the zones
shall be given a numerical designation starting with Zone 1 which
shall be the zone which receives the greatest proportional benefit.
This benefit shall be expressed as 100 percent and the benefits
received by the other zones shall be expressed in terms of relatively
smaller percentages as such benefits compare with those received by
Zone 1. The map of the proposed boundaries of the maintenance area
shall also show the boundaries of the zones, if any, therein and the
percentages of benefits to each such zone. The amount to be collected
from each zone of a maintenance area shall be determined by the
following formula: the assessed valuation of the land within the
zone, multiplied by the percentage of benefit for that zone,
multiplied by the total amount to be collected in the maintenance
area; divided by the sum of the various products obtained by
multiplying the assessed valuation of each zone in the maintenance
area by its corresponding percentage of benefit.
12878.10. Upon completion of the said description and map, the
board or department shall schedule a hearing to be held either at
some convenient place within the proposed boundaries of the
maintenance area or at Sacramento, whichever appears to the board or
department to be more convenient for all interested parties.
12878.11. Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication in at
least one newspaper of general circulation within the proposed
boundaries of the maintenance area for at least once a week for two
successive weeks.
12878.12. The notice shall state the time and place of hearing,
that the purpose of the hearing is to establish the boundaries of the
maintenance area benefited by the continued operation and
maintenance of the unit, and the location of the place or places
where the map showing the proposed boundaries as determined by the
board or department may be inspected by any interested person. The
notice shall include a description of the maintenance area, which may
be brief and in general terms.
12878.13. At the hearing any owner of land within the proposed
boundaries of the maintenance area or other interested person may
offer, and the board or department shall receive, any relevant
evidence or testimony relating to the establishment of the boundaries
of the area, the zones therein, or the benefits to be received by
the continued operation and maintenance of the unit. Any such owner
or interested person may object to the inclusion of land within the
maintenance area or any zone therein or may request the inclusion of
any other land within the area or a change in the boundaries or
percentage of benefits of any zone.
12878.14. Land lying without the exterior boundaries of the
proposed maintenance area as shown on the map prepared by the board
or department shall not be included within the maintenance area
unless at the hearing the owner thereof consents or the owner is
given notice and an opportunity to object to such inclusion and to be
heard thereon.
12878.15. When any such additional land is proposed to be included
and the owner's consent is not given, the hearing shall be adjourned
to a specified time and place.
12878.16. Notice of such adjourned hearing, where additional land
is to be included, and the purpose thereof shall be given by
publication of notice at least once a week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
land, or the greater portion of the land, sought to be included is
situated, or, in lieu of such publication, by service by registered
mail upon the owner of such land as determined by the last equalized
assessment roll in accordance with which such land was assessed.
12878.17. Upon the final conclusion of such hearing the board or
department shall establish the boundaries of the maintenance area and
of the zones therein and the percentages of benefits of the
respective zones, in such manner that all of the lands benefited by
the continued operation and maintenance of the unit will be included
in the maintenance area and that all land within the area will be
classified in proportion to the benefits received by it.
12878.18. Land benefited by more than one unit may be included
within as many maintenance areas as there are units by which it is
benefited.
12878.19. The establishment of a maintenance area pursuant to this
chapter shall be evidenced by an order or resolution of the board or
director creating such area. The order or resolution shall describe
the boundaries of the maintenance area and of the zones and the
percentage of benefits for each zone, if any, and each such area
shall be given a name, which may include a number, by which the area
shall be known and designated. Such name shall be as brief as
circumstances permit.
12878.20. The order or resolution determining and establishing the
boundaries thereof shall be filed for record in the office of the
county recorder of each county within which any portion of a
maintenance area is located. Thereupon the determination and
establishment of such maintenance area shall be complete.
12878.21. Upon the formation of a maintenance area, the department
shall thereafter operate and maintain the unit until such time as the
maintenance area may be dissolved pursuant to this chapter. If the
board or the department forms a maintenance area for a portion of a
unit of a project, any remaining portion of the unit of a project not
included in the maintenance area shall remain the responsibility of
the local agency obligated to operate and maintain that unit.
12878. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions apply throughout this chapter:
(a) "Department" means Department of Water Resources.
(b) "Director" means the Director of Water Resources.
(c) "Board" means the State Reclamation Board.
