BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1318|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1318
Author: Wolk (D)
Amended: 4/12/16
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 5-1, 4/6/16
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Pavley
NOES: Moorlach
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nguyen
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 4/20/16
AYES: Wieckowski, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NOES: Gaines, Bates
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 4-2, 5/23/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mendoza
SUBJECT: Local government: drinking water infrastructure or
services: wastewater infrastructure or services
SOURCE: Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
DIGEST: This bill requires Local Agency Formation Commissions
(LAFCOs) to recommend and adopt plans for providing water or
wastewater services to disadvantaged unincorporated communities
(DUCs) that lack those services.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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1)Creates a LAFCO in each county to control the boundaries of
cities, county service areas, and most special districts.
2)Requires a LAFCO to:
a) Adopt a policy document for each city and district
called a sphere of influence, in order to promote orderly
development within the sphere.
b) Make boundary decisions that are consistent with the
spheres of influence of the affected cities or districts.
c) Update spheres of influence at least every five years,
as necessary.
d) Periodically conduct a "municipal service review" (MSR)
that analyze and make determinations about seven topics:
i) Growth and population projections;
ii) Present and planned capacity of public facilities
and adequacy of public services, including
infrastructure needs or deficiencies, including the
water, sewer, and fire protection needs of DUCs;
iii) Agencies' financial abilities to provide services;
iv) Opportunities for sharing facilities;
v) Accountability for community service needs;
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vi) The location and characteristics of any DUCs; and
vii) Other matters relating to effective or efficient
services.
3)Allows local governments to only exercise their powers and
provide services where LAFCO allows them to, specifically:
a) Within their boundaries (which are set by LAFCO);
b) Within their spheres of influence but outside their
boundaries (with authorization by LAFCO), and;
c) Outside their spheres to address a major threat to
public health if the extension is consistent with LAFCO's
policies.
4)Imposes restrictions, pursuant to SB 244 (Wolk, Chapter 513,
Statutes of 2011), relating to DUCs on LAFCOs, cities, and
counties, including:
a) Prohibits annexations to a city of territory greater
than 10 acres if a DUC is contiguous with the territory
proposed for annexation, unless there is an application
with the commission to annex the unincorporated area or if
the residents of the affected territory oppose annexation.
b) Requires LAFCOs to include in the MSR a description of
the location and characteristics of any DUCs within or
contiguous to the sphere of influence and to consider the
water, sewer, or fire protection needs of DUCs within the
sphere when considering updates.
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c) Allows LAFCOs to assess options for governmental
reorganizations or consolidations that improve the
efficiency and affordability of service delivery and review
whether water systems in the area are in compliance with
the Safe Drinking Water Act.
d) Requires cities and counties to review the water and
fire service needs of DUCs in their general plans.
This bill:
1)Prohibits annexations of territory greater than 10 acres to a
special district that provides drinking water or wastewater
services to 500 or more connections if a DUC is contiguous
with the territory proposed for annexation, unless there is an
application with the commission to annex the unincorporated
area or if the residents of the affected territory oppose
annexation.
2)Requires a sphere of influence to promote orderly development
in areas adjacent to the sphere.
3)Requires certain spheres of influence to determine the water,
wastewater, and fire protection needs of DUCs adjacent to the
sphere.
4)Prohibits LAFCOs from removing a disadvantaged community from
a sphere of influence unless the commission makes a finding
that the removal will improve services to that community.
5)Requires LAFCOs to:
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a) Assess options to improve the efficiency and
affordability of service delivery for DUCs that lack
drinking water and wastewater services and review whether
water systems in the area are in compliance with the Safe
Drinking Water Act, if information is available.
b) Perform MSRs sufficient to have reviewed the entire
county by January 1, 2022 and every five years thereafter.
c) File a map of the county with the Office of Planning and
Research that identifies DUCs that lack drinking water and
wastewater services.
d) Recommend plans to address water and wastewater service
deficiencies and adopt actions necessary to implement those
plans, within two years of identification of the
deficiency.
6)Excludes the actions necessary under the plan from protest
provisions, except in the DUC that would receive service.
7)Exempts LAFCOs from developing and implementing such plans if
they make findings that there is no technical or economically
feasible way of connecting the DUC to an existing water or
wastewater system.
8)Prohibits certain sphere of influence changes if the LAFCO has
not adopted and taken actions necessary to implement the plan
by 2022, or if an agency identified in a plan has not provided
service within three years of being designated in the plan as
the service provider for a DUC.
