BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 965 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 20, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 965 (Eduardo Garcia) - As Amended May 4, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Environmental Safety and Toxic |Vote:|6 - 0 | |Committee: |Materials | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | |Water, Parks and Wildlife | |15 - 0 | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill requires the California-Mexico Border Relations Council at CalEPA to establish the New River Water Quality, Public Health, and River Parkway Development Program (New River Program) to coordinate the funding and implementation of the New AB 965 Page 2 River Strategic Plan. Additionally, this bill: 1)Requires any state agency that funds the activities of the New River Program to make all necessary efforts to integrate and align its contractual and administrative requirements for grants, loans, and other forms of financial support to meet the program's goals. 2)Specifies funds from the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1) are among the sources of funds that may be appropriated by the Legislature in the California Border Environmental and Public Health Protection Fund. 3)Specifies the Urban Streams Restoration Program, administered by the Department of Water Resources (DWR), includes the reduction of water quality impairments and nonpoint source water pollution, and the establishment of parkways for public use that benefit flood control and water quality. Requires DWR to consult with Border Relations Council to establish criteria to fund projects that improve conditions for cross-border urban creeks. FISCAL EFFECT: 1)Potential unknown additional cost pressures on the Urban Streams Restoration Program and increased competition for funding. The 2014 grant cycle approved projects totally $7.9 million from previous water and resources bonds (Proposition 84 and Proposition 13). DWR received a total of 57 proposals for over $41 million in requested funds. Thirteen proposals were AB 965 Page 3 recommended for funding and eight contingency proposals were identified in the event additional funds become available. 2)Absorbable costs for CalEPA and DWR. 3)Unknown costs for state agencies to align contractual and administrative requirements for New River Projects. COMMENTS: 1)Rationale. California has developed a Strategic Plan to begin a comprehensive cleanup and restoration effort for the New River. The Colorado Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board is also moving forward on implementing several of the recommendations in the Strategic Plan. According to the author, current law does not provide for coordinated efforts to help improve the conditions to the river. This bill provides that coordination. 2)Background. The New River flows north from near Cerro Prieto, Mexico, through the city of Mexicali, into the United States through the city of Calexico, California, and discharges into the Salton Sea. The river does not flow from a natural source, but instead consists of urban runoff, untreated and partially treated municipal wastes, untreated and partially treated industrial wastes, and agricultural runoff. While strides have been made over the decades to improve the quality of the water in the New River, it is still often referred to as one of the most severely polluted rivers of its size in the United States. AB 965 Page 4 AB 1079 (V. M. Perez, Chapter 382, Statutes of 2009), required the Border Relations Council to create a strategic plan to study, monitor, remediate, and enhance the New River's water quality to protect human health and to develop a river parkway suitable for public use and enjoyment. The Border Relations Council released the Strategic Plan: New River Improvement Project (New River Strategic Plan) in December of 2011. The New River Strategic Plan includes more than a dozen specific recommendations to continue to clean up the New River. The Colorado Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board, the main entity responsible for New River water quality on the U.S. side of the border, has taken steps to comply with the recommendations laid out in the New River Strategic Plan, including working with dischargers on the American side to bring them into compliance. However, California entities face statutory authority, resource, and other limitations to achieving all of the recommendations, including that the water crosses the border in an impaired state and that cross-border issues are often federal in nature. 3)Urban Streams Restoration Program. The Urban Streams Restoration Program (USRP) provides grants to local communities for projects to reduce flooding and erosion and associated property damage; restore, enhance or protect the natural ecological values of streams; and promote community involvement, education and stewardship. Since 1985, the program has provided more than 270 grants ranging from $1,000 to $1million to communities throughout California. The projects have included stream cleanups, bank stabilization projects, revegetation efforts, recontouring of channels to improve floodplain function and occasional acquisition of strategic floodplain properties or easements. Proposition 1 did not contain any funding for this program. AB 965 Page 5 The city of Calexico submitted a request for $1 million for the Calexico New River Parkway Project in the 2014 grant cycle. The total cost of the project is $5,326,000. This project was not recommended for funding or as a contingency project. This bill may make the project more competitive for future funding cycles. Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081