(d) Wherever the words "board or department" or "board or director"
are used together in this chapter they shall mean board as to any
project in the Sacramento or San Joaquin Valleys or on or near the
Sacramento River or the San Joaquin River or any of their
tributaries, and department or director as to any project in any
other part of the state outside of the jurisdiction of the board.
(e) "Project" means any project that has been authorized pursuant
to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) or Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 12850) and concerning which assurances have been given
to the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture that the
state or a political subdivision thereof will operate and maintain
the project works in accordance with regulations prescribed by the
federal government or any project upon which assurances have been
given to the Secretary of the Army and upon which the Corps of
Engineers, United States Army, has performed work pursuant to Section
208 of Public Law 780, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session, approved
September 3, 1954.
(f) "Maintenance" means work described as maintenance by the
federal regulations issued by the Secretary of the Army, the
Secretary of Agriculture, the department, or the board for any
project.
(g) "Maintenance area" means described or delineated lands that
are found by the board or department to be benefited by the
maintenance and operation of a particular unit of a project.
(h) "Unit" means any portion of the works of a project designated
as a unit by the board or department, other than the works prescribed
in Section 8361, or works operated and maintained by the United
States.
(i) "Land" includes improvements.
(j) "Local agency" means and includes all districts or other
public agencies responsible for the operation of works of any project
under Section 8370, Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) or
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 12850) or any other law of this
state.
(k) "Cost of operation and maintenance" means, for the purposes of
maintenance areas established after July 31, 2004, as the result of
relinquishment by a local agency pursuant to Section 12878.1 only,
the cost of all maintenance, as defined in subdivision (f), and shall
also include, but is not limited to, all of the following costs:
(1) All costs incurred by the department or the board in the
formation of the maintenance area under this chapter.
(2) Any costs, if deemed appropriate by the department, to secure
insurance covering liability to others for damages arising from the
maintenance activities of the department or from flooding in the
maintenance area.
(3) Any costs of defending any action brought against the state,
the department, or the board, or any employees of these entities, for
damages arising from the maintenance activities of the department or
from flooding in the maintenance area.
(4) Any costs incurred in the payment of any judgment or
settlement of an action against the state, the department, or the
board, or any employees of these entities, for damages arising from
the formation of the maintenance area or from any maintenance
activities of the department or flooding in the maintenance area.
12878.1. (a) If the department determines that a unit of a project
is not being operated or maintained in accordance with the standards
established by federal regulations, if the department determines
that the modification of a unit of a project that has been permitted
by the board and that provides flood protection is not being operated
or maintained in accordance with the requirements established by the
board or the department, or if the governing body of a local agency
obligated to operate and maintain that unit by resolution duly
adopted and filed with the department declares that it no longer
desires to operate and maintain the project unit, the department
shall prepare a statement to that effect specifying in detail the
particular items of work necessary to be done in order to comply with
the standards of the federal government and the requirements of the
board or the department together with an estimate of the cost thereof
for the current fiscal year and for the immediately ensuing fiscal
year.
(b) Subject to subdivision (c), but notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the board or the department is not required to
proceed in accordance with subdivision (a) or with the formation of a
maintenance area under this chapter if neither the board nor the
department has given the nonfederal assurances to the United States
required for the project. If neither the board nor the department has
given the nonfederal assurances to the United States required for
the project, the board or department may elect to proceed with the
formation if it determines that the formation of a maintenance area
is in the best interest of the state.
(c) If a local agency requests the department to form a
maintenance area by resolution duly adopted and filed with the
department, the department shall estimate the cost of preparing the
statement of necessary work and the cost thereof, and all other
applicable costs incurred by the department before the formation of
the maintenance area. The department shall submit that estimate to
the local agency. The department is not required to perform any
additional work to form that maintenance area until the local agency
pays the department the amount estimated pursuant to this
subdivision.
12878.2. The statement shall include a description of the unit and
the name of the local agency, if any, responsible for its operation
and maintenance and such statement shall be transmitted to the
affected local agency in all cases and also to the board as to
projects under its jurisdiction.
12878.3. Any such statement shall not be admissible as evidence in
any court action brought against the local agency, its governing body
or any member thereof or the State or any of its officials, nor
shall the failure of the local agency, its governing body, or any
member thereof, or the State or any of its officials, to comply with
anything which may be specified as necessary in any such statement,
be construed as negligence in any such action.
