BILL NUMBER: AB 295	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 6, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 23, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 19, 2013

INTRODUCED BY    Assembly Member   Salas
  Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife   (
  Assembly Members Rendon (Chair), Blumenfield, Bocanegra,
Fong, Frazier, Gatto, Gomez, Gray, and Yamada   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2013

   An act relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 295, as amended,  Salas   Committee on
Water, Parks and Wildlife  . 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)  The November 2014 ballot currently includes a
  A  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  is currently set for the
November 4, 2014, statewide general election  .
   (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.