California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2043

Introduced by Assembly Members Bigelow and Conway

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Dahle, Hagman, Jones, Linder, Morrell, Patterson, Wagner, and Wilk)

February 20, 2014

An act to repeal and add Division 26.7 (commencing with Section 79700) of the Water Code, and to repeal Section 2 of Chapter 3 of the Seventh Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 2009, relating to a safe drinking water and water supply reliability program, by providing the funds necessary therefor through an election for the issuance and sale of bonds of the State of California and for the handling and disposition of those funds, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2043, as introduced, Bigelow. Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2014.

(1) Existing law, the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012, if approved by the voters, 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. Existing law provides for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election.

This bill would repeal these provisions.

(2) Under existing law, various measures have been approved by the voters to provide funds for water supply and protection facilities and programs.

This bill would enact the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2014, which, if adopted by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in the amount of $7,935,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a safe drinking water and water supply reliability program.

This bill would provide for the submission of the bond act to the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election.

(3)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Division 26.7 (commencing with Section 79700)
of the Water Code, as added by Section 1 of Chapter 3 of the
Seventh Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 2009, is repealed.

SEC. 2.  

Division 26.7 (commencing with Section 79700) is
added to the Water Code, to read:

 

Division 26.7.  The Safe, Clean, and Reliable
Drinking Water Supply Act of 2014

 

Chapter  1. Short Title

 

79700.  

This division shall be known and may be cited as the
Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2014.

 

Chapter  2. Findings and Declarations

 

79701.  

The people of California find and declare all of the
following:

(a) Safeguarding supplies of clean, safe drinking water to
California’s homes, businesses, and farms is an essential
responsibility of government, and critical to protecting the quality
of life for Californians.

(b) Every Californian should have access to clean, safe, and
reliable drinking water.

(c) Providing adequate supplies of clean, safe, and reliable
drinking water is vital to keeping California’s economy growing
and strong.

(d) Encouraging water conservation and recycling are
commonsense methods to make more efficient use of existing
water supplies.

(e) Protecting lakes, rivers, and streams from pollution, cleaning
up polluted groundwater supplies, and protecting water sources
that supply the entire state are crucial to providing a reliable supply
of drinking water and protecting the state’s natural resources.

 

Chapter  3. Definitions

 

79702.  

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions
set forth in this section govern the construction of this division, as
follows:

(a) “Bay-Delta Estuary” means the Delta, Suisun Bay, and
Suisun Marsh.

(b) “CALFED Bay-Delta Program” means the program
described in the Record of Decision dated August 28, 2000.

(c) “Commission” means the California Water Commission.

(d) “Committee” means the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking
Water Supply Finance Committee created by Section 79792.

(e) “Delta” means the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, as defined
in Section 85058.

(f) “Delta conveyance facilities” means facilities that convey
water directly from the Sacramento River to the State Water Project
or the federal Central Valley Project pumping facilities in the south
Delta.

(g) “Delta Plan” has the meaning set forth in Section 85059.

(h) “Department” means the Department of Water Resources.

(i) “Director” means the Director of Water Resources.

(j) “Disadvantaged community” has the meaning set forth in
subdivision (a) of Section 79505.5.

(k) “Economically distressed area” means a municipality with
a population of 20,000 persons or less, a rural county, or a
reasonably isolated and divisible segment of a larger municipality
where the segment of the population is 20,000 persons or less,
with an annual median household income that is less than 85
percent of the statewide median household income, and with one
or more of the following conditions as determined by the
department:

(1) Financial hardship.

(2) Unemployment rate at least 2 percent higher than the
statewide average.

(3) Low population density.

(l) “Fund” means the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water
Supply Fund of 2014 created by Section 79716.

(m) “Integrated regional water management plan” has the
meaning set forth in Section 10534.

(n) “Nonprofit organization” means an organization qualified
to do business in California and qualified under Section 501(c)(3)
of Title 26 of the United States Code.

(o) “Public agency” means a state agency or department, district,
joint powers authority, city, county, city and county, or other
political subdivision of the state.

(p) “State General Obligation Bond Law” means the State
General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government
Code).

 

Chapter  4. General Provisions

 

79705.  

An amount that equals not more than 5 percent of the
funds allocated for a grant program pursuant to this division may
be used to pay the administrative costs of that program.

79706.  

Up to 10 percent of funds allocated for each program
funded by this division may be expended for planning and
monitoring necessary for the successful design, selection, and
implementation of the projects authorized under that program.
This section shall not otherwise restrict funds ordinarily used by
an agency for “preliminary plans,” “working drawings,” and
“construction” as defined in the annual Budget Act for a capital
outlay project or grant project. Water quality monitoring shall be
integrated into the surface water ambient monitoring program
administered by the State Water Resources Control Board.

79707.  

Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part
1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply
to the development or implementation of programs or projects
authorized or funded under this division other than Chapter 8
(commencing with Section 79750).

79708.  

(a) Prior to disbursing grants pursuant to this division,
each state agency that is required to administer a competitive grant
program under this division shall develop and adopt project
solicitation and evaluation guidelines. The guidelines may include
a limitation on the dollar amount of grants to be awarded.

