BILL NUMBER: AB 1531 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials
(Assembly Members Alejo (Chair), Gonzalez, McCarty, and Ting)
MARCH 23, 2015
An act to amend Sections 6103.4 and 53082.5 of the Government
Code, to amend Sections 116270, 116275, 116380, 116551, 116552,
116655, 116735, 116751, 116760.20, 116761.65, and 117125 of, to add
Sections 116365.03, 116701, and 116760.38 to, to repeal and add
Section 116761.70 of, and to repeal Sections 116293, 116365.5, and
116379 of, the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Sections 10735.4,
10735.6, 13176, 13177, 13177.5, 13177.6, 13178, 13181, 13275, 13285,
13304.1, 13392, 13392.5, 13393.5, 13400, 13426, 13476, 13480, and
79702 of, and to repeal Section 13331.2 of, the Water Code, relating
to water, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1531, as introduced, Committee on Environmental Safety and
Toxic Materials. State Water Resources Control Board.
(1) Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act (state
act), requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer
provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect
public health. The state board's duties include, but are not limited
to, conducting research, studies, and demonstration programs relating
to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water,
enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (federal act), and
adopting and enforcing regulations. Existing law requires the state
board to appoint a deputy director to oversee the issuance and
enforcement of public water system permits and delegates ceratin
authorities of the state board to the deputy director.
This bill would authorize the state board to adopt, as emergency
regulations, any regulation necessary to ensure consistency with the
requirements for state primacy enforcement responsibility under the
federal act. The bill would require that these emergency regulations
not be subject to review by the Office of Administrative Law and
remain in effect until revised by the state board.
The state act prohibits the state board from issuing a permit to a
public water system or amending a valid existing permit to allow the
use of point-of-use treatment unless the state board determines that
there is no community opposition to the installation of the
treatment device. The act also limits the issuance of this permit to
no more than 3 years or until funding for centralized treatment is
available, whichever occurs first.
This bill would also prohibit the use of point-of-entry treatment
absent that state board determination, and would delete the limits on
the duration of these permits. Additionally, the bill would
authorize the state board to adopt regulations, similar to those
previously authorized for adoption by the State Department of Public
Health, governing the use of point-of-entry and point-of-use
treatment by a public water system with less than 200 service
connections in lieu of centralized treatment where it can be
demonstrated that centralized treatment is not immediately
economically feasible.
The state act authorizes the deputy director to issue an order
directing certain actions whenever the deputy director determines
that a person has violated or is violating the act, or any permit,
regulation, or standard issued or adopted pursuant to the act. The
act authorizes an aggrieved party 30 days after service of a copy of
the order or decision to file with the superior court a petition for
a writ of mandate for review of the order or decision.
The bill would authorize, as an alternative to filing with the
superior court a petition for a writ of mandate and within 30 days of
issuance of an order or decision issued by the deputy director, an
aggrieved person to petition the state board for reconsideration and
would authorize the state board to refuse to reconsider the order or
decision, to deny the petition, or to set aside or modify the order
or decision, as specified.
The state act authorizes the state board to take certain actions
relating to the inspection of public water systems, including
inspecting and copying any records, reports, test results, or other
information required to carry out the provisions of the act. Existing
law makes it a crime for any person to knowingly commit certain
acts, including making a false statement or representation in any
application, record, report, or other document submitted, maintained,
or used for the purposes of compliance with the act or withholding
information requested by the state board regarding imminent and
substantial danger to the public health or safety, as specified.
This bill would require the owner of a public water system to
provide to the state board reports, test results, and other
information required to carry out the act within 5 business days of a
request from a duly authorized representative of the state board. To
the extent that a person knowingly makes a false statement or
representation on the information requested by the duly authorized
representative, this bill would expand the scope of a crime and
thereby impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that the
state act be construed to ensure consistency with the requirements
for states to obtain and maintain primary enforcement responsibility
for public water systems under the federal act.
