BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 92
Page 1
(Without Reference to File)
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
92 (Committee on Budget)
As Amended March 24, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |March 23, 2015 |SENATE: | |March 25, 2015 |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: BUDGET
SUMMARY: Contains necessary statutory and technical changes to
implement AB 91 (Budget Committee) of the current legislative
session, which amends the 2014-15 Budget Act related to urgent
drought relief. This bill, along with AB 91, proposes
expenditures of $1.059 million for drought-related activities.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
AB 92
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1)Require the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to notify the
owner of a new diversion, which is deleterious to salmon and
steelhead, that it must be screened and to submit to the owner,
within 30 days or upon a mutually agreed upon timeframe,
proposals for protective measures.
2)Allow DFW to assess civil penalties, including administrative
penalties, for obstructing fish passage with separate provisions
for obstructions associated with marijuana cultivation. Require
DFW adopt emergency regulations to implement the penalty
provisions and amend the Timber and Forest Restoration Fund to
allow for the receipt of penalty monies.
3)Allow DFW to initiate a complaint before the State Water Board
for a violation or trespass in connection with an unauthorized
diversion or use of water that harms fish and wildlife
resources.
4)Establish the Office of Sustainable Water Solutions (Office)
within the State Water Resources Control Board to promote
permanent and sustainable drinking water and wastewater
treatment solutions to ensure effective and efficient provision
of safe, clean, affordable, and reliable drinking water and
wastewater treatment services.
5)Expand the use of the Cleanup and Abatement Account for uses
beyond mitigation of waste and unreasonable use to include
urgent drinking water needs. Also, expands the entities
eligible to receive funds to public agencies. This change would
allow local water districts to be eligible to receive funds to
address emergency drinking water needs. These provisions will
sunset on July 1, 2018.
6)Transfer to CalConserve Revolving Fund $10 million of the
proceeds of Proposition 1 of 2014, to fund two water
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conservation and water use efficiency pilot programs that will
provide loans at below market rates or zero interest to urban
water suppliers in order to: a) install water efficiency
upgrades to eligible residents at no upfront cost; and, b)
provide low-interest loans to customers to finance leak repairs.
Both could be repaid through customers' utility bills.
7)Expedite emergency drought response time by suspending
contracting provisions of the Government Code and Public
Contract Code for actions related to Governor's declaration of a
drought emergency that address human health and safety impacts,
fish and wildlife resources, and provision of water to persons
or communities. Identify and list any contracts approved under
the suspended state contracting provisions on the California
Drought Web site.
8)Amends the Government Code to ensure that funding provided to
local governments in response to an emergency is not subject to
the eligibility restrictions of Labor Code Section 1782.
9)Directs agencies receiving moneys from the 2014-15 Budget Act
related to urgent drought relief to use the services of the
California Conservation Corps or a certified community
conservation corps, where feasible, for restoration, ecosystem
restoration projects or other similar work.
COMMENTS: This bill contains the statutory changes necessary to
implement AB 91, the urgent drought relief legislation. It
contains five main components:
1)Enhanced Department of Fish and Wildlife Authorities,
particularly with regard to illegal marijuana grows. The fourth
year of drought is straining resources and affecting fish and
wildlife in catastrophic ways. This strain is exacerbated by
illegal marijuana growing operations that are diverting water
directly out of streams or using trucks to siphon it from water
bodies and carry it to their operations. Illegal actions are
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affecting fish and wildlife populations and making it harder for
legal actors to comply. This bill provides DFW three new tools.
Existing law requires the owner of a new diversion in salmon or
steelhead waters to notify DFW so that DFW can determine whether
or not the diversion is affecting salmon or steelhead and
proscribe proper screening measures, if necessary. This bill
instead allows DFW to provide notification to only those owners
whose diversions are affecting salmon or steelhead and requires
DFW to recommend screening measures within 30 days or upon a
mutually agreeable time frame.
This bill authorizes DFW to impose civil penalties, including
administratively, where diversions are obstructing fish passage
with separate provisions for illegal grows. This bill requires
DFW to initiate an emergency rulemaking process to develop and
implement due process procedures to implement its administrative
penalty provisions.
This bill enhances the effectiveness of wardens by allowing
those who observe unauthorized water diversions that harm fish
and wildlife to initiate a complaint to the State Water
Resources Control Board and remain a party to the proceeding.
2)Creation of the Office of Sustainable Water Solutions. This
bill creates a first-of-its-kind Office as a new unit within the
drinking water program at the State Water Resources Control
Board.
One of the most challenging problems with water supply
reliability and water quality throughout the state is the lack
of help offered to small communities (small cities, rural
counties, and unincorporated areas) that have small rate bases,
little or no local funds, huge water infrastructure needs and
few staff to help meet those needs.
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The Office will help small communities apply for state and
federal funds to help clean up drinking water and provide
greater access to treatment technologies. It will also help
communities that want to consolidate to better apportion costs
of water system upgrades to prevent or mitigate huge local rate
increases. Finally, the Office will provide basic technical
assistance to small communities that, in many cases do not have
a city manager or staff to work on providing clean drinking
water to its residents.
3)Creation of CalConserve Revolving Fund Water Efficiency Pilot
Projects. Water conservation is one of the only tools
immediately available in a drought to help try to stretch
existing supplies. Communities like the Town of Windsor have
experienced terrific water conservation success with "Efficiency
Pays" programs. Under those programs the water supplier
installs water efficient upgrades such as washing machines or
dishwashers at no upfront cost to the eligible homeowner and the
homeowner repays them on their utility bill. After the upgrades
the bill is often less even with the repayment obligation
included.
In addition to stretching supplies is preserving existing
supplies. DWR estimates leakage to be from 5% to 50% in many
water systems. Traditional revolving funds, such as those at
the State Water Resources Control Board, address leaks in the
public water system but do not address leaks on private
property. This pilot project would bridge that gap through a
low-interest loan program administered by local agencies to
their customers.
4)Suspension of State Contracting Provisions for Drought
Emergencies. Some communities in California have literally run
out of water and, as the fourth year of drought continues, there
are likely to be more. The environment has also been devastated
by the dry weather. Traditional state contracting provisions
require agencies to engage in many procedures, including
advertising contracts and selecting from multiple bids. This
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bill allows contracts for projects that are related to the
Governor's declaration of a state of emergency to be expedited
by waiving traditional contracting provisions. However, it also
ensures accountability and public oversight by listing on the
California Drought Internet Web site sufficient information to
identify which agencies and which contracts utilized the
provision.
5)Emergency Funding and Financial Assistance Not Subject to
Certain Eligibility Restrictions. Local governments have raised
concerns that they would not be eligible to receive money from
the State's Disaster Relief Fund in the event of a calamity,
like an earthquake, wildfire or flood, because they are not in
compliance with the eligibility restrictions of Labor Code
Section 1782, which concern payment of prevailing wages and use
of apprentices on municipal projects.
Analysis Prepared by:
Gabrielle Meindl / BUDGET /916-319-2099 FN:
0000083