(b) Prior to disbursing grants, the state agency shall conduct
three public meetings to consider public comments prior to
finalizing the guidelines. The state agency shall publish the draft
solicitation and evaluation guidelines on its Internet Web site at
least 30 days before the public meetings. One meeting shall be
conducted at a location in northern California, one meeting shall
be conducted at a location in the central valley, and one meeting
shall be conducted at a location in southern California. Upon
adoption, the state agency shall transmit copies of the guidelines
to the fiscal committees and the appropriate policy committees of
the Legislature.

79709.  

It is the intent of the people that the investment of public
funds pursuant to this division will result in public benefits.

79710.  

The California State Auditor shall annually conduct a
programmatic review and an audit of expenditures from the fund.
The California State Auditor shall report its findings annually on
or before March 1 to the Governor and the Legislature, and shall
make the findings available to the public.

79711.  

Funds provided by this division shall not be expended
to support or pay for the costs of environmental mitigation
measures or compliance obligations of any party except as part of
the environmental mitigation costs of projects financed by this
division or for costs for groundwater cleanup pursuant to the
requirements of Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 79770).
Funds provided by this division may be used for environmental
enhancements or other public benefits.

79712.  

Funds provided by this division shall not be expended
to pay the costs of the design, construction, operation, or
maintenance of Delta conveyance facilities. Those costs shall be
the responsibility of the water agencies that benefit from the design,
construction, operation, or maintenance of those facilities.

79713.  

(a) This division does not diminish, impair, or
otherwise affect in any manner whatsoever any area of origin,
watershed of origin, county of origin, or any other water rights
protections, including, but not limited to, rights to water
appropriated prior to December 19, 1914, provided under the law.
This division does not limit or otherwise affect the application of
Article 1.7 (commencing with Section 1215) of Chapter 1 of Part
2 of Division 2, Sections 10505, 10505.5, 11128, 11460, 11461,
11462, and 11463, and Sections 12200 to 12220, inclusive.

(b) For the purposes of this division, an area that utilizes water
that has been diverted and conveyed from the Sacramento River
hydrologic region, for use outside the Sacramento River hydrologic
region or the Delta, shall not be deemed to be immediately adjacent
thereto or capable of being conveniently supplied with water
therefrom by virtue or on account of the diversion and conveyance
of that water through facilities that may be constructed for that
purpose after January 1, 2014.

(c) Nothing in this division supersedes, limits, or otherwise
modifies the applicability of Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
1700) of Part 2 of Division 2, including petitions related to any
new conveyance constructed or operated in accordance with
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 85320) of Part 4 of Division
35.

(d) Unless otherwise expressly provided, nothing in this division
supersedes, reduces, or otherwise affects existing legal protections,
both procedural and substantive, relating to the state board’s
regulation of diversion and use of water, including, but not limited
to, water right priorities, the protection provided to municipal
interests by Sections 106 and 106.5, and changes in water rights.
Nothing in this division expands or otherwise alters the state
board’s existing authority to regulate the diversion and use of water
or the courts’ existing concurrent jurisdiction over California water
rights.

(e) Nothing in this division supersedes, limits, or otherwise
modifies the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009
(Division 35 (commencing with Section 85000)).

79714.  

Eligible applicants under this division are public
agencies, nonprofit organizations, public utilities, and mutual water
companies. To be eligible for funding under this division, a project
proposed by a public utility that is regulated by the Public Utilities
Commission or a mutual water company shall have a clear and
definite public purpose and shall benefit the customers of the water
system.

79715.  

The Legislature may enact legislation necessary to
implement programs funded by this division, except as otherwise
provided in Section 79760.

79716.  

The proceeds of bonds issued and sold pursuant to this
division shall be deposited in the Safe, Clean, and Reliable
Drinking Water Supply Fund of 2014, which is hereby created in
the State Treasury.

 

Chapter  5. Drought Relief

 

79720.  

The sum of three hundred ninety-five million dollars
($395,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature from the fund, for the purposes of this chapter.

79720.1.  

(a) From the funds described in Section 79720, two
hundred million ($200,000,000) shall be available, upon
appropriation by the Legislature from the fund, for the planning,
design, and construction of local and regional drought relief
projects that reduce the impacts of drought conditions, including,
but not limited to, the impacts of reductions in Delta diversions.
Eligible projects include all of the following:

(1) Water conservation and efficiency projects, including
installation of the most water efficient fixtures commercially
available.

(2) Water recycling and related infrastructure.

(3) Groundwater cleanup.

(4) Local and regional conveyance projects that improve water
supplies and public benefits associated with conveyance facilities.

(5) Other local and regional water supply reliability projects.

(6) Local and regional surface water storage projects that provide
emergency water supplies and water supply reliability in drought
conditions.

(b) Projects funded pursuant to this section shall meet both of
the following requirements:

(1) The project will provide a sustainable water supply that does
not contribute to groundwater overdraft or increase surface water
diversions.

(2) The project is capable of being operational within two years
of receiving the grant.

(c) Preference shall be given to applicants that can demonstrate
substantial past and current investments in conservation and local
water projects.

(d) Not more than 10 percent of the funds provided pursuant to
this section shall be available for planning, investigations, studies,
and monitoring.

(e) The department shall require a cost share of not less than 50
percent of total project costs from nonstate sources. The department
may waive or reduce the cost-sharing requirement for projects that
directly benefit disadvantaged communities or economically
distressed areas.

