BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           2515 (V. M. Perez)
          
          Hearing Date:  08/02/2010           Amended: 08/02/2010
          Consultant:  Brendan McCarthy   Policy Vote: EQ 7-0














































          AB 2515 (V. M. Perez), Page 2


          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY: AB 2515, an urgency measure, requires the  
          Department of Public Health to adopt emergency regulations  
          governing the use of point-of-entry and point-of-use water  
          treatment systems. The bill also authorizes the Department to  
          award grants for the installation of point-of-entry and  
          point-of-use water treatment systems.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
           
          Regulation development and        Absorbable within existing  
          resources              General /
             grant making                                         Federal

          Cost pressure for grants          Unknown               Federal
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.

          Under current law, the Department of Public Health regulates  
          drinking water and also provides funding to local governments  
          for projects to protect and provide safe drinking water. The  
          Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (Revolving Fund) is  
          continuously appropriated to the Department to provide grants  
          and loans for the design and construction of public water system  
          projects. The Revolving Fund is supported by federal funds and  
          repayment of previous loans.

          AB 1540 (Committee on Health, Chapter 298, Statutes of 2009)  
          requires the Department of Public Health to develop guidelines  
          for the use of point-of-entry and point-of-use water treatment  
          systems. (These systems can be used to treat drinking water to  
          required standards when a centralized water treatment system is  
          unavailable.) The use of these systems is limited to certain  
          small communities that have already applied for funding to  
          correct violations of water quality requirements. The Department  
          indicates that these regulations are under development, but will  
          not be finalized until 2012.

          AB 2515 requires the Department to adopt emergency regulations  







          AB 2515 (V. M. Perez), Page 2


          for the use of point-of-entry and point-of-use water treatment  
          systems. The emergency regulations would not be subject to the  
          Administrative Procedures Act (beginning at Section 11340 of the  
          Government Code). The emergency regulations would only remain in  
          effect until January 1, 2014 or the effective date of the  
          regular regulations under development.

          AB 2515 authorizes the Department to award grants for  
          point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment systems, provided that  
          the water system serves a severely disadvantaged community and  
          that the grant meets other existing requirements. The bill  
          specifies that any systems purchased with grant funds that have  
          remaining useful life at the completion of the project be  
          provided for use in other projects. 

          The provisions of the bill sunset on January 1, 2014.

          This bill is an urgency measure.

          Because the bill authorizes an additional use of a continuously  
          appropriated fund, the bill makes an appropriation.

          The Department indicates that the development of emergency  
          regulations can be accommodated within existing resources  
          dedicated to the development of the permanent regulations. In  
          addition, the Department indicates that any costs for grant  
          making can be accommodated within the existing grant program.

          Because the bill authorizes grants for additional water system  
          projects, the bill will put cost pressures on existing funds.  
          The amount of the cost pressure will depend on the demand for  
          point-of-entry and point-of-use waster treatment systems and is  
          unknown.


          AB 2669 (V. M. Perez) adds environmental documentation to the  
          list of project costs that the Department of Public Health  
          considers when determining affordability in order to award  
          grants or loans for drinking water systems. That bill has been  
          reported to the Second Reading File, pursuant to Senate Rule  
          28.8.