Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 955

Introduced by Assembly Member Mathis

February 26, 2015

An act to begin delete amend Section 8680.3 of end delete begin insert add Section 8687.77 to end insert the Government Code, relating to disaster assistance.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 955, as amended, Mathis. Disaster begin delete assistance. end delete begin insert assistance: droughts: temporary assistance. end insert

begin insert

Existing law, the California Disaster Assistance Act, authorizes the Office of Emergency Services to establish a model process that would be made available to assist a community in recovering from an emergency proclaimed by the Governor and would provide that the process may consider, among other things, the role of the office to facilitate the use of temporary services, including, but not limited to, the provision of potable water.

end insert begin insert

This bill would additionally authorize the office to establish a model process to address the effects of a drought by providing temporary water supplies for drinking and sanitation to property owners. The bill would require the process to consider, among other things, the role of the office in providing temporary water supplies for drinking and sanitation to property owners, and to include provisions that would allow for temporary assistance to property owners whose income exceed a threshold established by the office, as specified.

end insert begin delete

Existing law, the California Disaster Assistance Act, defines the term “disaster” for its purposes as a fire, flood, storm, tidal wave, earthquake, terrorism, epidemic, or other similar public calamity that the Governor determines presents a threat to public safety.

end delete begin delete

This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this provision.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 8687.77 is added to the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert ,
to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 8687.77. end insert   

(a) For the purposes of this section, the following
shall apply:

(1) “Property owner” means the owner of a home, rental
housing, multifamily housing, or small business.

(2) “Small business” means a business with 25 or few
employees.

(3) “Water supplies” means the purchase and installation of
water storage tanks and associated plumbing and the provision
of water deliveries for drinking and sanitation.

(b) In addition to any model process established by the Office
of Emergency Services to assist a community pursuant to Section
8687.7, the office may also establish a model process to address
the effects of a drought by providing temporary water supplies for
drinking and sanitation to property owners consistent with this
section.

(c) The model process shall consist of the following:

(1) The role of the office in providing temporary water supplies
for drinking and sanitation to property owners, including any
collaboration efforts with a local agency or non-profit
organization.

(2) The establishment of income thresholds above which the
office determines a property owner has adequate resources to
remedy the water quality or water supply problem without
temporary assistance from the state.

(3) For instances where the property owner’s income exceeds
the threshold established in paragraph (2):

(A) A provision that allows for temporary assistance to be
provided if the property owner agrees to reimburse the full cost
of that temporary assistance.

(B) For instances where the property owner demonstrates that
the owner cannot afford to reimburse the full cost of that temporary
assistance, a provision that allows the office to provide a loan to
the property owner to cover those temporary assistance costs with
an interest rate that does not exceed 1 percent. The loans shall be
made from any moneys appropriated by the Legislature to the
office.

(C) The method of reimbursement or repayment of any loan,
including the period for reimbursement or repayment, consistent
with the property owner’s ability to repay.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as compelling a
property owner to accept any assistance offered by a model process
established pursuant to this section.

(e) The recipient of any assistance received pursuant to a model
process established pursuant to this section shall agree to hold
the state harmless from any damages due to that assistance.

(f) The office may adopt as an emergency regulation, in
accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340)
of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, any
regulation it determines is necessary to carry out the purposes of
this section.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 8680.3 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

8680.3.  

“Disaster” means a fire, flood, storm, tidal wave,
earthquake, terrorism, epidemic, or any other similar public
calamity that the Governor determines presents a threat to public
safety.

end delete