Bill Text: CA AB2043 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2014.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 11-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-08-06 - In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. [AB2043 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB2043-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2043 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 19, 2014
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 amended, 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
$8,035,000,000 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 four
hundred ninety-five million dollars ($395,000,000)
($495,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by
the Legislature from the fund, for the purposes of this chapter.
79720.1. 79722. (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.
79724. From the funds described in Section 79720, the sum of one
hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) shall be available for local
and regional water projects that improve water supply reliability,
including surface storage projects, with priority given to projects
that do one or more of the following:
(a) Provide emergency water supplies.
(b) Increase hydropower production for the purposes of meeting
peak energy demands or improving energy reliability in areas of the
state that have lost significant energy production capabilities.
(c) Improve dam stability in seismic events.
79721. 79726. (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. 79728. 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, 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 A project may
shall not 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 Water Resources
Control Board 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
Water Resources Control Board 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.
(4) The project addresses contamination at a site where the
responsible parties have not been identified or where the responsible
parties are unwilling or unable to pay for cleanup.
(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 , programs, or
activities 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 address
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 Water Resources
Control Board 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.
79771. (a) Funding authorized by this chapter shall not be used
to pay any share of the costs of remediation recovered from parties
responsible for the contamination of a groundwater storage aquifer,
but may be used to pay costs that cannot be recovered from
responsible parties. Parties that receive funding for remediating
groundwater storage aquifers shall exercise reasonable efforts to
recover the costs of groundwater cleanup from the parties responsible
for the contamination.
(b) Projects and activities that leverage funding from local
agencies and responsible parties to the maximum extent possible shall
receive priority consideration.
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 environmentally
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)
eight billion thirty-five million dollars ($8,035,000,000)
, 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
eight billion thirty-five million dollars
($7,935,000,000) ($8,035,000,000) in bonds
authorized in this division, no more than three billion nine
hundred sixty-seven four billion seventeen
million five hundred thousand dollars ($3,967,500,000)
($4,017,500,000) 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.
