BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 938
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 26, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 938 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Amended: April 14, 2011
SUBJECT : Public water systems.
SUMMARY : Requires the written public notice of noncompliance
with drinking water standards to include specified information
in English, Spanish and other languages spoken by the impacted
community, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, commencing July 1, 2012, a public water system's
written public notice of noncompliance with drinking water
standards to:
a) Be provided in English, Spanish, and in the language
spoken by any non-English-speaking group that exceeds 10
percent of persons served by the public water system;
b) Contain a telephone number or address where residents
may contact the public water system for assistance; and,
c) 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 residents served by the public water
system, contain information regarding the importance of the
notice and a telephone number or address where those
residents may contact the public water system to obtain
either a translated copy of the notice or assistance in the
appropriate language.
2)Establishes, after July 1, 2012, a presumption of compliance
that the notice has been properly given, with respect to the
language of notification, if the public water system utilized
the data available through the American Community Survey of
the United States Census Bureau and the county registrar.
3)Authorizes and encourages the public water system to, in
addition to non-written notification provided for in the
public water system's emergency notification plan, provide
notice through foreign language media outlets.
4)Adds environmental documentation to the list of costs to be
AB 938
Page 2
considered when determining affordability using Department of
Public Health (DPH) criteria for Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund funding.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Under the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of
1997:
a) Sets a $500,000 cap on each planning grant for a public
water system's planning, engineering studies, environmental
documentation, and project design. Maximum amounts are
also set for construction grants.
b) 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
Department of Public Health (DPH).
2)Under the California Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), public
water system operators are required to provide public notice
to users under certain circumstances. Examples of such
circumstances include when the water system fails to comply
with any primary drinking water standard that represents an
imminent danger to water system users, and when the local
health department recommends notice for users to avoid
internal consumption of the water supply and to use bottled
water due to a chemical contamination problem that may pose a
health risk.
3)Under California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Environmental
Health Section 64465:
a) Requires each public notice for a drinking water
violation to contain information in Spanish regarding the
importance of the notice, or contain a telephone number or
address where Spanish-speaking residents may contact the
water system to obtain a translated copy of the public
notice or assistance in Spanish.
b) Requires, for each non-English speaking group other than
Spanish-speaking that exceeds 1,000 residents or 10 percent
of the residents in the community served, whichever is
less, the public notice to:
i) Contain information in the appropriate language(s)
regarding the importance of the notice, or
ii) Contain a telephone number or address where such
residents may contact the water system to obtain a
AB 938
Page 3
translated copy of the notice or assistance in the
appropriate language.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill : According to the author, "Before 2006, ŬDPH]
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 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. When a public water system sends a public
notification only in English to non-English speakers, 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."
Clarifying amendment : AB 938 corrects a drafting error in AB
1438 (Conway) Chapter 531, Statutes of 2009, which set a limit,
under the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, 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 failed to include "environmental
documentation" in the affordability assessment requirement. AB
938corrects this oversight.
Inconsistencies with current regulations : California Code of
AB 938
Page 4
Regulations (22 Cal. Code Regs. § 64465) currently requires each
public notice for noncompliance provided by a water system to
contain information in Spanish about the importance of the
notice, or to contain contact information that Spanish-speaking
residents may use to obtain a translated copy of the public
notice or other assistance in Spanish. For each non-English
speaking group other than Spanish-speaking that exceeds 1,000
residents or 10 percent of the residents in the community
served, whichever is less, the public notice must contain
information in the appropriate language(s) regarding the
importance of the notice, or contain contact information that
such residents may use to obtain a translated copy of the notice
or assistance in the appropriate language.
In contrast, this bill requires that for each group that speaks
a language other than English or Spanish that exceeds 1,000
residents but is less than 10 percent of the persons served by
the public water system, the public notice must contain
information regarding the importance of the notice and a
telephone number or address where the person may contact the
public water system to obtain either a translated copy of the
notice or assistance in the appropriate language. As a result,
this bill does not require notice for those languages spoken by
10 percent of the population when that group contains fewer than
1,000 residents.
Support : Community Water Center writes, "Water providers are
currently required to know the language of their customer (CCR
§64465). Yet, many water providers are still not complying with
this basic right to know. A recent study by the Pacific
Institute of drinking water systems in the Central Valley, found
that "while most surveyed households perceive a problem with the
safety of their tap water, less than half are aware of nitrate
contamination, despite reporting that they had received notices
in the mail?households whose preferred language was Spanish
(are) less likely to know about nitrate contamination." AB 938
is addressing an urgent problem in some water systems where
proper notification is not given to residents when their water
is not safe to drink. It is important that all Californians
have the right to know when it is not safe to drink their
water."
Opposition : California Municipal Utilities Association,
AB 938
Page 5
Association of California Water Agencies, California Water
Association write, "AB 938 would continue to be unworkable and
expensive and could slow down the emergency (Tier 1)
notifications, potentially putting all residents at greater
risk?. ŬTranslation requirements] would be costly since
translators for multiple languages would need to be hired....
Identifying which languages the water system would have to be
ready to provide translation or assistance in would be difficult
if not impossible.? Water service purveyor boundaries often
stretch across city and suburban boundaries and do not
necessarily correspond to the ACS census language information?.
Finally, it is critical that if changes are made to this section
of law, the process does not become so cumbersome as to slow
down Tier 1 notifications to all residents."
Similar legislation:
AB 2669 (V.M. Perez, 2010) would have added "environmental
documentation" to the costs of a single project that DPH is
required to determine by an assessment of affordability under
the California Safe Drinking Water Act. AB 2669 would have also
specified similar language requirements for public water system
notices to the requirements of AB 938 of this Legislative
session. AB 2669 was held on the Senate floor.
Proposed amendment(s) :
1)Conformation with current regulations : The author may wish to
consider amending the bill to ensure that the language
requirements in the bill are at least as stringent as those in
current regulation for small populations served. This may be
done by amending the bill, on page 4, line 23, to read "For
each group that speaks a language other than English or
Spanish and that exceeds 1,000 residents but is less than or
10 percent of the persons served by the public water system,
whichever is less . . ."
2)Clarifying amendment : The author may wish to consider
clarifying that the water purveyor would have the option of
providing a telephonic translation service or a translated
copy of the notice. This can be achieved by amending the
bill, on page 4, line 30 as follows, "?a telephone number or
address where those residents may contact the public water
system to obtain the public water system will provide either a
translated copy of the notice or assistance in the appropriate
AB 938
Page 6
language."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
Asociacion de Gente Unida por el AGUA
CA Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (co-sponsor)
California League of Conservation Voters
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Resources Recovery Association
Catholic Charities Diocese of Stockton
Clean Water Action (co-sponsor)
Committee for a Better Seville
Community Water Center (co-sponsor)
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (co-sponsor)
Food & Water Watch
Having Our Say Coalition
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 569
Neighbors United (Vecinos Unidos Committee)
Planning and Conservation League
Several individuals
Southern California Watershed Alliance
The Utility Reform Network
Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action
Urban Semillas
Winnemem Wintu Tribe
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Opposition (unless amended)
Association of California Water Agencies
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Water Association
California Water Service Company
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965