BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1531
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
1531 (Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials)
As Amended August 18, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 78-0 | (May 14, |SENATE: | 38-0 | (August 20, |
| | |2015) | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: E.S. & T.M.
SUMMARY: This omnibus committee bill provides minor and
technical corrections to the Safe Drinking Water (SDW) Act and
the Clean Water Act carried out by the State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB).
The Senate amendments:
1)Removed from this bill the authority to adopt emergency
regulations that include maximum contaminant levels for
primary and secondary drinking water standards; and
2)Removed from this bill the sunset extension for the State
Water Board to adopt regulations on the use of point-of-entry
and point-of-use treatment devices.
AB 1531
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EXISTING LAW: Establishes the California SDW Act to govern the
state's drinking water program and to be the delegated authority
by the United States EPA for enforcement of the federal SDW Act.
1)Establishes the Drinking Water Program (DWP) within the State
Water Board to regulate public drinking water systems and
enforce federal and state drinking water acts.
2)Transferred the State DWP from the State Department of Public
Health to State Water Board.
3)Establishes the Safe Drinking Water Small Community Emergency
Grant Fund and authorizes the State Water Board 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.
4)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.
5)Provides that the State Water Board and nine Regional Water
Quality Control Boards are the principal state agencies with
the responsibility for controlling water quality in
California.
AB 1531
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AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill provided the following
technical modification to the California and federal SDW acts:
1) Conformed SDWSRF requirements to Clean Water State
Revolving Fund requirements by providing express authority
to municipal borrowers to take loans from the SDWSRF.
2) Corrected outdated references to the Department of Public
Health that should instead reference the State Water Board
for the SDW program.
3) Authorized the State Water Board to adopt emergency
regulations for regulatory changes necessary to conform
state regulations to federal requirements in order to
maintain program authority under the federal SDW Act.
4) Authorized the State Water Board to adopt regulations on
the use of point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment devices
by public water systems to provide statewide consistency on
the allowable uses of these devices.
5) Provided consistency between the State Water Board's
authority to require documents and test results from water
providers regulated under the SDW Act with dischargers to
waters of the state under the Porter-Cologne Water Quality
Control Act.
6) Authorized the State Water Board to require public water
systems to submit to the State Water Board drinking water
test results, reports, and other information that is deemed
by the board to be necessary to carry out its
responsibilities under the state SDW Act.
7) Establishes the "Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
AB 1531
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Administration Fund" in order to provide a place for the
State Water Board 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: This bill 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 to 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
Analysis Prepared by:
Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965
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