12878.4. If the local agency, within 45 days after the date of
receipt of the said statement of the department, files a protest
thereto with the board or department setting forth in detail the
basis of its objections, then the board or department shall schedule
a hearing to be held within 30 days of the filing of the said protest
to hear any relevant information which said local agency may care to
present in support of its protest. As to projects under the
jurisdiction of the board, the board shall make such investigation as
it deems necessary to determine the likelihood that the unit will
thereafter be operated and maintained satisfactorily by the local
agency. The said local agency shall be given at least 10 days written
notice of the date and place of said hearing. Representatives of the
local agency, the department and other interested parties may appear
at the said hearing and present any information relevant to the said
protest of the local agency or in support of the statement of the
department. Upon conclusion of said hearing, if the board or
department finds that there are no items of defective maintenance, or
that the local agency will correct the deficiencies and maintain and
operate the project works in accordance with the standards
established by the federal regulations, there shall be no further
proceedings under the provisions of this chapter.
12878.5. If no protest is received by the board or department
pursuant to the provisions of the preceding section, the board or
department shall adopt and establish the estimated sum previously set
forth in the statement of the department made pursuant to Section
12878.1 of this code as the amount necessary to maintain the unit
during the current and the ensuing fiscal year and shall thereupon
proceed with the formation of a maintenance area in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter.
12878.6. If, within 30 days after conclusion of the hearing held
pursuant to Section 12878.4 of this code, the governing body of the
local agency has not given assurances satisfactory to the board or
department that the said local agency will correct the deficiencies
and maintain and operate the project works in accordance with the
standards established by the federal regulations, or that such local
agency does not desire to continue to operate and maintain such unit,
or that there is no such local agency obligated to so maintain and
operate such unit, the board or department shall establish the amount
of money necessary to maintain the unit during the current and
ensuing fiscal year and shall proceed with the formation of a
maintenance area in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
12878.7. The board or department shall prepare a description of the
proposed boundaries together with a map thereof for each maintenance
area to be formed. For the purpose of preparing these boundaries and
this map, the board or department shall make such investigations as
may be necessary and may utilize any and all books, maps, or other
relevant records, whether or not on file in the offices of the board
or department or any other office or agency of the State. All
officers or agencies of the State shall render whatever assistance
may be required to facilitate the work of the board or department
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
12878.8. Any maintenance area may be divided into zones when it is
determined by the investigation that the benefit to the land in the
area is not uniform throughout the area.
12878.9. If a maintenance area is divided into zones, the zones
shall be given a numerical designation starting with Zone 1 which
shall be the zone which receives the greatest proportional benefit.
This benefit shall be expressed as 100 percent and the benefits
received by the other zones shall be expressed in terms of relatively
smaller percentages as such benefits compare with those received by
Zone 1. The map of the proposed boundaries of the maintenance area
shall also show the boundaries of the zones, if any, therein and the
percentages of benefits to each such zone. The amount to be collected
from each zone of a maintenance area shall be determined by the
following formula: the assessed valuation of the land within the
zone, multiplied by the percentage of benefit for that zone,
multiplied by the total amount to be collected in the maintenance
area; divided by the sum of the various products obtained by
multiplying the assessed valuation of each zone in the maintenance
area by its corresponding percentage of benefit.
12878.10. Upon completion of the said description and map, the
board or department shall schedule a hearing to be held either at
some convenient place within the proposed boundaries of the
maintenance area or at Sacramento, whichever appears to the board or
department to be more convenient for all interested parties.
12878.11. Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication in at
least one newspaper of general circulation within the proposed
boundaries of the maintenance area for at least once a week for two
successive weeks.
12878.12. The notice shall state the time and place of hearing,
that the purpose of the hearing is to establish the boundaries of the
maintenance area benefited by the continued operation and
maintenance of the unit, and the location of the place or places
where the map showing the proposed boundaries as determined by the
board or department may be inspected by any interested person. The
notice shall include a description of the maintenance area, which may
be brief and in general terms.
12878.13. At the hearing any owner of land within the proposed
boundaries of the maintenance area or other interested person may
offer, and the board or department shall receive, any relevant
evidence or testimony relating to the establishment of the boundaries
of the area, the zones therein, or the benefits to be received by
the continued operation and maintenance of the unit. Any such owner
or interested person may object to the inclusion of land within the
maintenance area or any zone therein or may request the inclusion of
any other land within the area or a change in the boundaries or
percentage of benefits of any zone.
