BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2662|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2662
Author: Gatto (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/10/14
AYES: Pavley, Evans, Jackson, Lara, Monning, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella, Fuller, Hueso
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-9, 5/27/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Silver Lake Reservoir: drainage: civil penalty
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires that if the Los Angeles Department
of Water and Power (LADWP) drain Silver Lake Reservoir
(Reservoir) it must refill it to 80% capacity within 18 months
or pay a $100,000 per week civil penalty to the City of Los
Angeles (City) to mitigate effects on the Silver Lake
neighborhood.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes a municipality or municipal
corporation to operate as a public utility to supply its own
water service.
This bill:
1.Requires LADWP to refill the Reservoir water to at least 80%
of its water capacity within 18 months of being drained.
CONTINUED
AB 2662
Page
2
2.Requires the LADWP, if the Reservoir is not refilled, to pay a
civil penalty of $100,000 per week, to the City, for each week
that the Reservoir is not filled, to mitigate the effects of
the drainage of the Reservoir on the Silver Lake neighborhood.
3.Specifies that the penalty may not be payable from rate-payer
funds.
Background
The Silver Lake Reservoir Complex (SLRC) comprises two
reservoirs, Silver Lake and Ivanhoe Reservoir, in the Silver
Lake region of the City of Los Angeles. The reservoirs are
owned by the LADWP.
The SLRC Bypass Pipeline Project is a key component of the SLRC
Storage Replacement Project (Project), which was approved by the
LADWP Board of Water and Power Commissioners in 2005, to comply
with updated U.S. Environmental Protection Agency water quality
regulations. The SLRC Project includes:
The construction of an underground replacement water storage
facility near Griffith Park (Headworks Reservoir); and,
The construction of a bypass line at Ivanhoe and Silver Lake
Reservoirs to maintain the water supply connection and isolate
Ivanhoe and Silver Lake Reservoirs, which will remain as
filled open reservoirs but not part of the drinking water
system.
The construction of the Bypass Pipeline and a pressure regulator
station is a required component of the SLRC Project and will
allow the preservation of Ivanhoe and Silver Lake Reservoirs for
the public's benefit.
Construction is currently scheduled to start in Spring/Summer
2015 and is scheduled to be completed in late 2016.
The SLRC Project also calls for the Reservoir to be drained for
12 months starting January 2016.
Comments
CONTINUED
AB 2662
Page
3
According to the author:
In order to comply with a 2006 Environmental Protection Agency
ruling requiring the transition from open-air potable water
storage, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)
is replacing the potable water storage functions of the Silver
Lake Reservoir with a covered reservoir near Griffith Park.
LADWP's current proposal requires eighteen months of
construction, during which the Silver Lake Reservoir would be
drained. This alternative was chosen after many months of
community input and negotiation, in large part because the
compacted construction schedule would protect the community
from the more intrusive disruption which would result from
other alternatives.
Draining the reservoir will have significant impacts on the
community and the environment. The loss of this community
resource will affect recreation, aesthetics, air quality, and
even migratory bird patterns. Residents of the Silver Lake
neighborhood deserve accountability for the assurances made in
choosing this alternative.
This proposal would, therefore, require $100,000 of mitigation
compensation from LADWP for every week beyond the
eighteen-month construction period that the Silver Lake
Reservoir is not filled to at least 80% of its capacity. The
funds would be used to mitigate the impacts of delays on the
local community.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 61-9, 5/27/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Hagman, Hall, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Olsen, Pan, Perea,
John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Chávez, Conway, Dahle, Grove, Harkey, Jones,
CONTINUED
AB 2662
Page
4
Mansoor, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Bigelow, Donnelly, Linder, Logue,
Nestande, Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Waldron, Vacancy
RM:k 6/11/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
**** END ****
CONTINUED