(2) Existing law generally grants various powers to cities,
counties, and certain special districts, including the power to issue
bonds and incur indebtedness for certain purposes and subject to
certain restrictions. Existing law authorizes counties, cities, and
special districts that provide or intend to provide water treatment
facilities or services, subject to applicable constitutional
restrictions, to borrow money and incur indebtedness for purposes of
the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund.
Existing law, the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of
1997, continuously appropriates state and federal funds in the Safe
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to the State Water Resources
Control Board for grants or revolving fund loans for the design and
construction of projects for public water systems that will enable
those systems to meet safe drinking water standards. The revolving
fund law defines "public agency," for purposes of the act, to mean a
city, county, city and county, joint powers authority, or other
political subdivision of the state, that owns or operates a public
water system.
This bill would expand the definition of "public agency" to
include a municipality, as defined in the federal act. The bill would
extend the authorization to borrow money and incur indebtedness to
cities, counties, and special districts for purposes of the Safe
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
The revolving fund law requires the state board to annually
establish the interest rate for repayable financing made pursuant to
these provisions, as specified. The revolving fund law authorizes the
State Water Resources Control Board to undertake certain actions to
implement the revolving fund law, including engaging in the transfer
of capitalization grant funds, as specified. Existing law prohibits
more than 4% of the capitalization grant from being used by the state
board for administering the revolving fund law and authorizes the
state board to establish a reasonable schedule for administrative
fees to be paid by the grant applicant to reimburse the state for the
costs of the administration of these provisions.
The bill would delete the requirement that the state board
establish the interest rate annually and would instead authorize the
state board to adjust the interest rate periodically. The bill would
delete the prohibition against using more than 4% of the
capitalization grant for administrating the Safe Drinking Water
Revolving Fund Law and would delete the authorization permitting the
state board to establish a reasonable schedule for administrative
fees. The bill would instead create the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund Administrative Fund and would require moneys
transferred to pay for the costs incurred by the state board for
administering the act, moneys collected for financial assistance
services, and interest earned upon these moneys to be deposited into
the fund. The bill would authorize, where financial assistance is
made and is to be repaid to the state board, the state board to
assess an annual charge for financial assistance services, not to
exceed 1% of the financial assistance balance. The bill would make
moneys in the administration fund available to the state board, upon
appropriation by the Legislation, for payment of reasonable costs of
administering the fund. The bill would require the state board to set
the total amount of revenue that is collected each year though the
annual charge for financial assistance services at an amount that is
equal as practicable to the appropriation amount set forth in the
annual Budget Act. The bill would require, at least once each fiscal
year, the state board to adjust the financial assistance service
charge to conform with the annual Budget Act.
(3) Existing law generally prohibits the state, or a county, city,
district, or other political subdivision, or any public officer or
body acting in its official capacity on behalf of any of those
entities, from being required to pay any fee for the performance of
an official service. Existing law exempts from this provision any fee
or charge for official services required pursuant to specified
provisions of law relating to water use or water quality, including
the fees charged to public water systems under the California Safe
Drinking Water Act.
This bill would specifically exempt other provisions relating to
water use and water quality, including the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund Law of 1997 and provisions relating to
cross-connections of water users, water treatment devices, and
operator certification of water treatment plants and water
distribution systems.
(4) Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,
requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or
medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources that are
designated as basins subject to critical conditions of overdraft to
be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated
groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2020, and requires
all other groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority
basins to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or
coordinated groundwater sustainability plans by January 31, 2022,
except as specified. The act authorizes the state board to designate
a basin as a probationary basin if the state board makes a certain
determination and to develop an interim plan for the probationary
basin. The act requires a local agency or groundwater sustainability
agency to have 90 or 180 days, as prescribed, to remedy the
deficiency if the state board designates the basin as a probationary
basin.