12878.14. Land lying without the exterior boundaries of the
proposed maintenance area as shown on the map prepared by the board
or department shall not be included within the maintenance area
unless at the hearing the owner thereof consents or the owner is
given notice and an opportunity to object to such inclusion and to be
heard thereon.
12878.15. When any such additional land is proposed to be included
and the owner's consent is not given, the hearing shall be adjourned
to a specified time and place.
12878.16. Notice of such adjourned hearing, where additional land
is to be included, and the purpose thereof shall be given by
publication of notice at least once a week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
land, or the greater portion of the land, sought to be included is
situated, or, in lieu of such publication, by service by registered
mail upon the owner of such land as determined by the last equalized
assessment roll in accordance with which such land was assessed.
12878.17. Upon the final conclusion of such hearing the board or
department shall establish the boundaries of the maintenance area and
of the zones therein and the percentages of benefits of the
respective zones, in such manner that all of the lands benefited by
the continued operation and maintenance of the unit will be included
in the maintenance area and that all land within the area will be
classified in proportion to the benefits received by it.
12878.18. Land benefited by more than one unit may be included
within as many maintenance areas as there are units by which it is
benefited.
12878.19. The establishment of a maintenance area pursuant to this
chapter shall be evidenced by an order or resolution of the board or
director creating such area. The order or resolution shall describe
the boundaries of the maintenance area and of the zones and the
percentage of benefits for each zone, if any, and each such area
shall be given a name, which may include a number, by which the area
shall be known and designated. Such name shall be as brief as
circumstances permit.
12878.20. The order or resolution determining and establishing the
boundaries thereof shall be filed for record in the office of the
county recorder of each county within which any portion of a
maintenance area is located. Thereupon the determination and
establishment of such maintenance area shall be complete.
12878.21. Upon the formation of a maintenance area, the department
shall thereafter operate and maintain the unit until such time as the
maintenance area may be dissolved pursuant to this chapter. If the
board or the department forms a maintenance area for a portion of a
unit of a project, any remaining portion of the unit of a project not
included in the maintenance area shall remain the responsibility of
the local agency obligated to operate and maintain that unit.
12878. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions apply throughout this chapter:
(a) "Department" means Department of Water Resources.
(b) "Director" means the Director of Water Resources.
(c) "Board" means the State Reclamation Board.
(d) Wherever the words "board or department" or "board or director"
are used together in this chapter they shall mean board as to any
project in the Sacramento or San Joaquin Valleys or on or near the
Sacramento River or the San Joaquin River or any of their
tributaries, and department or director as to any project in any
other part of the state outside of the jurisdiction of the board.
(e) "Project" means any project that has been authorized pursuant
to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) or Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 12850) and concerning which assurances have been given
to the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of Agriculture that the
state or a political subdivision thereof will operate and maintain
the project works in accordance with regulations prescribed by the
federal government or any project upon which assurances have been
given to the Secretary of the Army and upon which the Corps of
Engineers, United States Army, has performed work pursuant to Section
208 of Public Law 780, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session, approved
September 3, 1954.
(f) "Maintenance" means work described as maintenance by the
federal regulations issued by the Secretary of the Army, the
Secretary of Agriculture, the department, or the board for any
project.
(g) "Maintenance area" means described or delineated lands that
are found by the board or department to be benefited by the
maintenance and operation of a particular unit of a project.
(h) "Unit" means any portion of the works of a project designated
as a unit by the board or department, other than the works prescribed
in Section 8361, or works operated and maintained by the United
States.
(i) "Land" includes improvements.
(j) "Local agency" means and includes all districts or other
public agencies responsible for the operation of works of any project
under Section 8370, Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 12639) or
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 12850) or any other law of this
state.
(k) "Cost of operation and maintenance" means, for the purposes of
maintenance areas established after July 31, 2004, as the result of
relinquishment by a local agency pursuant to Section 12878.1 only,
the cost of all maintenance, as defined in subdivision (f), and shall
also include, but is not limited to, all of the following costs:
(1) All costs incurred by the department or the board in the
formation of the maintenance area under this chapter.
(2) Any costs, if deemed appropriate by the department, to secure
insurance covering liability to others for damages arising from the
maintenance activities of the department or from flooding in the
maintenance area.
(3) Any costs of defending any action brought against the state,
the department, or the board, or any employees of these entities, for
damages arising from the maintenance activities of the department or
from flooding in the maintenance area.
