BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 552
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 552
(Wolk) - As Amended August 1, 2016
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|Policy |Environmental Safety and Toxic |Vote:|4-2 |
|Committee: |Materials | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| |Water, Parks and Wildlife | |10- 5 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill revises the authority of the State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB) with regard to public water system (PWS)
consolidation and authorizes SWRCB to provide administrative and
managerial services to the PWS, as specified. Specifically,
this bill:
1) Updates and clarifies several provisions of law on water
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system consolidation.
2)Authorizes the SWRCB, in order to provide affordable, safe
drinking water to disadvantaged communities and to prevent
fraud, waste, and abuse, to do both of the following:
a) Contract with an administrator to provide administrative
and managerial services to a designated public water system
to assist the designated public water system with the
provision of an adequate and affordable supply of safe
drinking water.
b) Order the designated PWS to accept administrative and
managerial services, including full management and control,
from an administrator selected by SWRCB.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Unknown, potentially significant costs, depending upon the
number of PWSs placed under the control of, or provided
assistance by, an administrator, as well as the extent and
duration of the assistance. This bill does not identify a
funding source.
2)According to the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC),
there will be increased annual costs of approximately $130,000
to assist SWRCB in determining the fair market value of a
privately-owned PWS for consolidation purposes. However, it
is unclear if this bill actually increases costs or if the
costs are associated with the recently enacted consolidation
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legislation.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill creates an additional tool for addressing
lack of safe drinking water by authorizing the SWRCB to
identify public water systems that are consistently unable to
provide sufficient safe drinking water and to contract with a
competent administrator. The SWRCB notes contracting with an
administrator would provide technical and managerial capacity,
economies of scale, and other efficiencies.
According to the author, California is the 6th largest economy
of the world, and it is unconscionable that so many
Californians are living in Third World conditions without
water. The author further contends that a third party
administrator will bring stability to the water system and the
community, and long-term sustainability to the water supply
for disadvantaged communities.
2)Background. Last year, SB 88 (Committee on Budget), Chapter
27, Statues of 2015, authorized SWRCB to require certain
water systems that consistently fail to provide safe drinking
water, to consolidate with, or receive an extension of service
from, another public water system.
The consolidation provisions were largely based on
recommendations in the Governor's "Resilient, Affordable, Safe
Drinking Water for Disadvantaged Communities Framework", which
was released May 2015. The framework identified three steps
to ensure every Californian has access to an adequate supply
of safe water to meet daily needs.
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The first two steps to improve technical, managerial, and
financial capacity and to implement consolidation if
improvements are not effective were contained in SB 88. The
third step of contracting with a third party to manage the
system to allow for it to be brought up to a sustainable
condition is included in this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081