AB 1588, as amended, Mathis. Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Program.
Existing law, the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997, establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to provide grants or revolving fund loans for the design and construction of projects for public water systems that will enable those systems to meet safe drinking water standards.
This bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board to establish a program to provide funding to counties to award low-interest loans and grants to eligible applicants for specified purposes relating to drinking water and wastewater treatment. This bill would authorize a county to apply to the board for a grant to award loans or grants, or both, to residents of the county, as prescribed. This bill would create the Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund and provide that the moneys in this fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the board to administer and implement the program. This bill would transfer to the Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund $20,000,000 from the General Fund.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature hereby finds and declares as
2follows:
3(a) Many areas of the state are disproportionately impacted by
4drought because they are heavily dependent or completely reliant
5on groundwater from basins that are in overdraft and in which the
6water table declines year after year or from basins that are
7contaminated.
8(b) There are a number of state grant and loan programs that
9provide financial assistance to distressed communities to address
10drinking water and wastewater needs. Unfortunately, there is no
11program in place to provide similar assistance to individuals who
12are
reliant on their own groundwater wells and who may not be
13able to afford conventional private loans to undertake vital water
14supply, water quality, and wastewater improvements.
15(c) The program created by this act is intended to bridge that
16gap by providing assistance to individual homeowners and renters
17to undertake actions necessary to provide safer, cleaner, and more
18reliable drinking water and wastewater treatment. These actions
19may include, but are not limited to, digging deeper wells,
20improving existing wells and related equipment, addressing
21drinking water contaminants in the individual’s water, or
22connecting to a local water or wastewater system.
Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 13486) is added
24to Division 7 of the Water Code, to read:
25
(a) The board shall establish a program in accordance
30with this chapter to provide funding to counties to award
P3 1low-interest loans and grants to eligible applicants for any of the
2following purposes:
3(1) Extending or connecting service lines from a water or
4wastewater system to the applicant’s residence or plumbing.
5(2) Paying reasonable charges or fees for connecting to a water
6or wastewater system.
7(3) Paying costs to close abandoned septic tanks and water wells,
8as necessary, to protect health and safety as required by local or
9state
law.
10(4) Deepening an existing groundwater well.
11(5) Improving an existing groundwater well, including associated
12equipment.
13(6) Installing a water treatment system if the groundwater
14exceeds a primary or secondary drinkingbegin insert waterend insert standard, as defined
15in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.
16(b) The board may adopt any guidelines it determines are
17necessary to carry out the purposes of the chapter. A guideline
18adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall not be subject to the
19rulemaking requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
2011340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(a) The Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund
22is hereby created in the State Treasury. The moneys in the Water
23and Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund are available, upon
24appropriation by the Legislature, to the board to administer and
25implement the program in accordance with this chapter.
26(b) Notwithstanding Section 16475 of the Government Code,
27any interest earned upon the moneys in the Water and Wastewater
28Loan and Grant Fund shall be deposited in the Water and
29Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund.
(a) A county may apply to the board for a grant to
31award loans or grants, or both, to residents of the county in
32accordance with this chapter.
33(b) The board shall develop guidelines that determine how to
34apportion funds among the counties.
35(c) A county that receives funding pursuant to this chapter shall
36annually provide the following information to the board:
37(1) The number of loans and grants awarded.
38(2) The types of projects funded.
39(3) Project costs.
40(4) Whether there is demand for additional funding.
(a) An eligible applicant for a loan shall meet all of
2the following criteria:
3(1) Have a household income below the statewide median
4household income.
5(2) Have an ownership interest in the residence.
6(3) Be unable to obtain financial assistance at reasonable terms
7and conditions from private lenders and lack the personal resources
8to undertake these improvements.
9(4) Demonstrate an ability to repay the loan. This requirement
10may be satisfied by having another party join the application
as a
11cosigner.
12(b) Any loan granted shall be secured by a mortgage on the
13residence and repaid within 20 years in accordance with terms
14established by the board. The interest rate on the loan shall not
15exceed 1 percent. While any balance on the loan is outstanding, a
16loan recipient shall furnish evidence of and continually maintain
17homeowner’s insurance on the security residence to protect the
18state’s interest in the residence.
19(c) The county may enter into a contract with a private financial
20institution to provide loans consistent with the purposes of this
21chapter.
(a) An eligible applicant for a grant shall meet both of
23the following criteria:
24(1) Have a household income that is 80 percent or less of the
25statewide median household income.
26(2) Be unable to obtain financial assistance at reasonable terms
27and conditions from private lenders and lack the personal resources
28to undertake these improvements.
29(b) A grant recipient shall repay to the county the grant amount
30in full if that recipient sells the residence less than five years from
31the date that the grant agreement was signed.
32(c) A grant recipient shall repay to the county any unused grant
33funds.
Funding provided pursuant to this chapter is not
35considered “water-related grant funding” for purposes of paragraph
36(7) of subdivision (b) of Section 116682 of the Health and Safety
37Code.
Twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) is hereby
39transferred from the General Fund to the Water and Wastewater
40Loan and Grant Fund.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
2immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
3the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
4immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
5In order to provide eligible households with access to safer,
6cleaner, and more reliable drinking water and wastewater treatment
7during California’s prolonged drought, it is necessary that this act
8take effect immediately.
O
97