BILL NUMBER: AB 2669 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 17, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Perez
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add Section 83002.2 to the Water Code, relating
to water. An act to amend Section 116761.23 of the
Health and Safety Code, relating to drinking water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2669, as amended, V. Manuel Perez. The Safe Drinking
Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal
Protection Bond Act of 2006: integrated regional water management
plans: pilot program: disadvantaged communities. Safe
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: planning and construction
grants.
Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the
State Department of Public Health to administer provisions relating
to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health,
including, but not limited to, conducting research, studies, and
demonstration programs relating to the provision of a dependable,
safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking
Water Act, adoption of enforcement regulations, and conducting
studies and investigations to assess the quality of water in domestic
water supplies.
Existing law establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving
Fund, which is continuously appropriated to the department 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.
Under existing law, the funding for grants for planning,
engineering studies, environmental documentation, and design of a
single project is set at a maximum of $500,000. Existing law requires
total funding for planning, engineering studies, project design, and
construction costs of a single project, whether in the form of a
grant, a loan, or both, to be determined by an assessment of
affordability using criteria established by the department.
This bill would add environmental documentation to the costs of a
single project that the department is required to determine by an
assessment of affordability.
The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control,
River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 84), an
initiative measure approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006,
statewide general election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the
amount of $5,388,000,000 for the purpose of financing a safe drinking
water, water quality and supply, flood control, and resource
protection program. Of those funds, $1,000,000,000 is available to
the Department of Water Resources, upon appropriation by the
Legislature for that purpose, for grants for projects that assist
local public agencies to meet the long-term water needs of the state,
including the delivery of safe drinking water and the protection of
water quality and the environment. Existing law appropriates
$181,971,000 of that bond money to the department for integrated
regional water management activities.
Of the $181,971,000 appropriated to the department, existing law
allocates $22,091,000 for integrated regional water management
projects with interregional or statewide benefits.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to encourage
the department, if it elects to expend the moneys appropriated for
integrated regional water management projects with interregional or
statewide benefits to implement a pilot program for disadvantaged
community assistance, to require a recipient of funds under the pilot
program to (1) comply with a prescribed community engagement
process, (2) give consideration to organizations with relevant
experience, as specified, for purposes of contracting or
subcontracting services to complete pilot program requirements, or
(3) consider specified methods to provide cost savings for
high-priority water-related problems affecting disadvantaged
communities.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 116761.23 of the
Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
116761.23. (a) The maximum amount of a planning grant permitted
under this chapter for each participating public water system's share
of the costs of the planning, engineering studies, environmental
documentation, and design of a single project shall be no more than
five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).
(b) Unless the department approves an increase pursuant to this
subdivision, the maximum amount of a construction grant award
authorized under this chapter to each participating public water
system for its share of the cost of the construction of a single
project shall be no more than three million dollars ($3,000,000). The
department may approve an increase in the maximum amount for a
construction grant award authorized under this chapter so that the
maximum amount of the construction grant award does not exceed ten
million dollars ($10,000,000) only if the department makes all of the
following findings:
(1) A public water system that serves a disadvantaged community
has a defined project need that exceeds the maximum grant amount of
three million dollars ($3,000,000).
(2) The defined project has been bypassed in at least one funding
cycle due to a lack of funds.
(3) The defined project is eligible for funding pursuant to the
program regulations.
(4) The defined project represents the highest public health risk
among unfunded projects, as determined by the department according to
its standard criteria.
(c) Total funding under this article for planning, engineering
studies, environmental documentation, project design, and
construction costs of a single project, whether in the form of a loan
or a grant, or both, shall be determined by an assessment of
affordability using criteria established by the department.
SECTION 1. Section 83002.2 is added to the
Water Code, to read:
83002.2. If the department elects to expend any of the funds
described in clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of
subdivision (b) of Section 83002 to implement a pilot program for
disadvantaged community assistance, it is the intent of the
Legislature to encourage the department to require a recipient of
funds under the pilot program to do any of the following:
(a) Implement a community engagement process that includes
consultation with appropriate stakeholders, including, but not
limited to, the county in which the project is located, local
environmental health departments, tribes with existing or ancestral
land within or adjacent to the region's boundaries, community-based
organizations, and representatives of disadvantaged communities, and
other appropriate entities with experience or interest in drinking
water and wastewater infrastructure and other water-related issues
affecting disadvantaged communities.
(b) For purposes of contracting or subcontracting services to
complete pilot program requirements, give consideration to nonprofit
organizations or other organizations with relevant experience in the
region in which the project is located.
(c) Consider methods that provide cost savings for high-priority
water-related problems affecting disadvantaged communities, including
consolidation of community water systems, wastewater systems, and
flood systems, and steps to implement consolidation of those systems,
where appropriate and feasible.