Bill Text: CA SB845 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-08-24 - Re-referred to Com. on APPR. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. [SB845 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SB845-Amended.html
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Amended
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August 22, 2018 |
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Amended
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August 16, 2018 |
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June 12, 2018 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Senate Bill | No. 845 |
| Introduced by Senator Monning (Coauthor: Senator Vidak) |
January 10, 2018 |
An act to add Chapter 4.6 (commencing with Section 116765) to Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to water, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 845, as amended, Monning.
Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.
(1) Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. Existing law declares it to be the established 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.
This bill would establish the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund in the State Treasury and would provide that moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the state board. By creating a new continuously appropriated fund, this
the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the state board to administer the fund to secure access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure. The bill would authorize the state board to provide for the deposit into the fund of federal contributions, voluntary contributions, gifts, grants, and bequests. The bill would require the state board to expend moneys in the fund for grants, loans, contracts, or services to assist eligible applicants with projects relating to the provision of safe and affordable drinking water and, beginning January 1, 2020, would require the expenditure to be consistent with a fund
implementation plan adopted by July 1 of each odd-numbered year by the state board, as prescribed. The bill would require the state board, working with a multistakeholder advisory group, to adopt by July 1 of each odd-numbered year a policy handbook with priorities and guidelines for expenditures of the fund. The bill would require the state board annually to publish on its Internet Web site a report of expenditures from the fund and a summary of progress made with respect to the implementation of these provisions. The bill would require the state board to adopt by July 1 of each odd-numbered year, an assessment of funding need that estimates the anticipated funding needed for
the next two fiscal years to achieve the purposes of the fund. The bill would require, by January 1, 2020, the state board, in consultation with local health officers and other relevant stakeholders, to make available a map of aquifers that are used or likely to be used as a source of drinking water that are at high risk of containing contaminants. For purposes of the map, the bill would require local health officers and other relevant local agencies to provide all results of, and data associated with, water quality testing performed by certified laboratories to the state board, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local health officers and local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill,
beginning July 1, 2019, January 1, 2020, would require a community water system with 200 or more service connections to provide an opportunity for each customer of a community water system to provide a voluntary remittance either as part of the customer’s regular water bill bill or by using a specified notification procedure,
to advance the purposes of the fund. The bill would require the board to develop and maintain a list of voluntary best practices associated with bill presentation, accounting, and collection of voluntary remittances, as prescribed. The bill would authorize a customer of a community water system to remit nothing, an amount recommended by the community water system, as prescribed, or an alternative amount. The bill would prohibit a community water system from sanctioning, taking any enforcement or collection action against, imposing any late charge or penalty against, or otherwise holding liable, a customer in any manner for deducting the amount from the bill or otherwise paying or not paying a voluntary remittance. The bill would require a community water system to transfer to the board for deposit in the fund all voluntary remittances received from its customers,
except for a specified amount of a community water system’s administrative cost for collecting the fee, as specified.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(3) This bill would make its operation contingent on the enactment of SB 844 of the 2017–18 Regular Session.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill 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:(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 community 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 community 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, hundreds of thousands of 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) The 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) 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.
(j) 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.
(k) To begin addressing the challenges set forth in this section, it is in the interest of all Californians to establish a fund that can provide financial support, particularly for operation and maintenance, to enhance access to safe drinking water
for all Californians, while also advancing the long term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.
(l) The problems with failing water systems can be solved provided there is adequate funding. The board currently has authority to require failing water systems to consolidate or connect with larger water systems, authority to appoint an administrator to take over and fix a failing system, and some funding for capital improvements. The University of California, Davis, recently reported that 44 percent of disadvantaged communities without safe drinking water in the Central
San Joaquin Valley are within 500 feet of a water system that has safe drinking water and 66 percent are within one mile.
(m) The Legislature intends for this program to be administered in a manner that is consistent with the following principles:
(1) The board should prioritize other available sources of funding before using the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.
(2) Failing water systems should be consolidated whenever appropriate. The board should prioritize these consolidations using its existing authority to consolidate failing water systems.
(3) All communities should receive safe and affordable drinking water and, to the greatest degree practicable, communities should be financially self-sustaining as soon as practicable.
(4) The board should post regular progress reports on its Internet Web site, including an accounting of the funds committed.
(5) This chapter does not expand any obligation of the state to provide water or to require the expenditure of additional resources beyond the amount of revenue collected in the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund pursuant to this chapter.
Article 2. Definitions
116766.
For the purposes of this chapter:(a) “Administrator” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116686.
(b) “Board” means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(c) “Community water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.
