BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 30|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 30
Author: Perea (D)
Amended: 5/24/13 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/12/13
AYES: Hill, Gaines, Calderon, Corbett, Fuller, Hancock,
Jackson, Leno, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/30/13
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Water quality
SOURCE : Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
DIGEST : This bill removes the sunset date for the Small
Community Grant (SCG) Fund, which provides grants to small
communities for the construction of wastewater collection,
treatment, or disposal projects.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to
assess a surcharge on loans issued from the Clean Water State
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Revolving Fund (CWSRF), in lieu of interest on the loans.
2.Requires revenue from the surcharge to be deposited into the
SCG Fund for the purpose of providing grants to small
communities for the construction of wastewater collection,
treatment, or disposal projects.
This bill:
1.Removes the sunset date for the SCG Fund, which provides
grants to small communities for the construction of wastewater
collection, treatment, or disposal projects.
2.Eliminates the sunset date of December 31, 2013, from SWRCB's
authorization to collect a charge on specified loans in lieu
of interest that provides revenue to the SCG Fund.
3.Removes the current $50 million limitation on the total
revenue that can be allocated to the SCG Fund.
4.Requires that funds in the SCG be spent within four years of
the time the funds are encumbered.
Background
The CWSRF is created under the federal Clean Water Act to
provide funding for water quality protection projects for
wastewater treatment, nonpoint source pollution control, and
watershed and estuary management. The California Porter-Cologne
Water Quality Control Act authorizes the SWRCB to administer the
CWSRF.
Until January 1, 2014, the SWRCB is authorized to assess an
annual surcharge on loans issued from the CWSRF in lieu of
interest on the loans. This surcharge is required to be
deposited into the SCG Fund for the purpose of providing grants
to small communities for the construction of wastewater
collection, treatment, or disposal projects. No more than $50
million in surcharges may be collected. Projects that serve
severely disadvantaged communities have priority for grants from
the SCG Fund. The surcharge may be authorized at any time
during the loan repayment schedule, but once the surcharge is
applied, it must remain unchanged unless the SWRCB is ceasing
collection of the surcharge.
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Prior Legislation
AB 2208 (Perea, 2012) extended the sunset date, from 2014 to
2019, of SWRCB's authorization to collect a charge on specified
loans that provides revenue to the State Water Pollution Control
Revolving Fund SCG Fund. The bill was held in the Senate Rules
Committee.
AB 2356 (Arambula, Chapter 609, Statutes of 2008), authorized
SWRCB to assess an annual charge in connection with financial
assistance made under the revolving loan program in lieu of
interest that would otherwise be charged, with proceeds to be
deposited in the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund
SCG Fund. The fee in lieu of interest authorized pursuant to
the bill sunsets January 1, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, ongoing costs
in the tens of millions of dollars to the CWSRF (special) for
lost interest payments that are instead deposited into the SCG
Fund.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/31/13)
Clean Water Action (co-source)
Community Water Center (co-source)
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
City of Salinas
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Environmental Working Group
Pesticide Action Network, North America
Policy Link
Sierra Club California
Western Growers
Winnemem Wintu Tribe
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, many
disadvantaged communities are in dire need of new wastewater
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facilities to protect drinking water and deal with an aging
wastewater system. These small communities lack sufficient
funds needed to independently finance wastewater projects and
are dependent upon the timely disbursement of approved state and
federal grant and loan funds to improve and replace inadequate
wastewater systems. The author's office argues that
unfortunately there is little funding available to assist these
communities. The author's office asserts that the CWSRF has
historically been a loan-only program and therefore has been
inaccessible to low-income communities. To address those
community needs, SWRCB administered the SCG Fund. Bond funds
have been made available to fund projects. However, the
author's office notes that there has been no new bond funding
made available for this fund since the passage of Proposition 50
in 2002 and there are more than $1 billion worth of wastewater
projects that are currently in need of funding in California.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/29/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Holden, Vacancy
RM:ej 9/1/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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