BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 13
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Date of Hearing: July 15, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 13
(Pavley) - As Amended July 6, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill makes numerous technical and clarifying amendments to
the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and related
sections of the Water Code. Specifically, this bill:
SB 13
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1)Allows a private mutual water company to join a Groundwater
Sustainability Agency (GSA) through a memorandum of agreement
or other legal agreements. Specifies that the agreement does
not confer additional powers to nongovernmental entities.
2)Allows the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to determine if
there is an interest in establishing a Groundwater
Sustainability Plan (GSP) in basins that are not being
monitored in compliance with the California Statewide
Groundwater Elevation Monitoring (CASGEM) program.
3)Provides SGMA regulations are subject to the Administrative
Procedure Act (APA) but guidelines and guidance is not.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill makes numerous
technical and clarifying amendments necessary to help
implement SGMA.
2)Background. Last session, the Legislature passed and the
Governor signed SB 1168 (Pavley), SB 1319 (Pavley) and AB 1739
(Dickinson). The three bills established the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), and made other related
changes to the California Water Code. Together, the bills
created a comprehensive program to achieve sustainable
groundwater management in California.
SB 13
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The bills were complicated, not only from a policy perspective
but from a technical legislative process perspective as well.
For example, AB 1739 amended portions of SB 1168, SB 1168
amended portions of AB 1739, and all three were contingently
enacted.
This technical bill does not change any of the policies
embodied in SGMA.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081