BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1221
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1221
AUTHOR: Alejo
AMENDED: June 1, 2011
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: June 27, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:
Rachel Machi Wagoner
SUBJECT : STATE WATER POLLUTION CLEANUP AND ABATEMENT
ACCOUNT
SUMMARY :
Existing Law , under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act
(Porter -Cologne):
1) Provides for: a) the establishment of water quality
policy; b) the enforcement of water quality standards
for both surface and ground water; and c) the regulation
of discharges of pollutants from point and non-point
sources.
2) Provides that the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB) and nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards
(RWQCBs) as the principal state agencies with the
responsibility for controlling water quality in
California.
3) Establishes the Cleanup and Abatement Account (CAA)
within the State Water Quality Control Fund to provide
public agencies with grants for the cleanup or abatement
of a condition of pollution when there are no viable
responsible parties available to undertake the work. The
CAA is supported by court judgments and administrative
civil liabilities assessed by the SWRCB and RWQCBs. Only
public agencies with authority to cleanup or abate a
waste are eligible to receive funding.
AB 1221
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This bill expands eligibility for funding from the State Water
Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account (CAA) by:
1) Allowing a not-for-profit organization serving a
disadvantaged community to receive funding from the CAA
for waste cleanup. The not-for-profit organization would
be required to be either controlled by a local public
agency or, in the case of a private corporation, have a
broadly based ownership or membership of the people of the
local community.
2) Allowing California listed tribes serving a disadvantaged
community to receive funding from the CAA for waste
cleanup.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "there are far
too many communities throughout the state that lack access
to clean water services, including safe drinking water.
The majority of these communities are rural unincorporated
disadvantaged communities that do not have the resources to
develop infrastructural projects for the delivery of
sanitary sewer and safe drinking water. Families in these
communities cannot afford the treatment required to access
clean water. As a result, these communities are at a
higher risk of adverse health impacts. There continues to
be a lack of help from public agency's to apply for funding
to help disadvantaged communities and tribes to access
water."
The CAA was created to provide public agencies with grants
for the cleanup or abatement of pollution when there are no
viable responsible parties available to undertake the work.
The CAA is supported by court judgments and administrative
civil liabilities assessed by the SWRCB and the RWQCBs.
Only public agencies with authority to cleanup or abate
waste are eligible to receive funding. In 2010
approximately $9.3 million was allocated from the CAA for
public agency cleanup projects.
2) Clarifying Amendments Needed .
AB 1221
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AB 1221 expands eligibility to state cleanup and abatement
funds to non- governmental agencies and tribes for cleanup
projects serving disadvantaged communities. By making the
eligibility inadvertently broad, the bill may have the
unintended consequence of bringing these entities to the
state for funding that SWRCB and RWQCBs or Department of
Public Health would not have the ability to hold
accountable for ongoing maintenance after cleanup and
abatement is complete. Amendments are therefore needed to
limit the bill to entities that are either public water
systems or that are under the regulatory authority of
Porter-Cologne.
In allowing tribes to be eligible, the bill needs to clarify
that the tribes that enter into an agreement with the SWRCB
for funds, agree to be regulated by the SWRCB and waive tribal
sovereign immunity explicitly for the purposes of the agreed
upon SWRCB oversight.
SOURCE : Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
SUPPORT : Association of California Water Agencies
California League for Conservation Voters
Catholic Charities Diocese of Stockton
Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
Food & Water Watch
Natural Resources Defense Council
Planning and Conservation League
Southern California Watershed Alliance
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry
Action
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Urban Semillas
Winnemem Wintu Tribe
1,103 Individuals
OPPOSITION : None on file
AB 1221
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