BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 115
Author: Perea (D), et al.
Amended: 9/6/13 in Senate
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 : 76-0, 4/18/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill limits the eligibility of multi-agency Safe
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SDWSRF) applications or
applications submitted by a legal entity on behalf of a
community, as specified.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/6/13 allow multi-agency SDWSRF
applications or applications submitted by a legal entity on
behalf of a community for grant applications (not loan
applications) for planning projects (not construction).
ANALYSIS :
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Existing law:
1.Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act:
A. Requires the federal Environmental Protection Agency
(U.S. EPA) to set standards for drinking water quality and
oversee the states, localities, and water suppliers who
implement those standards. California has authority over
drinking water, delegated by U.S. EPA.
B. Establishes the federal Drinking Water State Revolving
Fund, which provides states with a financing mechanism to
ensure safe drinking water to the public.
1.Under the California Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA):
A. Requires DPH to administer provisions relating to the
regulation of drinking water to protect public health,
including, but not limited to, conducting research,
studies, and demonstration programs relating to the
provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water,
enforcing the federal SDWA, adopting and enforcing
regulations, and conducting studies and investigations to
assess the quality of water in domestic water supplies.
B. Establishes the SDWSRF, which is continuously
appropriated to the DPH for the provision of grants and
revolving fund loans to provide for the design and
construction of projects for public water systems that will
enable suppliers to meet safe drinking water standards.
Requires DPH to establish criteria for projects to be
eligible for the grant and loan program, including that a
legal entity exist that has the authority to enter into
contracts and incur debt on behalf of the community to be
served and owns the public water system or has the right to
operate the public water system under a lease with a term
of at least 20 years, unless otherwise authorized by DPH.
This bill:
1.Authorizes a legal entity, as defined, to apply for grant
funding on behalf of one or more public water systems serving
disadvantaged or severely disadvantaged communities if
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specified requirements are met, including having a signed
agreement with each public water system for which it is
applying for funding.
2.Limits the eligibility of multi-agency SDWSRF applications or
applications submitted by a legal entity on behalf of a
community to:
A. Only grant applications (not loan applications).
B. Only grant funding for planning projects (not
construction).
1.Delays the implementation if legislation is enacted in 2013
that transfers the statutory and regulatory authority for the
SDWA from DPH.
Background
Many small disadvantaged communities throughout California
suffer from contaminated ground water that residents use for
drinking and other domestic uses. Consumption of contaminated
groundwater has been linked to many medical conditions such as
cancer and birth defects. Water treatment facilities are
routinely installed to treat the contaminated groundwater,
ensuring safe drinking water for residents. These water
infrastructure improvements come with high capital costs and
require financial assistance from outside sources such as state
and federal funds. Beyond the capital costs of infrastructure,
the costs to operate and maintain a water treatment facility are
also very high for a small disadvantaged community to pay on its
own.
In these instances, alternative methods are needed to solve a
community's water problems such as consolidating its water
system with another nearby system. Consolidating water systems
creates economies of scale, lowering the individual costs to
each residential customer, making water systems more affordable
to operate and maintain. Consolidating water systems involves
multiple communities joining together to solve each other's
similar water problems using a regional approach.
Small disadvantaged communities seeking a regional solution can
take years to appropriately apply for state funds, usually
applying several times, until funds are finally awarded. This
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delay in funding can be attributed to the complexity of regional
projects that include the consolidation of public water systems,
private water systems, irrigation systems and other water
systems. State funds for water systems vary, depending on the
type of water system, it can be challenging for the state to
find the appropriate funds for a regional project without using
funds for unintended purposes outside of its authority.
Regional projects often include multiple entities that are in
state drinking water compliance and others that are in
violation. Typically, the larger water system in a regional
project applies as the lead applicant because the larger water
system has greater resources, such as a board of directors and
staff, to apply for state funds. In some cases the lead
applicant applying for the regional water system is in
compliance with drinking water standards while the smaller
systems not designated as the lead applicant are in violation.
Unfortunately the state awards funding to drinking water systems
that are in violation of drinking water standards. In these
cases the regional project becomes ineligible for state funding.
The diversity of water systems throughout the state and the
complexity of the state funding process for consolidating water
systems have hindered the possibilities of regionalization of
water systems. Because of this, small disadvantaged communities
in violation of drinking water compliance are unable to receive
funding for projects that could make water affordable by
consolidating water systems.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/9/13)
Association of California Water Agencies
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California Special Districts Association
Clean Water Action
Community Water Center
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Rural County Representatives of California
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Sierra Club California
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Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Western Growers Association
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13
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, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Lowenthal, Mitchell, Vacancy
RM:ej 9/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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