BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           261 (Dutton)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/28/2009           Amended: 04/30/2009
          Consultant:  Brendan McCarthy   Policy Vote: NR&W 11-0
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          BILL SUMMARY: SB 261 would require urban water suppliers to  
          develop a water use efficiency plan, generally to reduce water  
          use by 20 percent by 2020. Water suppliers that fail to meet  
          milestones in their plans would be penalized when applying for  
          grant or loan funding from the state. The bill would also  
          require the State Water Board and Department of Water Resources  
          to convene a taskforce to develop best management practices for  
          water use.
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                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12     Fund
                                                                  
          Taskforce costs        Fully reimbursable               Special  
          *

          * Reimbursements.
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          STAFF COMMENTS: Suspense file. As proposed to be amended.
          
          SB 261 would require each urban water supplier or regional water  
          management group to develop and implement a plan to reduce water  
          use through efficiency. In general, the plans would have to  
          achieve a 20 percent reduction in water use by 2020. The plans  
          would have to include interim milestones for measuring progress.  


          If an urban water supplier failed to meet the milestones in its  
          plan, it would be subject to additional reporting requirements  
          and would be subject to a 20 percent penalty in any competitive  
          grant or loan solicitation by the state.

          The bill would require the State Water Board and the Department  
          of Water Resources to convene a task force to develop best  










          management practices for commercial, industrial, and  
          institutional water management. The intent is to reduce  
          statewide water use from these sectors by 10 percent by 2020.  
          The task force would include participants from state agencies,  
          water suppliers, trade groups and others. The task force would  
          be required to submit a report no later than April 2011. The  
          estimated cost of the task force is about $800,000 over two  
          years.  The bill provides that costs associated with the task  
          force may be funded by the participants or by the California  
          Urban Water Conservation Council.

          Staff notes that SB 460 (Wolk) requires urban and agricultural  
          water suppliers to develop plans to reduce water use by 20  
          percent by 2020.

          As proposed to be amended by the author, the bill would require  
          the task force participants to reimburse state agencies for the  
          cost of convening the taskforce.