BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2874|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2874
Author: Beth Gaines (R)
Amended: 6/2/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/14/16
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning, Vidak, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Groundwater sustainability agencies: fees
SOURCE: California Water Association
DIGEST: This bill requires a groundwater sustainability agency
(GSA), before imposing or increasing a fee relating to a
groundwater basin that includes a water corporation regulated by
the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), to notify the
CPUC.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes GSAs to impose fees, including, but not limited to,
permit fees and fees on groundwater extraction, to fund the
AB 2874
Page 2
costs of a groundwater sustainability program.
2)Requires the CPUC to regulate privately owned electric,
natural gas, telephone, water, and sewer utilities, including
approving all utility rate change requests.
This bill requires a GSA, before imposing or increasing a fee
relating to a groundwater basin that includes a water
corporation regulated by the CPUC, to notify the CPUC.
Comments
Why notify the CPUC? The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
(SGMA) authorizes GSA to impose fees on groundwater extraction.
In order for CPUC utilities to include such fees in their water
rates, the CPUC looks to ensure that fees imposed on CPUC
regulated water utilities fees are fair in their formation, they
are applied fairly across all similar water users etc. This
bill is intended to ensure that the CPUC has the appropriate
information for making such determinations.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/27/16)
California Water Association (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/27/16)
Valley Ag Water Coalition
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the sponsor, "Despite the
significant impact SGMA has on CPUC-regulated water utilities,
the act does not provide for a process in which the CPUC may
participate in the policymaking alongside other state and local
officials. Without consideration of the CPUC's regulatory
responsibility, and the regulated utilities' circumstances,
customers of regulated water utilities could be harmed through
changes in fees and groundwater rights. This bill will protect
customers of CPUC-regulated water utilities from the omission in
SGMA of a formal coordination process between the GSA and the
CPUC."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: According to the Valley Ag Water
Coalition, "AB 2874 would impose a new mandate on GSAs - the
local agencies responsible for implementation of SGMA. AB 2874
would require a GSA to notify the CPUC before imposing or
increasing a SGMA fee relating to a groundwater basin that
includes a water corporation regulated by the Commission.
"The imposition of SGMA fees is already required to comply with
Proposition 218, thereby providing proper detailed notification
to a water corporation subject to the fee or charge before the
fee or charge is increased or imposed. Adding a further
confusing notification requirement that falls outside the
constitutional provisions under Proposition 218 is not only
unnecessary from the legal standpoint of the GSA, it is not now,
nor should it be, the responsibility of the GSA (or any other
local agency)."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
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Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines
Prepared by:Dennis O'Connor / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
6/29/16 15:50:55
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