BILL NUMBER: AB 2124 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Eduardo Garcia and Lackey
FEBRUARY 17, 2016
An act to add Section 189.3 to the Water Code, relating to water,
and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2124, as amended, Eduardo Garcia. State Water Resources Control
Board: grant program for school drinking water.
Existing law 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.
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.
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.
This bill would require the state board to
establish a grant program to award grants to public elementary and
secondary schools to improve access to, and the quality of, drinking
water. water at those schools. The bill
would specify various types of projects that will provide
students and school staff with access to safe drinking water
for which these grants could be awarded. The bill would require the
state board to give priority to applicants that
serve a very small disadvantaged community, as defined,
and applicants with known violations of primary drinking
water standards. that are served by public water
systems that the board finds consistently fail to provide
an adequate supply of safe drinking water. The bill would
require the state 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. 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.
The bill would appropriate $10,000,000, without regard to fiscal
years, from the General Fund to the state 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 1. Section 189.3 is added to the Water Code, to read:
189.3. (a) The board shall establish a grant program to award
grants to public elementary and secondary schools to improve access
to, and the quality of, drinking water. water
at those schools. The board may award grants under
this section for projects that will provide students and school
staff with access to safe drinking water, including, but not
necessarily limited to, any of the following:
(1) Installation of water bottle filling stations.
(2) Installation or replacement of drinking water fountains with
devices that are capable of removing any contaminants that are
present in the school's water supply.
(3) Installation of point-of-entry or point-of-use treatment
devices.
(4) Plumbing repairs that improve drinking water quality.
(b) The board shall implement this section by taking actions
including, but not necessarily limited to, the development of
procedures for the submission of applications for grants by local
educational agencies and criteria for the evaluation of these
applications. The actions taken by the board pursuant to this
subdivision shall not be subject to the rulemaking requirements of
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(c) (1) In developing the procedure for awarding grants, the
board shall do each of the following:
(A) Establish a set-aside fund for rural areas of not less than 30
percent.
(A) Set requirements for grant recipients to adopt a program for
inspecting and maintaining any water treatment device funded by the
grant.
(B) Establish a maximum grant amount.
(C) Give priority to each of the following:
(i) Applicants that serve a disadvantaged community, as
that term is defined in Section 79505.5. very small
disadvantaged community.
(ii) Applicants with known violations of primary drinking
water standards. that are served by public water
systems that the board finds consistently fail to provide
an adequate supply of safe drinking water.
(2) (A) In developing the
procedure for awarding grants, the board may do either of
the following: encourage applicants to commit
additional resources to the project, except that the board shall not
require matching funds for local educational agencies serving very
small disadvantaged communities or interfere with the prioritization
of grant funding to very small disadvantaged communities.
(i) Give extra consideration to applicants that commit additional
resources to a project.
(ii) Require applicants to commit additional resources to a
project.
(B) The authority provided to the board pursuant to subparagraph
(A) does not apply to applicants that serve disadvantaged
communities.
(d) For purposes of this section, "very small disadvantaged
community" means a municipality with a population of 10,000 persons
or less, or a reasonably isolated and divisible segment of a larger
municipality encompassing 10,000 persons or less, with an annual
median household income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide
annual median household income.
SEC. 2. The sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) is hereby
appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, from the General Fund
to the State Water Resources Control Board for allocation to local
educational agencies as grants to improve access to, and the quality
of, drinking water at public elementary and secondary schools
pursuant to Section 189.3 of the Water Code. The funds allocated to
local educational agencies pursuant to this section shall supplement,
and not supplant, the other state funds apportioned to these local
educational agencies for their support.