BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 300
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|Author: |Alejo |
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|Version: |6/25/2015 |Hearing |7/15/2015 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Laurie Harris |
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SUBJECT: Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of 2016.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB),
under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act, in the California
Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to formulate and
adopt state policy for water quality control and coordinate
with regional water boards these responsibilities. (Water
Code (WAT) §13000 et seq.)
2) Establishes the State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) with
the responsibility for implementing a program of agricultural
protection, area restoration, and resource enhancement in the
coastal zone. (Public Resources Code §31054 et seq.)
3) Establishes the Protecting Rivers, Lakes, Streams, Coastal
Waters, and Watersheds Fund with $1.495 billion, upon
appropriation from the Legislature, for competitive grants
for multibenefit ecosystem and watershed protection and
restoration projects in accordance with statewide priorities.
(WAT §79730 et seq.)
This bill:
1) States findings and declarations of the Legislature
concerning the impact of harmful algal blooms, particularly
from cyanobacteria, to wildlife and public health in
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California, and the need for a multiagency effort to address
them.
2) Establishes the Safe Water and Wildlife Protection Act of
2016 as a new chapter in the Public Resources Code.
3) Defines "waters of the state" as any surface waters,
including coastal lakes, lagoons, estuaries, rivers, streams,
inland lakes and reservoirs, wetlands, and marine waters.
4) Requires the SWRCB to create the Algal Bloom Task Force,
comprised of a representative from each of the following:
Department of Public Health (DPH), Department of Fish and
Wildlife (DFW), California Department of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA), the State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy), and
other relevant state agencies. Allows the SWRCB to augment
an existing task force to accomplish the requirements of the
chapter.
5) Sets forth the functions and duties of the task force to
include all of the following:
a) Assess and prioritize actions and research to develop
prevention or mitigation measures for toxic algal blooms.
b) Solicit and review proposals from specified groups for
research, projects, and programs to prevent, mitigate, and
monitor toxins from algal blooms.
c) Provide funding recommendations to specified groups for
proposals.
d) Review risks and negative impacts of toxic algal blooms
on specified groups and submit a summary of findings and
recommendations to the Legislature and agencies as
specified by January 1, 2017.
e) Organize meetings and workshops of experts and
stakeholders.
f) Establish a public notification system about task force
activities.
6) Repeals the sections pertaining to the establishment of the
task force and its functions and duties as of January 1,
2019.
7) Allows for the Conservancy, DFW, the Wildlife Conservation
Board, and/or the SWRCB to enter into contracts and provide
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grants from the Protecting Rivers, Lakes, Streams, Coastal
Waters, and Watersheds fund ($1.495 billion) or other
appropriate funds accessible for the specified applied
research, projects, and programs recommended by the task
force.
Background
1) Overview of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and Their Impacts.
In balanced ecosystems, algae are harmless and serve as a
food base for many organisms. When there is an overabundance
of nutrients and ideal growth conditions, algae populations
can grow rapidly and form blooms, and certain species of
algae produce toxins that can harm water quality and animal
and human health. These blooms can occur in both marine and
freshwater.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's (NOAA) Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean
Research (CSCOR), HABs have been reported as a recurring
event in virtually every coastal state. In marine areas,
this has resulted in degradation of coastal habitats, loss of
economically and culturally vital shellfish resources,
illness and death in marine species, and serious threats to
human health from the algal toxics. A conservative average
economic estimate for the impacts of HABs is $82 million per
year.
Algal blooms produce neurotoxins that accumulate in fish and
shellfish which, when ingested by people, can cause paralytic
shellfish poisoning (PSP) and amnesic shellfish poisoning
(ASP). These same toxins cause wildlife mortality events in
fish, birds, and marine mammals, including sea otters and sea
lions.
As of last month, the algal bloom spreading off the Pacific
coast is one of the largest that scientists have ever seen,
reaching from central California to British Columbia.
California normally impose a moratorium on shellfish
harvesting from May through October when there is the highest
chance of toxic poisoning and enforces strict testing of
commercial fisheries.
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In freshwater systems, human actions that disturb ecosystems,
such as nutrient runoff from agricultural lands, pollution,
modifications to hydrological systems, and introduction of
nonindigenous species have all been linked to the occurrence
of some HABs. Most freshwater HABs are caused by a
particular group of algae called cyanobacteria. HABs from
these bacteria have increased in frequency and geographic
locations in the United States and globally in recent
decades.
In addition to neurotoxins, freshwater HABs can cause liver
damage (from hepatotoxins) and skin damage (from
dermatotoxins). They can also cause low oxygen levels in the
water, leading to death of fish and other algae that are
essential to local food chains. Ingestion of water
contaminated from HABs has led to the deaths of livestock and
pets, as well.
2) Federal Research Efforts on HABs.