(4) Any costs incurred in the payment of any judgment or
settlement of an action against the state, the department, or the
board, or any employees of these entities, for damages arising from
the formation of the maintenance area or from any maintenance
activities of the department or flooding in the maintenance area.
12878.1. (a) If the department determines that a unit of a project
is not being operated or maintained in accordance with the standards
established by federal regulations, if the department determines
that the modification of a unit of a project that has been permitted
by the board and that provides flood protection is not being operated
or maintained in accordance with the requirements established by the
board or the department, or if the governing body of a local agency
obligated to operate and maintain that unit by resolution duly
adopted and filed with the department declares that it no longer
desires to operate and maintain the project unit, the department
shall prepare a statement to that effect specifying in detail the
particular items of work necessary to be done in order to comply with
the standards of the federal government and the requirements of the
board or the department together with an estimate of the cost thereof
for the current fiscal year and for the immediately ensuing fiscal
year.
(b) Subject to subdivision (c), but notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the board or the department is not required to
proceed in accordance with subdivision (a) or with the formation of a
maintenance area under this chapter if neither the board nor the
department has given the nonfederal assurances to the United States
required for the project. If neither the board nor the department has
given the nonfederal assurances to the United States required for
the project, the board or department may elect to proceed with the
formation if it determines that the formation of a maintenance area
is in the best interest of the state.
(c) If a local agency requests the department to form a
maintenance area by resolution duly adopted and filed with the
department, the department shall estimate the cost of preparing the
statement of necessary work and the cost thereof, and all other
applicable costs incurred by the department before the formation of
the maintenance area. The department shall submit that estimate to
the local agency. The department is not required to perform any
additional work to form that maintenance area until the local agency
pays the department the amount estimated pursuant to this
subdivision.
12878.2. The statement shall include a description of the unit and
the name of the local agency, if any, responsible for its operation
and maintenance and such statement shall be transmitted to the
affected local agency in all cases and also to the board as to
projects under its jurisdiction.
12878.3. Any such statement shall not be admissible as evidence in
any court action brought against the local agency, its governing body
or any member thereof or the State or any of its officials, nor
shall the failure of the local agency, its governing body, or any
member thereof, or the State or any of its officials, to comply with
anything which may be specified as necessary in any such statement,
be construed as negligence in any such action.
12878.4. If the local agency, within 45 days after the date of
receipt of the said statement of the department, files a protest
thereto with the board or department setting forth in detail the
basis of its objections, then the board or department shall schedule
a hearing to be held within 30 days of the filing of the said protest
to hear any relevant information which said local agency may care to
present in support of its protest. As to projects under the
jurisdiction of the board, the board shall make such investigation as
it deems necessary to determine the likelihood that the unit will
thereafter be operated and maintained satisfactorily by the local
agency. The said local agency shall be given at least 10 days written
notice of the date and place of said hearing. Representatives of the
local agency, the department and other interested parties may appear
at the said hearing and present any information relevant to the said
protest of the local agency or in support of the statement of the
department. Upon conclusion of said hearing, if the board or
department finds that there are no items of defective maintenance, or
that the local agency will correct the deficiencies and maintain and
operate the project works in accordance with the standards
established by the federal regulations, there shall be no further
proceedings under the provisions of this chapter.
12878.5. If no protest is received by the board or department
pursuant to the provisions of the preceding section, the board or
department shall adopt and establish the estimated sum previously set
forth in the statement of the department made pursuant to Section
12878.1 of this code as the amount necessary to maintain the unit
during the current and the ensuing fiscal year and shall thereupon
proceed with the formation of a maintenance area in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter.
12878.6. If, within 30 days after conclusion of the hearing held
pursuant to Section 12878.4 of this code, the governing body of the
local agency has not given assurances satisfactory to the board or
department that the said local agency will correct the deficiencies
and maintain and operate the project works in accordance with the
standards established by the federal regulations, or that such local
agency does not desire to continue to operate and maintain such unit,
or that there is no such local agency obligated to so maintain and
operate such unit, the board or department shall establish the amount
of money necessary to maintain the unit during the current and
ensuing fiscal year and shall proceed with the formation of a
maintenance area in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
12878.7. The board or department shall prepare a description of the
proposed boundaries together with a map thereof for each maintenance
area to be formed. For the purpose of preparing these boundaries and
this map, the board or department shall make such investigations as
may be necessary and may utilize any and all books, maps, or other
relevant records, whether or not on file in the offices of the board
or department or any other office or agency of the State. All
officers or agencies of the State shall render whatever assistance
may be required to facilitate the work of the board or department
pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
12878.8. Any maintenance area may be divided into zones when it is
determined by the investigation that the benefit to the land in the
area is not uniform throughout the area.
