BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1669
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 1669 (Perea) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
SUBJECT : Groundwater: Nitrate at Risk Area Fund.
SUMMARY : Requires the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB), in conjunction with the California Department of Public
Health (CDPH), to designate areas that are reliant on
nitrate-contaminated groundwater for drinking water and that do
not have reliable access to safe, affordable drinking water.
Establishes the Nitrate at Risk Area Fund to fund the
development and implementation of sustainable and affordable
solutions for disadvantaged communities with
nitrate-contaminated drinking water.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Pursuant to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA):
a) Authorizes the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (US EPA) to set standards for drinking water quality
and to oversee the states, localities, and water suppliers
who implement those standards.
b) Establishes federal maximum contaminant levels (MCLs)
for nitrate in public water systems.
c) Establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
(SDWSRF) program, which authorizes the US EPA to award
capitalization grants to states and authorizes the states
to, in turn, provide low-cost loans and other types of
assistance to public water systems to finance the costs of
infrastructure projects needed to achieve or maintain
compliance with federal SDWA requirements.
2)Pursuant to the California SDWA (Health and Safety Code (HSC)
� 116275 et seq.):
a) Requires CDPH to regulate drinking water and to enforce
the federal SDWA and other regulations.
b) Establishes a state MCL for nitrate in public water
systems.
3)Pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act
(Water Code (WC) � 13000, et seq.), provides that the SWRCB
and the California regional water quality control boards are
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the principal state agencies with authority over matters
relating to water quality.
4)Requires the SWRCB to prepare and submit a report to the
Legislature that will improve understanding of the causes of
nitrate groundwater contamination, identify potential
remediation solutions and funding sources to recover costs
expended by the state to clean up or treat groundwater, and
ensure the provision of safe drinking water to all communities
(WC � 83002.5).
5)Requires the SWRCB to submit a report to the Legislature that
identifies communities in California that rely on contaminated
groundwater as a primary source of drinking water; the
principal contaminants and constituents of concern; and
potential solutions and funding sources to clean up or treat
groundwater, or provide alternative water supplies (WC �
10782).
6)Pursuant to the SDWSRF Law of 1997 (HSC � 116760 et seq.),
establishes California's SDWSRF and continuously appropriates
the SDWSRF to CDPH to provide grants or revolving fund loans
for the design and construction of projects for public water
systems that will enable suppliers to meet safe drinking water
standards.
7)Pursuant to the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal
and Beach Protection Act of 2002 (Proposition 50), provides
funding for, among other things, water security for drinking
water programs, community treatment facilities and monitoring
programs, and matching funds for federal grants for public
water system infrastructure improvements (WC �79500, et seq.).
8)Pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply,
Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Act of 2006
(Proposition 84), provides funding for, among other things,
protection and reduction of contamination of groundwater and
small community drinking water system improvements (Public
Resources Code � 75001, et seq.)
9)Authorizes the California Department of Food and Agriculture
to impose an assessment in an amount not to exceed one mill
($0.001) per dollar of all sales of fertilizing materials to
provide funding for research and education regarding the use
and handling of fertilizing materials, including, but not
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limited to, any environmental effects. The current assessment
is at a mill ($0.0005) (Food and Agricultural Code � 14611).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill : According to the author, "Small, very
low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by the
inaccessibility of safe drinking water in areas with pervasive
nitrate contamination. In the agricultural regions of the
state, most communities rely on groundwater as their primary
source of drinking water, and that groundwater is increasingly
contaminated by nitrates. As costs increase to address
groundwater contamination, families in many of our poorest
communities are forced to pay over $100 a month for water
service or are left without safe drinking water in their homes,
schools, and businesses because they can't afford the costs.
Some communities pay more than 10 percent of their income for
drinking water alone. In many rural areas, schools must use
funding intended for educational purposes to purchase bottled
water for children.
Designation of those regions that are suffering from
nitrate-contaminated water or the effects of
nitrate-contaminated water (including those areas with
communities that have been forced to drill deeper wells to avoid
nitrate in the aquifer only to find their water supply
contaminated with arsenic at deeper groundwater levels), and the
creation of a fund that can channel much needed funding to these
regions more directly, will help streamline the process for
developing and funding drinking water solutions where there is a
critical need."
