BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2208
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2208
AUTHOR: Perea
AMENDED: June 12, 2012
FISCAL: No HEARING DATE: July 2, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Joanne Roy
SUBJECT : DRINKING WATER: SAFE DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING
FUND
SUMMARY :
Existing law , pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund Law of 1997:
1) Provides funding for public water systems through the Safe
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SDWSRF) to correct
deficiencies and problems that pose public health risks and
meet safe drinking water standards. (Health and Safety Code
�116760.10)
2) Establishes SDWSRF and requires the California Department of
Public Health (DPH) to administer SDWSRF. (�116760.30)
3) Declares that in order to address water contamination
problems in small water systems, it is in the best interest
of the state to encourage the consolidation of these systems.
(�116760.10(g))
4) Requires DPH to establish a priority list of proposed
projects to be considered for SDWSRF funding and requires
priority be given to projects that meet specified criteria.
(�116760.70)
5) Authorizes DPH to enter into contracts with applicants for
grants or loans in accordance with SDWSRF. (�116761.50)
6) Authorizes up to 100 percent grant funding to a small
community water system or nontransient noncommunity water
system that serves severely disadvantaged communities for
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project costs to the extent the system cannot afford a loan.
(�116761.23)
This bill authorizes DPH to combine proposed studies or projects
from multiple applicants, with their consent, when evaluating
applications for SDWSRF funding.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "DPH receives
applications for funding from cities or communities and makes
funding decisions based only on the proposal included in the
application. This can lead to wasteful spending as adjacent
communities apply for assistance separately and eventually
complete state-financed water infrastructure projects that do
not benefit from economies of scale. We would like to give
DPH the authority to combine projects from neighboring
communities to make the best use of public funds."
DPH states that it currently "allow�s] multiple water systems
with similar problems in close proximity to receive funding
for a combined project. The water systems must be willing
participants; and each water system and the appropriate
solution must be evaluated on its own, including technical,
financial, environmental and managerial feasibility."
This bill codifies DPH's authority to join proposed studies and
construction projects of multiple, willing applicants for
SDWSRF funding.
2) SDWSRF . Congress established the federal Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) as part of the 1996 Safe
Drinking Water Act Amendments to better enable public water
systems to comply with national primary drinking water
standards and to protect public health. DWSRF provides
financial assistance in the form of capitalization grants to
states to provide low-interest loans and other assistance to
public water systems. In order to receive these funds,
states must provide a state match equal to 20% of the federal
capitalization grants and must create a drinking water state
revolving fund program for public water system infrastructure
needs and other drinking water-related activities. In
response, California established SDWSRF through SB 1307
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(Costa) Chapter 734, Statutes of 1997, to help fund the
state's drinking water needs. The fund provides public water
systems the opportunity to use subsidized funding to correct
infrastructure problems, assess and protect source water, and
improve technical, managerial, and financial capability.
3) Related legislation :
AB 2238 (Perea) requires DPH to review and consider pertinent
local agency formation commission (LAFCO) studies or reports
and consult with the LAFCO executive officer when processing
an application for SDWSRF funding. The Senate Environmental
Quality Committee will hear this bill on July 2, 2012.
AB 2529 (Wieckowski) makes several changes to the SDWSRF Law of
1997 related to implementation of the act, administering
SDWSRF, and processing applications for funding. The Senate
Environmental Quality Committee will hear this bill on July
2, 2012.
4) Prior legislation :
AB 983 (Perea) Chapter 515, Statutes of 2011, made several
changes to the laws governing the state program providing
grants and loans for safe drinking water projects, including
allowing certain disadvantaged communities to be eligible for
grants up to 100 percent of project costs.
AB 2515 (V.M. Perez) Chapter 601, Statutes of 2010, authorized
DPH to provide a grant from SDWSRF for point-of-entry and
point-of-use water treatment systems.
AB 2356 (Arambula) Chapter 607, Statutes of 2008, required the
State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to take specified
actions when allocating funds to small, disadvantaged
communities for wastewater collection, treatment or disposal
projects and establishing a payment process pursuant to which
the recipient of financial assistance receives funds within
30 days of the date on which SWRCB receives a project payment
request.
AB 783 (Arambula) Chapter 614, Statutes of 2007, directed DPH to
prioritize funding of water projects in disadvantaged
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communities; and directs DPH to promote, provide funds for
studies on, and prioritize funding for projects which
consolidate small public water systems in certain situations.
SOURCE : California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
SUPPORT : California Special Districts Association
Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Policy Link
OPPOSITION : None on file