BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2124
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2124 (Eduardo Garcia and Lackey)
As Amended May 27, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Environmental |7-0 |Alejo, Dahle, Beth | |
|Safety | |Gaines, Gray, Lopez, | |
| | |McCarty, Ting | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Olsen, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
AB 2124
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| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Appropriates $10 million from the General Fund to the
State Water Resources Control Board (State Water 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. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the State Water 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 at those
schools.
2)Authorizes the State Water Board to award grants for:
installation of water bottle filling stations; 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; installation of point-of-entry or
point-of-use treatment devices; and, plumbing repairs that
improve drinking water quality.
3)Requires the State Water Board to, in developing the procedure
for awarding grants, set requirements for grant recipients to
adopt a program for inspecting and maintaining any water
treatment device funded by the grant; establish a maximum
grant amount; and, give priority to applicants that serve a
very small disadvantaged community and applicants that are
served by public water systems that the board finds
consistently fail to provide an adequate supply of safe
drinking water.
4)Defines "very small disadvantaged community" as a municipality
with a population of 10,000 persons or less, or a reasonably
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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% of the statewide annual
median household income.
5)Appropriates $10 million, without regard to fiscal years, from
the General Fund to the State Water 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.
6)Requires, within six months of the allocation of the funds to
local educational agencies, the State Water Board to provide
to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the
Legislature specified data relating to the allocation.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires, pursuant to the federal "Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids
Act of 2010," schools participating in the National School
Lunch Program to provide free drinking water where
reimbursable meals are served during the meal period.
2)Requires school districts 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 it is unable to comply with this
requirement due to fiscal constraints or health and safety
concerns. Provides that a school district may comply with the
drinking water provision requirement by, among other means,
providing cups and containers of water or soliciting or
receiving donated bottled water.
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, enactment of this bill could result in a one-time
general fund appropriation of $10 million to the State Water
Board for grants and administration of the program.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "An estimated 25% of
California schools do not provide free, fresh drinking water to
students at meal times every day; despite state and federal laws
that require it. Even worse, according to the most recent state
survey, nearly 500 small community water systems and schools
haven't supplied safe drinking water to their communities and
schoolchildren for years, or even decades. We know these
numbers underestimate the problem, because no state agency
regularly maps this data? AB 2124 will implement the development
of a grant program that would award $10 million to improve
access and the quality of drinking water in California schools."
Drinking water contamination in disadvantaged communities.
According to the State Water Board report, Communities that Rely
on Contaminated Groundwater, released in January 2013, 682
community public water systems, which serve nearly 21 million
people, rely on contaminated groundwater as a primary source of
drinking water. The report points out that an additional two
million Californians rely on groundwater from either a private
domestic well or a smaller groundwater-reliant system that is
not regulated by the state, the water quality of which is
uncertain. The findings from State Water Board report, and a
2012 UC Davis study, Addressing Nitrate in California's Drinking
Water, suggest that drinking water contamination in California
disproportionally affects small, rural and low-income
communities that depend mostly on groundwater as their drinking
water source.
The recent drought has further compromised the state's drinking
water supplies. Since many rural households rely on shallow
domestic wells or small, poorly funded community water supply
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systems, they have been hardest hit. According to the Public
Policy Institute of California, as of early July 2015, more than
2,000 dry domestic wells were reported, mostly in the Central
Valley and Sierras, with more than half in Tulare County.
Emergency water supply needs have also been identified for more
than 100 small water community water systems around the state.
Drinking water contamination in schools: Schools have also
faced challenges in providing safe drinking water. The
Community Water Center, in partnership with researchers at
Stanford University and California State University, Stanislaus,
is currently assessing the prevalence of unsafe water in
California public schools. Preliminary results of their
assessment suggest that an estimated 813 to 1,522 schools in
California experienced at least one drinking water standard
violation between 2003-2014, with an estimated 336-534 schools
experiencing at least one violation in two or more years during
the same time period. The study suggests that 42% - 48% of
schools that have experienced a drinking water standard
violation are in disadvantaged communities.
Safe drinking water provision in schools: Last year, the
California Endowment launched Agua4All, a pilot project, in
partnership with the nonprofit organizations Rural Community
Assistance Corporation (RCAC), Community Water Center, and
Pueblo Unido CDC. One of the goals of Agua4All is to install
water taps in communities that lack access to safe drinking
water. Agua4All has installed 75 water stations in the eastern
Coachella Valley, and 71 water stations and 86 point-of-use
filters in South Kern County. According to RCAC, now more than
25,000 students have access to safe drinking water that didn't
before.
The goal of this bill is to build on this local program by
creating a funded grant program with statewide eligibility to
provide access to safe drinking water in schools. Based on
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their experience in implementing Agua4All, RCAC explains that
each tap, such as a water bottle filling station or other place
where people can access safe drinking water, costs about $5000
per tap, including point-of-use filtration. Each tap serves an
average of 200 students. Taking into account those costs and
the number of students served per tap, supporters estimate that
the $10 million appropriation in this bill, adjusting for the
costs of the administration of the program, could provide safe
drinking water at schools for a little less than 400,000
students.
Analysis Prepared by:
Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965
FN:
0003338