Nitrates/ nitrites and public health : According to CDPH, the
presence of nitrates in groundwater is most often associated
with septic systems, confined animal feeding operations or
fertilizer use, which often occurs in rural settings. Nitrates
are also present in treated wastewater, and thus are found in
surface water and groundwater recharge projects, which pose
risks to urban drinking water supplies. Nitrates are also used
in the production of some products, such as fertilizers and
explosives.
Nitrite is a chemical similar to nitrate, and it comes from the
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same sources as nitrate. Once consumed, nitrate is converted
into nitrite in the body. Nitrite can interfere with the
ability of red blood cells to carry oxygen to the tissues of the
body, producing a condition called methemoglobinemia. This is
of greatest concern in infants, whose immature stomach
environment enables the conversion of nitrate into nitrite that
is absorbed into the blood stream. The effects of nitrite are
often referred to as "blue baby syndrome." High nitrate levels
may also affect the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood of
pregnant women.
Nitrate contamination in California : Senate Bill SBX2 1
(Perata, Chapter 1, Statutes of 2008 Second Extraordinary
Session) required the SWRCB, in consultation with other
agencies, to prepare a report to the Legislature focusing on
nitrate groundwater contamination in the state and potential
remediation solutions. In response, the SWRCB contracted with
the University of California to gather information to prepare
its report.
The University of California at Davis (UCD) prepared and
released its resultant report, Addressing Nitrate in
California's Drinking Water, to the SWRCB in January 2012.
While the study only examined nitrate contamination in the
four-county Tulare Lake Basin and the Monterey County portion of
the Salinas Valley, its findings are helpful at informing the
discussion about nitrate contamination statewide.
The UCD study showed that nitrate loading to groundwater in the
area is widespread and chronic, and is overwhelmingly the result
of crop and animal agricultural activities. Urban wastewater,
septic systems, and other sources have significant localized
impact. Due to long transit times, the impact of nitrates on
groundwater resources will likely worsen in scope and
concentration for several decades.
The study indicated that about 2.6 million people in these
regions rely on groundwater for drinking water, including those
in some of the poorest communities in California. Nitrate
contamination is increasing and currently poses public health
concerns for about 254,000 people in the study area.
Groundwater data show that 57% of the current population in the
study area uses a community public water system with recorded
raw (untreated) nitrate concentrations that have exceeded the
MCL at least once between 2006 and 2010. Continued basin-wide
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trends in nitrate groundwater concentration may raise the
affected population to nearly 80% by 2050.
In addition to the UCD report, AB 2222 (Caballero, Chapter 670,
Statutes of 2008) requires the SWRCB to submit a report to the
Legislature that identifies communities in California that rely
on contaminated groundwater as a primary source of drinking
water. The SWRCB draft report was released in January 2012 and
identified 682 communities (excluding systems not regulated by
the state), serving more than 21 million people, which rely on
groundwater contaminated with one or more principal
contaminants. The report also identified areas with nitrate
contamination.
This bill requires the SWRCB, in conjunction with CDPH, to
designate areas that are reliant on nitrate-contaminated
groundwater for drinking water and that do not have reliable
access to safe, affordable drinking water. Some of this
research may have been partially completed in previously
required reports.
Addressing nitrate contamination in drinking water : Technical
Report 8 of the UCD study ascertains that a range of safe
drinking water actions (alternative water supplies or drinking
water treatment), groundwater remediation, and source reduction
actions are needed to provide residents with safe drinking
water. Since nitrate source reduction or groundwater
remediation will take years to decades to significantly improve
drinking water quality, residents currently receiving unsafe
drinking water require other immediate alternatives.
