BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 52
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 52
AUTHOR: Steinberg
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: May 2, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:
Rachel Machi Wagoner
SUBJECT : Water Quality: Sacramento Regional
County Sanitation District
SUMMARY :
Existing federal law , under the Clean Water Act (CWA):
1) Establishes a national objective, in conjunction with
numerous implementing provisions, to restore and maintain
the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the
Nation's waters.
2) Authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US
EPA) to delegate water pollution control responsibility to
the states; establishes procedures for US EPA approval of a
state program and the assignment of responsibilities; and
establishes procedures for the withdrawal of program
approval, including a failure to comply with requirements.
Existing state law:
1) Provides for: a) The establishment of water quality policy;
b) enforcement of water quality standards for both surface
and ground water; and c) 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) are the principal state agencies with the
responsibility for controlling water quality in California
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including issuing and enforcing National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) waste discharge
requirements.
3) Under the Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond
Act of 2006, a bond act approved by the voters at the
November 7, 2006, statewide general election, authorizes
the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,090,000,000 for
the purposes of financing disaster preparedness and flood
prevention projects. Of those funds, $300,000,000 is
available to the Department of Water Resources, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for grants for storm
water flood management projects that meet prescribed
requirements.
4) Under the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply,
Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of
2006, an initiative bond act approved by the voters at the
November 7, 2006, statewide general election, authorizes
the issuance of bonds in the amount of $5,388,000,000 for
the purposes of financing a safe drinking water, water
quality and supply, flood control, and resource protection
program. Of those funds, $130,000,000 is available to the
department for grants to implement water quality
improvement projects that meet prescribed requirements.
This bill appropriates $50,000,000 to DWR from the above bond
acts, to provide financial assistance to the Sacramento
Regional County Sanitation District (SRCSD) to offset rate
increases associated with the costs of capital improvements to
the district's regional sewage treatment plant as a result of
the issuance of a specified NPDES permit and waste discharge
requirements.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to supporters there will be a
drastic increase in ratepayer costs to fund this $2 billion
capital project. The supporters contend that that increase
will result in significant adverse impact to the regional
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economy. Supporters state that a University of Pacific,
Eberhardt School of Business report estimates that the
economic impact of rate increases resulting from the
project cause a loss of over $7 billion in regional income
and 30,000 lost jobs. The supporters argue that a
multi-faceted approach is needed to facilitate this project
and mitigate the regional economic burden in order to
provide for the long term health of the Delta for the
entire state. According to supporters, SB 52, by
appropriating $50 million, helps to provide the state's
part to facilitate this project.
2) Arguments in Opposition . Opponents believe SB 52 bypasses
the statutory guidelines provided under the Disaster
Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006 for
issuance of competitive grants and directs DWR to provide
bond funds to SRCSD without requiring compliance with
qualifying criteria specified in the DWR guidelines, and
additionally puts SRCSD ahead of other projects in receipt
of bond funding regardless of consideration as to whether
this is the most worthy project of available funds.
3) The Central Valley Water Region . The Central Valley Water
Region is the largest water region in California stretching
from the Oregon border to the northern tip of Los Angeles
County. It comprises 60,000 square miles, or approximately
40% of the state, and water within the Central Valley
region provides more than 50% of the state's total water
supply, providing drinking water for 25 million
Californians and irrigation water for millions of acres of
farms in and out of the Central Valley.
4) The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (SRCSD).
SRCSD provides regional wastewater conveyance and
treatment services to residential, industrial and
commercial customers throughout unincorporated Sacramento
County, and the cities of Citrus Heights, Elk Grove,
Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Sacramento and West Sacramento. The
wastewater travels through 145 miles of interceptor
pipelines to the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment
Plant near Elk Grove, where approximately 150 million
gallons of wastewater are treated each day and discharged
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into the Sacramento River.
SRCSD was formed in 1973, and in 1982 the Sacramento
Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant began service. SRCSD is
governed by a 16-member Board of Directors representing the
jurisdictions served.
According the Central Valley RWQCB, SRCSD's discharge
accounts for over 60% of all the municipal wastewater
discharged to the Delta. SRCSD's discharge of domestic
sewage contains 14 tons per day of ammonia and is the major
source of ammonia to the Sacramento River and the Delta.
The RWQCB states that the average annual ammonia
concentration in the Sacramento River increases 11.5 fold
in the river below SRCSD's discharge. The Delta has been
listed as an impaired waterbody for unknown toxicity.
SRCSD discharge contains levels of toxicity that are
harmful to aquatic life. SRCSD's discharge is within the
natural habitat area of the Delta smelt, which has been
listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as an
endangered species in 2010.
RWQCB states that the Delta has been listed as an impaired
waterbody for methylmercury. SRCSD's discharge is the
single largest contributor of methylmercury of all
wastewater facilities within the Delta. SRCSD's discharge
contributes 8 percent of the methylmercury load in the
Sacramento River during wet weather flows and up to 35
percent of the load during dry weather flows. Mercury is a
potent neurotoxin and methylmercury is the most toxic form
of this metal. The Central Valley RWQCB states that human
health advisories have been issued for the Delta, warning
against consumption of mercury-contaminated bass.
5) New NPDES Discharge Requirements. On December 9, 2010, the
Central Valley RWQCB issued a new NPDES Waste Discharge
Requirement for the SRCSD Treatment Plant which, among its
provisions, contains stringent discharge limits on SRCSD's
effluent discharge to better remove pathogens, solid
particles, methyl mercury and ammonia. The new
requirements under the permit will be rolled out over a 10
year period.
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SRCSD estimates that meeting the new NPDES requirements
will cost approximate $2 billion.
6) Is This an Appropriate Use of State Bond Funds? Statewide
water bond dollars are meant to invest in infrastructure
improvements that will provide long term benefits to
California's water supply and waterbodies above and beyond
permit compliance under both CWA and Porter-Cologne.
Allowing bonds to be used for facility upgrades to meet
permit requirements, creates an incentive for permitted
entities to wait for bond funds to come into compliance
with discharge requirements and put the responsibility on
taxpayers of the entire state rather than seeking funding
from its users/ratepayers. While it can be legitimately
argued that capital improvements that improve the overall
health of the Delta will benefit the entire state, the bill
should be amended to require that the capital improvements
funded in this bill be above and beyond NPDES compliance
requirements.
SOURCE : Senator Steinberg
SUPPORT : California League of Food Processors
City of Citrus Heights
City of Elk Grove
City of Sacramento
OPPOSITION : Association of California Water Agencies
California Central Valley Flood Control
Association
California Municipal Utilities Association