(d) “Customer” means a purchaser of water from a community water system who uses the water for municipal purposes, including residential, commercial, governmental, and industrial uses, including the United States to the extent authorized by federal law.
(e) “Disadvantaged community” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.
(f) “Domestic well” means a groundwater well used to supply water for the domestic needs of an individual residence or water systems that are not public water systems and that have no more than four service connections.
(g) “Eligible applicant” means a public water system, including, but not limited to, a mutual water company; a public utility; a public agency, including, but not limited to, a local educational agency that owns or operates a public water system; a nonprofit organization; a federally recognized Indian tribe; a state Indian tribe listed on the Native American Heritage Commission’s California Tribal Consultation List; an
administrator; or a groundwater sustainability agency.
(h) “Fund” means the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund established pursuant to Section 116767.
(i) “Fund implementation plan” means the fund implementation plan adopted pursuant to Section 116769.
(j) “Groundwater sustainability agency” has the same meaning as defined in Section 10721 of the Water Code.
(k) “Low-income household” means a household with an income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide median household income.
(l)“Nontransient noncommunity water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.
(m)
(l) “Public water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.
(n)
(m) “Replacement water” includes, but is not limited to, bottled water, vended water, point-of-use, or point-of-entry treatment units.
(o)
(n) “Safe drinking water” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116681.
(p)
(o) “Service connection” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.
(q)
(p) “Small community water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.
(r)
(q) “State small water system” has the same meaning as defined in Section 116275.
(s)
(r) “Vended water” has the same meaning as defined in Section 111070.
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 this116768.
(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, 2020, an expenditure from the fund shall be consistent with the annual fund implementation plan. Where sources of funding other than the fund are available and identified pursuant to Section 116769 for expenditure by the board, the board shall prioritize the use of those funding sources over the fund in accordance with the annual fund implementation plan.(b) In accordance with subdivision (a), subject to the availability of funds, the board shall expend moneys in the fund for grants, loans, contracts, or services to assist eligible
applicants with any of the following:
(1) The provision of replacement water, as needed, to ensure immediate protection of health and safety as a short-term solution.
(2) The development, implementation, and sustainability of long-term drinking water solutions, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Technical assistance, planning, construction, repair, and operation and maintenance costs associated with replacing, blending, or treating contaminated drinking water or with fixing failing water systems. Technical assistance and planning costs may include, but are not limited to, analyses to identify, and efforts to further, opportunities to reduce the unit cost
of providing drinking water through organizational and operational efficiency improvements, system consolidation and service extension, implementation of new technology, and other options and approaches to reduce costs.
(B) Creating and maintaining natural means and green infrastructure solutions that contribute to sustainable drinking water.
(C) Consolidating water systems.
(D) Extending drinking water services to other public water systems, domestic wells, or state small water systems.
(E) The satisfaction of outstanding long-term debt obligations of public water systems where the board determines that a system’s lack of access to capital markets renders
this solution the most cost-effective for removing a financial barrier to the system’s sustainable, long-term provision of drinking water.
(3) Identifying and providing outreach to Californians who are eligible to receive assistance from the fund.
(4) Testing the drinking water quality of domestic wells serving low-income households, prioritizing those in high risk areas identified pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 116770).
(5) The provision of administrative and managerial services under Section 116686.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 11019 of the Government Code, the board may make advance payments as necessary to implement the purposes of this
chapter.
(d) The board may expend moneys from the fund for reasonable costs associated with administration of this chapter. Beginning July 1, 2022, the board may expend no more than 5 percent of the annual revenues deposited into the fund for reasonable costs associated with administration of this section.
(e) The board may undertake any of the following actions to implement the fund:
(1) Provide for the deposit of both of the following moneys into the fund:
(A) Federal contributions.
(B) Voluntary contributions, gifts, grants, or bequests.
(2) Enter into agreements for contributions to the fund from the federal government, local or state agencies, and private corporations or nonprofit organizations.
(3) Provide for appropriate audit, accounting, and fiscal management services, plans, and reports relative to the fund.
(4) Direct portions of the fund to a subset of eligible applicants as required or appropriate based on funding source and consistent with the annual fund implementation plan.
(5) Direct moneys deposited into the fund described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) towards a specific project, program, or study.
(6) Take additional action as may be appropriate for adequate administration
and operation of the fund.
