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