BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 985|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 985
Author: Pavley (D)
Amended: 8/18/14
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/22/14
AYES: Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Monning,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/30/14
AYES: Hill, Gaines, Hancock, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/23/14
AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 31-3, 5/27/14
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Block, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De
León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez,
Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Mitchell,
Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Vidak,
Walters, Wolk, Wyland
NOES: Knight, Morrell, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Calderon, Fuller, Liu, Wright, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-22, 8/27/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Stormwater resource planning
SOURCE : Author
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DIGEST : This bill requires a stormwater resource plan (SRP)
to be submitted to any applicable regional water management
group, to identify and prioritize stormwater and dry weather
runoff capture projects for implementation in a prescribed
quantitative manner and to prioritize the use of lands or
easements in public ownership for stormwater and dry weather
runoff projects.
Assembly Amendments expand existing standards to include dry
weather runoff; authorize one or more public agencies to develop
a SRP; make the development of a SRP, and grants to a
disadvantaged community, as specified, eligible to receive
grants from a bond act approved by the voters after January 1,
2014; require that a SRP be submitted to any applicable
integrated regional water management group, and upon receipt,
the integrated regional water management group shall incorporate
the SRP into its integrated regional water management plan; and
make other clarifying and technical changes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law authorizes under the Stormwater
Resource Planning Act of 2009 (SRPA), a city, county, or special
district, to develop a SRP that meets certain standards.
This bill:
1. Recasts the findings and declarations emphasizing that
stormwater and dry weather runoff are underutilized sources
of surface water and groundwater supplies that should be
captured and put to beneficial use. Proper planning and
implementation is vital to ensure that the water supply and
other benefits potentially available through better
management of stormwater and dry weather runoff do not come
at the expense of diminished water quality.
2. Defines stormwater and dry weather runoff, and makes
conforming changes to SRPA and the Rainwater Capture Act of
2012
3. Adds requirements that SRPs identify and prioritize:
A. Stormwater and dry weather runoff capture projects
for implementation in a quantitative manner, using a
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metrics-based and integrated evaluation and analysis of
multiple benefits to maximize water supply, water
quality, flood management, environmental, and other
community benefits within the watershed.
B. Opportunities to use of lands or easements in public
ownership for stormwater and dry weather runoff
projects.
4. Requires, by July 1, 2016, the Water Resources Control Board
(Board) to establish guidance that must include, but is not
limited to, the following:
A. Identifying type of local agencies and
nongovernmental organizations that need to be consulted
in developing a SRP.
B. Defining appropriate quantitative methods for
identifying and prioritizing opportunities for
stormwater and dry weather runoff capture projects.
C. Defining the appropriate geographic scale of
watersheds for stormwater resource planning.
D. Other guidance the Board deems appropriate.
5. Requires the development of a SRP and compliance with these
provisions to receive grants for stormwater and dry weather
runoff capture projects from a bond act approved by the
voters after January 1, 2014, except as follows:
A. For the purpose of developing an SRP; or
B. For a grant to a disadvantaged community with a
population of 20,000 or less that is not a co-permittee
under the Federal Clean Water Act, as specified, with a
municipality that has a population greater than 20,000.
6. Deletes the requirement that SRPs be consistent with
Integrated Regional Water Management Plans.
7. Requires an entity developing a SRP to identify in the plan
opportunities to use existing publicly owned lands and
easements to capture, clean, store, and use stormwater and
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dry weather runoff either onsite or offsite.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs of approximately $390,000 from the Waste
Discharge Permit Fund (special for one year for the Board to
develop the required policy to guide compliance.
Unknown potential cost pressures to the Board to approve
stormwater resource plans as a condition of eligibility for
future bond monies.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/14)
City of Signal Hill
Community Conservation Solutions
Heal the Bay
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
The Trust for Public Land
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/27/14)
Association of California Water Agency
City of Laguna Hills
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "If we are
going to reduce our dependence on imported water through
regional solutions, we must become more frugal with our water.
In many parts of the state stormwater and dry weather runoff are
underutilized sources of surface water and groundwater supplies.
Instead of being viewed as a resource, they are often seen as a
problem that must be moved to the ocean as quickly as possible
or as a source of contamination, contributing to a loss of
usable water supplies and the pollution and impairment of
rivers, lakes, streams, and coastal waters.
This bill "builds on [?] SB 790 from 2009 by more finely
focusing the Stormwater Resources Act on the capture and use of
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stormwater and dry weather runoff. Stormwater resource plans
remain voluntary. The bill now makes clear that the entity
creating the plan is responsible for developing the necessary
elements, including identifying public lands for potential
projects and the development and use of appropriate analytics."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-22, 8/27/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A.
Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski,
Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Jones, Linder,
Logue, Mansoor, Melendez, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Wagner,
Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Harkey, Maienschein, Quirk, Vacancy
RM:d 8/27/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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