Background
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LAFCOs, along with the planning agencies of cities and counties,
are supposed to ensure that services are effectively and
efficiently delivered to all communities throughout the state.
Nevertheless, some communities continue to lack adequate public
services, including safe drinking water and functioning
wastewater systems. These communities are often poor and are
located in the unincorporated area of a county. In some cases
these DUCs are remote and far from other communities with better
public services; in others, a city may share a border with a DUC
that has been excluded from its boundaries.
In recent years, the Legislature has taken several steps to try
to address some of the service problems experienced by DUCs. SB
244 (Wolk, 2011) aimed to prevent cities from carving out DUCs
and to identify service deficiencies. SB 244 made it easier for
LAFCOs to identify boundary changes and governmental
reorganizations necessary to fix water service problems faced by
DUCs. Subsequent legislation-SB 88 (Committee on Budget and
Fiscal Review, Chapter 27, Statutes of 2015)-took this effort a
step further by authorizing the State Water Resources Control
Board (SWRCB) to order a consolidation of neighboring water
systems where it is economically feasible in order to address
public health threats. To date, SWRCB has begun the
consolidation process with two water systems in communities that
border the city of Tulare.
Some advocates for DUCs want to provide additional incentives
for local governments to serve DUCs that lack safe drinking
water or adequate wastewater service.
Comments
1)Purpose of the bill. Many communities in California continue
to suffer from third-world level drinking water and wastewater
services. In many cases, these communities' border cities or
special districts with more than enough capacity to serve
them, but their boundaries have been drawn to specifically
exclude them. Despite recent legislative efforts, some cities
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continue to look to serve new development outside of their
current boundaries before helping neighboring communities.
While SB 244 helped highlight the disparity in services for
DUCs, stronger measures are needed to ensure that LAFCOs and
local governments faithfully carry out their responsibilities.
SB 1318 is simply the next step. It incentivizes cities and
special districts that want to serve new development to help
meet the needs of existing communities with drinking water and
wastewater problems, and codifies best practices that
conscientious LAFCOs already follow. SB 1318 won't solve all
of the problems of DUCs, but it provides an important tool to
get the state closer to its goal of ensuring that all
Californians have access to safe, affordable drinking water.
2)Burden on LAFCOs. SB 1318 imposes a number of burdens on
LAFCOs that they may not have the resources or expertise to
pursue, including mandatory studies of territory outside of an
agency's sphere, mandatory assessments of alternatives for
communities that lack adequate drinking water or wastewater,
and developing plans for service provision. Cities, counties,
and special districts fund LAFCO operations, but many of those
agencies are still recovering from the recession. Is now the
right time to impose additional financial responsibilities on
local agencies that are just getting to their feet?
3)Restrictions on development. A viable development needs
certain services, including drinking water and wastewater, but
a local government can only provide those services where LAFCO
lets them. By restricting the ability of LAFCO to approve
service extensions or sphere of influence updates, SB 1318
could pose additional obstacles to much needed development
throughout the state.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
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Significant local costs which are not reimbursable from the
state.
Minor costs to the Governor's Office of Planning and Research
to post maps of certain DUCs on its Web site. (General Fund)
SUPPORT: (Verified5/25/16)
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability (source)
California Environmental Justice Alliance
California Food Policy Advocates
California League of Conservation Voters
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Environmental Working Group
Natural Resources Defense Council
Policy Link
Pueblo Unido Community Development Coalition
San Joaquin Valley Sustainable Agriculture Collaborative
Sequoia Riverlands Trust
Sierra Club California
The Trust for Public Land
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/25/16)
Calaveras County LAFCO
California Apartment Association
California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions
California Association of Realtors
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California Municipal Utilities Association
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California Special Districts Association
City of Sacramento
Contra Costa LAFCO
Costa Mesa Sanitation
Cucamonga Valley Water District
Desert Water Agency
El Dorado LAFCO
Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District
Imperial County LAFCO
Kern County LAFCO
League of California Cities
Merced County LAFCO
Nevada County LAFCO
Orange County LAFCO
Placer County LAFCO
Riverside County LAFCO
San Bernardino LAFCO
San Diego LAFCO
San Mateo LAFCO
Santa Cruz LAFCO
Sonoma LAFCO
Stanislaus County LAFCO
Prepared by: Anton Favorini-Csorba / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
5/25/16 13:50:27
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