BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 965
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|Author: |Eduardo Garcia |
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|Version: |6/16/2015 |Hearing |7/15/2015 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Laurie Harris |
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SUBJECT: California and Mexico border: water resources
improvement.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the California-Mexico Border Relations Council
(council), consisting of the Directors of the Governor's Office
of Business and Economic Development and Emergency Services, the
Secretaries of the Natural Resources Agency, California Health
and Human Services, Transportation, Food and Agriculture, and
Environmental Protection, who shall chair the council.
(Government Code (GOV) §99522)
2) Requires the council to coordinate the activities of state
agencies related to cross-border programs, initiatives,
projects, and partnerships; establish policies to coordinate the
collection and sharing of data; and establish the Boarder Region
Solid Waste Working Group to develop and coordinate long-term
solutions to address and remediate problems associated with
waste tires, solid waste, and excessive sedimentation, that
threaten water quality and public health.
(GOV §99523)
3) Requires the council to report to the Legislature annually on
its activities.
(GOV §99524)
4) Establishes the California Border Environmental and Public
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Health Protection Fund (Fund) to receive moneys appropriated in
the annual Budget Act and other sources, as specified, to be
available to the Secretary of CalEPA. (Public Resources Code
(PRC) §71101)
5) Requires that moneys in the Fund be used to assist local
governments in implementing projects to identify and resolve
environmental and public health problems that threaten
California residents or sensitive natural resources of the
California border region as specified. (PRC §71102)
6) Requires the Secretary of CalEPA (secretary) to award grants
from the Fund to a local government entity, or other
organization as specified, based on the severity of
environmental, public health, or natural resource concerns due
to cross-border pollution in its city or county. (PRC §71103)
7) Requires the council to develop a strategic plan to guide
implementation of the New River Improvement Project, including
at least, quantification of current and projected water quality
impairments; prioritization of actions to protect public health,
water quality, and environmental goals; identification of
potential funds; and identification of appropriate federal,
state, and local agencies with a role in achieving the Project.
(PRC §71103.5)
8) Authorizes the Director of Water Resources to establish the
Urban Streams Restoration Program to reduce flood damage and
restore urban creeks. (Water Code (WAT) §7048)
9) Authorizes the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure
Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1), including $7.5 billion
in general obligation bond funding for water-related projects
and programs, including $100 million for urban creek protection
and enhancement and $285 million for ecosystem restoration
outside of the Bay Delta. (WAT §79700 et seq.)
This bill:
1) Clarifies, under findings and declarations, that priorities and
projects of the council shall be funded by the California Border
Environmental and Public Health Protection Fund.
2) Adds the Secretary of State and Consumer Services to the
council, and allows for the Regional Administrator of the United
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States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Region 9, to
appoint a staff representative to serve as an ex-officio,
non-voting member.
3) Allows for the council to invite representatives of the State of
Baja California and the Mexican government to participate in
meetings.
4) Deletes the statutory reference to the California Border
Environmental Cooperation Committee ([Cal BECC], which was
eliminated as part of Governor Schwarzenegger's Reorganization
Plan 1).
5) Redefines the "California-Baja California border region" as the
region to the north and south of the international border
between California and Baja California described in Article 4 of
the La Paz Agreement, signed August 1983, between the U.S. and
Mexico.
6) Clarifies that the California Border Environmental and Public
Health Protection Fund may receive proceeds of Proposition 1
bonds.
7) Makes money from the Fund available to the council, and requires
the council to inform organizations that they may request
funding, instead of the secretary.
8) Requires the council, instead of the secretary in consultation
with the Cal BECC, to award grants from the Fund, and requires
the secretary to accept donations on behalf of the council,
instead of the Cal BECC.
9) Requires the council to establish the New River Water Quality,
Public Health, and River Parkway Development Program to
coordinate funding for, and the implementation of,
recommendations from the strategic plan, and requires any entity
of state government that funds the program to make efforts to
integrate and align its financial requirements to meet the goals
of the program.
10)Updates the Urban Streams Restoration Program's definition of
urban creek protection, restoration, and enhancement to include
"the reduction of water quality impairments and nonpoint source
water pollution, the establishment of parkways for public use
that benefit flood control and water quality."
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11)Requires the Department of Water Resources, when administering
funds for urban creek protection, restoration, and enhancement,
to consult with the council to establish criteria to fund
projects that improve conditions for cross-border urban creeks.
12)Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife, when administering
funds for watershed restoration projects, to consult with the
council to establish criteria to fund projects that improve
conditions for cross-border urban creeks and watersheds.
13)Makes numerous clarifying amendments for code consistency.
Background
1) The New River - Water Quality and Public Health.
The New River, which flows north from Mexico, through Mexicali,
Baja California, and Calexico, to the Salton Sea, is one of the
most polluted rivers in the country, due to discharges from
urban, agricultural, and industrial sources in both Mexico and
the U.S along its 85 mile length. According to CalEPA,
pollution in the New River threatens public health, prevents the
support of health ecosystems for wildlife and other biological
resources, contributes to water quality problems in the Salton
Sea, and hinders economic development in Imperial County. Water
quality problems include pathogens, low dissolved oxygen,
toxicity, trash, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and mercury.