79721.  

(a) From the funds described in Section 79720, the
sum of seventy-five million dollars ($75,000,000) shall be
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature from the fund, to
the State Water Resources Control Board for grants for small
community wastewater treatment projects that protect water quality
and meet all of the following criteria:

(1) The project is for the planning, design, permitting,
construction, or improvement of a wastewater treatment facility,
sewer system, or related infrastructure necessary to meet water
quality standards or prevent contamination of surface water or
groundwater resources.

(2) The project will serve a community with a population of
20,000 or less.

(3) The project meets other standards that may be established
by the State Water Resources Control Board with respect to the
design, construction, financing, and operation of the project.

(b) Priority for funding shall be given for projects located in,
or that benefit, disadvantaged communities and economically
distressed areas.

79722.  

From the funds described in Section 79720, one hundred
twenty million dollars ($120,000,000) shall be available to the
State Department of Public Health for grants to assist small, rural,
and disadvantaged community drinking water systems to provide
clean drinking water consistent with the criteria established under
the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

 

Chapter  6. Water Supply Reliability

 

79730.  

The sum of eight hundred forty million dollars
($840,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, from the fund to the department for competitive grants
and expenditures in accordance with Section 79731.

79731.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (f), the
department shall award grants to eligible projects that implement
an adopted integrated regional water management plan.

(b) An urban water supplier that does not prepare, adopt, and
submit its urban water management plan in accordance with the
Urban Water Management Planning Act (Part 2.6 (commencing
with Section 10610) of Division 6) is ineligible to receive funds
made available pursuant to Section 79730 until the urban water
management plan is prepared and submitted in accordance with
the requirements of that act.

(c) For the purposes of awarding a grant under this chapter, the
department shall require a local cost share of not less than 50
percent of the total costs of the project. The department may waive
or reduce the cost-sharing requirement for projects that directly
benefit a disadvantaged community or an economically distressed
area.

(d) Eligible projects are those included in adopted integrated
regional water management plans consistent with Part 2.2
(commencing with Section 10530) of Division 6, including, but
not limited to, local and regional surface water storage projects.

(e) The funding provided in Section 79730 shall be allocated
to each hydrologic region as identified in the California Water
Plan in accordance with this subdivision. For the South Coast
hydrologic region, the department shall establish three funding
areas that reflect the watersheds of San Diego County (designated
as the San Diego subregion), the Santa Ana River watershed and
southern Orange County (designated as the Santa Ana subregion),
and the Los Angeles and Ventura County watersheds (designated
as the Los Angeles subregion), and shall allocate funds to those
areas in accordance with this subdivision. The North and South
Lahontan hydrologic regions shall be treated as one area for the
purpose of allocating funds. For purposes of this subdivision, the
Sacramento River hydrologic region does not include the Delta.
For purposes of this subdivision, the Mountain Counties Overlay
is not eligible for funds from the Sacramento River hydrologic
region or the San Joaquin River hydrologic region. The department
may recognize multiple integrated regional water management
plans in each of the areas allocated funding. Funds made available
by this chapter shall be allocated as follows:

(1) North Coast: $36,000,000.

(2) San Francisco Bay: $105,600,000.

(3) Central Coast: $46,400,000.

(4) Los Angeles subregion: $158,400,000.

(5) Santa Ana subregion: $102,400,000.

(6) San Diego subregion: $69,600,000.

(7) Sacramento River: $60,800,000.

(8) San Joaquin River: $51,200,000.

(9) Tulare/Kern: $56,000,000.

(10) North/South Lahontan: $40,800,000.

(11) Colorado River Basin: $37,600,000.

(12) Mountain Counties Overlay: $35,200,000.

(13) Interregional: $40,000,000.

(f) Interregional funds may be expended directly or granted by
the department to address multiregional needs or state priorities,
including, but not limited to, any of the following:

(1) Investing in new water technology development and
deployment.

(2) Meeting state water recycling and water conservation goals.

(3) Adapting to climate change impacts.

(4) Reducing contributions to climate change.

(5) Other projects to improve statewide water management
systems.

(6) Other projects and activities designed to meet the needs of
disadvantaged communities or economically distressed areas
including technical and grant writing assistance.

79732.  

Of the funds provided in Section 79730, not less than
10 percent shall be allocated to disadvantaged communities.

79733.  

(a) The sum of three hundred fifty million dollars
($350,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, from the fund to the department for grants and
expenditures for the planning, design, and construction of local
and regional conveyance projects that support regional and
interregional connectivity and water management. Projects shall
be consistent with an adopted integrated regional water
management plan and shall provide one or more of the following
benefits:

(1) Improvements in regional or interregional water supply and
water supply reliability.

(2) Mitigation of conditions of groundwater overdraft, saline
water intrusion, water quality degradation, or subsidence.

(3) Adaptation to the impacts of hydrologic changes.

(4) Improved water security from drought, natural disasters, or
other events that could interrupt imported water supplies.

(5) Providing safe drinking water for disadvantaged communities
and economically distressed areas.

(b) Not more than 10 percent of the funds provided by this
section shall be available for planning, investigations, studies, and
monitoring.

(c) The department shall require a cost share of not less than 50
percent of total project costs from nonstate sources. The department
may waive or reduce the cost share requirement for projects that
directly benefit disadvantaged communities or economically
distressed areas.