This bill would provide a local agency or groundwater
sustainability agency 90 or 180 days, as prescribed, to remedy
certain deficiencies that caused the state board to designate the
basin as a probationary basin. This bill would authorize the state
board to develop an interim plan for certain probationary basins one
year after the designation of the basin as a probationary basin.
(5) Existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act,
establishes the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund program
pursuant to which state and federal funds are continuously
appropriated from the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund to
the state board for permissible purposes authorized by the federal
Clean Water Act or a federal capitalization grant deposited into the
fund, including loans and other financial assistance for the
construction of publicly owned treatment works by a municipality, the
implementation of a management program, the development and
implementation of a conservation and management plan, and other
related purposes in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act and
the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act.
This bill would instead require that moneys in the fund be used
only for purposes allowed by the federal Clean Water Act or a federal
grant, and would delete the specifications of the types of projects
and programs eligible for this financial assistance. By allowing
moneys in the fund to be used for purposes allowed by a federal
grant, thereby expanding the purposes for which moneys in a
continuously appropriated revolving fund may be expended, this bill
would make an appropriation.
Existing law requires the loans to meet certain criteria,
including full amortization not later than 20 years after project
completion, unless otherwise authorized by a federal capitalization
grant deposited into the fund. Existing law also authorizes loan
forgiveness to the extent it is authorized by a federal
capitalization grant deposited into the fund.
The bill would extend the loan amortization requirement to not
later than 30 years after project completion unless otherwise
authorized by a federal grant deposited in the fund and would
authorize loan forgiveness to the extent it is authorized by a
federal grant deposited into the fund without regard to whether it is
a capitalization grant.
Existing law also authorizes moneys in the fund to be used for
payment of the reasonable cost of administering the fund and
conducting certain activities relating to the federal Clean Water
Act. Existing law prohibits those costs from exceeding 4% of all
federal contributions into the fund except, if permitted by federal
and state law, interest payments into the fund and other moneys into
the fund are authorized to be used to defray additional
administrative and activity costs.
The bill would instead prohibit the costs used for administering
the fund and conducting the federal Clean Water Act activities from
exceeding 4% of all federal contributions in the fund, $400,000 per
year, or 1/5 of 1% per year of the current valuation of the fund,
whichever is greater, plus the amount of fees collected by the state
for these purposes, regardless of source.
(6) This bill would make various nonsubstantive changes, including
repealing obsolete provisions and updating cross-references.
(7) 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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 6103.4 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
6103.4. Section 6103 does not apply to any fee or charge for
official services required by Section 100860 of
any of the following:
(a) The Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Act (Article 3
(commencing with Section 100825) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division
101 of the Health and Safety Code).
(b) Article 3 (commencing with Section 106875) of Chapter 4 of
Part 1 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) The California Safe Drinking Water Act (Chapter 4 (commencing
with Section 116270) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and
Safety Code).
(d) The Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997
(Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 116760) of Part 12 of Division
104 of the Health and Safety Code).
(e) Article 2 (commencing
with Section 116800) and Article 3 (commencing with Section 116825)
of Chapter 5 of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and
Safety Code, or Part Code.
(f) Part 5 (commencing with
Section 4999) of Division 2, or Division 2 of
the Water Code.
(g) Division 7 (commencing with
Section 13000), 13000) of the Water
Code.
SEC. 2. Section 53082.5 of the Government Code is amended to read:
53082.5. Subject to all applicable constitutional restrictions, a
county, a city, or a special district that provides, or intends to
provide, wastewater treatment facilities or services may borrow money
and incur indebtedness pursuant to Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 116760) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety
Code or Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 13475) of Division
7 of the Water Code.
SEC. 3. Section 116270 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
116270. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Every citizen resident of
California has the right to pure and safe drinking water.
(b) Feasible and affordable technologies are available and shall
be used to remove toxic contaminants from public water supplies.
(c) According to the State Department of Health Services, over 95
percent of all large public water systems in California are in
compliance with health-based action levels established by the
department for various contaminants.
