BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1249
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Date of Hearing: January 23, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1249 (Salas) - As Amended: January 6, 2014
Policy Committee: Environmental
Safety and Toxic Materials Vote: 5-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires integrated regional water management plans
(IRWMPs) to include consideration of the impacts of drinking
water contaminated by nitrates. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires IRWMPs to include a description of high-risk nitrate
areas, as determined by the State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB), and an explanation of how the IRWMP will
address nitrate contamination.
2)Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to prioritize
funding from the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and
Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act
of 2006 (Proposition 84) for safe drinking water and water
quality projects to address nitrate contamination identified
in the IRWMP, including drinking water projects in small,
disadvantaged communities.
FISCAL EFFECT
Cost pressures, likely in the millions of dollars, to DWR to
award grant monies to projects to address nitrate contamination.
However, actual grant awards may not necessarily differ from
grant awards DWR would have made absent this bill (Proposition
84).
COMMENTS
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill will direct DWR
to give preference to funding plans that address nitrate
impacts for areas identified by the SWRCB as nitrate high
AB 1249
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risks.
If an area within the boundaries of a funding plan has been
identified as a nitrate high-risk area by the State Water
Resources Control Board, the plan must include an explanation
of how the plan addresses the nitrate contamination. If the
plan does not address the nitrate contamination, an
explanation of why the plan does not address the contamination
must be included.
2)Background . Nitrate pollution in groundwater is a widespread
water quality problem that can pose serious health risks if
consumed at specific concentrations. According to a February
20, 2013 SWRCB report to Legislature, Recommendations
Addressing Nitrate in Groundwater, it is critical that a new
funding source be established to ensure that all Californians,
including those in disadvantaged communities, have access to
safe drinking water.
The Department of Public Health indicates that nitrate
contaminated groundwater is a particularly significant problem
in the Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Valley areas, where about
2.6 million people, including many of the poorest communities
in California, rely on groundwater for their drinking water.
Many other areas of the state also have nitrate contaminated
groundwater.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081