BILL NUMBER: AB 1232 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 24, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 7, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Huffman
( Coauthor: Senator Leno
)
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Section 56375.2 to the Government Code, relating to
local government.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1232, as amended, Huffman. Local agency formation commissions:
powers and duties.
Existing law requires the local agency formation commission in
each county, to, among other things, review and approve or disapprove
proposals for changes of organization, or reorganization, and
authorizes the commission to initiate proposals for the formation,
consolidation, or dissolution of a district, a merger, or the
establishment of a subsidiary district, as specified.
This bill would, on and after January 1, 2011, authorize the Marin
County Local Area Formation Commission to initiate and approve the
reorganization or consolidation of one or more
small wastewater agencies if certain conditions exist
the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin (SASM) and its member
districts, and would also authorize the commission to require SASM
and its member districts to pay the commission's costs associated
with the reorganization or consolidation .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares the
following:
(a) The federal Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of
pollutants into water waters of the
United States except in compliance with various sections of that act,
including permits for treated discharge of wastewater.
(b) Wastewater sewer systems collect, transport, and treat
wastewater sewage. However, illegal sewage spills of raw or partially
treated sewage often occur are a serious
problem in aging sewer systems and are commonly caused by
severe weather and improper system operation and maintenance.
(c) The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates
that there are at least 40,000 sewage spills each year. The sewage
from these spills can contaminate our waters
surface and groundwater , causing serious water quality
problems.
(d) Untreated sewage discharged into San Francisco Bay
is part of a critically important can cause
significant harm to an estuary that supports large numbers of
birds, fish, and wildlife, including threatened and endangered
species. The bay and estuary are also linked to the water supply for
over two-thirds of the state's population.
(e) The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board
reports that over 2,000 separate illegal sewage spills occurred
between 2004 and 2007. Over 500 of the spills exceeded 1,000 gallons.
One of the largest spills was 2.5 million gallons in Marin County,
which illegally discharged both untreated and partially treated
sewage into Richardson Bay, which is an ecologically sensitive area.
(f) Small wastewater agencies are often challenged with the high
cost of maintenance and repair of sewer lines and treatment plants.
To reduce water quality problems and to increase system efficiencies,
in 2004 the Marin County Local Area Formation Commission recommended
a consolidation plan for 11 small wastewater agencies.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature to increase the
effectiveness and efficiency of small wastewater agencies and reduce
the impacts of water quality due to illegal sewage spills.
(e) The United States Environmental Protection Agency reports that
from 2004 to early 2008, the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin
(SASM) and its six member districts had over 200 illegal sewage
spills.
(f) On January 25, 2008, in Marin County, SASM illegally spilled
over 2.5 million gallons of raw and partially treated sewage to the
San Francisco Bay. As a result of this illegal spill, the United
States Environmental Protection Agency and the San Francisco Bay
Regional Water Quality Control Board issued violation notices and
required operational improvements and payment of one million six
hundred thousand dollars ($1,600,000) in fines.
(g) The Marin County Grand Jury reviewed and reported on the
southern Marin sewage problem in 2004, and again in 2009. The Grand
Jury recommended in their 2009 report that "SASM and its six member
districts consolidate into one central agency with a single budget
and staff" and indicated that consolidation could occur gradually,
but planning should begin now.
(h) The Marin Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO), in
preparation for the 2005 Municipal Service Review, conducted an
evaluation of the southern Marin sewer agencies. The study concluded
that there is a strong and positive case for southern Marin sewer
agencies to initially pursue more collaborative working
relationships, and to secondly pursue political and governance
consolidations in order to achieve improvements in efficiency and
effectiveness and reduce demands for budget increases.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that SASM and its member
districts take action immediately to increase the effectiveness and
efficiency if its operations in order to provide more cost-effective
customer service and to reduce the impacts on water quality due to
illegal sewage spills. It is also the intent of the Legislature that
if SASM and its member districts do not act to address the
inefficiencies of their operations, that the Marin LAFCO shall have
the authority to require consolidation of SASM and its member
districts into one new district.
SEC. 2. Section 56375.2 is added to the Government Code, to read:
56375.2. (a) For purposes of this section the following terms
have the following meanings:
(1) "Commission" means the Marin County Local Area Formation
Commission.
(2) "Small wastewater agencies" means sanitation districts and
local governments that provide sewer and wastewater collection or
treatment services to 10,000 service connections or less.
(b) In addition to those powers enumerated in Section 56375, the
commission may initiate and approve, after notice and hearing, a
reorganization or consolidation of small wastewater agencies, without
protest hearings, if all of the following conditions exist:
(1) A commission municipal services review done for the wastewater
agencies, completed within the prior 10 years, makes findings or
determinations related to reorganization or consolidation, that if
implemented would improve financial and service level benefits,
government accountability, operational efficiencies, and provide cost
savings for the ratepayers.
(2) The wastewater agencies have not implemented the commission's
findings or determinations adopted in the municipal services review
described in paragraph (1).
(3) The wastewater agencies affected have had three or more
illegal discharges, based on violations identified by the San
Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board, in the last five
years that exceed 5,000 gallons of untreated or partially treated
wastewater to waters of the state.
56375.2. (a) In addition to those powers
enumerated in Section 56375, the Marin Local Area Formation
Commission may initiate and approve, after notice and hearing, a
reorganization or consolidation of the Sewerage Agency of Southern
Marin and its member districts, without protest hearings.
(b) If the commission initiates and approves the reorganization or
consolidation pursuant to subdivision (a), the commission may impose
terms and conditions on the reorganization or consolidation that
would require the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin and its member
agencies to be responsible for payment of the commission's costs
incurred in association with the reorganization or consolidation.
(c) This section shall become effective on January 1, 2011.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that, because of the
unique circumstances applicable to the County of Marin, a statute of
general applicability cannot be enacted within the meaning of
subdivision (b) of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
Constitution. Therefore, this special statute is necessary.