(d) It is the policy of the state to reduce to the lowest level
feasible all concentrations of toxic chemicals that
that, when present in drinking water
water, may cause cancer, birth defects, and
other chronic diseases.
(e) This chapter is intended to ensure that the water delivered
by public water systems of this state shall at all times be pure,
wholesome, and potable. This chapter provides the means to accomplish
this objective.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to improve laws governing
drinking water quality, to improve upon the minimum requirements of
the federal Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996, to establish
primary drinking water standards that are at least as stringent as
those established under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and to
establish a program under this chapter that is more protective of
public health than the minimum federal requirements.
(g) It is the further intent of the Legislature to establish a
drinking water regulatory program within the State
Department of Health Services in order state board
to provide for the orderly and efficient delivery of safe
drinking water within the state and to give the establishment of
drinking water standards and public health goals greater emphasis and
visibility within the state department.
state.
(h) This act shall be construed to ensure consistency with the
requirements for states to obtain and maintain primary enforcement
responsibility for public water systems under the federal Safe
Drinking Water Act and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary
thereto.
SEC. 4. Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
116275. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Contaminant" means any physical, chemical, biological, or
radiological substance or matter in water.
(b) "Department" means the State Department of Public
Health state board .
(c) "Primary drinking water standards" means:
(1) Maximum levels of contaminants that, in the judgment of the
department state board , may have an
adverse effect on the health of persons.
(2) Specific treatment techniques adopted by the
department state board in lieu of maximum
contaminant levels pursuant to subdivision (j) of Section 116365.
(3) The monitoring and reporting requirements as specified in
regulations adopted by the department state
board that pertain to maximum contaminant levels.
(d) "Secondary drinking water standards" means standards that
specify maximum contaminant levels that, in the judgment of the
department state board , are necessary
to protect the public welfare. Secondary drinking water standards may
apply to any contaminant in drinking water that may adversely affect
the odor or appearance of the water and may cause a substantial
number of persons served by the public water system to discontinue
its use, or that may otherwise adversely affect the public welfare.
Regulations establishing secondary drinking water standards may vary
according to geographic and other circumstances and may apply to any
contaminant in drinking water that adversely affects the taste, odor,
or appearance of the water when the standards are necessary to
ensure a supply of pure, wholesome, and potable water.
(e) "Human consumption" means the use of water for drinking,
bathing or showering, hand washing, oral hygiene, or cooking,
including, but not limited to, preparing food and washing dishes.
(f) "Maximum contaminant level" means the maximum permissible
level of a contaminant in water.
(g) "Person" means an individual, corporation, company,
association, partnership, limited liability company, municipality,
public utility, or other public body or institution.
(h) "Public water system" means a system for the provision of
water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed
conveyances that has 15 or more service connections or regularly
serves at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days out of the
year. A public water system includes the following:
(1) Any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution
facilities under control of the operator of the system that are used
primarily in connection with the system.
(2) Any collection or pretreatment storage facilities not under
the control of the operator that are used primarily in connection
with the system.
(3) Any water system that treats water on behalf of one or more
public water systems for the purpose of rendering it safe for human
consumption.
(i) "Community water system" means a public water system that
serves at least 15 service connections used by yearlong residents or
regularly serves at least 25 yearlong residents of the area served by
the system.
(j) "Noncommunity water system" means a public water system that
is not a community water system.
(k) "Nontransient noncommunity water system" means a public water
system that is not a community water system and that regularly serves
at least 25 of the same persons over six months per year.
( l ) "Local health officer" means a local health
officer appointed pursuant to Section 101000 or a local comprehensive
health agency designated by the board of supervisors pursuant to
Section 101275 to carry out the drinking water program.
(m) "Significant rise in the bacterial count of water" means a
rise in the bacterial count of water that the department
state board determines, by regulation,
represents an immediate danger to the health of water users.
(n) "State small water system" means a system for the provision of
piped water to the public for human consumption that serves at least
five, but not more than 14, service connections and does not
regularly serve drinking water to more than an average of 25
individuals daily for more than 60 days out of the year.
