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