Senate Bill No. 1456

Introduced by Senator Galgiani

February 19, 2016

An act to amend Section 116761.20 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to drinking water, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1456, as introduced, Galgiani. Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997: public water systems: financing.

Existing law establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the State Water Resources Control Board for the provision of grants and revolving fund loans to provide for the design and construction of projects for public water systems that will enable suppliers to meet safe drinking water standards. Existing law, for community public water systems and not-for-profit noncommunity public water systems, allows planning and preliminary engineering studies, project design, and construction costs incurred by those public water systems to be funded by loans and other repayable financing. Existing law additionally allows, if those public water systems are owned by public agencies or not-for-profit water companies, those specified costs to be funded by grants, principal forgiveness, or a combination of grants and loans or other financial assistance.

This bill would authorize the above-described costs to be funded by loans or other repayable financing, grants, principal forgiveness, or a combination of grants and loans or other financial assistance, regardless of whether the public water system is a community public water system or a not-for-profit noncommunity public water system, or whether the public water system is owned by a public agency or private not-for-profit water company. By expanding the use of moneys in a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

Existing law deems a public agency or private not-for-profit water company serving a severely disadvantaged community with fewer than 200 service connections and that owns a small community water system or nontransient community water system to have no ability to repay any financing for a project serving the severely disadvantaged community.

This bill would apply this finding to any public water system serving a severely disadvantaged community with fewer than 200 service connections.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 116761.20 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

116761.20.  

(a) Planning and preliminary engineering studies,
project design, and construction costs incurred by begin delete community and
not-for-profit noncommunity end delete begin insert a end insert public water begin delete systems end delete begin insert system end insert may
be funded under this chapter by loans or other repayable financing,
begin delete and, if these systems are owned by public agencies or private
not-for-profit water companies, by end delete grants, principal forgiveness,
or a combination of grants and loans or other financial assistance.

(b) (1) The board shall determine what portion of the full costs
the public begin delete agency or private not-for-profit water company end delete begin insert water
system end insert is capable of repaying and authorize funding in the form
of a loan or other repayable financing for that amount. The board
shall authorize a grant or principal forgiveness only to the extent
the board finds the public begin delete agency or not-for-profit water company end delete
begin insert water system end insert is unable to repay the full costs of the financing.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, where
a public begin delete agency or private not-for-profit water company serving end delete
begin insert water system serves end insert a severely disadvantaged community with
fewer than 200 service begin delete connections owns a small community water
system or nontransient noncommunity water system, end delete begin insert connections, end insert
the public begin delete agency or private not-for-profit serving the severely
disadvantaged community end delete begin insert water system end insert is deemed to have no
ability to repay any financing for a project serving the severely
disadvantaged community.

(c) At the request of the board, the Public Utilities Commission
shall submit comments concerning the ability of begin delete suppliers, end delete begin insert public
water systems, end insert subject to its jurisdiction, to finance the project
from other sources and to repay the financing.