BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 995
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Date of Hearing: June 28, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
SB
995 (Pavley) - As Amended May 31, 2016
PROPOSED CONSENT
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
SUBJECT: Well standards
SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR), on
or before January 1, 2019, to update the well standards for
water wells, monitoring wells, and cathodic protection wells.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, on or before January 1, 2019, DWR to update, based
on existing knowledge, the well standards contained in
Bulletin 74-81 and Bulletin 74-90 for water wells, monitoring
wells, and cathodic protection wells. Requires DWR to submit
these standards to the California State Water Resources
Control Board (State Water Board).
2)Requires the State Water Board, upon receiving the updated
well standards from DWR, to revise the model water well,
cathodic protection well, and monitoring well drilling and
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abandonment ordinances.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires DWR to investigate possible damage to the quality of
underground waters, which is or may be caused by improperly
constructed, abandoned, or defective wells or the introduction
of surface water into underground water. Requires DWR to
report to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board
its recommendations for minimum standards of well construction
in any particular locality in which it deems regulation
necessary to protect the quality of underground water. (Water
Code (WC) § 231)
2)Requires the State Water Board to, not later than September 1,
1989, adopt a model water well, cathodic protection well, and
monitoring well drilling and abandonment ordinance
implementing the standards for water well construction,
maintenance, and abandonment contained in Bulletin 74-81
published by the DWR. (WC § 13801)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, enactment of this bill could result in a one-time
cost of approximately $1.7 million (General Fund) to update the
well standards as required in this bill.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill: According to the author, "This bill requires
the DWR to update the standards covering water wells, cathodic
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protection wells, and monitoring wells by January 1, 2019.
These standards are found in Bulletins 74-81 and 74-90. Taken
together, the two bulletins represent the state's minimum
standards for the three water well categories listed above.
Our current standards are woefully out of date. They do not
cover the wide range of new materials and techniques developed
by the well drilling industry. This bill will require our
standards to be updated."
History of well standards: DWR has responsibility for developing
standards for wells for the protection of water quality under
California Water Code Section 231, which was enacted in 1949.
Statewide standards for water wells were first formally
published in 1968 as DWR Bulletin 74, Water Well Standards:
State of California. Standards for cathodic protection wells
followed in 1973 as Bulletin 74-1, Cathodic Protection Well
Standards: State of California. A revised edition of Bulletin 74
was published in 1981 as Bulletin 74-81, Water Well Standards:
State of California. In 1991, Bulletin 74-90 was published as a
supplement to Bulletin 74-81. Bulletin 74-90 was developed to
respond to DWR's responsibilities under the Water Code and to
keep pace with technical advances during the ten-year period
following the publishing of Bulletin 74-81.
Water well standards are critical for preventing contamination
of good quality groundwater. Improperly built, maintained, or
destroyed wells can act as a conduit for contaminants. For
example, the standards address topics such as the material used
to seal the soil around the well casing. A poor seal can lead
to preferential flow of water - and any contaminants - along the
well casing and into the aquifer.
This bill specifically focuses on three out of the four well
categories for which DWR is required to develop standards.
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Those types of water wells are:
1)Water wells - typical water wells that are used to extract
water from the ground;
2)Monitoring wells - wells that are used to sample groundwater
or monitor groundwater conditions (e.g., water level); and,
3)Cathodic protection wells - a specialized class of wells that
are used to provide protection against corrosion for metallic
objects buried in the ground.
A fourth type of well - geothermal heat exchange wells (GHEWs) -
is not included in this bill. DWR is currently in the final
stages of updating the standards for GHEWs.
The State originally published standards for wells in 1968 and
the most recent update was published in 1991. This bill
requires DWR to update the standards for water wells, monitoring
wells, and cathodic protection wells. It is quite possible that
there have been technical advances in the past 25 years that
warrant an update to the standards.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Association of California Water Agencies
California Association of Environmental health Administrators
California Groundwater Association (Sponsor)
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Cleaner Water Action
Community Water Center
Desert Water Agency
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Pacific Water Quality Association
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Sierra Club
Valley Ag Water Coalition
Opposition
None received
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Analysis Prepared by:Josh Tooker / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965