BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 300 Hearing Date: June 23,
2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Alejo | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Version: |June 11, 2015 Amended |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant:|Angee Doerr |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
1) Under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act,
establishes the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)
and regional water quality control boards (RWQCBs) in the
California Environmental Protection Agency, which must be "the
principal state agencies with primary responsibility for the
coordination and control of water quality" (Water Code
Division 7).
2) Establishes the State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), and
prescribes the membership, and functions and duties of the SCC
with respect to preservation of coastal resources in the state
(Public Resources Code Division 21, State Coastal Conservancy)
3) Provides a sum of one billion four hundred ninety-five
million dollars ($1,495,000,000) that shall be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for competitive grants for
multibenefit ecosystem and watershed protection and
restoration projects in accordance with statewide priorities
(Water Code Division 26.7, Chapter 6, Protecting Rivers,
Lakes, Streams, Coastal Waters, and Watersheds).
PROPOSED LAW
This bill establishes an Algal Bloom Task Force within the State
Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). Specifically, this bill:
AB 300 (Alejo) Page 2
of ?
1)Finds and declares a series of statements relating to the
toxicity of cyanobacterial blooms, and the deleterious impacts
they have within state waters.
2)Creates Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 31420) to Division
21 of the Public Resources Code.
3)Defines, for the purposes of this Chapter:
"Waters of the state" as any surface waters in the state,
including, but not limited to, coastal lakes, lagoons and
estuaries, rivers, streams, inland lakes and reservoirs, and
wetlands.
4)Establishes the state Algal Bloom Task Force within the SWRCB.
The task force will be comprised of a representative from
SWRCB, Department of Public Health (DPH), Department of Fish
and Wildlife (DFW), Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA),
State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), and other relevant agencies
to be determined by the chairperson of the board, in
consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection.
The Task Force would have the following responsibilities:
(a) Assess and prioritize the actions and research necessary to
develop measures that prevent or sustainably mitigate toxic
algal blooms in the waters of the state.
(b) Solicit and review proposals from universities, local
governments, California Native American tribes, and nonprofit
organizations for applied research, projects, and programs
that develop strategies or activities that prevent or mitigate
toxic blooms of cyanotoxins and establish cyanotoxin
monitoring programs or develop laboratory capacity for
analyzing water samples for cyanotoxin pollution.
(c) Provide funding recommendations to the chairperson of the
board and to DFW, SCC, other members of the task force, and
relevant agency representatives for these proposals.
(d) Review the risks and negative impacts of toxic algal blooms
and microcystin pollution on humans, wildlife, fisheries,
livestock, pets, and aquatic ecosystems, and develop
recommendations for prevention and long-term mitigation.
(e) Submit a summary of findings based on this review, including
recommendations on programs or state resources that will be
required to prevent damaging toxic algal blooms and
AB 300 (Alejo) Page 3
of ?
microcystin pollution in the waters, to the appropriate policy
and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Secretary for
Environmental Protection, and the Secretary of the Natural
Resources Agency on or before January 1, 2017.
(e) Organize meetings and workshops of experts and stakeholders
as needed to implement this section.
(f) Establish a notification procedure and publish notices to
inform the public about ongoing activities, and provide
opportunities for public review and comment on applied
research, projects, and programs solicited.
5)Creates a sunset date of January 1, 2019 for the provisions of
this bill
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
The co-sponsor of AB300, the City of Watsonville, writes "Many
lakes and rivers across the State have tested positive for algal
toxins. Unfortunately, there is a significant lack of awareness
at the public health, veterinary and local government level
regarding the presence of toxic algal blooms and their health
effects. It is clear that California needs a more coordinated
approach to managing toxic algal blooms to protect the State's
residents, water supplies and natural resources. AB 300 provides
that coordination by forming a task force that brings water
quality, public health and environmental health experts
together"
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
What causes algal blooms? Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae,
can live in both marine and freshwater. These bacteria thrive in
warm, nutrient rich waters. California's watersheds are
especially prone to toxic algal blooms due to the warm climate,
shrinking water supplies, run-off from agricultural and
municipal sources, and climate change. Because of this,
California has seen algal blooms within rivers, lakes,
estuaries, and along our coasts.
Are toxic algal blooms a problem in California? Toxic algal
blooms have been reported in multiple locations across
California, including Siskiyou County, Humboldt County, Lake
County, Kern County, Mono County, Riverside County, San
AB 300 (Alejo) Page 4
of ?
Francisco Bay Delta, San Joaquin, and Santa Cruz County. Toxic
algal blooms impact drinking water, human health, wildlife,
pets, recreation, and ecosystems.
The cyanobacterium Microcystis produces potent toxins, including
microcystin. Microcystis blooms can sicken or kill people and
animals through ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact. Larger
marine animals, such as sea otters, have been killed by
consuming shellfish that has been contaminated with microcystin.
These blooms also deplete oxygen in the water, killing fish and
other aquatic life. Microcystin is a federally regulated
pollutant.
Why is a task force needed? Solving the toxic algal bloom
problem requires the coordinated effort of several state
departments and requires new multidisciplinary research.
Although we have several groups within California that monitor
water quality and coastal algal blooms, including Southern
California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP), Central and
Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS), Southern
California Coastal Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS), and the
Department of Public Health, there is not currently a
coordinated effort to track and better understand toxic algal
blooms in California.
Double-Referral. The Rules Committee referred this bill to both
the Committee on Natural Resources and Water and to the
Committee Environmental Quality. Therefore, if this bill passes
this committee, it will be referred to the Committee on
Environmental Quality, which will consider the issues within
their jurisdiction.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
AMENDMENT 1
Currently, AB300 Section 2, reads:
31421(c)Waters of the state means any surface waters in the
state, including, but not limited to, coastal lakes,
lagoons and estuaries, rivers, streams, inland lakes and
reservoirs, and wetlands.
However, toxic algal blooms are known to occur (and are
occurring) along Californias coasts in marine environments.
An amendment is suggested to change this to:
AB 300 (Alejo) Page 5
of ?
31421(c)Waters of the state means any surface waters in the
state, including, but not limited to, coastal lakes,
lagoons and estuaries, rivers, streams, inland lakes and
reservoirs, wetlands, and marine waters, within the
boundaries of the state.
SUPPORT
City of Watsonville (co-sponsor)
Karuk Tribe (co-sponsor)
Save Our Shores
Defenders of Wildlife
City of Long Beach
OPPOSITION
None Received
-- END --