BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2669|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2669
Author: V. Manuel Perez (D)
Amended: 8/31/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/28/10
AYES: Simitian, Runner, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal,
Pavley, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-24, 6/3/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public water systems
SOURCE : California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
DIGEST : This bill adds environmental documentation to
the costs of a single project that the Department of Public
Health is required to determine by an assessment of
affordability under the California Safe Drinking Water Act.
This bill also specifies language requirements for public
water system notices.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/20/10 delete a provision in
the public water system operator notice provisions added by
this bill so that the operator will not be required to
provide an oral interpretation of the notice in the
appropriate language when contacted by a resident.
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Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/10 require public water
system notices to: (1) contain certain information; and
(2) be provided in English and in the language spoken by
any non-English speaking group that exceeds 1,000
residents, or that exceeds 10 percent of residents served,
whichever is less.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, under the Safe Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund Law of 1997:
1.Sets the maximum "planning grant" for a participating
public water system's costs for planning, engineering
studies, environmental documentation, and design of a
project at no more than $500,000. Maximum amounts are
also set for construction grants.
2.Requires total funding for planning, engineering studies,
project design, and construction costs, whether in the
form of a loan or grant, to be determined by an
assessment of affordability using criteria established by
the Department of Public Health (DPH).
This bill adds environmental documentation to the list of
costs to be determined by an assessment of affordability
using DPH criteria.
This bill also requires a written public notice given by a
public water system to do all of the following:
1.Be provided in English or Spanish, and in the language
spoken by any non-English-speaking group that exceeds 10
percent of persons served by the public water system.
2.Contain a telephone number or address where residents may
contact the public water system for assistance.
3.For each group that speaks a language other than English
or Spanish and that exceeds 1,000 residents but is less
than 10 percent of the persons served by the public water
system, the notice shall contain both of the following in
the appropriate language:
A. Information regarding the importance of the notice.
B. A telephone number or address where those residents
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may contact the public water system to obtain a
translated copy of the notice or assistance in the
appropriate language.
Nonwritten notification shall be provided to persons
served in the appropriate language or languages, as
approved by DPH in the public water system's emergency
notification plan.
Public Water System Notification Requirements
In numerous small, unincorporated communities throughout
our state residents rely mostly on private, ground water
wells as their primary source of potable water. Many of
these wells, however, are contaminated with arsenic,
nitrates and other dangerous contaminants at levels that
exceed safe drinking water standards and legal limits
permitted by federal law.
When a community water system exceeds maximum contaminant
levels, state and federal laws trigger a number of
requirements. In particular, residents must be notified
within 30 days regarding the levels of the given
contaminant, potential dangers of consuming the
contaminated water, and a status report of the steps the
water system is taking to install treatment, find
alternative sources of water, or otherwise comply with the
law.
Comments
According to the author's office, "AB 2669 ensures that DPH
considers environmental documentation costs when
determining funding based on DPH criteria."
The author's office points out that, before 2006,
Department of Public Health had the regulatory authority to
determine when it was appropriate for a public notice
pertaining to contaminated water to be multilingual.
Revisions to the regulations in 2006, however, changed the
notification requirements, thereby removing important
public health protections for non-English speaking
residents impacted by contaminated drinking water.
Specifically, the new regulations allow community water
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systems the option to provide the notice only in English so
long as the notice also contains a telephone number or
address where the non-English speaking residents may obtain
a translated copy of the notice.
Public notification to residents regarding contaminated
drinking water is necessary to prevent illness and disease
and protect public health. However, when a public water
system sends a public notification only in English to a
non-English speaking community, the risks to public health
persist. If public notices are not provided in the
language spoken by the impacted community, residents may
not know that the water in their homes is unsafe and what
precautions are necessary to protect the health and safety
of their family.
Related Legislation
AB 1438 (Conway) Chapter 531, Statutes of 2009, among other
things, set a limit of $500,000 for planning, engineering
studies, environmental documentation, and design of a
single project. Current law also requires total funding
for planning, engineering studies, project design, and
construction costs, whether in the form of a loan or grant,
to be determined by an assessment of affordability using
criteria established by DPH. AB 1438, however, did not
also add "environmental documentation" to the affordability
assessment requirement. This bill corrects this oversight.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/20/10)
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (source)
Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Yolo County Board of Supervisors
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
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Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De
Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, John A.
Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Conway,
Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore,
Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Norby, Audra Strickland,
Vacancy
TSM:nl 8/31/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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