Amended in Assembly May 6, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 23, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 295

Introduced by begin delete Assembly Member Salas end delete begin insert Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife (Assembly Members Rendon (Chair), Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Fong, Frazier, Gatto, Gomez, Gray, and Yamada) end insert

February 11, 2013

An act relating to water.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 295, as amended, begin delete Salas end delete   begin insert Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife end insert . Water: water supply: infrastructure.

Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to update every 5 years the plan for the orderly and coordinated control, protection, conservation, development, and use of the water resources of the state, known as the California Water Plan.

This bill would establish findings and declarations stating that the November 2014 ballot currently includes a bond measure for $11.14 billion to fund projects related to water, that many Californians lack access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water, and that it is in the general public interest to pass a general obligation bond to help fund projects that address the critical and immediate needs of disadvantaged, rural, or small communities and projects that leverage state and federal drinking water quality and wastewater treatment funds. The bill would also require the State Water Resources Control Board and the Drinking Water and Environmental Management Division of the State Department of Public Health to initiate and complete a comprehensive study relating to the need for state funding for water projects and, on or before July 1, 2014, to provide a report to the Legislature summarizing those findings.

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.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a)  begin delete The November 2014 ballot currently includes a end delete begin insert A end insert bond
measure for $11.14 billion to fund projects related to water supply
reliability, water quality, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
sustainability, watershed conservation and protection, and water
recycling begin insert is currently set for the November 4, 2014, statewide
general election end insert .

(b) Many Californians lack access to clean, safe, and affordable
drinking water. In some communities, economic conditions prevent
the community from generating sufficient funding to correct water
system deficiencies or source water quality.

(c) It is in the general public interest to pass a general obligation
bond that includes, but is not limited to, grants and loans to state
and local agencies to help fund projects that address the critical
and immediate needs of disadvantaged, rural, or small communities
and projects that leverage state and federal drinking water quality
and wastewater treatment funds. In order to determine the amount
of state funding necessary to accomplish these improvements, the
Legislature requires additional information.

SEC. 2.  

The State Water Resources Control Board and the
Drinking Water and Environmental Management Division of the
State Department of Public Health shall initiate and complete a
comprehensive study relating to the need for state funding for
projects necessary to ensure that all Californians have access to
safe drinking water and, on or before July 1, 2014, shall submit a
report to the Legislature that identifies and prioritizes these
projects.