BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 995
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Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 995
(Pavley) - As Amended August 1, 2016
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|Policy |Environmental Safety and Toxic |Vote:|7 - 0 |
|Committee: |Materials | | |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR),
based on existing knowledge, to update the well standards
contained in Bulletins 74-81 and 74-90 for water wells,
monitoring wells, and cathodic protection wells by January 1,
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2019. Additionally, this bill:
1)Requires DWR to submit these standards to the State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
2)Requires SWRCB, upon receiving the updated well standards from
DWR, to revise the model ordinance which includes water well,
monitoring well, and cathodic protection well drilling and
abandonment standards.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)According to DWR, an update of the well standards based on
existing knowledge will cost approximately $1.7 million
(General Fund). However, DWR notes there are significant
information gaps that must be filled to develop the best
possible standards, regardless of statutory requirements. As
such, DWR estimates the cost of an appropriate update to be
approximately $6.6 million over a five-year period.
2)SWRCB costs to update the model ordinance are absorbable.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. DWR originally published standards for wells in 1968
and the most recent update was published in 1991. According
to the author, the current standards are woefully out of date
and do not cover the wide range of new materials and
techniques developed by the well drilling industry. This bill
requires the well standards to be updated.
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2)Background. DWR has the responsibility for developing
standards for wells for the protection of water quality.
California has four categories of water wells: a) "water
wells" (sometimes called production wells) are built to
extract water for human consumption, irrigation, or other
purposes; b) "monitoring wells" are built to collect water
samples and monitor groundwater levels; c) "cathodic
protection wells" are built to protect metallic objects buried
in the ground from corrosion; and d) "geothermal heat exchange
wells" (GHEWs) are built to transfer heat to and from the soil
as part of heating, ventilation and cooling systems (HVAC).
DWR is currently in the final stages of updating GHEWs
standards, so all but GHEWs are included in this bill.
3)DWR Bulletins. 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.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
SB 995
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