BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1146|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1146
Author: Pavley (D), et al.
Amended: 5/25/12
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMM. : 5-3, 4/10/12
AYES: Pavley, Kehoe, Padilla, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: La Malfa, Cannella, Fuller
NO VOTE RECORDED: Evans
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 4/23/12
AYES: Simitian, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Strickland, Blakeslee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/24/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Dutton
SUBJECT : Wells: reports: public availability
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Water
Resources (DWR) to make well log reports for water wells
available to the public.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Requires a person who digs, bores, or drills a water
well, cathodic protection well, or a monitoring well, or
CONTINUED
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abandons or destroys a well, or deepens or reperforates a
well, to file a report of completion with the Department
of Water Resources (DWR).
2.Prohibits the above report from being made available to
the public, except under certain circumstances.
This bill:
1.Requires, rather than prohibits, well logs be made
available to the public.
2.Requires a person requesting a report to do so on a form
identifying the name and address of the requestor, and
the reason for the request.
3.Requires the release of the well logs to comply with the
privacy and other provisions of the Information Practices
Act.
4.Requires a disclosure statement regarding the appropriate
use of the data.
5.Authorizes DWR to charge a fee for providing the well
logs.
Background
In 1949, to help prevent groundwater pollution caused by
improperly constructed water wells, the California
Legislature first required well drillers to file a well
completion report with the State of California for each
well drilled.
Well completion reports (well logs) are a record of the
drilling and construction of the well. Well logs provide
the record necessary to demonstrate that the well was
properly constructed, modified, or decommissioned, and
further provides the necessary construction detail should
the well need to be modified at some later date. They
include, among other things, the location of the well, the
depth of the well, the type of soils encountered at each
elevation of drilling, and depth to water.
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In 1965, the Legislature declared that "the people of the
state have a primary interest in the location,
construction, maintenance, abandonment, and destruction of
water wells, which activities directly affect the quality
and purity of underground waters." In doing so, the
Legislature expanded the well drilling laws to: a)
authorize DWR to establish regulations governing the proper
construction of water wells, b) require all well completion
reports be filed with DWR, and c) restrict access to those
reports to government agencies. The legislative record
does not give any insight as to why the logs were made
confidential.
No other western state restricts access to well logs as in
California. In fact, most western states provide Internet
access to well logs.
In the case of oil or gas wells in California, every time a
well is drilled, the driller must provide a copy of the
well log to the Department of Conservation. Those logs are
deemed public records for purposes of the California Public
Records Act. (There are exceptions. Logs for exploratory
wells, for example, are considered confidential for a
specific period of time.) The Department of Conservation
provides public access to those logs through a GIS map on
the Internet.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
One-time costs of approximately $300,000 from the General
Fund in 2013-14 for the development of regulations and
establishing a fee. These costs may be covered by a new
fee authorized in this bill.
Likely ongoing costs of $100,000 from the General Fund
beginning in 2013-14 to respond to increased requests for
well log reports. These costs should be fully covered by
a new fee authorized in this bill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/25/12)
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California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
City of Lakewood
Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Groundwater Resources Association
Karuk Tribe
Northern California Water Association
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
Sonoma County Water Agency
The Nature Conservancy
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/25/12)
California Groundwater Association
California Police Chiefs Association
City of Torrance
County of Tehama Department of Public Works
Desert Water Agency
East Valley Water District
Friant Water Authority
Kings River Conservation District
Kings River Water Association
Newhall County Water District
Orchard Dale Water District
Rowland Water District
San Gabriel Valley Water Association
Valley Ag Water Coalition
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Every
time a water well is drilled, the driller is required by
law to provide DWR a well completion report with the State
of California for each well drilled.
"These reports contain critical information for groundwater
managers, consulting hydrologists, academics, and others
interested in the geologic and hydrologic characteristics
of groundwater basins. Unfortunately, those who would
benefit from this information cannot have access to it.
Farmers can't know how deep they need to drill
their wells.
Academics cannot develop sophisticated maps and
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models without the sponsorship of the government.
Local community activists cannot gain the
information they need to better protect drinking water
quality of disadvantaged communities.
The list goes on.
"The Governor directed DWR to work with me 'to ensure
responsible public access to well logs.' SB 1146 is the
result of those negotiations with DWR, along with the
Department of Health Services (DHS) and CalEMA, which is
California's official homeland security agency. This bill
addresses and resolves the various security concerns raised
by DHS and CalEMA, and I understand that DWR is now in the
process of getting a SUPPORT position approved through the
Governor's Office."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : San Gabriel Valley Water
Association (SGVWA) states in opposition, "Since September
11, 2001, public water systems have been seeking ways to
better protect their water supplies from terrorist or
malicious acts. In fact, the federal government requires
water systems to conduct vulnerability assessments and
implement homeland security measures to better protect
water supplies and facilities from sabotage. In support of
these efforts, the California Department of Public Health,
which overseas state-level homeland security initiatives
for water systems, no longer releases physical well
location information to the public. SB 1146 weakens those
security efforts, and is in direct conflict with local,
state and federal efforts to protect public water supplies.
"Furthermore, well data for public water wells is generally
available to government agencies and qualified
professionals upon request to the well owner. Full public
access to this information would increase vulnerability
without adding meaningful benefit to groundwater studies.
Therefore, SGVWA must oppose this bill."
CTW:nl 5/25/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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