(a) Within ten (10) calendar days of filing of the permit application, the Director shall post a notice on the departmental public bulletin board that an application has been filed, shall send a copy of the notice to the Districts and Cities within the County which have lands overlying or adjacent to the location of the extraction and to any interested party who has made a written request to the Director for such notice within the last twelve (12) calendar months. The Director shall review the application to determine whether it is complete for purposes of proceeding under the County guidelines adopted pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act requirements.
(b) The Director may review the matter of the application with the affected County departments, with the staff of the State Department of Water Resources, with the staff of the Regional Water Quality Board-Central Valley Region, and with any interested local water agency within whose boundary the proposed activity will occur. If the applicant is applying to pump groundwater from a District, City, or the unincorporated territory in which a groundwater management plan has been adopted pursuant to the Groundwater Management Act, the Director shall consider a groundwater management plan or any other relevant information provided by the District, City, or other local agency. Any interested person or agency may provide comments relevant to the matter of the extraction of groundwater. Comments shall be submitted within thirty (30) days of the date of mailing the notice of filing the permit application.
(c) The environmental review shall be undertaken in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act and County guidelines. All costs of the environmental review shall be the responsibility of applicant.
(d) Upon completion of the environmental review, the Director shall forward the application together with any written comments received, environmental documentations, and the Director’s recommendations, to the Commission. Upon receipt of the Director’s recommendation, the Commission shall immediately set a public review on the issuance of the permit which shall be noticed pursuant to Government Code Section 6061 and may not be held within fifteen (15) days of the time that the Commission receives the recommendation from the Director.
(e) The Commission shall hear the application in accordance with the provisions for public review and shall make recommendations to the Board. The scope of the recommendations extends to any relevant matter that may be considered by the Board, including but not limited to, the effects that granting the permit application would have on the affected aquifer, each of the findings required of the Board, any appropriate conditions to be imposed, and any mitigation offsetting any adverse effect.
(f) Upon receipt of the Commission’s recommendation, the Clerk of the Board shall immediately set a public review on issuance of the permit which shall be noticed pursuant to Government Code Section 6061. The Board shall hear the application in accordance with the provisions for public review and shall consider matters required to be considered during public review, including but not limited to, the effects that granting the permit application would have on the affected aquifer, make each of the findings on matters required for granting a permit, any appropriate conditions to be imposed, and any mitigation offsetting any adverse effect. (§ 1, Ord. 1195, eff. December 26, 1996)