BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 983|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 983
Author: Perea (D), et al.
Amended: 9/8/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/20/11
AYES: Simitian, Strickland, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe,
Lowenthal
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 8/25/11
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Emmerson, Lieu, Pavley,
Price, Runner, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/1/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
SOURCE : California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
DIGEST : This bill makes several changes to the laws
governing the states program for providing grants and loans
for safe drinking water projects, including allowing
certain disadvantaged communities to be eligible for grants
up to 100 percent of project costs.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/8/11 strike language that is
inconsistent with federal law and regulation in order to
ensure that California law conforms to federal requirements
for funding.
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Senate Floor Amendments 9/2/11 make various technical
changes to make this bill consistent with federal law and
regulation and clarify the Department Public Health's
authority in prioritizing consolidation projects and add
double-jointing language to resolve a chaptering conflict
with AB 938 (V. Manuel Perez).
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the California Safe Drinking
Water Act, requires the State Department of Public Health
(DPH) to administer provisions relating to the regulation
of drinking water to protect public health, including, but
not limited to, conducting research, studies, and
demonstration programs relating to the provision of a
dependable, safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act, adopting and enforcing
regulations, and conducting studies and investigations to
assess the quality of water in domestic water supplies.
Existing law establishes the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund, which is continuously appropriated to DPH
for the provision of grants and revolving fund loans to
provide for the design and construction of projects for
public water systems that will enable suppliers to meet
safe drinking water standards. Existing law requires DPH
to establish criteria for projects to be eligible for the
grant and loan program.
This bill authorizes DPH to take specified actions to
improve access to financial assistance for small community
water systems and not-for-profit nontransient noncommunity
water systems serving severely disadvantaged communities,
as defined.
Under existing law, not less than 15 percent of the fund is
required to be expended for providing loans and grants to
eligible projects by public water systems that regularly
serve fewer than 10,000 persons.
This bill requires small community water systems or
nontransient noncommunity water systems, owned by a public
agency or private not-for-profit water company, serving
severely disadvantaged communities to be eligible to
receive up to 100 percent of eligible project costs in the
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form of a grant to the extent the system cannot afford a
loan. This bill is double-jointed with AB 938 (V. Manuel
Perez).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Department of Public Health, the
administrative costs to expedite payments and comply with
the other requirements of the bill can be absorbed within
existing resources.
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill
will likely result in cost pressures on the Revolving Fund,
because additional funds will be provided as grants rather
than loans. This will reduce the amount of funds available
to other loan applicants and in the long-run will reduce
loan repayment revenues into the Revolving Fund. The
extent of this cost pressure is unknown and will depend on
particular project applications. Based on the number and
size of loans made to disadvantaged communities in past
years, the shift in funding from loans to grants may be in
the hundreds of thousands per year, with commensurate cost
pressures on the fund.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/6/11)
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (source)
Alta Irrigation District
Asociacion de Gente Unida por el Aqua
California League of Conservation Voters
Catholic Charities Diocese of Stockton
Clean Water Action
Committee for a Better Seville
Community Water Center
County of Tulare
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Environmental Working Group
Food and Water Watch
Fresno Irrigation District
Friant Water Authority
Kings River Conservation District
Kings River Water Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
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Planning and Conservation League
Self Help Enterprises
Southern California Watershed Alliance
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network,
CA
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
United for Change in Tooleville
Urban Semillas
Vecinos Unidos (United Neighbors)
Winnemem Wintu Tribe
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to supporters, the
Federal Drinking Water State Revolving Fund was established
to allow states the ability to provide loans to their most
disadvantage communities for safe drinking water
infrastructure projects that prevent pollution and ensure
long-term sustainability. Supporters argue that this
funding is not accomplishing what it was intended for and
that under the current system, DPH loans communities up to
80 percent of the cost of the project. Unfortunately, this
would require communities to pay the other 20 percent
leaving the most disadvantaged and poor communities unable
to pay for the cost and be ineligible for the project. In
addition, the support adds, that projects that are often
approved are well-water projects that do not ensure
long-term sustainability due to ground water pollution,
resulting in communities having to deal with the same water
quality issues in the future.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 6/1/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, Portantino, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
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Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, V. Manuel Pérez
DLW:do 9/8/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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