(f) In administering the fund, the board shall make reasonable efforts to ensure both of the following:
(1) That funds are used to secure the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure, including, but not limited to, requiring adequate technical, managerial, and financial capacity of eligible applicants as part of funding agreement outcomes. Funding shall be prioritized to implement consolidations and service extensions when feasible, and administrative and managerial contracts or grants entered into pursuant to Section 116686 where applicable. Funds shall not be used to delay, prevent, or avoid the consolidation or extension of service to public water systems where it is feasible and the least-cost alternative. The board may
set appropriate requirements as a condition of funding, including, but not limited to, a system technical, managerial, or financial capacity audit, improvements to reduce costs and increase efficiencies, an evaluation of alternative treatment technologies, and a consolidation or service extension feasibility study. As a condition of funding, the board may require a domestic well with nitrate contamination where ongoing septic system failure may be causing or contributing to contamination of a drinking water source to conduct an investigation and project to address the septic system failure if adequate funding sources are identified and accessible.
(2) That funds are not used to subsidize large-scale nonpotable use, to the extent feasible.
(g) In administering the fund, the board
shall ensure that all moneys deposited into the fund from the safe drinking water fee for nondairy confined animal facilities, the fertilizer safe drinking water fee, or the dairy safe drinking water fee shall be used to address nitrate-related contamination issues.
(h) By January 1, 2025, the board shall conduct a public review and assessment of the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund and shall recommend to the Legislature a plan to address remaining needs. The plan shall address all of the following:
(1) The effectiveness of the fund in securing access to safe drinking water for all Californians, while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of drinking water service and infrastructure.
(2) How the fund has
been expended.
(3) An assessment of the remaining needs.
(4) Existing and potential sources of funding for the remaining needs.
(5) Recommendations for other actions to carry out the purposes of this chapter.
(i) By January 1, 2031, the board shall update the public review and assessment required by subdivision (h) and shall recommend to the Legislature a plan to address remaining needs after January 1, 2034.
(j) This chapter shall not be construed to limit either of the following:
(1) The board’s authority to order the provision
of administrative and managerial services pursuant to Section 116686 or any other authority that has been provided by the Legislature.
(2) The board’s authority to order consolidations, whether physical or operational, pursuant to Section 116682 or any other authority that has been provided by the Legislature.
(k) Neither the board nor any employee of the board may be held liable for any act that is necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The board or any authorized person shall not be deemed to have incurred or to be required to incur any obligation to provide additional funding or undertake additional action solely as a result of having undertaken an action pursuant to this chapter.
116769.
To ensure transparency and accountability the board shall do all of the following:(a) By July 1 of each year, publish on its Internet Web site a report of expenditures from the fund and a summary of progress made with respect to the implementation of this chapter.
(b) By July 1 of each odd-numbered year:
(1) Adopt, after a public hearing, an assessment of funding need, based on available data, that includes all of the following:
(A) Identification of systems and populations potentially in need of
assistance, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) A list of systems that consistently fail to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water. The list shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(I) Any public water system that consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.
(II) Any community water system that serves a disadvantaged community that must charge fees that exceed the affordability threshold established by the board in order to supply, treat, and distribute potable water that complies with federal and state drinking water standards.
(III) Any state small water system that consistently fails to provide
an adequate supply of safe drinking water.
(ii) A list of programs that assist, or that will assist, households supplied by a domestic well that consistently fails to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water. This list shall include the number and approximate location of households served by each program without identifying exact addresses or other personal information.
(iii) A list of public water systems and state small water systems that may be at risk of failing to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.
(iv) An estimate of the number of households that are served by domestic wells or state small water systems in high risk areas identified pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 116770). The
estimate shall identify approximate locations of households, without identifying exact addresses or other personal information, in order to identify potential target areas for outreach and assistance programs.
(B) An analysis of anticipated funding, per contaminant, needed for known projects, services, or programs by eligible applicants, consistent with the fund implementation plan, including any funding needed for existing long-term funding commitments from the fund. The board shall identify and consider other existing funding sources able to support any projects, services, or programs identified, including, but not limited to, local funding capacity, state or federal funding sources for capital projects, funding from responsible parties, and specialized funding sources contributing to the fund.
(C) An estimate of the funding needed for the next two fiscal years based on the amount available in the fund, anticipated funding needs, other existing funding sources, and other relevant data and information.
(2) (A) Adopt, after a public hearing, a fund implementation plan and policy handbook with priorities and guidelines for expenditures of the fund.
(B) The board shall work with stakeholders that include representatives of entities paying into the fund, public water systems, technical assistance providers, local agencies, nongovernmental organizations, residents served by community water systems in disadvantaged communities, state small water systems, and domestic wells, and the public, to
establish priorities and guidelines for the fund implementation plan and policy handbook.
(C) The adoption of a fund implementation plan and policy handbook and the implementation of the fund pursuant to the policy handbook are not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(D) The fund implementation plan and policy handbook shall contain a funding strategy for addressing the public health impacts from failing domestic wells and state small water systems and their long-term sustainability.
