BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 939
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Date of Hearing: April 14, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
AB 939
(Salas) - As Introduced February 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
SUMMARY: Extends the time period during which data for setting
fees under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) be
publically available from 10 days to 20.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to evaluate
groundwater basins and designate them as high, medium, low or
very low, according to various factors including, but not
limited to, level of dependence upon the basin by municipal
and agricultural users;
2)Requires that local agencies in high- and medium-priority
groundwater basins subject to SGMA form one or more local
Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) by June 30, 2017 in
order to develop and implement Groundwater Sustainability
Plans (GSPs) that sustainably manage the groundwater basin or
subbasin, as defined.
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3)Requires that GSAs in basins with chronic overdraft develop
and adopt GSPs for their basin or subbasin by January 31, 2020
and that GSAs in all other high- and medium-priority basins
subject to SGMA develop and adopt GSPs by January 31, 2022.
4)Delays enforcement for failure to a adopt a GSP in a high- or
medium-priority basins that is in a condition where
groundwater extractions result in significant depletions of
interconnected surface waters until January 31, 2025.
5)Requires that adopted GSPs utilize a 50 year planning horizon
that will achieve sustainability in a basin or subbasin within
20 years and include identified milestones at five year
intervals.
6)Defines sustainable groundwater management in a GSP as
avoiding undesirable results in the basin or subbasin from
groundwater pumping such as significant and unreasonable:
lowering of groundwater levels: reduction of groundwater
storage; seawater intrusion; degraded water quality; land
subsidence; and, depletions of interconnected surface waters.
7)Provides GSAs with optional tools for reaching sustainability
including, but not limited to, the ability to conduct
investigations, collect fees, limit pumping, require
measurement and reporting of groundwater extractions, monitor
compliance, charge civil penalties for violations, and
implement plans and programs to recharge a basin or subbasin.
8)Requires that at least 10 days prior to a meeting to adopt a
fee that the GSA makes the technical information upon which
the fee is based publicly available.
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9)Authorizes the State Water Board to declare a basin in
probationary status and adopt an interim plan for a basin,
subbasin, or portion of a basin or subbasin, under three
narrow circumstances: a GSA is not formed by the deadline; a
GSP is not formed by the deadline; or a GSP is deemed
inadequate by DWR and there is also either chronic overdraft
in the basin or groundwater pumping is causing a significant
depletion of interconnected surface waters in the basin or
subbasin.
FISCAL EFFECT: None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: This bill would make a minor technical change to SGMA
by providing ten more days for the public to review data which a
GSA will use for setting fees.
Supporting arguments: The author states that "most Californians
lead busy lives and groundwater sustainability data can often be
complex and lengthy." The author adds that "the 10 day period
presently required does not provide the public a reasonable
amount of time to properly inform themselves about fee changes."
SGMA-related legislation
This is one of 14 bills in the Legislature proposing changes to
SGMA and its related statutes. The other bills are: AB 452
(Bigelow) prohibiting the State Water Board from using Water
Rights Fund monies for SGMA enforcement, except funds collected
from SGMA enforcement; AB 453 (Bigelow) allowing groundwater
management plans adopted prior to SGMA to be amended and
extended; AB 454 (Bigelow) adding one year to the deadline to
form a GSA or adopt a GSP; AB 455 (Bigelow) requiring the
Judicial Council to come up with a 270-day process for
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completing all California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) legal
challenges to SGMA projects; AB 617 (Perea) adding mutual water
companies to GSAs; AB 938 (Salas) making minor technical changes
to SGMA; AB 1242 (Gray) prohibiting the State Water Board from
setting in-stream flows standards unless the Board mitigates for
the potential local response of increased groundwater use; AB
1243 (Gray) rebating 50% of all SGMA enforcement penalties back
to local governments and water districts for groundwater
recharge projects; AB 1390 (Alejo) creating a streamlined
process for groundwater adjudications and exempting them from
SGMA, except minimal reporting requirements; AB 1531
(Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee) making
minor technical changes to SGMA; SB 13 (Pavley) makings
noncontroversial technical cleanup changes to SGMA; SB 226
(Pavley) adding a streamlined groundwater adjudication section
to SGMA; and SB 487 (Nielsen) exempting SGMA projects from CEQA.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
Opposition
None on file
AB 939
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Analysis Prepared by:Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096