BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                AB 685
                                                                Page  1

        CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
        AB 685 (Eng)
        As Amended  August 22, 2012
        Majority vote
         
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        |ASSEMBLY:  |52-24|(June 1, 2011)  |SENATE: |22-16|(August 23,    |
        |           |     |                |        |     |2012)          |
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         Original Committee Reference:    W., P. & W.  

         SUMMARY  :  Declares that it is the established policy of the state 
        that every human being has the right to clean, affordable, and 
        accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking and 
        sanitary purposes and that relevant state agencies, including the 
        Department of Water Resources (DWR), the State Water Resources 
        Control Board (SWRCB), and the State Department of Public Health 
        (DPH) shall consider this state policy when revising, adopting, or 
        establishing policies, regulations and grant criteria pertinent to 
        the human uses of water specified above.

         The Senate amendments  modify the human right to water policy 
        (Policy) to:

        1)Narrow the standard for determining when the Policy is met; 

        2)Remove the California regional water quality control boards from 
          among the agencies identified by name that must consider the 
          Policy; 

        3)Specify that agencies must consider the Policy only when it is 
          pertinent to the uses of water enumerated; and, 

        4)Apply the Policy to the revision, adoption or establishment of 
          grant criteria instead of funding in general.

         AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY  , this bill was almost identical with the 
        exception of the changes outlined above.

         FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, 
        DPH indicated it would need approximately $150,000 for additional 
        staff to review and potentially revise existing grant guidelines or 
        regulations, as required under the bill (Special Fund).  The staff 
        analysis advises that DWR and SWRCB indicated that their costs to 








                                                                AB 685
                                                                Page  2

        implement the bill can be absorbed within existing resources.

         COMMENTS  :  This bill as amended in the Senate changed the standard 
        in the Policy from one that established a right to water that, if 
        used for specific purposes, is adequate to meet individual and 
        family health and well being needs to one that requires the clean, 
        accessible and affordable water to be adequate to meet the 
        specified purposes.      


         Analysis Prepared by  :    Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916) 
        319-2096     


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