Bill Text: CA AB134 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Safe Drinking Water Restoration.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-06-25 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [AB134 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB134-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 01, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 25, 2019 |
Assembly Bill | No. 134 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom |
December 05, 2018 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Existing
This bill would state findings and declarations relating to the intent of the Legislature to adopt policies to ensure that every Californian has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible drinking water. The bill would require, if a Safe Drinking Water Fund or Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund is established, the funding to be displayed in the annual Governor’s budget, as prescribed, and, at least every 5 years, would
require the Legislative Analyst’s Office to provide an assessment of the effectiveness of expenditures from the fund.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 117200) is added to Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:CHAPTER 8. Safe Drinking Water Restoration
Article 1. General Provisions
117200.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:117201.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern this chapter:Article 2. Assessment and Planning
117210.
(a) By July 1 of each year the board shall adopt, after a public hearing and based on available data, an assessment of need for state financial assistance to provide safe drinking water. The assessment of need shall identify failed water systems throughout the state. The assessment of need shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:117211.
(a) (1) By January 1, 2021, the board, in consultation with local health officers and other relevant stakeholders, shall use available data to make available a map of aquifers that are at high risk of containing contaminants and that exceed primary federal and state drinking water standards that are used or likely to be used as a source of drinking water for a state small water system or a domestic well. The board shall update the map at least annually based on any newly available data.117212.
(a) Each regional engineer shall arrange for a comprehensive assessment of each failed water system in the region of the drinking water regional office to be completed within 2 years of the board identifying the failed water system in the assessment of need. The regional engineer may combine more than one failed water system in the region for the purposes of a comprehensive assessment. A comprehensive assessment shall be submitted to the regional engineer and posted on the board’s internet website.Article 3. Plan Implementation
117220.
A regional engineer shall review a comprehensive assessment submitted in accordance with Section 117212 and develop and submit a recommendation to the board as to the options or plan presented by the comprehensive assessment within 60 days of the submission of the comprehensive assessment to the regional engineer. A regional engineer may adjust the options or plan the regional engineer recommends to the board as necessary. The board shall post the recommendations of a regional engineer to the board on the board’s internet website.117221.
(a) Within 90 days of receiving the regional engineer’s recommendation pursuant to Section 117220, the board shall consider the comprehensive assessment and the regional engineer’s recommendation at a public hearing. The board shall request recommendations from all divisions of the board to ensure coordination with other related water quality and water resource programs. The Public Utilities Commission may provide input to the board for the purposes of this section if a regional engineer’s recommendation involves a failed water system subject to the commission’s jurisdiction. The board shall review a recommendation in light of the recommendation’s likelihood of success in creating a stable and sustainable supply of safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.117223.
(a) In connection with the adoption of any new or revised primary drinking water standard pursuant to Section 116365, the board shall develop an enforcement assistance implementation plan that considers the ability of any public water system that serves a disadvantaged community to comply with the proposed new or revised primary drinking water standard.Article 4. Safe Drinking Water for New Communities
117230.
The board shall ensure that water systems that serve new communities will provide safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes, fulfill legal requirements for technical, managerial, and financial capacity, and will be sustainable over the long term.Article 5. Oversight
117240.
(a) (1) By July 1, 2025, the board shall report to the Legislature on its progress restoring safe drinking water to all California communities in accordance with this chapter.117241.
The board shall create an internet website that provides data transparency for all of its activities pursuant to this chapter, in conjunction with implementation of the Open and Transparent Water Data Act (Part 4.9 (commencing with Section 12400) of Division 6 of the Water Code).SEC. 2.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.SEC. 3.
This act shall only become operative if Assembly Bill 217 of the 2019–20 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective.The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Pursuant to Section 106.3 of the Water Code, every human being in the State of California has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption.
(b)Unfortunately, over one million Californians are exposed to unsafe drinking water each year. Children are particularly at risk because as many as one in four schools in the Central Valley have been impacted by unsafe drinking water.
(c)In fact, a significant number of
California communities, especially disadvantaged communities, rely on a contaminated groundwater source for their drinking water supply. Contaminants include nitrate, arsenic, and disinfectant byproducts.
(d)The State Water Resources Control Board has identified a total of 331 water systems that are in violation of water quality standards. These water systems serve an estimated 500,000 people throughout the state. Additionally, the number of water systems with 14 or fewer connections that are currently in violation of water quality standards is estimated to be in the thousands.
(e)Of the 331 systems identified by the State Water Resources Control Board, 68 have violations associated with nitrates and in some cases, additional contaminants. In some of these water systems, unsafe
contamination levels persist over time because the local agency cannot generate sufficient revenue from its customer base to implement, operate, or maintain the improvements necessary to address the problem.
(f)The challenge in these systems is often a product of a combination of factors, including the high costs of the investments required, low income of the customers, and the small number of customers across whom the costs would need to be spread.
(g)Water treatment systems are the key to providing safe drinking water to these communities, but the installation, operation, and maintenance of such systems are often very costly and there is no source of funding dedicated to this ongoing need.
(h)Therefore, it is the
intent of the Legislature to adopt policies that will end this injustice and ensure that pursuant to California law, every Californian has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible drinking water.
Notwithstanding any other law, if a Safe Drinking Water Fund or Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund is established in the State Treasury, all moneys in the fund shall be subject to both of the following requirements:
(a)The funding, even if the fund is continuously appropriated, shall be displayed in the annual Governor’s budget and this display shall include revenues, expenditures, and fund balances.
(b)At least every five years, the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall provide an assessment of the effectiveness of expenditures from the fund.