BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2056
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Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2056 (Chesbro) - As Amended: April 26, 2012
Policy Committee: Environmental
Safety and Toxic Materials Vote: 9-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill exempts public water systems serving 20 or fewer
residential connections from the three-year limit on the use of
point-of-use treatment. This bill also allows a water system
serving 20 or fewer residential connections to use available
census tract data to demonstrate median household income, if
such demonstration is required for permitting purposes.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor, absorbable costs to the Department of Public Health
(DPH), which regulates drinking water quality and public water
systems.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author intends this bill to allow very small
communities to continue to be served by point-of-use water
treatment systems, as construction and maintenance of a
centralized treatment facility is not affordable to such
communities. In addition, the author contends it appropriate
to allow very small communities to use existing census tract
data to establish eligibility for point-of-use treatment, as
demonstrating median household income is excessively onerous
and complex for a very small community.
As evidence of the need for the bill, the author references
the Loch Haven Mutual Water District, in Sonoma County, which
suffers arsenic contamination in its drinking water.
Construction of a centralized water system would cost
approximately $250,000, which the small community of 19
AB 2056
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service connections served by the water district cannot
afford.
2)Background. Current law directs DPH to adopt regulations
governing the use of point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment
by public water systems in lieu of centralized treatment where
it can be demonstrated that centralized treatment is not
immediately economically feasible. Use of such systems is to
be limited to the following:
a) Water systems with less than 200 service connections.
b) Usage allowed under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act
and its implementing regulations and guidance.
c) Water systems that have submitted preapplications to DPH
for funding to correct the violations for which the
point-of-use treatment is provided.
DPH has adopted emergency regulations, and is in the process
of adopting permanent regulations, consistent with the above
criteria, as well as limiting a water systems use of
point-of-use treatment to three years or until funding for
centralized treatment is available, whichever is sooner. To
demonstrate that a centralized system is not immediately
economically feasible, a community must report its median
household income to DPH, among other data.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081