BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1558|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1558
Author: Eng (D), et al.
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/19/12
AYES: Evans, Harman, Blakeslee, Corbett, Leno
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 3/26/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Liability: flood control and water
conservation facilities
SOURCE : Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
DIGEST : This bill removes the sunset date of January 1,
2013, from existing law, which provides a conditional
immunity from liability for a public agency, and its
employees, operating flood control and water conservation
facilities for injuries caused by the condition or use of
unlined flood control channels or adjacent groundwater
recharge spreading grounds.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides a conditional immunity
to public entities, irrigation districts, and the state,
and to their employees, from liability for any injury
caused by the condition of reservoirs, canals, conduits, or
drains used for the distribution of water if, at the time
of the injury, the person injured was using the property
for any purpose other than that for which the public
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entity, the district, or the state intended. (Government
Code (GOV) Sec. 831.8)
Existing law, until January 1, 2013, provides a conditional
immunity to a qualifying public agency (LACDPW), and its
employees, that operate flood control and water
conservation facilities for any injury caused by the
condition or use of unlined flood channels or adjacent
groundwater recharge spreading grounds if, at the time of
the injury (1) the injured person was using the property
for a purpose other than that for which the public agency
intended it to be used; and (2) the public agency had
posted conspicuous signs warning of any increase in
waterflow levels of an unlined flood control channel or any
spreading ground receiving water. (GOV Sec. 831.8 (c))
Existing law, until January 1, 2013, provides that nothing
in the above immunity provision exonerates a public agency
or public employee from liability for injury proximately
caused by a dangerous condition of property if:
The injured person is less than 12 years of age;
The dangerous condition created a substantial and
unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm to
children under 12 using the property or adjacent property
with due care in a manner reasonably foreseeable;
The injured person, because of his or her immaturity, did
not discover the condition or did not appreciate its
dangerous character; and
The public entity or public employee had actual knowledge
of the condition and knew or should have known of its
dangerous character a sufficient time prior to the injury
to have taken measures to protect against the condition.
(GOV Sec. 831.8 (e))
Existing law provides that nothing in Section 831.8
exonerates a public entity or public employee from
liability proximately caused by a dangerous condition of
property if:
The injured person was not guilty of a criminal offense,
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such as trespassing;
The condition presented created a substantial and
unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily harm when
the property or adjacent property was used with due care
in a manner in which it was reasonably foreseeable that
it would be used;
The dangerous character of the condition was not
reasonably apparent to, and would not have been
anticipated by, a mature, reasonable person using the
property with due care; and
The public entity or public employee had actual knowledge
of the condition and knew or should have known of its
dangerous character a sufficient time prior to the injury
to have taken measures to protect against the condition.
(GOV Sec. 831.8 (d))
This bill strikes the January 1, 2013 sunset date for the
above provisions, thereby extending the immunity
indefinitely.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/21/12)
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (source)
American Council of Engineering Companies of California
California Special Districts Association
California State Association of Counties
Central Basin Water Association
San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District
San Gabriel Valley Water Association
Three Valleys Municipal Water District
Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District
Water Replenishment District of Southern California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
Los Angeles County relies on the replenishing of
underground aquifers by LACDPW to ensure adequate
water supply for the growing population. Flows from
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the State Water Project, Colorado River, and local
watersheds are routed through rivers and channels, and
captured at groundwater recharge facilities (spreading
grounds) for local infiltration into the groundwater
basins. Flood control and groundwater recharge are
integral to effective water resources management.
Existing law, established by AB 2023 (1998) and
continued by AB 92 (2001) and AB 1903 (2008) establish
conditional liability protection to LACDPW for its
operations at unlined channels, and adjacent
groundwater recharge facilities until January 1, 2013.
Nearly five million acre-feet of water have been
transported by LACDPW to recharge aquifers since
liability protection was adopted in 1998 and has
helped meet the annual water needs of over ten million
households during that period. It is imperative that
continued flood control and groundwater recharge
activities continue with appropriate liability
protection in order to effectively manage our local
water resources and continue the sustainability of the
local water supplies.
AB 1558 makes permanent the previously adopted
conditional liability provisions for the Los Angeles
County Department of Public Works (LACDPW), to ensure
that local water supplies remain sustainable and
unthreatened by individuals who ignore warning signs
and are injured for using flood control and water
conservation facilities in a manner they were never
intended.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 3/26/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
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Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Bonnie Lowenthal
RJG:n 6/21/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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