Per CalEPA, in 2007, the U.S. and Mexico invested in wastewater
treatment projects in Mexicali to remove nearly all untreated
wastewater from the river. This resulted in improved water
quality from increased dissolved oxygen and an exponential drop
in fecal coliform bacteria. As of last year, however, there
have been additional problems at Mexican wastewater treatment
plants in need of repair and discharges of raw sewage into the
river, according to the Colorado River Basin Water Quality
Control Board. On the California side of the border, according
to the State Water Resources Control Board, by the time the New
River reaches the Salton Sea, about two-thirds of the flow
consists of wastewater from agricultural runoff in Imperial
County.
In 2010 the council appointed the New River Technical Advisory
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Committee and tasked them with overseeing the creation of the
New River Strategic Plan to study, monitor, and enhance water
quality in the River, pursuant to AB 1079 (V.M. Perez, Chapter
382, Statutes of 2009. This plan was released in May, 2012 and
provided numerous comprehensive action recommendations to
address New River water quality problems.
2) Assembly ESTM Committee Hearings on Cross Border River Water
Quality
On March 19-20, 2015, the Assembly Committee on Environmental
Safety & Toxic Materials hosted oversight hearings on
California's role to restore the Tijuana River and New River.
According to the committee, they focused on the state's role in
managing binational river water quality issues and ensuring that
border communities, especially disadvantaged communities, are
not left behind in restoration efforts.
The New River-focused portion of the hearing was held in
Calexico, and common themes reported included prioritization of
cross-border water quality issues, the availability of dedicated
funds for water quality enhancement that can be used on both
sides of the border, and delineation of an entity to coordinate
and collaborate on cross-border issues.
According to the committee, this bill incorporates some of the
testimony that called for a coordinating body to implement the
strategic plan by designating the council and specifying them as
the consultative body for disbursement of moneys from the Fund,
as well as requiring specified agencies to consult with the
council on cross-border projects and expenditures of Proposition
1 funds. Overall, the committee notes that the goals of the
provisions are to create a more coordinated effort for
implementing and funding the improvement of the New River.
Comments
1) Purpose of Bill.
According to the author, "California has developed a Strategic
Plan to begin a comprehensive cleanup and restoration effort for
the New River. Further statutory clarification is needed to
define how the strategic plan will be implemented and funded by
state agencies. Improved coordination and a strategic funding
will help remediate the health and safety issues posed by the
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New River.
"The Colorado Basin Regional Water Quality Control Board is also
moving forward on implementing several of the recommendations of
the Strategic Plan. Despite these promising steps, there is
still a need for better coordination of state agency involvement
and funding for New River remediation. Current law does not
provide for coordinated efforts to help improve the conditions
to the river."
2) Chaptering Out Amendment.
Legislative Counsel notes that AB 965 has chaptering conflicts
with budget bills AB 110 and SB 83 (Committee on Budget and
Fiscal Review, Chapter 24, Statutes of 2015). Therefore, an
amendment is needed to avoid inadvertent chaptering issues among
these bills by adding the following language to Section 99523 of
the Government Code:
"d) Establish the Border Region Solid Waste Working Group
to develop and coordinate long-term solutions to address and
remediate problems associated with waste tires, solid waste,
and excessive sedimentation along the border that result in
degraded valuable estuarine and riparian habitats, and
threaten water quality and public health in California."
3) Technical Amendment.
An amendment is needed to correct a grammatical error on page
15, line 8 by changing the word "conditional" to "conditions" to
read: "(g) In order to address the unique ecological, flood
control, water quality, and hydrological conditions associated
with urban creeks?"
Related/Prior Legislation
AB 1059 (E. Garcia) would require the Office of Health Hazard
Assessment to collect, report on, and include in the next update of
the California Communities Environmental Health Screening
(CalEnviroScreen) tool, environmental data at the California-Mexico
border region as specified.
AB 1079 (V.M. Perez, Chapter 382, Statutes of 2009), required the
California-Border Relations Council to develop a strategic plan to
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guide implementation of the New River Improvement Project and
created the New River Improvement Project Account in the Fund to
expend moneys for activities related to the New River.
AB 1 (Evans, Chapter 1, Statutes of 2009, Fourth Extraordinary
Session) appropriated $800,000 to the City of Calexico for
environmental review, design, and planning to develop a river
parkway plan and river improvement project.
AB 3021 (Núńez, Chapter 621, Statutes of 2006) established the
California-Mexico Border Relations Council to coordinate activities
of state agencies related to cross-border programs, initiatives,
projects, and partnerships.
AB 2317 (Ducheny, Chapter 742, Statutes of 2000) created the
California Border Environmental and Public Health Protection Fund
and made the money available, upon appropriation, to the Secretary
of CalEPA to assist local governments with projects to resolve
environmental and public health problems in the border region.
DOUBLE REFERRAL:
This measure was heard in Senate Natural Resources and Water
Committee on June 23, 2015, and passed out of committee with a vote
of 8-1.
SOURCE: Calexico New River Committee
SUPPORT:
Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
Calexico Chamber of Commerce
City of Brawley
City of Calexico
Comité Cívico del Valle, Inc.
Imperial County Board of Supervisors
Imperial County Democratic Central Committee
Imperial Irrigation District
Labelgmos.org
OPPOSITION:
None received
ARGUMENTS IN
SUPPORT: Numerous local governments and groups state, "AB 965
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would establish an efficient and effective mechanism to protect,
restore, and enhance polluted cross-border urban creeks and
watersheds in California Mexico border region."
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