BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON BUDGET AND FISCAL REVIEW
Senator Mark Leno, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 115 Hearing Date: June 18,
2015
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|Author: |Committee on Budget |
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|Version: |January 9, 2015 Introduced |
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|Urgency: |Yes |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Catherine Freeman |
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Subject: Drought Budget Act of 2015.
Summary: This bill makes various changes to implement drought budget
actions adopted as part of the 2015-16 budget package.
Background: As part of the 2015-16 budget package, AB 115 makes various
statutory changes, related to drought, to implement the budget
act.
Proposed
Law: This bill includes the following key changes.
Drought Water System Consolidation . Authorizes the State Water
Resources Control Board (State Water Board) to require water
systems that are serving disadvantaged communities with
unreliable and unsafe drinking water to consolidate with or
receive service from public water systems with safe, reliable,
and adequate drinking water.
Recycled Water Projects CEQA Exemption. Provides a narrowly
tailored California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption
during a drought state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor
for a public agency to mitigate drought conditions by building
or expanding a recycled water pipeline and related groundwater
replenishment infrastructure if it is within existing rights of
way, does not impact wetlands or sensitive habitat, and where
the construction impacts are fully mitigated. Authority sunsets
on January 1, 2017.
AB 115 (Committee on Budget) Page 2
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Recycled Water Codes CEQA Exemption. Exempts the development of
new building codes related to dual plumbing from certain CEQA
provisions for one code update cycle.
Well Ordinances CEQA Exemption. Includes legislative findings
clarifying that local governments may regulate groundwater
pursuant to their police power and provides a limited CEQA
exemption for adopting a groundwater protection ordinance. That
exemption would expire within two years, or upon the cessation
of the current Drought State of Emergency, whichever is later.
Drought Expanded Local Enforcement Authority. Allows local
water agencies to issue penalties for violations of local and
state water conservation requirements but limits penalties to
up to $1,000 for the first violation (increasing for continuing
violations) unless the violator has shown intent and the nature
of the violation is substantial.
Drought Penalties. Requires the State Water Resources Control
Board to separately account for penalties assessed for
violations of emergency conservation regulations and deposit
such funds into the Water Rights Fund for appropriation by the
Legislature to support water conservation activities.
Drought Monitoring and Reporting. Requires that diversions in
excess of ten acre feet of water per year, with some exceptions,
must have a measuring device or a method of measurement for
diversions. Authorizes the State Water Board to adopt emergency
regulations to implement the measuring device requirement and
increases the frequency of water diversion reporting to be at
least annually. Consideration is given for cost feasibility and
a one-year exemption is included for parties in voluntary
settlement with the State Water Board regarding water
curtailments.
Proposition 1 Clarifications and Accountability. Requires the
Natural Resources Agency to provide specific information on
projects funded by Proposition 1 and requires state agencies to
provide outcomes and metrics for projects funded.
Water Efficiency Revolving Fund Appropriation. Appropriates $10
million of Proposition 1 to the CalConserve Revolving Fund for
low-interest loans for water efficiency upgrades.
AB 115 (Committee on Budget) Page 3
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Fiscal
Effect: This bill should not result in any changes to the budget act
or related budget actions.
Support: Unknown
Opposed: Unknown
Comments: This bill provides the necessary statutory references to enact
the 2015-16 budget related to drought.
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