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
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|Policy |Environmental Safety and Toxic |Vote:|6 - 0 |
|Committee: |Materials | | |
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| |Water, Parks and Wildlife | |15 - 0 |
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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