 

Chapter  7. Delta Sustainability

 

79740.  

(a) The Bay-Delta Estuary is a unique and irreplaceable
combination of environmental and economic resources. Current
management and use of the Delta is not sustainable, and results in
a high level of conflict among various interests. Future Delta
sustainability is threatened by changing hydrology due to climate
change, water diversions, flood risk, seismic events, nonnative
species, toxics, and other environmental problems. Future
management of the Delta must improve Delta ecosystem health
and improve the means of Delta water conveyance in order to
protect drinking water quality, improve water supply reliability,
restore ecosystem health, and preserve agricultural and recreational
values in the Delta, while providing to counties and watersheds of
origin assurances that their priority to water resources will be
protected and that programs or facilities implemented or
constructed in the Delta will not result in redirection of
unmitigated, significant adverse impacts to the counties and
watershed of origin. Many sources of funding will be needed to
implement improved Delta management.

(b) This chapter provides state funding for public benefits
associated with projects needed to assist in the Delta’s
sustainability as a vital resource for fish, wildlife, water quality,
water supply, agriculture, and recreation.

79741.  

(a) The sum of one billion five hundred million dollars
($1,500,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation from the
fund, for grants and direct expenditures for projects to protect and
enhance the sustainability of the Delta ecosystem, including any
of the following:

(1) Projects that advance the policy objectives described in
Section 85020 of the Water Code. The projects shall be
implemented through a cooperative effort among regulatory
agencies, regulated and potentially regulated entities, and affected
parties, including state and federal water contractors. These funds
may be expended for the preparation of environmental
documentation.

(2) Other projects to protect and restore native fish and wildlife
dependent on the Delta ecosystem, including the acquisition of
water rights and the removal or reduction of undesirable invasive
species.

(3) Projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from exposed
Delta soils.

(4) Projects that reduce impacts of mercury contamination of
the Delta and its watersheds, and remediation and elimination of
continuing sources of mercury contamination.

(5) Scientific studies and assessments that support the projects
authorized under this section.

(b) Funds provided by this chapter shall be available for
appropriation to, among other entities, the department, the
Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta Conservancy for implementation consistent with the Delta
Plan.

79742.  

(a) A project that receives funding pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 79741 shall only be eligible for funding
pursuant to other provisions of this division to the extent that the
combined state funding pursuant to this division does not exceed
50 percent of the total project costs.

(b) The department shall determine what constitutes a project
for the purposes of subdivision (a).

 

Chapter  8. Statewide Water System Operational
Improvement

 

79750.  

(a) Notwithstanding Section 162, the commission may
make the determinations, findings, and recommendations required
of it by this chapter independent of the views of the director. All
final actions by the commission in implementing this chapter shall
be taken by a majority of the members of the commission at a
public meeting noticed and held pursuant to the Bagley-Keene
Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120)
of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code).

(b) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code,
the sum of three billion dollars ($3,000,000,000) is hereby
continuously appropriated from the fund, without regard to fiscal
years, to the commission for public benefits associated with water
storage projects that improve the operation of the state water
system, are cost effective, and provide a net improvement in
ecosystem and water quality conditions, in accordance with this
chapter. Funds authorized for, or made available to, the commission
pursuant to this chapter shall be available and expended only for
the purposes provided in this chapter, and shall not be subject to
appropriation or transfer by the Legislature or the Governor for
any other purpose.

(c) Projects shall be selected by the commission through a
competitive public process that ranks potential projects based on
the expected return for public investment as measured by the
magnitude of the public benefits provided, pursuant to criteria
established under this chapter.

(d) Any project constructed with funds provided by this chapter
shall be subject to Section 11590.

79751.  

Projects for which the public benefits are eligible for
funding under this chapter consist of only the following:

(a) Surface storage projects identified in the CALFED Bay-Delta
Program Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000, except for
projects prohibited by Chapter 1.4 (commencing with Section
5093.50) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code.

(b) Groundwater storage projects and groundwater
contamination prevention or remediation projects that provide
water storage benefits.

(c) Conjunctive use and reservoir reoperation projects.

(d) Local and regional surface storage projects that improve the
operation of water systems in the state and provide public benefits.

79752.  

A project shall not be funded pursuant to this chapter
unless it provides measurable improvements to the Delta ecosystem
or to the tributaries to the Delta.

79753.  

(a) Funds allocated pursuant to this chapter may be
expended solely for the following public benefits associated with
water storage projects:

(1) Ecosystem improvements, including changing the timing of
water diversions, improvement in flow conditions, temperature,
or other benefits that contribute to restoration of aquatic ecosystems
and native fish and wildlife, including those ecosystems and fish
and wildlife in the Delta.

(2) Water quality improvements in the Delta, or in other river
systems, that provide significant public trust resources, or that
clean up and restore groundwater resources.

(3) Flood control benefits, including, but not limited to, increases
in flood reservation space in existing reservoirs by exchange for
existing or increased water storage capacity in response to the
effects of changing hydrology and decreasing snow pack on
California’s water and flood management system.

(4) Emergency response, including, but not limited to, securing
emergency water supplies and flows for dilution and salinity
repulsion following a natural disaster or act of terrorism.

