BILL NUMBER: AB 69 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 12, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 11, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 27, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Perea
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Stone)
JANUARY 10, 2013
An act to add Section 13169.5 to Article
6.5 (commencing with Section 14615) to Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the
Food and Agricultural Code , and to add and repeal
Article 4 (commencing with Section 13444) of Chapter 6 of Division 7
of, the Water Code Chapter 4.7 (commencing with
Section 116765) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety
Code , relating to drinking water, making an
appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 69, as amended, Perea. Groundwater: drinking water: Nitrate at
Risk Fund.
(1) Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control
Board, or state board, and 9 California regional water quality
control boards, and authorizes the state board to adopt regulations
to carry out its powers and duties. Under existing law, the
Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the state board is required
to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. Under
existing law the state board is further authorized to develop and
implement a groundwater protection program consistent with federal
law.
This bill would require the state board, in collaboration with the
regional boards, and state and local agencies that collect water
quality data or information, to develop a public information program
on matters involving groundwater quality monitoring and assessment,
as specified, and would also require the state board to develop and
maintain on its Internet Web site, in a format accessible to the
general public, an information file with specific information on
groundwater quality.
(2)
(1) 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 Fund, to be
administered by the department. This bill would continuously
appropriate, without regard to fiscal years, the fund to the
department for the purposes of loans, principal forgiveness loans, or
grants to certain water systems operating in a high-nitrate at-risk
area for specified purposes. This bill would require a
person who purchases nitrogen fertilizer materials in California to
pay a nitrogen fertilizer materials charge, until January 1, 2016, of
$0.01 per dollar of materials, and on and after January 1, 2016, the
department may increase the amount of the charge, as specified, to
an amount no greater than $0.04 per dollar of materials if 80% of the
moneys in the fund are committed. This bill would require a seller
of nitrogen fertilizer materials to remit the nitrogen fertilizer
materials charge to the department to be deposited in the fund.
This bill would require the state board, on or before
January 1, 2022, to submit a report to the Legislature that includes
specified information relating to the fund and contaminated drinking
water. This bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2024.
(2) Existing law requires every person who manufactures or
distributes fertilizing materials to be licensed by the Secretary of
Food and Agriculture and to pay a license fee that does not exceed
$300. Existing law requires every lot, parcel, or package of
fertilizing material to have a label attached to it, as required by
the secretary. Existing law requires a licensee who sells or
distributes bulk fertilizing materials to pay to the secretary an
assessment not to exceed $0.002 per dollar of sales for all sales of
fertilizing materials, as prescribed, for the purposes of the
administration and enforcement of provisions relating to fertilizing
materials. In addition to that assessment, existing law authorizes
the secretary to impose an assessment in an amount not to exceed
$0.001 per dollar of sales for all sales of fertilizing materials for
the purpose of providing funding for research and education
regarding the use of fertilizing materials.
This bill, with prescribed exceptions, would require a person who
sells for use in this state fertilizer materials to pay to the
secretary a fertilizer materials charge, until January 1, 2016, of
$0.01 per dollar of materials. This bill, on and after January 1,
2016, would permit the department to increase the amount of the
charge, as specified, to an amount no greater than $0.04 per dollar
of materials if 80% of the moneys in the fund are committed, and
would require the Fertilizer Inspection Advisory Board to discuss the
charge and provide a recommendation to the department. This bill
would prohibit the fertilizer materials charge from being imposed
when the department determines that more than $60,000,000 of the
moneys in the fund are uncommitted. This bill would require a seller
of fertilizer materials to remit the charge to the secretary to be
deposited in the fund.
(3) The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 13169.5 is added to the
Water Code, to read:
13169.5. (a) The state board, in collaboration with the regional
boards, and state and local agencies that collect water quality data
or information, shall develop a public information program on matters
involving groundwater quality monitoring and assessment throughout
the state by utilizing existing data, including groundwater ambient
monitoring and assessment results, along with the collection of new
information as needed.
(b) The state board shall develop and maintain on its Internet Web
site, in a format accessible to the general public, an information
file on groundwater quality monitoring, assessment, research,
standards, regulation, enforcement, and other pertinent matters.
