BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 30
          Author:   Perea (D)
          Amended:  5/24/13 in Assembly
          Vote:     21


           SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 6/12/13
          AYES:  Hill, Gaines, Calderon, Corbett, Fuller, Hancock,  
            Jackson, Leno, Pavley

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 8/30/13
          AYES:  De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Water quality

           SOURCE  :     Clean Water Action
                      Community Water Center


           DIGEST  :    This bill removes the sunset date for the Small  
          Community Grant (SCG) Fund, which provides grants to small  
          communities for the construction of wastewater collection,  
          treatment, or disposal projects.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1.Authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to  
            assess a surcharge on loans issued from the Clean Water State  
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            Revolving Fund (CWSRF), in lieu of interest on the loans.

          2.Requires revenue from the surcharge to be deposited into the  
            SCG Fund for the purpose of providing grants to small  
            communities for the construction of wastewater collection,  
            treatment, or disposal projects. 

          This bill:

          1.Removes the sunset date for the SCG Fund, which provides  
            grants to small communities for the construction of wastewater  
            collection, treatment, or disposal projects.

          2.Eliminates the sunset date of December 31, 2013, from SWRCB's  
            authorization to collect a charge on specified loans in lieu  
            of interest that provides revenue to the SCG Fund.

          3.Removes the current $50 million limitation on the total  
            revenue that can be allocated to the SCG Fund.

          4.Requires that funds in the SCG be spent within four years of  
            the time the funds are encumbered.

           Background

           The CWSRF is created under the federal Clean Water Act to  
          provide funding for water quality protection projects for  
          wastewater treatment, nonpoint source pollution control, and  
          watershed and estuary management.  The California Porter-Cologne  
          Water Quality Control Act authorizes the SWRCB to administer the  
          CWSRF.

          Until January 1, 2014, the SWRCB is authorized to assess an  
          annual surcharge on loans issued from the CWSRF in lieu of  
          interest on the loans.  This surcharge is required to be  
          deposited into the SCG Fund for the purpose of providing grants  
          to small communities for the construction of wastewater  
          collection, treatment, or disposal projects.  No more than $50  
          million in surcharges may be collected.  Projects that serve  
          severely disadvantaged communities have priority for grants from  
          the SCG Fund.  The surcharge may be authorized at any time  
          during the loan repayment schedule, but once the surcharge is  
          applied, it must remain unchanged unless the SWRCB is ceasing  
          collection of the surcharge.

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           Prior Legislation

           AB 2208 (Perea, 2012) extended the sunset date, from 2014 to  
          2019, of SWRCB's authorization to collect a charge on specified  
          loans that provides revenue to the State Water Pollution Control  
          Revolving Fund SCG Fund.  The bill was held in the Senate Rules  
          Committee.

          AB 2356 (Arambula, Chapter 609, Statutes of 2008), authorized  
          SWRCB to assess an annual charge in connection with financial  
          assistance made under the revolving loan program in lieu of  
          interest that would otherwise be charged, with proceeds to be  
          deposited in the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund  
          SCG Fund.  The fee in lieu of interest authorized pursuant to  
          the bill sunsets January 1, 2014.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, ongoing costs  
          in the tens of millions of dollars to the CWSRF (special) for  
          lost interest payments that are instead deposited into the SCG  
          Fund.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/31/13)

          Clean Water Action (co-source)
          Community Water Center (co-source)
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          City of Salinas
          Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
          Environmental Working Group
          Pesticide Action Network, North America
          Policy Link
          Sierra Club California
          Western Growers
          Winnemem Wintu Tribe

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, many  
          disadvantaged communities are in dire need of new wastewater  

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          facilities to protect drinking water and deal with an aging  
          wastewater system.  These small communities lack sufficient  
          funds needed to independently finance wastewater projects and  
          are dependent upon the timely disbursement of approved state and  
          federal grant and loan funds to improve and replace inadequate  
          wastewater systems.  The author's office argues that  
          unfortunately there is little funding available to assist these  
          communities.  The author's office asserts that the CWSRF has  
          historically been a loan-only program and therefore has been  
          inaccessible to low-income communities.  To address those  
          community needs, SWRCB administered the SCG Fund.  Bond funds  
          have been made available to fund projects.  However, the  
          author's office notes that there has been no new bond funding  
          made available for this fund since the passage of Proposition 50  
          in 2002 and there are more than $1 billion worth of wastewater  
          projects that are currently in need of funding in California.

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/29/13
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,  
            Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,  
            Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,  
            Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,  
            Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,  
            Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,  
            Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,  
            V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,  
            Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Donnelly, Holden, Vacancy


          RM:ej  9/1/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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