(5) Recreational purposes, including, but not limited to, those
recreational pursuits generally associated with the outdoors.

(b) Funds shall not be expended pursuant to this chapter for the
costs of environmental mitigation measures or compliance
obligations except for those associated with providing the public
benefits as described in subdivision (a).

79754.  

In consultation with the Department of Fish and
Wildlife, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the
department, the commission shall develop and adopt, by regulation,
methods for quantification and management of public benefits
described in Section 79753 by December 15, 2016. The regulations
shall include the priorities and relative environmental value of
ecosystem benefits as provided by the Department of Fish and
Wildlife and the priorities and relative environmental value of
water quality benefits as provided by the State Water Resources
Control Board.

79755.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), no funds
allocated pursuant to this chapter may be allocated for a project
before December 15, 2016, and until the commission approves the
project based on the commission’s determination that all of the
following have occurred:

(1) The commission has adopted the regulations specified in
Section 79754 and specifically quantified and made public the cost
of the public benefits associated with the project.

(2) The department has entered into a contract with each party
that will derive benefits, other than public benefits, as defined in
Section 79753, from the project that ensures the party will pay its
share of the total costs of the project. The benefits available to a
party shall be consistent with that party’s share of total project
costs.

(3) The department has entered into a contract with each public
agency identified in Section 79754 that administers the public
benefits, after that agency makes a finding that the public benefits
of the project for which that agency is responsible meet all the
requirements of this chapter, to ensure that the public contribution
of funds pursuant to this chapter achieves the public benefits
identified for the project.

(4) The commission has held a public hearing for the purposes
of providing an opportunity for the public to review and comment
on the information required to be prepared pursuant to this
subdivision.

(5) All of the following additional conditions are met:

(A) Feasibility studies have been completed.

(B) The commission has found and determined that the project
is feasible, is consistent with all applicable laws and regulations,
and will advance the long-term objectives of restoring ecological
health and improving water management for beneficial uses of the
Delta.

(C) All environmental documentation associated with the project
has been completed, and all other federal, state, and local approvals,
certifications, and agreements required to be completed have been
obtained.

(b) The commission shall submit to the Legislature its findings
for each of the criteria identified in subdivision (a) for a project
funded pursuant to this chapter.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), funds may be made
available under this chapter for the completion of environmental
documentation and permitting of a project.

79756.  

(a) The public benefit cost share of a project funded
pursuant to this chapter, other than a project described in
subdivision (c) of Section 79751, shall not exceed 50 percent of
the total costs of any project funded under this chapter.

(b) No project may be funded unless it provides ecosystem
improvements as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of
Section 79753 that are at least 50 percent of total public benefits
of the project funded under this chapter.

79757.  

(a) A project is not eligible for funding under this
chapter unless, by January 1, 2020, all of the following conditions
are met:

(1) All feasibility studies are complete and draft environmental
documentation is available for public review.

(2) The commission makes a finding that the project is feasible,
and will advance the long-term objectives of restoring ecological
health and improving water management for beneficial uses of the
Delta.

(3) The director receives commitments for not less than 75
percent of the nonpublic benefit cost share of the project.

(b) If compliance with subdivision (a) is delayed by litigation
or failure to promulgate regulations, the date in subdivision (a)
shall be extended by the commission for a time period that is equal
to the time period of the delay, and funding under this chapter that
has been dedicated to the project shall be encumbered until the
time at which the litigation is completed or the regulations have
been promulgated.

79758.  

Surface storage projects funded pursuant to this chapter
and described in subdivision (a) of Section 79751 may be made a
unit of the Central Valley Project, as provided in Section 11290,
and may be financed, acquired, constructed, operated, and
maintained pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with Section 11100)
of Division 6.

79759.  

(a) The funds allocated for the design, acquisition, and
construction of surface storage projects identified in the CALFED
Bay-Delta Record of Decision, dated August 28, 2000, pursuant
to this chapter may be provided for those purposes to local joint
powers authorities formed by irrigation districts and other local
water districts and local governments within the applicable
hydrologic region to design, acquire, and construct those projects.

(b) The joint powers authorities described in subdivision (a)
may include in their membership governmental partners that are
not located within their respective hydrologic regions in financing
the surface storage projects, including, as appropriate, cost share
participation or equity participation. Notwithstanding Section 6525
of the Government Code, the joint powers authorities described
in subdivision (a) shall not include in their membership any
for-profit corporation, or any mutual water company whose
shareholders and members include a for-profit corporation or any
other private entity. The department shall be an ex-officio member
of each joint powers authority subject to this section, but the
department shall not control the governance, management, or
operation of the surface water storage projects.

(c) A joint powers authority subject to this section shall own,
govern, manage, and operate a surface water storage project,
subject to the requirement that the ownership, governance,
management, and operation of the surface water storage project
shall advance the purposes set forth in this chapter.

79760.  

(a) In approving the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking
Water Supply Act of 2014, the people were informed and hereby
declare that the provisions of this chapter are necessary, integral,
and essential to meeting the single object or work of the Safe,
Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2014. As such,
any amendment of the provisions of this chapter by the Legislature
without voter approval would frustrate the scheme and design that
induced voter approval of this act. The people therefore find and
declare that any amendment of the provisions of this chapter by
the Legislature shall require approval by two-thirds of the
membership in each house of the Legislature and voter approval.

