BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1130 Page 1 ( Without Reference to File ) SENATE THIRD READING SB 1130 (Roth) As Amended April 21, 2014 2/3 vote. Urgency SENATE VOTE :36-0 JUDICIARY 9-0 ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 7-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Wieckowski, Wagner, |Ayes:|Alejo, Dahle, Bloom, | | |Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, | |Donnelly, Gomez, | | |Garcia, Gorell, | |Lowenthal, Ting | | |Muratsuchi, Stone | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- APPROPRIATIONS 17-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | | | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | | | |Calderon, Campos, | | | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, | | | | |Holden, Jones, Linder, | | | | |Pan, Quirk, | | | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wager, | | | | |Lowenthal | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- | | | -------------------------------- SUMMARY : Provides limited immunities from liability for the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD), the Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD), the Western Municipal Water District (WMWD), and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWDSC) for claims by past or existing County Water Company of Riverside (CWC) customers, or those who consumed water provided through the CWC water system, prior to and during an interim operation period, as specified. Provides that this bill is an urgency measure. EXISTING LAW : SB 1130 Page 2 1)Authorizes, whenever the Department of Public Health (DPH) determines that any public water system is unable or unwilling to adequately serve its users, has been actually or effectively abandoned by its owners, or is unresponsive to its rules or orders, DPH to petition the superior court, as specified, for the appointment of a receiver to assume possession of its property and to operate its system. Authorizes the court to provide, as a condition of its order, that the receiver appointed pursuant to the order not be held personally liable for any good faith, reasonable effort to assume possession of, and to operate the system in compliance with the order. (Health and Safety Code Section 116665) 2)Provides that a public entity is not liable for an injury, whether such injury arises out of an act or omission of the public entity, or a public employee, or any other person. Provides that the liability of a public entity, as specified, is subject to any immunity of the public entity provided by statute and is subject to any defenses that would be available to the public entity if it were a private person. (Government Code Section 815) 3)Provides, except as exempted by statute, that a public entity is liable for injury caused by a dangerous condition of its property if the plaintiff establishes that the property was in a dangerous condition at the time of the injury, that the injury was proximately caused by the dangerous condition, that the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury which was incurred, as specified. (Government Code Section 835) FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, enactment of this bill will have a negligible fiscal impact on the State Programs. COMMENTS : The CWC currently serves approximately 140 customers near the communities of Wildomar and Menifee in Riverside County from a single well that exceeds the state's standard for nitrate in drinking water. This well is operationally unreliable and occasionally unable to pump water or meet fire flow criteria, leaving residents without a supply of piped water or fire protection for periods of time. Recently, CWC representatives announced the company is going broke and getting out of the SB 1130 Page 3 business, and the system is in danger of complete failure. EMWD and EVMWD, which service nearby communities, have agreed to take over service to the neighborhood. DPH awarded Proposition 84 (Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006) emergency funds to EVMWD, on behalf of the CWC, on July 30, 2013, in the amount of $250,000, for the purposes of constructing an emergency intertie until a more permanent solution can be constructed. Proposition 84 planning funds were also awarded on September 4, 2013, to EMWD in the amount of $500,000, to fund the planning and design for the eventual split consolidation of CWC into EMWD and EVMWD. In addition, the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program issued letters of commitment to EMWD and EVMWD on October 31, 2013, for $6 million ($3 million each) in construction funding for the eventual construction of the split consolidation project pending completion of the Proposition 84 funded planning project. While funds have been awarded to commence this project, both EMWD and EVMWD have indicated that they are unable to connect to CWC until this bill is effective. EMWD argues that during the interim construction period during which they must continue to supply water through the existing dilapidated system, they, and therefore their existing customers, are vulnerable to lawsuits potentially relating to water quality or quantity, or insufficient pressure for fire protection. This bill is an effort to protect the public water agencies' existing customers, while the districts work to supply safe drinking water to CWC residents through reconstruction and future operation of the system in a manner consistent with all health and safety standards. Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965 FN: 0004231 SB 1130 Page 4