BILL NUMBER: AB 69	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Perea

                        JANUARY 10, 2013

   An act to add Section 13444 to the Water Code, relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 69, as introduced, Perea. Groundwater: Nitrate at Risk Area
Fund.
   Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board
and authorizes the board to adopt regulations to carry out its powers
and duties. Under existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality
Control Act, the board is required to formulate and adopt state
policy for water quality control.
   Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the
State Department of Public Health to administer provisions relating
to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health,
including, but not limited to, conducting research, studies, and
demonstration programs relating to the provision of a dependable,
safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking
Water Act, adopting enforcement regulations, and conducting studies
and investigations to assess the quality of water in domestic water
supplies.
   This bill would establish the Nitrate at Risk Area Fund, to be
administered by the board and, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
moneys in the fund would be available for the purposes of developing
and implementing sustainable and affordable solutions for
disadvantaged communities in specified areas designated by the
department, in conjunction with the board.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 13444 is added to the Water Code, to read:
   13444.  (a) The Nitrate at Risk Area Fund is hereby established in
the State Treasury, to be administered by the state board. Upon
appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the fund shall be
available for the purposes of developing and implementing sustainable
and affordable solutions for disadvantaged communities in areas
designated pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (b) The State Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the
state board, shall, using existing data on public water systems,
designate areas that are reliant on nitrate-contaminated groundwater
for their source of drinking water and that do not have reliable
access to safe, affordable drinking water.