(b) This section shall not govern or be used as authority for
determining whether the amendment of any other provision of this
act not contained in this chapter would constitute a substantial
change in the scheme and design of this act requiring voter
approval.

 

Chapter  9. Groundwater Protection and Water Quality

 

79770.  

(a) The sum of eight hundred million dollars
($800,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature from the fund, for expenditures, grants, and loans for
projects to prevent or reduce the contamination of groundwater
that serves as a source of drinking water. Projects shall be
consistent with an adopted integrated regional water management
plan. Funds appropriated pursuant to this section shall be available
to the State Department of Public Health for projects necessary to
protect public health by preventing or reducing the contamination
of groundwater that serves as a major source of drinking water for
a community.

(b) Projects shall be prioritized based upon the following criteria:

(1) The threat posed by groundwater contamination to the
affected community’s overall drinking water supplies, including
the need for treatment of alternative supplies if groundwater is not
available due to contamination.

(2) The potential for groundwater contamination to spread and
reduce drinking water supply and water storage for nearby
population areas.

(3) The potential of the project, if fully implemented, to enhance
local water supply reliability.

(4) The potential of the project to maximize opportunities to
recharge vulnerable, high-use groundwater basins and optimize
groundwater supplies.

(5) The project addresses contamination at a site for which the
courts or the appropriate regulatory authority has not yet identified
responsible parties, or where the identified responsible parties are
unwilling or unable to pay for the total cost of cleanup.

(6) The ability of the project to provide disadvantaged
communities and economically distressed areas with public
drinking water infrastructure that provides clean and safe drinking
water supplies and ensures a sustainable groundwater supply.

(c) The State Department of Public Health shall give additional
consideration to projects that meet any of the following criteria:

(1) The project is implemented pursuant to a comprehensive
basinwide groundwater quality management and remediation plan
or is necessary to develop a comprehensive groundwater plan.

(2) Affected groundwater provides a local supply that, if
contaminated and not remediated, will require import of additional
water from outside the region.

(3) The project will serve an economically disadvantaged
community or an economically distressed area.

(d) Of the amount made available by this section, not less than
one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) shall be available for
costs associated with projects that meet the requirements of this
section and both of the following criteria:

(1) The costs are part of a basinwide management and
remediation plan for which federal funds have been allocated.

(2) The costs addresses contamination at a site on the list
maintained by the Department of Toxic Substances Control
pursuant to Section 25356 of the Health and Safety Code or a site
listed on the National Priorities List pursuant to the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
(42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq.).

(e) Of the amount made available by this section, one hundred
million dollars ($100,000,000) shall be available to the State
Department of Public Health for grants and direct expenditures to
finance emergency and urgent actions in accordance with this
section on behalf of disadvantaged communities and economically
distressed areas to ensure that safe drinking water supplies are
available to all Californians.

(f) The Legislature, by statute, shall establish both of the
following:

(1) A requirement that the grantee repay grant funds in the event
of cost recovery from the parties responsible for the groundwater
contamination.

(2) A requirement that the grantee make reasonable efforts to
attempt to recover the costs of cleanup from the parties responsible
for the contamination, except that a grantee shall not be required
to seek cost recovery related to the costs of response actions
apportioned to responsible parties who are insolvent or cannot be
identified or located or when a requirement to seek cost recovery
would impose a financial hardship on the grantee.

79772.  

The contaminants that may be addressed with funding
pursuant to this chapter may include, but shall not be limited to,
nitrates, perchlorate, MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether), arsenic,
selenium, hexavalent chromium, mercury, PCE
(perchloroethylene), TCE (trichloroethylene), DCE
(dichloroethene), DCA (dichloroethane), 1, 2, 3 TCP
(trichloropropane), carbon tetrachloride , 1,4-dioxane, 1,4
-dioxacyclohexane, NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine), bromide,
iron, manganese, and uranium.

79773.  

(a) A project that receives funding under this chapter
shall be selected by a competitive grant or loan process with added
consideration for those projects that leverage private, federal, or
local funding.

(b) For the purposes of awarding funding under this chapter, a
local cost share of not less than 50 percent of the total costs of the
project shall be required. The cost-sharing requirement may be
waived or reduced for projects that directly benefit a disadvantaged
community or an economically distressed area.

(c) An agency administering grants or loans for the purposes of
this chapter shall assess the capacity of a community to pay for
the operation and maintenance of the facility to be funded.

(d) At least 10 percent of the funds available pursuant to this
chapter shall be allocated for projects serving severely
disadvantaged communities.

(e) Funding authorized pursuant to this chapter shall include
funding for technical assistance to disadvantaged communities
and economically distressed areas. The State Department of Public
Health shall operate a multidisciplinary technical assistance
program for disadvantaged communities and economically
distressed areas.

 

Chapter  10. Water Recycling, Conservation, and
Efficiency Program

 

79780.  

(a) In order to improve regional water self-reliance
and help ensure a sustainable water supply for California, the
purposes of this chapter are to:

(1) Advance recycled water as a sustainable, cost-effective, and
environmental beneficial source of water that should be utilized
to the fullest extent possible.

(2) Promote recycled water as a key component to the state’s
sustainability strategy and an important part of the state’s
adaptation to, and mitigation of, the impacts of climate change.

