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 20, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 01, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 25, 2019 |
Assembly Bill | No. 134 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Rendon) |
December 05, 2018 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
(2)Existing law, the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the federal Environmental Protection Agency to establish national primary drinking water standards for public water systems, prohibits states from enacting drinking water laws that are less stringent than the federal primary drinking water standards, and establishes procedures for state compliance. The California Safe Drinking Water Act requires the board to adopt primary drinking water standards for contaminants in drinking water based upon specified criteria, to review the standards at least once every 5 years, and to amend the standards under certain circumstances.
This bill would require the board to develop an enforcement assistance implementation plan, in connection with the adoption of any new or revised primary drinking water standard, that considers the ability of any public water system that serves a disadvantaged community to comply with the primary drinking water standard. The bill would require an enforcement assistance implementation plan to include provisions for funding sources to assist any public water system that is found to be unable to timely comply with a new or revised primary drinking water standard.
(3)
(4)
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill 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:(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)“Failed water system” means a water system that consistently fails to provide an adequate
supply of safe drinking water, or is at substantial risk of failing to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.
Article 2. Assessment and Planning
(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:
(1)Any public water system that consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.
(2)Any community water system that serves a disadvantaged community that must charge fees that exceed the affordability threshold established in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan in order to supply,
treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards.
(3)Any state small water system that consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.
117210.
(a) The board, upon adoption of the assessment of funding need, shall convey to each regional engineer a list of at-risk water systems in that region and additional information regarding at-risk water systems and communities reliant on domestic wells that do not supply an adequate or reliable supply of safe drinking water.(b)The assessment of need shall prioritize the systems
(c)
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. The board shall make available a map of high-risk areas in a region to each regional engineer.117212.
(a) Each regional engineer shall arrange for a comprehensive(c)A comprehensive assessment may include the following:
(1)A
(2)Assistance from a local advisory
committee that may include local residents, customers of the failed water system, elected officials, business owners, or farmers.
(2)
Article 3. Plan Implementation
117220.
A regional engineer shall review a comprehensive117221.
(a) Within 90 days of receiving the regional engineer’s recommendation pursuant to Section 117220, the board shall consider the comprehensive(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.
(b)An enforcement assistance implementation plan developed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include provisions for funding sources to assist any public water system that is found to be unable to timely comply with the new or revised primary drinking water standard, including funding through the fund or though the Safe
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program.
Article 4. Safe Drinking Water for New Communities
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.