Bill Text: CA SB200 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Drinking water.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-07-24 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 120, Statutes of 2019. [SB200 Detail]
Download: California-2019-SB200-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Senate
March 11, 2019 |
Senate Bill | No. 200 |
Introduced by Senator Monning (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia) |
January 31, 2019 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 4.6 (commencing with Section 116765) is added to Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:CHAPTER 4.6. Safe and Affordable Drinking Water
Article 1. Legislative Findings and Declarations
116765.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:Article 2. Definitions
116766.
For the purposes of this chapter:Article 3. Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund
116767.
The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the board without regard to fiscal years, in accordance with this chapter. Moneys in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not revert to the General Fund. Moneys in the fund shall not be available for appropriation or borrowed for use for any purpose not established in this chapter unless that use of the moneys receives an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the membership in each house of the Legislature.116768.
(a) The board shall administer the fund for the purposes of this chapter to provide a source of funding to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. The board shall prioritize the use of this funding to assist disadvantaged communities served by a public water system and low-income households served by a state small water system or a domestic well. The board shall consider and prioritize, where appropriate, the use of funding for consolidation or extension of service or both. In order to maximize the use of other funding sources for capital construction projects when available, the board shall prioritize use of this funding for costs other than those related to capital construction costs, except for capital construction costs associated with consolidation and service extension to reduce the ongoing unit cost of service and to increase sustainability of drinking water infrastructure and service delivery. Beginning January 1, 2021, an expenditure from the fund shall be consistent with the annual fund implementation plan.116769.
By July 1 of each year, the board shall do all of the following:116769.5.
The board may expend moneys from the fund for reasonable costs associated with the administration of Section 116769 and Article 4 (commencing with Section 116770). Beginning July 1, 2023, the board shall not expend more than 3 percent of the annual revenue of the fund for the reasonable costs of administering Section 116769 and Article 4 (commencing with Section 116770).Article 4. Information on High-risk Areas
116770.
(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.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.The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)Section 106.3 of the Water Code declares that it is the policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes.
(b)For all public water systems, the operation and maintenance costs to supply, treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards on a routine and consistent basis may be significant.
(c)All public water systems are currently required to set, establish, and charge a schedule of rates and fees that are
sufficient to recover the operation and maintenance costs required to supply, treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards on a routine and consistent basis.
(d)Hundreds of public water systems in the state cannot charge rates and fees that are affordable and sufficient to recover the full operation and maintenance costs required to supply, treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards on a routine and consistent basis due to a combination of low-income levels of customers, high treatment costs for contaminated water sources, and a lack of economies of scale that result in high unit costs for water service. Many schools that serve as their own regulated public water systems and have contaminated water sources cannot afford the full operation and maintenance costs required to provide water that meets federal and state drinking water
standards.
(e)Nearly all state or federal drinking water project funding sources prohibit the use of that funding for operation and maintenance costs, and as a result, those systems that cannot afford required operation and maintenance costs are unable to access funding for capital projects to meet federal and state drinking water standards.
(f)As a result, close to one million Californians, particularly those living in small disadvantaged communities, may be exposed to unsafe drinking water in their homes and schools, which impacts human health, household costs, and community economic development.
(g)A significant number of California residents rely on state small water systems and domestic wells to provide their drinking water.
(h)State small
water systems and individual domestic wells face a serious threat of contamination because they often draw their water from shallow groundwater sources and have fewer or no chemical monitoring requirements.
(i)State small water systems and domestic wells are not currently subject to any comprehensive federal or state requirements for chemical water quality monitoring. Many local agencies do not require any monitoring beyond what is required by state law and there are wide discrepancies among local jurisdictions in well monitoring programs.
(j)To ensure that the right of every Californian to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes is protected, it is in the interest of the State of California to identify where Californians are at high risk of lacking reliable access to safe drinking water or are known to lack
reliable access to safe drinking water, whether they rely on a public water system, state small water system, or domestic well for their potable water supply.
(k)Long-term sustainability of drinking water infrastructure and service provision is necessary to secure safe drinking water for all Californians and therefore it is in the interest of the state to discourage the proliferation of new, unsustainable public water systems and state small water systems, to prevent waste, and to encourage consolidation and service extension when feasible.
(l)It is in the interest of all Californians to establish a fund with a stable source of revenue to provide financial support, particularly for operation and maintenance, necessary to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and
infrastructure.
The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund shall be available to the State Water Resources Control Board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of this chapter to provide a stable source of funding to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.