(3) Achieve direct and indirect long-term benefits related to
water and energy conservation and salinity management.

79781.  

The sum of one billion fifty million dollars
($1,050,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, from the fund to the department as follows:

(a) The sum of eight hundred million dollars ($800,000,000)
shall be available for grants and loans for water recycling and
advanced treatment technology projects, including all of the
following:

(1) Water recycling projects, including, but not limited to,
treatment, storage, conveyance, and distribution facilities for
potable and nonpotable water recycling projects.

(2) Contaminant and salt removal projects, including, but not
limited to, groundwater and seawater desalination.

(3) Dedicated distribution infrastructure for recycled water,
including residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial
end-user retrofit projects to allow use of recycled water.

(4) Pilot projects for new salt and contaminant removal
technology.

(5) Groundwater recharge infrastructure related to recycled
water.

(6) Technical assistance and grant writing assistance for
disadvantaged communities and economically distressed areas.

(b) The sum of two hundred fifty million dollars ($250,000,000)
shall be available for direct expenditures, grants, and loans for
water conservation and water use efficiency plans, projects, and
programs, including any of the following:

(1) Urban water conservation plans, projects, and programs,
including regional projects and programs, implemented to achieve
urban water use targets pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with
Section 10608.16) of Part 2.55 of Division 6. Priority for funding
shall be given to programs that do the following:

(A) Assist water suppliers and regions to implement
conservation programs and measures that are not locally
cost-effective.

(B) Support water supplier and regional efforts to implement
programs targeted to enhance water use efficiency for commercial,
industrial, and institutional water users.

(C) Assist water suppliers and regions with programs and
measures targeted toward realizing the conservation benefits of
implementation of the provisions of the state landscape model
ordinance.

(2) Agricultural water use efficiency projects and programs
pursuant to Part 2.8 (commencing with Section 10800) of Division
6.

(3) Agricultural water management plans developed pursuant
to Part 2.8 (commencing with Section 10800) of Division 6.

79782.  

Of the funds made available in subdivision (a) of
Section 79781, not less than fifty million dollars ($50,000,000)
shall be available for projects that are designed to help restore lost
water supply reliability in areas with widespread groundwater
contamination in locations that contain sites that are listed by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control pursuant to Section 25356
of the Health and Safety Code or a site listed on the National
Priorities List pursuant to the federal Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980
(42 U.S.C. Section 9601 et seq.) and for which federal funds have
been allocated pursuant to Public Law 106-554.

79783.  

For projects funded pursuant to the funds made available
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 79781, at least a 50 percent
local cost-share shall be required. That cost share may be suspended
or reduced for disadvantaged communities and economically
distressed areas.

79784.  

Projects funded pursuant to the funds made available
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 79781 shall be selected on
a competitive basis, considering all of the following criteria:

(a) Water supply reliability improvement.

(b) Water quality and ecosystem benefits related to decreased
reliance on diversions from the Delta or instream flows.

(c) Public health benefits from improved drinking water quality.

(d) Cost-effectiveness.

(e) Energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission impacts.

79785.  

Section 1011 applies to all conservation measures that
an agricultural water supplier or an urban water supplier
implements with funding under this chapter. This subdivision does
not limit the application of Section 1011 to any other measures or
projects implemented by a water supplier.

79786.  

The department shall award grants or loans under this
chapter in a competitive process that considers, as primary factors,
the local and statewide conservation and water use efficiency
benefits of the measures proposed for grants or loans.

 

Chapter  11. Fiscal Provisions

 

79790.  

(a) Bonds in the total amount of seven billion nine
hundred thirty-five million dollars ($7,935,000,000), or so much
thereof as is necessary, not including the amount of any refunding
bonds issued in accordance with Section 79802, may be issued
and sold to provide a fund to be used for carrying out the purposes
expressed in this division and to reimburse the General Obligation
Bond Expense Revolving Fund pursuant to Section 16724.5 of the
Government Code. The bonds, when sold, shall be and constitute
valid and binding obligations of the State of California, and the
full faith and credit of the State of California is hereby pledged
for the punctual payment of both the principal of, and interest on,
the bonds as the principal and interest become due and payable.

(b) The Treasurer shall sell the bonds authorized by the
committee pursuant to this section. The bonds shall be sold upon
the terms and conditions specified in a resolution to be adopted
by the committee pursuant to Section 16731 of the Government
Code.

79791.  

The bonds authorized by this division shall be prepared,
executed, issued, sold, paid, and redeemed as provided in the State
General Obligation Bond Law, and all of the provisions of that
law apply to the bonds and to this division and are hereby
incorporated in this division as though set forth in full in this
division, except subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 16727 of the
Government Code.

79792.  

(a) Solely for the purpose of authorizing the issuance
and sale, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, of
the bonds authorized by this division, the Safe, Clean, and Reliable
Drinking Water Supply Finance Committee is hereby created. For
purposes of this division, the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking
Water Supply Finance Committee is “the committee” as that term
is used in the State General Obligation Bond Law.

(b) The committee consists of the Director of Finance, the
Treasurer, the Controller, the Director of Water Resources, and
the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, any member may designate a deputy
to act as that member in his or her place for all purposes, as though
the member were personally present.

