BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 615
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
AB 615
(Rendon) - As Amended April 23, 2015
SUBJECT: Office of Sustainable Water Solutions
SUMMARY: Clarifies the types of technical assistance that the
State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) Office
of Sustainable Water Solutions (Office) can provide to
disadvantaged communities and authorizes the Office to establish
a collaborative program with educational institutions and others
to provide assistance. Specifically, this bill:
1)States that the types of technical assistance the Office may
provide include, but are not limited to: grant application
assistance; project development and management support;
engineering services; review and support of management,
including financial management, and operations; environmental
review; legal assistance; certification and training of
wastewater treatment plant operators; facilitation of
discussions within and between communities; outreach and
education to vulnerable communities; income surveys and other
assessments needed to qualify for funding programs.
2)Authorizes the Office to collaborate with the California State
University, University of California, nonprofit organizations,
and others, to establish and administer at least one "Center
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for Excellence" (Center) at a California State University
campus for the purpose of providing the technical assistance
described above. Encourages the University of California to
collaborate with the Center, develop a similar program, or
both.
3)Allows Center activities to be funded from public and private
sources, including Proposition 1, the Water Quality, Supply,
and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Prop. 1), but
prohibits Prop. 1 from funding Center administration.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Transferred the Safe Drinking Water Program and the Safe
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SDWSRF) from the
Department of Public Health to the State Water Board,
effective July 1, 2014.
2)Under the California Safe Drinking Water Act, Requires the
State Water Board, in administering programs to fund
improvements and expansions of small community water systems,
to give priority to funding projects in disadvantaged
communities and encourage the consolidation of small community
water systems that serve disadvantaged communities in
instances where consolidation will help the affected agencies
and the state to meet specified goals
3)Establishes the Office, which is administered by the State
Water Board for purposes that include, but are not limited to:
providing assistance, including technical assistance, to small
drinking water systems and disadvantaged communities without
clean, safe, and reliable drinking water or wastewater
treatment systems; promoting and facilitating regional
drinking water solutions and wastewater projects; and
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advancing the delivery of affordable, safe, drinking water
throughout the state.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: This bill clarifies the types of activities that
could constitute technical assistance by the Office to
disadvantaged communities. It also identifies and encourages
the Office to partner with California's public higher education
institutions to cooperate in establishing a Center that can help
lend assistance.
1)Author's statement: The author states that the purpose of this
bill is to help create a one-stop-shop in the State Water
Board to provide comprehensive technical assistance for
disadvantaged communities to design, build, and maintain clean
and sustainable water projects. The author adds that in the
past, technical assistance programs at the Department of
Public Health provided fragmented services that did not
necessarily engage with disadvantaged communities in a unified
or culturally-sensitive manner and that this bill will help
provide that as well as multidisciplinary assistance.
2)Background: The Office was established as part of the 2015
Emergency Drought Legislation, AB 92 (Committee on Budget),
Chapter 1, Statutes of 2015. The Office was created in
recognition that the drought is affecting many disadvantaged
communities, some with shallow wells that are going dry, are
impaired by contamination, or both, and who may lack the
technical assistance to develop and implement long-term
solutions.
3)Prior and related legislation:
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AB 685 (Eng), Chapter 524, Statutes of 2012 declares it is state
policy that every human being has the right to safe, clean,
affordable, and accessible water adequate for human
consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes and requires all
relevant state agencies to consider this state policy when
revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, and
grant criteria.
AB 954 (Mathis) Appropriates $20 million dollars to a
newly-created fund at the State Water Board for a pilot
project of low-interest loans and grants to eligible
applicants in disadvantaged and economically distressed
communities for water and wastewater improvements.
SB 552 (Wolk) requires the State Water Board to develop a
report identifying specific funding and enforcement mechanisms
necessary to ensure disadvantaged communities have water
systems that are in compliance with state and federal drinking
water standards.
4)Supporting arguments: Supporters state that studies have
shown that disadvantaged communities know clearly what help
they need from the state to improve their watersheds, but that
the technical aspects of water projects, and water funding,
are a barrier to participation. Other supporters state that
"Centers of Excellence" are critically necessary as "they will
ensure that technical and engineering resources housed at
these Universities are accessible to those that need them
most."
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Council for Watershed Health
Inland Empire Environmental Justice Coalition
San Gabriel Valley Civic Alliance
Valley Clean Air Now
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096
AB 615
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