AB 2124, as amended, Eduardo Garcia. State Water Resources Control Board: grant program for school drinking water.
Existing lawbegin delete establishes the State Water Resources Control Board as a state agency with authority over matters relating to water quality. Existing law requires the state board to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control.end deletebegin insert requires a school district to provide access to free, fresh drinking water during meal times in school food service areas, unless the governing board of a school district adopts a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with this requirement and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to comply due to fiscal constraints or health and safety concerns. end insert
Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, governs drinking water quality, and requires the State Water Resources Control Board to ensure that all public water systems are operated in compliance with the act. Among other things, the act requires the board to adopt primary drinking water standards for contaminants in drinking water, as specified.
end insertThis bill would require thebegin delete stateend delete board to establish a grant program to award grants to public elementary and secondary schools to improve access to, and the quality of, drinkingbegin delete water.end deletebegin insert water at those schools.end insert The bill would specify various types of projectsbegin insert
that will provide students and school staff with access to safe drinking waterend insert for which these grants could be awarded. The bill would require thebegin delete stateend delete board to give priority to applicants that serve abegin insert very smallend insert disadvantaged community, as defined, and applicantsbegin delete with known violations of primary drinking water standards.end deletebegin insert that are served by public water systems that theend insertbegin insert
board finds consistently fail to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.end insert The bill would require thebegin delete stateend delete board to develop procedures for the submission of applications for grants by local educational agencies and criteria for the evaluation of these applications, as specified.begin delete For applicants that do not serve disadvantaged communities, the bill would authorize the state board to require applicants to commit additional resources to a project or to give extra consideration to those applicants.end delete
The bill would appropriate $10,000,000, without regard to fiscal years, from the General Fund to thebegin delete stateend delete board for allocation to local educational agencies
as grants made pursuant to the bill. The bill would provide that funds allocated to local educational agencies pursuant to this bill would supplement, and not supplant, the other state funds apportioned to these local educational agencies for their support. To the extent that the funds appropriated by this bill are allocated to school districts, the amount of these funds would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 189.3 is added to the Water Code, to
2read:
(a) The board shall establish a grant program to award
4grants to public elementary and secondary schools to improve
5access to, and the quality of, drinkingbegin delete water.end deletebegin insert water at those schools.end insert
P3 1 The board may award grants under this section for projectsbegin insert that
2will provide students and school staff with access to safe drinking
3water,end insert including, but not necessarily limited to, any of the
4following:
5(1) Installation of water bottle filling stations.
6(2) Installation or replacement of drinking water fountains with
7devices that are capable of removing any contaminants that are
8present in the school’s water supply.
9(3) Installation of point-of-entry or point-of-use treatment
10devices.
11(4) Plumbing repairs that improve drinking water quality.
12(b) The board shall implement this section by taking actions
13including, but not necessarily limited to, the development of
14procedures for the submission of applications for grants by local
15educational agencies and criteria for the evaluation of these
16applications. The actions taken by the board pursuant to this
17subdivision shall not be subject to the
rulemaking requirements of
18Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division
193 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
20(c) (1) In developing the procedure for awarding grants, the
21board shall do each of the following:
22(A) Establish a set-aside fund for rural areas of not less than 30
23percent.
24
(A) Set requirements for grant recipients to adopt a program
25for inspecting and maintaining any water treatment device funded
26by the grant.
27(B) Establish a maximum grant amount.
28(C) Give priority to each of the following:
29(i) Applicants that serve abegin delete disadvantaged community, as that begin insert very small disadvantaged
30term is defined in Section 79505.5.end delete
31community.end insert
32(ii) Applicantsbegin delete with known violations of primary drinking water begin insert that are served by public water systems that the board
33standards.end delete
34finds
consistently fail to provide an adequate supply of safe
35drinking water.end insert
36(2) begin delete(A)end deletebegin delete end deleteIn developing the procedure for awarding grants, the
37board maybegin delete do either of the following:end deletebegin insert encourage applicants to
38commit additional resources to the project, except that the board
39shall not require matching funds for local educational agencies
40serving very small disadvantaged communities or interfere with
P4 1the prioritization of grant funding to very small disadvantaged
2communities.end insert
3(i) Give extra consideration to applicants that commit additional
4resources to a project.
5(ii) Require applicants to commit additional resources to a
6project.
7(B) The authority provided to the board pursuant to
8subparagraph (A) does not apply to applicants that serve
9disadvantaged communities.
10
(d) For purposes of this section, “very small disadvantaged
11community” means a municipality with a population of 10,000
12persons or less, or a reasonably isolated and divisible segment of
13a larger municipality encompassing 10,000 persons or less, with
14an annual median household income that is less than 80 percent
15of the statewide annual median household income.
The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) is hereby
17appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, from the General Fund
18to the State Water Resources Control Board for allocation to local
19educational agencies as grants to improve access to, and the quality
20of, drinking water at public elementary and secondary schools
21pursuant to Section 189.3 of the Water Code. The funds allocated
22to local educational agencies pursuant to this section shall
23supplement, and not supplant, the other state funds apportioned to
24these local educational agencies for their support.
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