BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 467
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Date of Hearing: April 5, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 467 (Eng) - As Amended: March 31, 2011
SUBJECT : Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood
Control, River and Coastal Protection Act of 2006 (Proposition
84).
SUMMARY : Modifies the disposition of Proposition 84 funds
collected from responsible parties for groundwater contamination
clean-up. Specifically, this bill :
1)Allows local agencies receiving grants or loans from
Proposition 84 from the California Department of Public Health
(CDPH), for groundwater projects that are able to subsequently
recover costs from responsible parties, to keep that money to
fund additional groundwater cleanup activities.
2)Provides that the provisions of the bill allowing local
agencies to keep recovered funds is consistent with the
requirements of Proposition 84 that require repayment to CDPH
for costs that are subsequently recovered from parties
responsible for the contamination.
EXISTING LAW
1)Authorizes, under Proposition 84, approved by the voters in
2006, the State to sell about $5.4 billion in general
obligation bonds for safe drinking water, water quality, and
water supply; flood control; natural resource protection; and
park improvements.
2)Requires the CDPH, when implementing the provisions of
Proposition 84, among other things, to develop and adopt
guidelines and regulations, consult with other entities,
conduct studies, and follow certain procedures for
establishing a project, grant, loan or other financial
assistance program implementing the initiative.
3)Provides that the CDPH to require repayment of Proposition 84
funds from parties responsible for contamination.
FISCAL EFFECT : Not Known.
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COMMENTS :
Need for the bill . According to the author this bill is needed,
"to allow local agencies that have been awarded Proposition 84
funds from CDPH for groundwater projects that are able to
subsequently recover funds from responsible parties to keep the
money to fund additional groundwater cleanup activities. Should
local agencies be successful in recovering the costs from
responsible parties, this bill will save significant State
administrative costs and allow the local agencies to use all of
the recovered funds for groundwater cleanup."
San Gabriel Valley groundwater contamination: This bill is
supported by the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water
District which is involved in the cleanup of the superfund sites
in the San Gabriel Valley. These sites include multiple areas
of contaminated groundwater in the 170-square mile San Gabriel
Valley. The contaminated areas underlie significant portions of
the cities of Alhambra, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Industry,
Irwindale, El Monte, La Puente, Monrovia, Rosemead, South El
Monte, and West Covina.
According to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (US
EPA), the groundwater contamination in the San Gabriel Valley
was first detected in 1979. Following this discovery, the
California Department of Health Services initiated a well
sampling program to assess the extent of contamination. By
1984, when USEPA added four areas of contamination to the
Superfund National Priorities List, 59 wells were known to be
contaminated with high levels of volatile organic compounds.
The San Gabriel Basin aquifer is a major source of drinking
water for Southern California. Despite the contamination, the
Valley's groundwater continues to provide approximately 90% of
the drinking water used by San Gabriel Valley businesses and
residents. EPA's Superfund projects are assisting in restoring
water supplies that have been affected by the contamination.
Additional projects have been funded by federal grants, local
assessments on water sales, and water rates.
Proposition 84 authorized $60,000,000 to the CDPH for loans and
grants for projects to prevent or reduce contamination of
groundwater that serves as a source of drinking water for the
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San Gabriel Valley. The CDPH requires repayment for costs that
are subsequently recovered from parties responsible for the
contamination.
Is this a modification to Proposition 84 ? When the voters
approved Proposition 84 the initiative included specific
language requiring the repayment of funds from those persons or
businesses that caused the toxic contamination. The initiative
included Public Resources Code section 75025, which mandates
that the CDPH require repayment of subject funds. The full text
of section 75025 is as follows:
"The sum of sixty million dollars ($60,000,000) shall be
available to the Department of Health Services for the
purpose of loans and grants for projects to prevent or
reduce contamination of groundwater that serves as a source
of drinking water. The Department of Health Services shall
require repayment for costs that are subsequently recovered
from parties responsible for the contamination. The
Legislature may enact legislation necessary to implement
this section."
While the language of Proposition 84 allows the legislature to
enact legislation to implement the programs, on the other hand
it is not clear if the repayment requirements of the original
bond act would be met under the provisions of this bill.
Prior legislation:
SB 732 (Steinberg), Chapter 729, Statutes of 2008, requires CDPH
to develop and adopt regulations governing the repayment of
costs that are subsequently recovered from parties responsible
for the contamination.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority
Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District
Opposition
None Received
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965