BILL NUMBER: AB 2011	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2012

   An act to add Section 79784.5 to the Water Code, relating to the
Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2011, as introduced, Gatto. CalConserve State Revolving Fund.
   Existing law creates the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water
Supply Act of 2012, which, if approved by the voters at the November
6, 2012, statewide election, would authorize the issuance of bonds in
the amount of $11,140,000,000 pursuant to the State General
Obligation Bond Law to finance a safe drinking water and water supply
reliability program. The act would make $250,000,000 available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature from the Safe, Clean, and Reliable
Drinking Water Supply Fund of 2012, for direct expenditures, grants,
and loans for water conservation and water use efficiency plans,
projects, and programs.
   The bill would require up to $50,000,000 of those water
conservation and water use efficiency funds, upon appropriation by
the Legislature from the fund, to be allocated to the Department of
Water Resources to establish a CalConserve State Revolving Fund to
provide grants and loans to private entities, consistent with the
act, for water use efficiency retrofit projects.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  It is the intent of the Legislature, in requiring the
establishment of the CalConserve program, to create a sustainable
funding source for water use efficiency retrofits. It is the further
intent of the Legislature that CalConserve help cities and counties
achieve compliance with water use reduction mandates in Section
10608.16 of the Water Code, and help homeowners and commercial,
industrial, and institutional entities achieve compliance with
state-mandated standards for water use efficiency for indoor and
outdoor appliances.
  SEC. 2.  Section 79784.5 is added to the Water Code, to read:
   79784.5.  Of the funds made available in Section ____ for water
conservation and water use efficiency plans, projects, and programs,
upon appropriation by the Legislature from the fund, up to fifty
million dollars ($50,000,000) shall be allocated to the department to
establish the CalConserve State Revolving Fund to provide grants and
loans to private entities, including homeowners and commercial,
industrial, and institutional entities, as defined in Section
10608.12, for water use efficiency retrofit projects, consistent with
Section ____, and in accordance with the following:
   (a) The department shall give priority to awarding CalConserve
funds to retrofit projects that maximize local and statewide
conservation and water use efficiency benefits.
   (b) The department shall award CalConserve funds in a competitive
process that considers, as primary factors, the local and statewide
conservation and water use efficiency benefits of the projects
proposed for grants or loans and the extent to which a proposed
retrofit helps a water supplier and the region realize the
conservation benefits of implementation of the state landscape model
ordinance and other statewide water use efficiency measures.
   (c) For awards under five hundred dollars ($500), the department
shall award the money directly to the recipient private entity. The
department may arrange with local water agencies for loan repayment
through monthly charges on the recipient's water service bill. For
loans of five hundred dollars ($500) or more, CalConserve shall offer
very low interest amortized loans and loan guarantees, which the
department may model after the loan process for the Safe Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997 (Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 116760) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety
Code). All loans shall be repaid within six years of award.