12878.9. If a maintenance area is divided into zones, the zones
shall be given a numerical designation starting with Zone 1 which
shall be the zone which receives the greatest proportional benefit.
This benefit shall be expressed as 100 percent and the benefits
received by the other zones shall be expressed in terms of relatively
smaller percentages as such benefits compare with those received by
Zone 1. The map of the proposed boundaries of the maintenance area
shall also show the boundaries of the zones, if any, therein and the
percentages of benefits to each such zone. The amount to be collected
from each zone of a maintenance area shall be determined by the
following formula: the assessed valuation of the land within the
zone, multiplied by the percentage of benefit for that zone,
multiplied by the total amount to be collected in the maintenance
area; divided by the sum of the various products obtained by
multiplying the assessed valuation of each zone in the maintenance
area by its corresponding percentage of benefit.
12878.10. Upon completion of the said description and map, the
board or department shall schedule a hearing to be held either at
some convenient place within the proposed boundaries of the
maintenance area or at Sacramento, whichever appears to the board or
department to be more convenient for all interested parties.
12878.11. Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication in at
least one newspaper of general circulation within the proposed
boundaries of the maintenance area for at least once a week for two
successive weeks.
12878.12. The notice shall state the time and place of hearing,
that the purpose of the hearing is to establish the boundaries of the
maintenance area benefited by the continued operation and
maintenance of the unit, and the location of the place or places
where the map showing the proposed boundaries as determined by the
board or department may be inspected by any interested person. The
notice shall include a description of the maintenance area, which may
be brief and in general terms.
12878.13. At the hearing any owner of land within the proposed
boundaries of the maintenance area or other interested person may
offer, and the board or department shall receive, any relevant
evidence or testimony relating to the establishment of the boundaries
of the area, the zones therein, or the benefits to be received by
the continued operation and maintenance of the unit. Any such owner
or interested person may object to the inclusion of land within the
maintenance area or any zone therein or may request the inclusion of
any other land within the area or a change in the boundaries or
percentage of benefits of any zone.
12878.14. Land lying without the exterior boundaries of the
proposed maintenance area as shown on the map prepared by the board
or department shall not be included within the maintenance area
unless at the hearing the owner thereof consents or the owner is
given notice and an opportunity to object to such inclusion and to be
heard thereon.
12878.15. When any such additional land is proposed to be included
and the owner's consent is not given, the hearing shall be adjourned
to a specified time and place.
12878.16. Notice of such adjourned hearing, where additional land
is to be included, and the purpose thereof shall be given by
publication of notice at least once a week for two successive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
land, or the greater portion of the land, sought to be included is
situated, or, in lieu of such publication, by service by registered
mail upon the owner of such land as determined by the last equalized
assessment roll in accordance with which such land was assessed.
12878.17. Upon the final conclusion of such hearing the board or
department shall establish the boundaries of the maintenance area and
of the zones therein and the percentages of benefits of the
respective zones, in such manner that all of the lands benefited by
the continued operation and maintenance of the unit will be included
in the maintenance area and that all land within the area will be
classified in proportion to the benefits received by it.
12878.18. Land benefited by more than one unit may be included
within as many maintenance areas as there are units by which it is
benefited.
12878.19. The establishment of a maintenance area pursuant to this
chapter shall be evidenced by an order or resolution of the board or
director creating such area. The order or resolution shall describe
the boundaries of the maintenance area and of the zones and the
percentage of benefits for each zone, if any, and each such area
shall be given a name, which may include a number, by which the area
shall be known and designated. Such name shall be as brief as
circumstances permit.
12878.20. The order or resolution determining and establishing the
boundaries thereof shall be filed for record in the office of the
county recorder of each county within which any portion of a
maintenance area is located. Thereupon the determination and
establishment of such maintenance area shall be complete.
12878.21. Upon the formation of a maintenance area, the department
shall thereafter operate and maintain the unit until such time as the
maintenance area may be dissolved pursuant to this chapter. If the
board or the department forms a maintenance area for a portion of a
unit of a project, any remaining portion of the unit of a project not
included in the maintenance area shall remain the responsibility of
the local agency obligated to operate and maintain that unit.
