BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1318|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1318
Author: Wolk (D)
Amended: 6/1/16
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 plans for providing water or wastewater
services to disadvantaged unincorporated communities (DUCs) that
lack those services.
Senate Floor Amendments of 6/1/16 recast the plan for providing
services, delete certain prohibitions on sphere of influence
updates, and add a new requirement to the land use element of
city and county general plans.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires every city and county to develop a comprehensive
general plan that includes seven mandatory elements, including
a land use element that describes the intensity and general
location of various land uses such as residential, commercial,
industrial, and open space.
2)Creates a LAFCO in each county to control the boundaries of
cities, county service areas, and most special districts.
3)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
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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;
vi) The location and characteristics of any DUCs; and
vii) Other matters relating to effective or efficient
services.
4)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.
5)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
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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.
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)Authorizes a LAFCO to initiate proceedings for the annexation
of a DUC.
2)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.
3)Requires a sphere of influence to promote orderly development
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in areas adjacent to the sphere.
4)Requires certain spheres of influence to determine the water,
wastewater, and fire protection needs of DUCs adjacent to the
sphere.
5)Requires LAFCOs to:
a) Identify DUCs within or adjacent to the sphere of
influence of a city or special district and review the
adequacy of water and wastewater services in those
communities by January 1, 2018 and every five years
thereafter.
b) File a map of the county with the Office of Planning and
Research that identifies DUCs that lack drinking water and
wastewater services, as well as the State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB) and Regional Water Quality Control
Boards, as applicable.
c) Develop an accessibility plan for DUCs that lack water
or wastewater on or before January 1, 2020 that identifies,
among other things, the local agencies best positioned to
provide water or wastewater to the DUCs, the actions that
the LAFCO and the local agency must take to resolve the
deficiency, and those DUCs for which there is no
technically or economically feasible way of connecting an
existing system.
d) Hold a hearing on the status of the identified DUCs
within two years of adopting an accessibility plan and take
the action identified in the plan if the deficiency remains
unaddressed.
6)Excludes the actions necessary under the plan from protest
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provisions, except that the LAFCO shall not take the action
recommended in the accessibility plan if it finds that a
majority of voters are opposed to the recommended action.
7)Prohibits the costs and fees charged to residents of a DUC
that becomes part of a city or special district pursuant to an
accessibility plan from exceeding the costs to existing
customers.
8)Requires a city or county to include the accessibility plans
and analyses of services provided to DUCs in the land use
element of its general plans upon the next revision of the
housing element.
Background
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 SWRCB to order a consolidation
of neighboring water systems where it is economically feasible
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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
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 ensures that LAFCOs take
the information that they gathered through SB 244 and come up
with a plan to help those communities in need of better water
and wastewater. 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 cities, counties, and LAFCOs. SB 1318 imposes a
number of significant burdens on cities, counties, and LAFCOs.
Changes to general plans can be expensive, time-consuming
endeavors. By requiring local governments to incorporate the
accessibility plans into their land use elements, SB 1318 adds
to a long and growing list of unfunded mandates imposed
through the general planning process. In addition, SB 1318
requires LAFCOs to significantly expand their activities,
including additional studies of areas outside of spheres of
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influence and developing plans for services. 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
responsibilities on local agencies that are just getting to
their feet?
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
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: (Verified6/1/16)
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
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OPPOSITION: (Verified6/1/16)
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
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
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Prepared by: Anton Favorini-Csorba / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
6/1/16 18:41:45
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