BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                               SB 1130
                                                                       

                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
                              Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
                              2013-2014 Regular Session
                                           
           BILL NO:    SB 1130
           AUTHOR:     Roth
           AMENDED:    March 26, 2014
           FISCAL:     Yes               HEARING DATE:     April 2, 2014
           URGENCY:    Yes               CONSULTANT:        Rachel Machi
                                                             Wagoner
            
           SUBJECT  :    DRINKING WATER:  COUNTY WATER COMPANY OF RIVERSIDE  
                          WATER SYSTEM:  LIABILITY
           
            SUMMARY  :    
           
            Existing law  :

           1) Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA),

              a)    Authorizes the United States Environmental Protection  
                 Agency (US EPA) to set standards for drinking water  
                 quality and to oversee the states, localities and water  
                 suppliers who implement those standards.

              b)    Establishes the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund  
                 (DWSRF) program, which authorizes the US EPA to award  
                 capitalization grants to states and authorizes the  
                 states to, in turn, provide low-cost loans and other  
                 types of assistance to public water systems to finance  
                 the costs of infrastructure projects needed to achieve  
                 or maintain compliance with federal SDWA requirements.

           2) Under the California SDWA,

              a)    Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to  
                 regulate drinking water and to enforce the federal SDWA  
                 and other related regulations.

              b)    Authorizes DPH to delegate regulatory authority for  
                 small water systems (fewer than 200 service connections)  
                 to local primacy agencies (counties). 










                                                               SB 1130
                                                                 Page 2


              c)    Establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving  
                 Fund (SDWSRF) and continuously appropriates the SDWSRF  
                 to DPH to provide grants or revolving fund loans for the  
                 design and construction of projects for public water  
                 systems that will enable suppliers to meet safe drinking  
                 water standards.

           3) Declares the established policy of the state that every  
              human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and  
              accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking,  
              and sanitary purposes.  All relevant state agencies, shall  
              consider this state policy when revising, adopting, or  
              establishing policies, regulations, and grant criteria when  
              those policies, regulations, and criteria are pertinent to  
              the uses of water, as specified.





           4) Under the Municipal Water District Law of 1911, provides  
              for the formation of municipal water districts, grants to  
              those districts specified powers and  permits a district to  
              acquire, control, distribute, store, spread, sink, treat,  
              purify, recycle, recapture, and salvage any water for the  
              beneficial use of the district, its inhabitants, or the  
              owners of rights to water in the district.


            This bill  :  

           1) Exempts the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District  
              (EVMWD), the Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD), the  
              Western Municipal Water District, and the Metropolitan  
              Water District of Southern California from liability, as  
              prescribed, for claims by past or existing County Water  
              Company of Riverside customers or those who consumed water  
              provided through the County Water Company of Riverside  
              water system prior to and during the interim operation  
              period, as specified. 

           2) Prohibits the immunity from liability from being construed  









                                                               SB 1130
                                                                 Page 3

              either to relieve any water district, water wholesaler, or  
              any other entity from compliance with drinking water  
              standards, impair any cause of action or proceeding brought  
              by specified public entities, or to extend to claims  
              alleging the taking of property without compensation. 

           3) Requires the interim operation period to last until  
              permanent replacement facilities are accepted by the EVMWD  
              and the EMWD with the concurrence of DPH, or December 31,  
              2015, whichever occurs first. 

           4) Requires DPH to extend the interim operation period for up  
              to 3 successive one-year periods at the request of the  
              Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and the Eastern  
              Municipal Water District, as prescribed.

            COMMENTS  :

            1) Purpose of Bill  .  According to the author, this bill would  
              allow the public agencies of EMWD and EVMWD to extend water  
              service and provide the necessary assistance to the 140  
              service connections currently being served by the County  
              Water Company of Riverside, without being held liable for  
              past administrative or operational deficiencies of the  
              existing water system, including litigation costs.

            2) Background  .  The County Water Company of Riverside, a small  
              privately owned, non-mutual water company, currently owns a  
              well which is the sole water supply serving 140 homes in  
              western Riverside County. 

              This well is operationally unreliable and fails to meet  
              state drinking water standards.  It is also functionally  
              unable to provide emergency life-saving fire flows if  
              needed.  On several occasions this well has been totally  
              unable to pump water, leaving residents without a supply of  
              piped water for extended periods of time.  Residents within  
              the County Water Company system have been placed in the  
              situation wherein the water they drink, cook, and bathe in  
              comes from a roadside tanker or bottles purchased from the  
              store.

              Neighboring public water providers have stepped up to  









                                                               SB 1130
                                                                 Page 4

              provide customers of the County Water Company with  
              emergency water service until a long-term solution can be  
              established.  However, interim assistance and the  
              development of temporary solutions can open the existing  
              public agencies up to liabilities stemming from past  
              actions of the County Water Company. 

              Riverside County health officials have asked two adjacent  
              local water agencies for assistance in providing both  
              short-term and long-term solutions to the health and safety  
              risks the residents face as a result of this failing water  
              system.  Such assistance comes with the risk of liability  
              and potential costs to the existing ratepayers of the  
              agencies offering assistance.

              In an effort to protect existing public water agency  
              customers, while working to secure the health and safety of  
              the County Water Company of Riverside residents, EMWD and  
              EVMWD are seeking to establish a narrowly crafted bill that  
              would provide legal protections that would allow the public  
              agencies to move forward with assisting those families in  
              crisis.

           3) While this bill is narrowly drafted to address immediate  
              and urgent needs of a small community in Riverside County,  
              the case of the County Water Company of Riverside raises  
              several questions: 

              a)    How many small, private or mutual water companies are  
                 there in California that are not in compliance with the  
                 Safe Drinking Water Act and are delivering unsafe  
                 drinking water?
              b)    How long have these residents or residents in other  
                 small water systems been receiving unsafe water?
              c)    Why has the state DPH or County of Riverside DPH  
                 allowed this system to continue delivering water and  
                 collecting fees for delivering undrinkable water for as  
                 long as they have?

              The Senate Environmental Quality Committee has had  
              informational and legislative hearings to discuss some of  
              the deficiencies that exist in the delivery of clean, safe  
              drinking water in California.  This case is an illustration  









                                                               SB 1130
                                                                 Page 5

              of where the state and local public health officials have  
              failed.

            4) Double Referral to Senate Judiciary Committee  .  This bill  
              primarily relates to issues of liability relief for the two  
              water districts, which will be considered by the Senate  
              Judiciary Committee.  If this measure is approved by the  
              Senate Environmental Quality Committee, the do pass motion  
              must include the action to re-refer the bill to the Senate  
              Judiciary Committee.

            SOURCE  :        Eastern Municipal Water District
                          Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District
            
           SUPPORT  :       California Special Districts Association
                          County of Riverside 
           
           OPPOSITION  :    None on file