BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1531|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1531
Author: Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials
Amended: 8/18/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUAL. COMMITTEE: 6-0, 7/1/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: State Water Resources Control Board
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill makes numerous changes and corrections to the
California Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the Clean Water
Act carried out by the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB).
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the SDWA to govern the state's drinking water
program and to be the delegated authority by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency for enforcement of the
federal SDWA.
2) Establishes the Drinking Water Program (DWP) within the
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Page 2
SWRCB to regulate public drinking water systems and enforce
federal and state drinking water acts.
3) Transfers the DWP from the California Department of Public
Health (DPH) to the SWRCB.
4) Establishes the Safe Drinking Water Small Community
Emergency Grant Fund and authorizes the SWRCB to assess an
annual charge to be deposited in this Fund in lieu of
interest that would otherwise be charged on Safe Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund (SDWSRF) loans.
5) Establishes the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act, which
provides for:
a) Establishment of water quality policy;
b) Enforcement of water quality standards for both
surface and ground water; and
c) Regulating of discharges of pollutants from point and
non-point sources.
6) Provides that the SWRCB and nine Regional Water Quality
Control Boards are the principal state agencies with the
responsibility for controlling water quality in California.
This bill makes numerous changes and corrections to the SDWA and
the Clean Water Act carried out by the SWRCB. Specifically,
this bill:
1) Consolidates into one section provisions of existing law
that require state and local agencies that are subject to
regulation by the SWRCB to pay water quality and/or drinking
water regulatory fees.
2) Conforms SDWSRF requirements to Clean Water State Revolving
Fund requirements by providing express authority to municipal
borrowers to take loans from the SDWSRF.
3) Corrects outdated references to the DPH that should instead
reference the SWRCB for the DWP.
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4) Authorizes the SWRCB to adopt emergency regulations for
regulatory changes necessary to conform state regulations to
federal requirements in order to maintain program authority
under the federal SDWA.
5) Authorizes the SWRCB to adopt regulations on the use of
point-of-entry (POE) and point-of-use (POU) treatment devices
by public water systems.
6) Provides procedures for appealing SDWA regulatory actions to
the SWRCB. The Legislature transferred the SDWA program from
the DPH to the SWRCB in 2014.
7) Provides consistency between the SWRCB's authority to
require documents and test results from water providers
regulated under the SDWA with dischargers to waters of the
state under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act.
8) Requires public water systems to provide to the SWRCB
drinking water test results, reports, and other information
necessary to carry out its responsibilities under the state
SDWA within 15 days of receiving a request from an authorized
representative of the SWRCB.
9) Corrects outdated references to the Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
10)Allows the SWRCB increased flexibility to set interest rates
in the SDWSRF program.
11)Establishes the "Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
Administration Fund" in order to provide a place for the
SWRCB to deposit the funds that it is already allowed to
collect on safe drinking water loans in lieu of interest to
pay for administrative costs.
12)Makes technical modifications to the Clean Water State
Revolving Fund statute to be consistent with the recently
enacted federal Water Resources Reform and Development Act of
2014.
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Comments
1)Purpose of bill. According to author, "This proposal would
make a variety of technical changes to provisions in the Water
Code and Health and Safety Code, including eliminating
outdated provisions of law, correcting erroneous cross
references, and providing statutory and regulatory authority
to conform state drinking water and water quality requirements
with federal requirements. Additionally, as follow up to
recent legislation that transferred the Safe Drinking Water
Program from the Department of Public Health to the State
Water Resources Control Board, this proposal would make
several statutory changes to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of the Safe Drinking Water Regulatory Program."
The proposed technical cleanup was the result of finding
"provisions of the Water Code and Health and Safety Code
administered by the State Water Board that have erroneous
cross-references, are inconsistent with subsequently enacted
legislation or with corresponding federal legislation, or are
otherwise in need of technical correction. These outdated
provisions restrict the State Water Board's abilities to
effectively implement the laws as intended and result in
ambiguities in the law that can result in increased
litigation. Additionally, as a result of the transfer of the
Safe Drinking Water Program from the California Department of
Public Health to the State Water Board pursuant to SB 861
(Budget Committee), (Chapter 35, Statutes of 2014), the State
Water Board has identified several statutory changes that are
needed to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
administering the drinking water program."
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified8/18/15)
None received
AB 1531
Page 5
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/18/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Linder, Medina
Prepared by:Rachel Machi Wagoner / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108
8/19/15 20:43:02
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