BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1200
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1200 (Ma)
As Amended May 4, 2011
Majority vote
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 8-0
APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Wieckowski, Miller, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Campos, Davis, Feuer, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Bonnie Lowenthal, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Morrell, Valadao | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, |
| | | |Solorio, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires a local public agency operating a combined
sewer and stormwater system (CSS) to implement a notification
plan to inform the public of a discharge from the system that
occurs near a recreational beach, which includes notification at
the recreational beach.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires, under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act,
any person who causes or permits any hazardous substance or
sewage to be discharged in or on any state waters to
immediately notify the California Emergency Management Agency
(CalEMA). Requires CalEMA to immediately notify the
appropriate regional water quality control board (RWQCB),
local health officer, and administrator of environment health.
SWRCB must adopt regulations establishing reportable
quantities of sewage for purposes of this requirement.
2)Requires, under Community Facilities Law (general provisions
with respect to sewers), requires the State Department of
Public Health (DPH) or any local health officer to order
contamination to be abated. When DPH finds that a pollution
or nuisance exists, the condition must be referred by DPH to
the RWQCB with any recommendations for correction.
3)Requires local sanitary system owners and operators to report
AB 1200
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sewer system overflows to the RWQCB and include detailed
information about the overflow, including location, cause, and
environmental effects.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs to local public agencies of an unknown amount,
in the tens of thousands of dollars at the most, to implement
the notification plan. Should the Commission on State Mandates
determine these costs are a reimbursable state mandate, the
state would need to pay for them General Fund (GF.)
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill: According to the author, "Assembly Bill 1200
was introduced in the midst of a wet rain year that led to 226
million gallons of combined sewage and stormwater discharged by
San Francisco in the month of December, 2010. AB 1200 closes a
loophole in current law that exempts combined systems from
timely public notification and disclosure procedures.
"AB 1200 ensures that San Francisco lives up to its historic
leadership role of environmental stewardship," said
Assemblywoman Ma. "This bill will make us lead by example.
We've been flushing our toilets into the bay and ocean and
people have a right to know when the water is polluted as soon
as possible."
San Francisco's combined sewer system : According to the SWRCB,
conventional storm water is managed using a centralized
approach; storm water is funneled through various catchments
(i.e., storm drains) and conveyance systems.
In older cities, combined sewer and storm systems may be routed
to a waste water treatment plant for treatment; however, in most
California cities and towns storm water is discharged directly
into streams, bays, estuaries, and other local bodies of water
though storm water outlets. Combined sewer and storm systems
were very common prior to the early 1900s, (e.g., older parts of
Sacramento and San Francisco have combined sewer and storm
systems). These combined sewer and storm water systems can
overflow during storm events causing untreated sewage and storm
water to flow directly into nearby water bodies, thus resulting
in violations of municipal National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permits and causing harm to aquatic
life and humans. Separate sanitary sewer systems also have the
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potential to overflow during high storm events due to system
leaks and groundwater infiltration. Both combined storm and
sewer, and separate sewer overflows are regulated under
Municipal NPDES Permits.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN: 0000978