SEC. 2. Article 4 (commencing with Section
13444) is added to Chapter 6 of Division 7 of the Water Code, to
read:
Article 4. Nitrate at Risk Fund
13444. The Nitrate at Risk Fund is hereby established in the
State Treasury, to be administered by the State Department of Public
Health. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, moneys
in the Nitrate at Risk Fund are continuously appropriated, without
regard to fiscal years, to the State Department of Public Health for
the purposes described in Section 13446.
13445. (a) For purposes of this section, "fertilizer materials
charge" means the charge imposed pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) (1) A person who purchases fertilizer materials in California,
including, but not limited to, all commercial or retail sales of
fertilizer materials for agricultural or urban uses, shall pay a
fertilizer materials charge as follows:
(A) Until January 1, 2016, a charge of $0.01 per dollar of
materials.
(B) On and after January 1, 2016, the State Department of Public
Health may increase the amount of the charge to an amount no greater
than $0.04 per dollar of materials if 80 percent of the moneys in the
Nitrate at Risk Fund are committed. In determining the amount of the
charge, the State Department of Public Health shall consider the
demand for the moneys in the Nitrate at Risk Fund. In determining the
charge, the State Department of Public Health shall allow
stakeholder participation and make available to the public the
information upon which the State Department of Public Health
calculates, bases, or determines the charge.
(2) A seller of fertilizer materials shall remit the fertilizer
materials charge to the State Department of Public Health to be
deposited in the Nitrate at Risk Fund.
13446. (a) Moneys in the Nitrate at Risk Fund shall be used for
loans, principal forgiveness loans, or grants to a water system
operating in a high-nitrate at-risk area that is one of the
following:
(1) A small community water system serving a disadvantaged
community.
(2) An unregulated system of 2 to 15, inclusive, service
connections.
(3) A nontransient noncommunity water system owned by a public
agency.
(b) Moneys in the Nitrate at Risk Fund may be used for any of the
following purposes:
(1) Preplanning drinking water projects.
(2) Planning drinking water projects.
(3) Interim water solutions.
(4) Constructing drinking water projects.
(5) Operating and maintaining drinking water systems. The State
Department of Public Health shall ensure that moneys used for the
purposes of this paragraph are for the operation and maintenance of
drinking water systems in communities that have a substantial need
and otherwise would not be able to afford to operate or maintain
their systems. The State Department of Public Health shall ensure
that moneys available for the operation and maintenance of a
particular drinking water system pursuant to this paragraph shall not
be permanent and shall be phased out over time.
(c) Moneys in the Nitrate at Risk Fund shall not be used for
loans, principal forgiveness loans, or grants to a water system that
is a small community water system for the purposes of either
paragraph (2) or (4) of subdivision (b) unless no other funding
source is available to that system for that purpose.
13447. (a) On or before January 1, 2022, the state board, in
consultation with any other state entity or research institution as
appropriate, shall submit to the Legislature a report that includes
all of the following information:
(1) Communities that rely on contaminated drinking water as a
primary source of drinking water.
(2) The principal contaminants and other constituents of concern
affecting groundwater and contamination levels in the groundwater
sources for the communities described in paragraph (1).
(3) Potential solutions and funding sources to clean up or treat
groundwater or to provide alternative water supplies to ensure the
provision of safe drinking water to communities identified in
paragraph (1).
(4) The effect of the use of the moneys in the Nitrate at Risk
Fund for the purposes described in Section 13446 on nitrate
contaminated groundwater used as a source of drinking water.
(b) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
13448. If the responsibility for administering Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 116270) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the
Health and Safety Code is transferred to the state board, the state
board shall succeed to and is vested with all of the authority,
duties, powers, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the State
Department of Public Health pursuant to this article.
13449. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2024, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2024, deletes or extends
that date.
SECTION 1. Article 6.5 (commencing with Section
14615) is added to Chapter 5 of Division 7 of the Food and
Agricultural Code , to read:
Article 6.5. Nitrate at Risk Fund Charge
14615. (a) For the purposes of this section, "fund" means the
Nitrate at Risk Fund created by Section 116765 of the Health and
Safety Code.
