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           |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           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 








                                                                  AB 1200
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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