BILL ANALYSIS
AB 301
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 301 (Fuentes) - As Amended: April 1, 2009
Policy Committee: Environmental
Safety Vote: 5-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires certain applicants for the annual
bottled-water license issued by the Food and Drug Branch of the
Department of Public Health (DPH) to include information on
volumes and sources, and requires the department to annually
compile this information and make it available to the public.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor costs, about $70,000 in 2010-11 and $40,000 annually
thereafter, to the DPH to compile licensee information and make
it available to the public. To the extent revenue generated by
bottled-water licenses is not adequate to cover these costs,
they would have to be covered by a General Fund appropriation.
(GF or Food Safety Fund.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author wants the DPH Food and Drug Branch to
compile more information on the volume and sources of water
bottled in California. The author notes that water extracted
from local sources by bottlers and exported for sale in other
areas is not available to local water users, thus effectively
reducing a community's water supply. The author believes that
decisions to extract and bottle water for export are made
without consideration of the effect of such decisions on local
water supplies. The author concludes that compilation of the
information described in this bill will focus more attention
on the potential negative effects on local communities that
may result from extracting water from a local source for
bottling and exportation.
AB 301
Page 2
2)Prior Legislation . This bill is identical to AB 2275
(Fuentes, 2008), which passed the Assembly 47 to 27, and was
rejected by the governor with a generic veto applied to
numerous bills.
3)The McCloud Situation . In 2003, the Community Service
District for the town of McCloud (Siskiyou County) contracted
with Nestle Waters North American to sell a potion of
McCloud's spring water without undertaking an environmental
review to determine the water supply and other impacts of
selling the spring water and to examine alternatives and
impact mitigation measures. A group called "Concerned McCloud
Citizens," filed a lawsuit against Nestle in 2004, winning the
case in 2005.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081