BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 664  


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          Date of Hearing:  July 15, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          SB 664  
          (Hertzberg) - As Amended June 24, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill requires an urban water supplier to include a seismic  
          risk assessment and mitigation plan in their Urban Water  
          Management Plan (UWMP) beginning in 2020.  This bill allows an  
          urban water supplier to submit its most recent adopted local  








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          hazard mitigation plan or multi-hazard mitigation plan (under  
          the federal Disaster Mitigation Act) as an alternative if the  
          plan addresses seismic risk.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)Potential cost pressures in the millions of dollars to various  
            bond funds beginning in 2020 for seismic mitigation projects.



            Projects in an UWMP may be included in an Integrated Regional  
            Water Management Plan (IRWMPs).  The creation and  
            implementation of IRWMPs are eligible for funding under  
            various water bonds, including Proposition 1.   As this bill  
            will indirectly allow for the inclusion of seismic upgrade  
            projects in IWRMPs, this bill imposes additional cost  
            pressures to fund such projects.


          2)Minor and absorbable costs to the Department of Water  
            Resources (DWR) to update their guidelines to reflect the new  
            requirements.

          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  According to the author, many quakes have resulted  
            in substantial water system damage and drinking and  
            firefighting water delivery challenges. For example, after the  
            1994 Northridge Earthquake, which left 57 dead, more than  
            9,000 injured, and caused more than $40 billion in property  
            damage, residents lined up to receive bottled water after  
            local officials warned them not to drink the tap water  
            following the rupture of several water mains in the San  
            Fernando Valley









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            This bill will ensure urban water suppliers identify seismic  
            vulnerabilities and potential actions to mitigate risks.


          2)Background.  Under the Urban Water Management Act, every urban  
            water supplier is required to produce an Urban Water  
            Management Plan (UWMP) every five years.  Plans are required  
            to include, among other things, an urban water shortage  
            contingency analysis that includes 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.



            According to the DWR's draft guidelines for the next UWMP  
            update, the catastrophic supply interruption analysis should  
            identify what actions will be taken if there is a catastrophic  
            reduction in water supplies.


          3)Federal Law.  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, require a risk assessment and a mitigation  
            strategy.










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          Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081