BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 664
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Date of Hearing: June 30, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
SB
664 (Hertzberg) - As Amended June 24, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 40-0
SUBJECT: Water: urban water management planning.
SUMMARY: Requires an urban water supplier to include a seismic
risk assessment and mitigation plan in its urban water
management plan (UWMP) or allows an urban water supplier to
submit its most recent federal disaster mitigation plan as an
alternative if that plan addresses seismic risk.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires all urban water suppliers to prepare and adopt UWMPs
and update them every five years. Among other requirements,
UWMPs must:
a) Provide a description of the service area of the
supplier;
b) Identify and quantify water resources; and,
c) Make water use projections.
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2)Requires UWMPs to be adopted or updated in years ending in
"zero" and "five."
3)Specifies that compliance with the Urban Water Management
Planning Act (UWMPA) is a prerequisite to receiving state
funding for water projects and programs.
4)Requires State, Tribal, and local governments to develop a
hazard mitigation plan as a condition for receiving certain
types of non-emergency disaster assistance.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee
analysis:
1)Minor and absorbable costs to the Department of Water
Resources (DWR) to update their guidelines to reflect the new
requirements under this bill.
2)Cost pressures in the millions of dollars to various bond
funds (General Fund) beginning in 2020 for seismic mitigation
projects.
COMMENTS: This bill requires UWMPs to assess seismic risks to
the water system and either develop a mitigation plan for those
risks or, as an alternative, submit their most recent local
hazard mitigation plan or multihazard mitigation plan adopted in
compliance with the federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA
2000), if that plan addresses seismic risks.
1)Author's statement: The author states that identifying
seismic vulnerabilities and outlining measures to mitigate
those risks is needed in order to strengthen California's
water infrastructure, making communities across the State
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better prepared in the event of an earthquake. The author
adds that many quakes have already resulted in substantial
water system damage and challenge for delivering water for
firefighting and drinking. The author cites to the 1994
Northridge Earthquake, which left 57 dead, more than 9,000
injured, and caused more than $40 billion in property damage.
The author notes that due to the Northridge quake, "residents
lined up to receive bottled water after local officials warned
them not to drink the tap water following the rupture of
several mains in the San Fernando Valley."
2)Background: A March 2015 Los Angeles Times article, Risk of
8.0 Earthquake in California Rises, [United States Geological
Survey] Says, emphasizes that some places in California -
particularly the Los Angeles area - are crisscrossed by a
complex fault system and that significant scientific
advancements reveal that earthquakes can rupture along
multiple faults simultaneously. The report added that "seismic
activity in California has been relatively low over the past
century. But we know that tectonic forces are continually
tightening the springs of the San Andreas fault system, making
big quakes inevitable."
Under the UWMPA, every urban water agency is required to
produce an UWMP every five years. Plans are required to
include, among other things, an urban water shortage
contingency analysis with 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. DWR's draft guidelines for the next UWMP update
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."
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3)Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000: An urban water
supplier can comply with the requirements of this bill by
submitting a plan that is adopted pursuant to the DMA 2000
(Public Law 106-390) if that plan addresses seismic risks.
The DMA 2000 provides the legal basis for FEMA mitigation
planning requirements for State, local and Indian Tribal
governments as a condition of mitigation grant assistance. The
DMA 2000 amended the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act by repealing the previous mitigation
planning provisions and replacing them with a new set of
requirements that emphasize the need for State, local, and
Indian Tribal entities to closely coordinate mitigation
planning and implementation efforts. The requirement for a
State mitigation plan is continued as a condition of disaster
assistance, adding incentives for increased coordination and
integration of mitigation activities at the State level
through the establishment of requirements for two different
levels of state plans. This bill allows an urban water
supplier to meet seismic risk assessment requirements by
submitting a DMA 2000 compliant plan that addresses seismic
risk in accordance with the
4)Related legislation: AB 149 (Chávez) changes the due date for
the 2020 UWMP from December 31, 2020 to July 1, 2021 in order
to allow agencies to incorporate information, due on December
31, 2020, related to the meeting the mandatory statewide 20%
reduction in urban per capita water use.
5)Supporting arguments: Supporters state that earthquakes are a
significant concern in California and can damage water
infrastructure. Supporters add that by requiring UWMPs to
include seismic risk assessment and mitigation plans, this
bill will assist water agencies, the public, and the state in
understanding the impact an earthquake may have on water
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supply to inform seismic safety and emergency preparedness
decisions. Supporters add by requiring such information this
bill will make seismic-related projects eligible to compete
for potential Integrated Regional Water Management grant
funding.
6)Opposing arguments: Opponents state that UWMPs are prepared
every five years to support long-term resources planning and
ensure adequate water supplies for existing and future demands
therefore they are not the proper vehicle to address seismic
vulnerability. Opponents add that seismic risk assessments
and mitigation plans are costly and timely to produce and may
not need to be prepared every five years under the UWMP
schedule. Opponents caution that this bill could introduce
new liability issues if, after an earthquake, capital
improvement programs don't deliver what was articulated in
mitigation plans.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California State Council of Laborers
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Los Angeles County Democratic Party
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Sierra Club of California
Opposition
Association of California Water Agencies (unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by:Tina Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096