The Office of Enforcement - Legal Units
Office of Enforcement attorneys represent staff in enforcement proceedings before the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Regional Water Boards), the Administrative Hearings Office, and the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board). The two legal units within the Office of Enforcement are the Regional Board Programs Legal Unit and the State Board Programs Legal Unit.
The Regional Board Programs Legal Unit works with staff in various water quality programs such as stormwater, landfills, irrigated agriculture, sanitary sewer systems, and wastewater treatment.
The State Board Programs Legal Unit works with staff in programs such as drinking water, water rights, cannabis, forestry and utilities, underground storage tank leak prevention, and fraud prevention.
The office’s attorneys provide legal advice to staff during all phases of an enforcement matter; from the investigation phase through the formal adjudication phase where the office’s attorneys advocate for and represent the Prosecution Team during an evidentiary hearing. The office’s attorneys also facilitate civil or criminal referrals to the Attorney General’s Office or local prosecutors.
In order to provide due process in administrative enforcement proceedings, Office of Enforcement attorneys who serve as prosecutors are walled off from attorneys in the Office of Chief Counsel, who serve as advisors to the boards acting as decision-makers.