For marine systems, the NOAA CSCOR administers multiple
interdisciplinary and interagency HAB research programs,
including an ecology and oceanography program, a monitoring
program, and a HAB event response program. Projects include
a mix of investigators from academic, state, federal, and
nonprofit institutions and lead to management-based outcomes
to facilitate HAB prevention, control, and mitigation. CSCOR
has previously funded over $6 million in research projects
focusing on the two most common algae responsible for HABs in
marine environments in California.
For freshwater systems, in 2004, Congress reauthorized the
Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of
1998, which required a report to examine the causes,
consequences, and economic costs of freshwater HABs,
establish priorities and guidelines for research programs,
and make recommendations to improve coordination of research
by federal agencies.
3) HABs in California.
As reported by UC Davis and the City of Watsonville Water
Quality Program, watersheds in California are particularly
prone to HABs due to the warm climate, shrinking water
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supplies, run-off from agricultural and municipal sources,
and climate change, and California is lagging behind other
states in addressing the environmental problem of high
nutrient levels in lakes and rivers. They further report
that recurrent cyanobacteria pollution is a problem in the
Klamath and Sacramento Rivers, the Sacramento/San Joaquin
Rivers, and Clear Lake. Pinto Lake in Santa Cruz County,
Copco Lake Iron Gate Reservoir, and parts of the Klamath
River are federally listed as impaired waters due to
cyanobacteria.
Furthermore, in 2005 and 2006, the Copco and Iron Gate
reservoirs along the Klamath River in California experienced
prolonged HABs of cyanobacteria, specifically Microcystis.
Toxins were present near tribal lands downstream where people
rely on subsistence fishing. In response, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency created a task force of
county, state, federal, and tribal authorities tasked with
creating statewide guidance for cyanobacteria HABs and a
three-year research study.
Comments
1) Purpose of Bill.
According to the author, "This bill came about because of the
water quality problems we have seen at Pinto Lake, a small
lake in my hometown of Watsonville. When we began talking
about the problems at Pinto Lake, we learned that toxic algae
blooms are increasingly causing toxic and poisoning events in
coastal lakes, estuaries, and rivers across California. The
toxic algae threaten water supplies, human health, and animal
health. It is a special problem for people fishing in this
lake and taking the fish home to their families to eat. AB
300 calls for developing a statewide strategy for reducing
the algae, and then ties that strategy to funding sources
that the various agencies like Fish and Wildlife, the Coastal
Conservancy, and the State Water Board already have."
2) The Need for a Coordinated Effort.
Given the inextricable links between environmental, human,
and wildlife health when considering the causes for, and
impacts from, HABs, a coordinated, multi-disciplinary and
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multiagency approach is warranted to address the ongoing
problem in California waterways.
There are currently a number of groups that monitor water
quality and toxins from algal blooms, such as the California
Coastal Ocean Observing Systems in the northern and central,
and southern regions, the DPH, and the Harmful Algal Bloom
Monitoring and Alert Program (CalHABMAP).
In response to the HABs in the Klamath River, the California
CyanoHAB Network (CCHAB) was originally established as the
Statewide Blue-Green Algae Working Group in 2006. The
mission of the CCHAB is to create a statewide framework to
address cyanobacteria HABs in freshwater and marine systems.
Goals of the network are to:
Coordinate monitoring and management of cyanoHABs
and their effects.
Develop collaborative relationships among federal,
tribal, state, and regional agencies responsible for
addressing cyanobacteria concerns.
Make efficient use of resources to share
information, avoid duplicative efforts, and promote
research, monitoring and assessment.
The CCHAB is composed of federal and state agencies, tribal
governments, local agencies, academics and researchers, as
well as other stakeholders. State, local, and tribal
entities represented include the SWRCB, DPH, OEHHA, DFW,
Department of Water Resources, City of Watsonville, Karuk
Tribe, and more. As of February 2015, the CCHAB became a
workgroup of the California Water Quality Monitoring Council.
The provisions of the bill would allow for the SWRCB to
augment an existing task force or network, such as the CCHAB,
to accomplish the requirements of this chapter.
DOUBLE REFERRAL:
This measure was heard in the Senate Natural Resources and Water
Committee on June 23, 2015, and passed out of committee with a
vote of 9-0.
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SOURCE: City of Watsonville & the Karuk Tribe
SUPPORT:
City of Long Beach
Defenders of Wildlife
Save Our Shores
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN
SUPPORT: According to the Defenders of Wildlife,
"California's leading sea otter researchers are now linking
microcystin poisoning to the deaths of several sea otters every
year. These animals call California's central coast home and
depend on their surrounding ecosystem for food and shelter.
Unfortunately, humans often consume the same seafood and play in
the same coastal waters as sea otters. This poses a direct
threat to human health. AB 300 provides tangible actions to
investigate and address harmful algal blooms across the state
and reduce exposure to humans and wildlife."
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