BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 2515|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2515
          Author:   V. Manuel Perez (D)
          Amended:  8/2/10 in Senate
          Vote:     27 - Urgency

           
           SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 6/28/10
          AYES: Simitian, Runner, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal,  
            Pavley, Strickland

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  11-0, 8/12/10
          AYES: Kehoe, Ashburn, Alquist, Corbett, Emmerson, Leno,  
            Price, Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 6/1/10 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Public water systems:  point-of-use treatment

           SOURCE  :     California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
                      Poder Popular of the Coachella Valley


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires the Department of Public  
          Health (DPH) to adopt emergency regulations governing the  
          use of point-of-entry and point-of-use water treatment  
          systems, and authorizes DPH to award grants for the  
          installation of point-of-entry and point-of-use water  
          treatment systems.

           ANALYSIS :    Existing law:

          Requires regulations adopted under the Act to include  
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          requirements governing the use of point-of-entry and  
          point-of-use treatment by public water systems in lieu of  
          centralized treatment where it can be demonstrated that  
          centralized treatment is not immediately economically  
          feasible and is limited to:  a) less than 200 service  
          connections, b) use allowed under the Act's implementing  
          regulations, and c) water systems that have submitted  
          preapplications with the Department of Public Health (DPH)  
          for funding to correct the violations for which the  
          point-of-use treatment is provided. 

          Prohibits DPH from issuing a permit to a public water  
          system or amending a valid existing permit allowing the use  
          of point-of-use treatment unless DPH determines, after  
          conducting a public hearing in the community served by the  
          public water system, that there is no substantial community  
          opposition to installation of point-of-use treatment  
          devices.  Issuance of a permit allowing point-of-use  
          treatment must be limited to not more than three years or  
          until funding for centralized treatment is available,  
          whichever occurs first.

          Existing law establishes the Safe Drinking Water State  
          Revolving Fund, administered by DPH, and continuously  
          appropriates the money in the fund to that department to  
          provide grants or revolving fund loans for the design and  
          construction of projects for public water systems that will  
          enable suppliers to meet safe drinking water standards.

          This bill:

          1.Requires DPH to adopt emergency regulations 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 and will remain in  
            effect until January 1, 2014 or the effective date of the  
            regular regulations under development.

          2.Authorizes DPH 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.

          3.Specifies that any systems purchased with grant funds  







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            that have remaining useful life at the completion of the  
            project shall be provided for use in other projects. 

          4.Sunsets on January 1, 2014.

           Comments
           
          According to the author's office, numerous mobilehome park  
          residents in East Coachella Valley contacted his office  
          regarding serious drinking water contamination and public  
          health concerns, as well as issues relating to the cost of  
          purchasing bottled water for drinking and cooking.  The  
          author notes that AB 1540 (Committee on Health) Chapter  
          298, Statutes of 2009, requires DPH regulations to include  
          requirements governing the use of point-of-entry and  
          point-of-use treatment by public water systems in lieu of  
          centralized treatment, but that DPH indicates these  
          regulations will take at least three years to complete.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  Yes   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: 

                          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

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/17/10)

          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (co-source) 
          Poder Popular of the Coachella Valley (co-source) 


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  
          AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill  
            Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,  







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            Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,  
            Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,  
            DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,  
            Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,  
            Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,  
            Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue,  
            Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava,  
            Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Norby, V. Manuel Perez,  
            Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner,  
            Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,  
            Tran, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Audra Strickland, Vacancy


          TSM:nl  8/17/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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