Funding to address nitrate contamination in drinking water : The
slow response of groundwater quality to source reduction efforts
implies that the most immediate path toward attaining safe
drinking water in nitrate contaminated areas is in the form of
safe drinking water actions. However, the costs to provide safe
drinking water to affected communities in this region are high,
due to the large number of groundwater-contaminating nitrate
sources, the dispersed population, and the high incidence of
elevated nitrate levels in drinking water. Consequently,
communities in the study area have requested more SDWSRF funds
relative to other communities in the state ($29 per person
compared to $5 per person statewide). Providing safe drinking
water or alternative water supplies to highly susceptible
populations in the study area is estimated to cost at least
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$20-$36 million per year ($80-$142 per susceptible person
annually or $5-$9 per acre of irrigated land annually).
A variety of funding programs that currently exist to address
drinking water problems could be used to address nitrate
contamination, including funding through the SDWSRF, Proposition
50, and Proposition 84. However, the UCD report finds that
these and other existing funding programs have not met systems'
stated need to ensure safe drinking water in the Salinas Valley
and Tulare Lake Basin. Most current state funding to address
nitrate contamination is temporary (such as general obligation
bonds for loans through state propositions) and many programs
have already been fully allocated. In addition, most safe
drinking water funding programs do not provide support for
operation and maintenance costs, which is necessary for many
disadvantaged communities, and the State of California
specifically does not fund operation and maintenance activities.
That being said, current funding programs could be revised to
increase the funds available to small systems and increase the
effectiveness of these funds in providing safe drinking water.
For example, existing funds could be combined or restructured to
focus on encouraging and guiding disadvantaged communities to
make good long-term local decisions; on providing assistance to
small systems in the application and management process; and on
providing assistance for operations and maintenance of
facilities. Encouraging regional consolidation of small water
systems could also help address nitrate contamination. New
funding sources could also be examined, such as raising the
current fertilizer mill fee and other fees on fertilizers.
This bill creates a new fund, the Nitrate at Risk Area Fund, to
specifically support disadvantaged communities facing nitrate
contamination in their drinking water. However, the bill
currently does not identify a funding source. The author of the
bill indicates that he plans to work closely with stakeholders
and the relevant state agencies to develop an appropriate source
of funding for the fund created in this bill. Since
re-designating funds from existing sources could create a
shortfall in existing programs, the author may wish to consider
new sources of revenue.
Upcoming SWRCB action on nitrates : A public workshop will be
held on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, to consider public input on the
options to address the nitrate contamination outlined in the UCD
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report. Both the UCD report and public input at the workshop
will be used to inform the SWRCB in developing its final
recommendations for its report to the Legislature, as required
by SBX2 1, later in 2012.
Committee amendments : As regulating drinking water is in the
purview of CDPH, the Committee may wish to designate CDPH, in
conjunction with the SWRCB, as the entity required to designate
areas that are reliant on nitrate-contaminated groundwater for
drinking water and that do not have reliable access to safe,
affordable drinking water. Additionally, the Committee may wish
to clarify that CDPH, in designating areas that are reliant on
nitrate-contaminated groundwater for drinking water and that do
not have reliable access to safe, affordable drinking water,
should use existing data on public water systems.
Related legislation :
1)AB 2208 (Perea), authorizes CDPH, when implementing the
SDWSRF, to consolidate multiple community projects to meet
safe drinking water standards. AB 2208 is scheduled for
hearing in the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic
Materials (ESTM) Committee on April 24, 2012.
2)AB 2238 (Perea), requires CDPH to promote the consolidation
and merger of small community water systems that serve
disadvantaged communities. Requires the Local Agency
Formation Commission (LAFCO) to examine drinking water and
waste treatment service consolidation as part of a LAFCO local
agency service review. AB 2238 is scheduled for hearing in
the Assembly ESTM Committee on April 24, 2012.
3)AB 2334 (Fong), requires the Department of Water Resources to
analyze drinking water and wastewater services affordability
for low-income residents. AB 2334 is scheduled for hearing in
the Assembly ESTM Committee on April 24, 2012.
4)AB 2529 (Wieckowski), authorizes CDPH to adopt interim
regulations and take other actions to expedite the process of
providing funds for drinking water projects, especially to
severely disadvantaged communities. AB 2529 is scheduled for
hearing in the Assembly ESTM Committee on April 24, 2012.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
Community Water Center (sponsor)
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Clean Water Action
Opposition
None received.
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965