BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 681| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 681 Author: Wieckowski (D) Amended: 9/2/11 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 06/27/11 AYES: Simitian, Strickland, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 08/25/11 AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Runner, Steinberg ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant SUBJECT : Aboveground storage tanks: enforcement SOURCE : California Association of Environmental Health Administrators DIGEST : This bill extends the Environmental Protection Trust Fund (EPTF) expenditures until June 1, 2013, and provides that unexpended funds be deposited in the Unified Program Account for further support for Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPAs) aboveground storage tank (AST) activities. Senate Floor Amendments of 9/2/11remove all the content of the bill except for one provision that extends the California Environmental Protection Agency's authority to CONTINUED AB 681 Page 2 expend funds from the EPTF January 2012 until January 2014. ANALYSIS : Existing law makes the EPTF and the training account in that fund inoperative as of July 1, 2011, and repeals the fund and account as of January 1, 2012. Until July 1, 2011, existing law authorizes the expenditure of a portion of the moneys in the EPTF, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to a training account established and maintained by the Secretary for Environmental Protection and allocates all remaining funds to the unified program agencies for expenditure to implement the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act. This bill extends the EPTF expenditures until June 1, 2013, and provides that unexpended funds be deposited in the Unified Program Account for further support for CUPAs AST activities. Related Legislation AB 1130 (Laird) Chapter 626, Statutes of 2007, transferred the responsibility for the implementation, enforcement, and administration of the Act from the State Water Resources Control Board to the CUPAs. AB 1130 authorized the expenditure of a portion of the moneys in the EPTF, upon appropriation by the Legislature, in an amount determined by the Secretary for Environmental Protection in consultation with the CUPAs, to a training account established and maintained by the Secretary to be used for purposes of training CUPA personnel in the requirements of the Act. AB 1130 also allocates all remaining funds to the CUPAs for expenditure to implement the Act, but limits to 80 percent or less the allocation to a CUPA in advance of actual expenditure by the CUPA. It made conforming changes to ensure consistency with the federal Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure rule provided in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (40 C.F.R. part 112). FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No The bill extends the authority of the California Environmental Protection Agency to expend funds from the EPTF for grants to California Unified Program Agencies for CONTINUED AB 681 Page 3 training. The remaining balance in that fund is about $1 million. SUPPORT : (unable to reverify at time of writing) California Association of Environmental Health Administrators (source) California Fire Chiefs Association California Professional Firefighters Clean Water Action Department of Defense, Regional Environmental Coordinator, Region 9 Environmental Working Group ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the sponsor, this bill extends the date that CUPAs can receive grant allocations from the EPTF which was established to fund initial implementation of the Act by CUPAs. This is necessary for the California Environmental Protection Agency to be authorized to disperse the balance of the funds to the CUPAs. DLW:nl 9/6/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED