BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1438
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1438
AUTHOR: Conway
AMENDED: June 26, 2009
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: July 6, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rachel Machi
Wagoner
SUBJECT : SAFE DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND
SUMMARY :
Existing federal law :
1)Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), authorizes the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to
set national health-based standards for drinking water to
protect against both naturally-occurring and man-made
contaminants that may be found in drinking water. US EPA,
states, and water systems then work together to make sure
that these standards are met. Originally, SDWA focused
primarily on treatment as the means of providing safe
drinking water at the tap. The 1996 amendments greatly
enhanced the existing law by recognizing source water
protection, operator training, funding for water system
improvements, and public information as important components
to ensuring the quality of drinking water. The 1996
amendments also established the Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund to provide states with a financing mechanism
to ensure safe drinking water to the public.
2)Under, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA), provides approximately $160 million to the Revolving
Fund for infrastructure development for California's
drinking water systems.
Existing state law :
1)Under the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the
Department of Public Health (DPH) to regulate drinking
water, including conducting research, studies, and
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demonstration programs for a dependable, safe supply of
drinking water and to enforce the federal Safe Drinking
Water Act and other regulations.
2)Creates the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
(Revolving Fund) in the State Treasury and continuously
appropriates the fund to DPH to provide grants or revolving
fund loans for the design and construction of projects for
public water systems that will enable suppliers to meet safe
drinking water standards.
This bill expands eligibility for grants under the Revolving
Fund to:
1)Add fire flow demand as a criterion that must be considered
when determining "reasonable amount of growth" for project
funding under the Revolving Fund.
2)Require DPH, in order to implement the State Revolving Fund,
to establish a wellhead protection account pursuant to
Section 1452(a) (2) of the SDWA.
3)Add environmental documentation as an activity eligible for
funding under the State Revolving Fund.
4)Revise, from $1 million to an amount established by DPH, the
maximum amount of a grant permitted under the State
Revolving Fund for the planning, engineering studies,
environmental documentation, design or construction of a
single project. The amount must be published in the
Intended Use Plan submitted by DPH annually to the US EPA.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of Bill . According to the sponsor, this bill seeks
to provide updated authority to DPH on the administration
and use of funds from the State Revolving Fund. Most
notably to provide them the continuous authority to raise
the grant cap for planning and construction projects through
their administrative regulatory process. They are currently
limited by statute to a maximum of $1 million. In order to
maintain a rate of affordability, DPH packages the loans
with a partial grant to make the projects more viable. Due
to the increasing costs of these projects, the need for a
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greater grant amount is needed to make these projects more
viable, especially for disadvantaged communities. In
addition, instead of having to update statutorily the amount
every few years, it is more efficient for DPH to do so
administratively in accordance with US EPA guidance.
2)Removing the cap on grants . By revising, from $1 million to
an amount established by DPH, the maximum amount of a grant
permitted under the State Revolving Fund for the planning,
engineering studies, environmental documentation, design or
construction of a single project, the legislature is giving
open-ended authority to DPH to grant funds from the
Revolving Fund. While the current $1 million cap may be
causing DPH to pass over valuable and needed projects, in
order to ensure equality in grant awards it may be more
appropriate to limit this flexibility by requiring DPH to
make certain findings concerning the need of the community
and project when awarding higher grants, and rather than
completely removing the cap, raise it to be more consistent
with current need.
3)Clarification needed regarding Environmental Documentation .
Since environmental documentation is required prior to
submittal of an application, clarification is needed
regarding the timing of this funding.
4)Prior Legislation. SB 27XXX (Negrete McLeod) Chapter 25,
Statutes of 2009-10 Third Extraordinary Session, expanded
authorized uses for clean drinking water and wastewater
funding from the federal government.
SOURCE : California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Clean Water Action
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
SUPPORT : None of file
OPPOSITION : None on file