(c) The Treasurer shall serve as chairperson of the committee.

(d) A majority of the members of the committee shall constitute
a quorum of the committee, and may act for the committee.

79793.  

The committee shall determine whether or not it is
necessary or desirable to issue bonds authorized pursuant to this
division to carry out the actions specified in this division and, if
so, the amount of bonds to be issued and sold. Successive issues
of bonds may be authorized and sold to carry out those actions
progressively, and it is not necessary that all of the bonds
authorized to be issued be sold at any one time.

79794.  

“Board,” as defined in Section 16722 of the Government
Code for the purposes of compliance with the State General
Obligation Bond Law, means the department.

79795.  

There shall be collected each year and in the same
manner and at the same time as other state revenue is collected,
in addition to the ordinary revenues of the state, a sum in an amount
required to pay the principal of, and interest on, the bonds each
year, and it is the duty of all officers charged by law with any duty
in regard to the collection of the revenue to do and perform each
and every act which is necessary to collect that additional sum.

79796.  

Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government
Code, there is hereby appropriated from the General Fund in the
State Treasury, for the purposes of this division, an amount that
will equal the total of the following:

(a) The sum annually necessary to pay the principal of, and
interest on, bonds issued and sold pursuant to this division, as the
principal and interest become due and payable.

(b) The sum that is necessary to carry out the provisions of
Section 79799, appropriated without regard to fiscal years.

79797.  

The board may request the Pooled Money Investment
Board to make a loan from the Pooled Money Investment Account
in accordance with Section 16312 of the Government Code for the
purpose of carrying out this division less any amount withdrawn
pursuant to Section 79799. The amount of the request shall not
exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that the committee has, by
resolution, authorized to be sold for the purpose of carrying out
this division. The board shall execute those documents required
by the Pooled Money Investment Board to obtain and repay the
loan. Any amounts loaned shall be deposited in the fund to be
allocated in accordance with this division.

79798.  

Notwithstanding any other provision of this division,
or of the State General Obligation Bond Law, if the Treasurer sells
bonds that include a bond counsel opinion to the effect that the
interest on the bonds is excluded from gross income for federal
tax purposes under designated conditions, or is otherwise entitled
to any federal tax advantage, the Treasurer may maintain separate
accounts for the bond proceeds invested and for the investment
earnings on those proceeds, and may use or direct the use of those
proceeds or earnings to pay any rebate, penalty, or other payment
required under federal law or take any other action with respect
to the investment and use of those bond proceeds, as may be
required or desirable under federal law in order to maintain the
tax-exempt status of those bonds and to obtain any other advantage
under federal law on behalf of the funds of this state.

79799.  

For the purposes of carrying out this division, the
Director of Finance may authorize the withdrawal from the General
Fund of an amount or amounts not to exceed the amount of the
unsold bonds that have been authorized by the committee to be
sold for the purpose of carrying out this division. Any amounts
withdrawn shall be deposited in the fund. Any money made
available under this section shall be returned to the General Fund,
with interest at the rate earned by the money in the Pooled Money
Investment Account, from proceeds received from the sale of bonds
for the purpose of carrying out this division.

79800.  

All money deposited in the fund that is derived from
premiums and accrued interest on bonds sold pursuant to this
division shall be reserved in the fund and shall be available for
transfer to the General Fund as a credit to expenditures for bond
interest, except that amounts derived from premium may be
reserved and used to pay the cost of bond issuance prior to any
transfer to the General Fund.

79801.  

Pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code,
the cost of bond issuance shall be paid out of the bond proceeds,
including premium, if any. To the extent the cost of bond issuance
is not paid from premiums received from the sale of bonds, the
cost shall be shared proportionately by each program funded
through this division by the applicable bond sale.

79802.  

The bonds issued and sold pursuant to this division
may be refunded in accordance with Article 6 (commencing with
Section 16780) of Chapter 4 of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, which is a part of the State General
Obligation Bond Law. Approval by the electors of the state for the
issuance of the bonds under this division shall include approval
of the issuance of any bonds issued to refund any bonds originally
issued under this division or any previously issued refunding bonds.

79803.  

The proceeds from the sale of bonds authorized by this
division are not “proceeds of taxes” as that term is used in Article
XIII B of the California Constitution, and the disbursement of
these proceeds is not subject to the limitations imposed by that
article.

79804.  

Of the seven billion nine hundred thirty-five million
dollars ($7,935,000,000) in bonds authorized in this division, no
more than three billion nine hundred sixty-seven million five
hundred thousand dollars ($3,967,500,000) shall be sold by the
Treasurer before July 1, 2019.

SEC. 3.  

Section 2 of Chapter 3 of the Seventh Extraordinary
Session of the Statutes of 2009, as amended by Section 1 of
Chapter 74 of the Statutes of 2012, is repealed.

SEC. 4.  

Section 2 of this act shall be submitted to the voters
at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election in accordance
with provisions of the Government Code and the Elections Code
governing the submission of a statewide measure to the voters.

SEC. 5.  

Section 2 of this act shall take effect upon the approval
by the voters of the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water
Supply Act of 2014, as set forth in that section at the November
4, 2014, statewide general election.

SEC. 6.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to fund a safe, clean, and reliable water supply at the
earliest possible date, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.