116769.5.
(a) Beginning July 1, 2022, the board may expend no more than 3 percent of the annual revenues deposited into the fund for the reasonable costs of administering(b) This article does not expand any obligation of the state
to provide resources for the provisions of this article or to require the expenditure of additional resources beyond the amount of revenue collected in the fund.
Article 4. Information on High Risk Areas
116770.
(a) (1) By January 1, 2020, 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.(2) The board shall make the map of high risk areas, as well as the data used to make the map, publicly accessible on its Internet Web site in a manner that does
not identify exact addresses or other personal information and that complies with the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code). The board shall notify local health officers and county planning agencies of high risk areas within their jurisdictions.
(b) (1) By January 1, 2020, a local health officer or other relevant local agency shall provide to the board all results of, and data associated with, water quality testing performed by certified laboratories for a state small water system or domestic well that was collected after January 1, 2014, and that is in the possession of the local health officer or other relevant local agency.
(2) By January 1, 2021, and by January 1 of
each year thereafter, all results of, and data associated with, water quality testing performed by a certified laboratory for a state small water system or domestic well that is submitted to a local health officer or other relevant local agency shall also be submitted directly to the board in electronic format.
(c) A map of high-risk areas developed pursuant to this article is not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
Article 5. Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Voluntary Remittances
116771.
(a) Beginning(b) A community water system shall recommend a voluntary remittance on each customer’s bill in the following specified amounts:
(1) For a customer with a water meter that is less than or equal to one inch in size, ninety-five cents ($0.95) one dollar ($1) per month.
(2) For a customer with a water meter that is greater than one inch and less than or equal to two inches in size, four dollars ($4)
per month.
(3) For a customer with a water meter that is greater than two inches and less than or equal to four inches in size, six dollars ($6) per month.
(4) For a customer of a water meter that is greater than four inches in size, ten dollars ($10) per month.
(5) For a customer without a water meter, ninety-five cents ($0.95) one dollar ($1) per month.
(c) A bill
community water system shall provide the opportunity for a customer to provide a voluntary remittance by either of the following methods:
(1) Each regular bill from a community water system shall name the voluntary remittance the “voluntary remittance to provide safe drinking water to disadvantaged communities.” The bill, in a visually accessible manner, using clear and unambiguous language, shall provide each customer the option of deducting the voluntary remittance from the bill if the customer elects not to pay the voluntary remittance, and shall include the opportunity in the bill to remit an alternative amount or nothing. A customer of a community
water system may remit, for the purposes of this section, nothing, the amount recommended pursuant to subdivision (b), or an alternative amount.
(2) A community water system shall provide annually at least two written notices to each customer that notify the customer that the recommended voluntary remittance will be added to the customer’s bills for one year unless the customer elects to pay nothing or an alternative amount. The community water system shall send the first notice at least 30 days before the second notice, and it shall send the second notice at least 30 days before adding the voluntary remittance to a customer bill. The notices shall include instructions for the customer to notify the community water system that the customer elects not to pay the voluntary remittance or elects to pay an alternative amount.
(d) The board, in consultation with the Association of California Water Agencies,
board shall develop and maintain a list of voluntary best practices associated with bill presentation, accounting, notifications, and collection of voluntary remittances. The board shall consult with the Association of California Water Agencies and other stakeholders. The best practices shall include, but are not limited to, the ability of a customer to obtain a refund subject to appropriate limitations, special consideration for low-income households, and the use of clear, readable, and unambiguous language in a visually accessible location on the bill.
(e) A community water system shall not sanction, take any enforcement
or collection action against, impose any late charge or penalty against, or otherwise hold liable, a customer in any manner for exercising the option to deduct the voluntary remittance from the bill, paying an alternative amount, or for otherwise paying or not paying a voluntary remittance described by this section.
(f) (1) A community water system shall collect the voluntary remittance from each customer that chooses to provide it and may retain an amount, as approved by the board, as reimbursement for the reasonable costs incurred by the community water system associated with the collection of the fee. The community water system shall remit the remainder of the amount collected to the board.
(2) Until July 1, 2021, the amount retained by
a community water system pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not exceed 4 percent of the amount collected, and, beginning July 1, 2021, the amount retained pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not exceed 2 percent of the amount collected.
(3) For a small community water system, reasonable community water system administrative cost reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) or 4 percent of the total revenue collected, whichever is more.
(f)
(g) At least two times per year, a community water system shall transfer to the board for
deposit into the fund all voluntary remittances received from its customers pursuant to this section since the last transfer.