(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (d), every person who
sells for use in this state fertilizer materials shall pay to the
secretary the applicable charge. Those sales expressly include all
sales made electronically, telephonically, or by any other means that
result in a fertilizer material being shipped to or used in the
state. There is a rebuttable presumption that fertilizer materials
that are sold or distributed into or within this state by any person
are sold or distributed for use in this state. A fertilizer materials
charge shall be paid at the following rates for sales of fertilizer
materials for use in this state:
(1) Until January 1, 2016, a charge of $0.01 per dollar of
materials sold.
(2) On and after January 1, 2016, the State Department of Public
Health may increase the amount of the charge to an amount no greater
than $0.04 per dollar of materials sold if 80 percent of the moneys
in the fund are committed. In determining the amount of the charge,
the State Department of Public Health shall consider the demand for
the moneys in the fund. In determining the charge, the State
Department of Public Health shall allow stakeholder participation and
make available to the public the information upon which the State
Department of Public Health calculates, bases, or determines the
charge. The Fertilizer Inspection Advisory Board, described in
Section 14581, shall discuss the charge and provide a recommendation
to the State Department of Public Health.
(2) A seller of fertilizer materials shall remit the fertilizer
materials charge to the secretary to be deposited in the fund.
(c) The fertilizer materials charge shall not be imposed when more
than sixty million dollars ($60,000,000) of the moneys in the fund
are uncommitted.
(d) A person is not required to pay the charge provided for in
this section as follows:
(1) In those cases where the person did not first sell the
fertilizer material into or within this state or have actual
knowledge, at the time of its sale, that the fertilizer would be sold
for use in this state.
(2) If the fertilizer material is for use in further manufacturing
or formulating of fertilizer material.
SEC. 2. Chapter 4.7 (commencing with Section
116765) is added to Part 12 of Division 104 of the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
CHAPTER 4.7. NITRATE AT RISK FUND
116765. The Nitrate at Risk Fund is hereby established in the
State Treasury, to be administered by the State Department of Public
Health. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, moneys
in the Nitrate at Risk Fund are continuously appropriated, without
regard to fiscal years, to the State Department of Public Health for
the purposes described in Section 116766.
116766. (a) Moneys in the Nitrate at Risk Fund shall be used for
loans, principal forgiveness loans, or grants to a water system
operating in a high-nitrate at-risk area that is one of the
following:
(1) A small community water system serving a disadvantaged
community.
(2) An unregulated system of 2 to 15, inclusive, service
connections.
(3) A nontransient noncommunity water system owned by a public
agency.
(b) Moneys in the Nitrate at Risk Fund may be used for any of the
following purposes:
(1) Preplanning drinking water projects.
(2) Planning drinking water projects.
(3) Interim water solutions.
(4) Constructing drinking water projects.
(5) Operating and maintaining drinking water systems. The State
Department of Public Health shall ensure that moneys used for the
purposes of this paragraph are for the operation and maintenance of
drinking water systems in communities that have a substantial need
and otherwise would not be able to afford to operate or maintain
their systems. The State Department of Public Health shall ensure
that moneys available for the operation and maintenance of a
particular drinking water system pursuant to this paragraph shall not
be permanent and shall be phased out over time.
(c) Moneys in the Nitrate at Risk Fund shall not be used for
loans, principal forgiveness loans, or grants to a water system that
is a small community water system for the purposes of either
paragraph (2) or (4) of subdivision (b) unless no other funding
source is available to that system for that purpose.
116767. (a) On or before January 1, 2022, the state board, in
consultation with any other state entity or research institution as
appropriate, shall submit to the Legislature a report that includes
all of the following information:
(1) Communities that rely on contaminated drinking water as a
primary source of drinking water.
(2) The principal contaminants and other constituents of concern
affecting groundwater and contamination levels in the groundwater
sources for the communities described in paragraph (1).
(3) Potential solutions and funding sources to clean up or treat
groundwater or to provide alternative water supplies to ensure the
provision of safe drinking water to communities identified in
paragraph (1).
(4) The effect of the use of the moneys in the Nitrate at Risk
Fund for the purposes described in Section 116766 on nitrate
contaminated groundwater used as a source of drinking water.
(b) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
116768. If the responsibility for administering Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 116270) is transferred to the state board,
the state board shall succeed to and is vested with all of the
authority, duties, powers, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the
State Department of Public Health pursuant to this article.
116769. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2024, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2024, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
To address the public health problem of nitrate contaminated
drinking water as soon as possible, it is necessary for this act to
take effect immediately.