BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 664| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 664 Author: Hertzberg (D) Amended: 6/2/15 Vote: 21 SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 8-0, 4/28/15 AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Wolk NO VOTE RECORDED: Vidak SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen SUBJECT: Water: urban water management planning SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill requires an urban water supplier to include a seismic risk assessment and mitigation plan for their water system in their urban water management plan. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Requires every urban water agency to produce an Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) every five years. SB 664 Page 2 2)Requires the UWMP include, among other things, an urban water shortage contingency analysis that includes, among other things, actions to be undertaken by the urban water supplier to prepare for, and implement during, a catastrophic interruption of water supplies including, but not limited to, a regional power outage, an earthquake, or other disaster. The Department of Water Resources' (DWR) draft guidelines for the next update of UWMPs, state that the catastrophic supply interruption analysis should "[i]dentify what actions will be taken by a water supplier if there is a catastrophic reduction in water supplies." This bill: 1)Requires UWMPs, beginning with UWMPs due in 2020, to also include a seismic risk assessment and mitigation plan, which would assesses the vulnerability of each the various facilities of a water system and a capital improvement plan to mitigate those vulnerabilities. 2)Allows, but not requires, an agency to comply with this requirement by submitting a copy of an adopted local hazard mitigation plan or multi-hazard mitigation plan as specified in the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (P. L. 106-390) provided the local hazard mitigation plan or multi-hazard mitigation plan addresses seismic risk. 3)Requires the seismic risk assessment and mitigation plan to be updated at the same time the UWMP is updated. Comments How Vulnerable Are California Water Supplies? It is not clear. There are studies that show that Delta levees are vulnerable to failure in a significant seismic event. And undoubtedly some SB 664 Page 3 water agencies have done their own assessment. However, there does not appear to be any systematic assessment of the seismic risk of the state's water infrastructure. How Expensive Are Seismic Upgrades? For some systems it can be very expensive. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has already spent billions of dollars to seismically upgrade their water system. And, just recently the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power identified $15 billion in potential need for seismic upgrades to water infrastructure. What About Funding? By including the seismic risk assessment and mitigation plans in UWMPs, those system upgrades can be funded through integrated regional water management plans (IRWMP) and grants. Proposition 1 provides $510 million for IRWMP grants. What Are Local Hazard Mitigation Plans? The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provides a variety of types of non-emergency disaster assistance, including funding for mitigation projects. To qualify, State, tribal and local governments are required to develop a hazard mitigation plan. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Public Law 93-288), as amended by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (P. L. 106-390), provides the legal basis for state, local and tribal governments to undertake a risk-based approach to reducing risks from natural hazards through mitigation planning. Federal regulations require, among other things, that local plans include the following: 1)A risk assessment that provides the factual basis for activities proposed in the strategy to reduce losses from identified hazards. Local risk assessments must provide sufficient information to enable the jurisdiction to identify and prioritize appropriate mitigation actions to reduce losses from identified hazards. 2)A mitigation strategy that provides the jurisdiction's blueprint for reducing the potential losses identified in the SB 664 Page 4 risk assessment, based on existing authorities, policies, programs and resources, and its ability to expand on and improve these existing tools. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Minor and absorbable costs to the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to update their guidelines to reflect the new requirements under this bill. Cost pressures in the millions of dollars to various bond funds (General Fund) beginning in 2020 for seismic mitigation projects. SUPPORT: (Verified5/29/15) California State Council of Laborers East Bay Municipal Utility District OPPOSITION: (Verified5/29/15) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "Public policymakers cannot ignore forecasts showing a greater than 99-percent chance of a 6.7 earthquake within the next 30 years. Much of California's infrastructure, including key water-delivery systems, remains seismically unsafe and extremely vulnerable. With California entering the fourth year of the current and serious drought, scientists predict our changing SB 664 Page 5 climate will increase the frequency, length, and severity of droughts in California. The State must prioritize water security." "Although California has addressed seismic safety many times, including mandatory retrofits for schools and hospitals, voluntary upgrades, mapping hazardous faults, and cataloguing unsafe buildings, much of California's infrastructure - including key water delivery systems - remains seismically unsafe and extremely vulnerable. SB 664 will help identify and address seismically vulnerable water infrastructure." Prepared by:Dennis O'Connor/ NRW/ (916) 651-4116 6/2/15 13:24:35 **** END ****