(o) "Transient noncommunity water system" means a noncommunity
water system that does not regularly serve at least 25 of the same
persons over six months per year.
(p) "User" means a person using water for domestic purposes. User
does not include a person processing, selling, or serving water or
operating a public water system.
(q) "Waterworks standards" means regulations adopted by the
department that take cognizance of the latest available
"Standards of Minimum Requirements for Safe Practice in the
Production and Delivery of Water for Domestic Use" adopted by the
California section of the American Water Works Association.
state board entitled "California Waterworks Standards" (Chapter
16 (commencing with Section 64551) of Division 4 of Title 22 of the
California Code of Regulations).
(r) "Local primacy agency" means a local health officer that has
applied for and received primacy delegation from the
department pursuant to Section 116330.
(s) "Service connection" means the point of connection between the
customer's piping or constructed conveyance, and the water system's
meter, service pipe, or constructed conveyance. A connection to a
system that delivers water by a constructed conveyance other than a
pipe shall not be considered a connection in determining if the
system is a public water system if any of the following apply:
(1) The water is used exclusively for purposes other than
residential uses, consisting of drinking, bathing, and
cooking cooking, or other similar uses.
(2) The department state board
determines that alternative water to achieve the equivalent level of
public health protection provided by the applicable primary drinking
water regulation is provided for residential or similar uses for
drinking and cooking.
(3) The department state board
determines that the water provided for residential or similar uses
for drinking, cooking, and bathing is centrally treated or treated at
the point of entry by the provider, a passthrough entity, or the
user to achieve the equivalent level of protection provided by the
applicable primary drinking water regulations.
(t) "Resident" means a person who physically occupies, whether by
ownership, rental, lease, or other means, the same dwelling for at
least 60 days of the year.
(u) "Water treatment operator" means a person who has met the
requirements for a specific water treatment operator grade pursuant
to Section 106875.
(v) "Water treatment operator-in-training" means a person who has
applied for and passed the written examination given by the
department state board but does not yet meet the
experience requirements for a specific water treatment operator
grade pursuant to Section 106875.
(w) "Water distribution operator" means a person who has met the
requirements for a specific water distribution operator grade
pursuant to Section 106875.
(x) "Water treatment plant" means a group or assemblage of
structures, equipment, and processes that treats, blends, or
conditions the water supply of a public water system for the purpose
of meeting primary drinking water standards.
(y) "Water distribution system" means any combination of pipes,
tanks, pumps, and other physical features that deliver water from the
source or water treatment plant to the consumer.
(z) "Public health goal" means a goal established by the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment pursuant to subdivision (c)
of Section 116365.
(aa) "Small community water system" means a community water system
that serves no more than 3,300 service connections or a yearlong
population of no more than 10,000 persons.
(ab) "Disadvantaged community" means the entire service area of a
community water system, or a community therein, in which the median
household income is less than 80 percent of the statewide average.
(ac) "State board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(ad) "Deputy director" means the deputy director appointed by the
state board pursuant to subdivision (k) of Section 116271.
SEC. 5. Section 116293 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
116293. (a) On January 1, 2003, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment shall perform a risk assessment and, based
upon that risk assessment, shall adopt a public health goal based
exclusively on public health consideration for perchlorate using the
criteria set forth in subdivision (c) of Section 116365.
(b) On or before January 1, 2004, the department shall adopt a
primary drinking water standard for perchlorate found in public water
systems in California in a manner that is consistent with this
chapter.
SEC. 6. Section 116365.03 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
116365.03. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, and except as
provided in subdivision (b), the state board may adopt, as an
emergency regulation in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code, any regulation that is necessary to ensure consistency with the
requirements for state primacy enforcement responsibility under the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300f et seq.). The
adoption of the regulation is an emergency and shall be considered by
the Office of Administrative Law as necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, safety, and general
welfare.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 116377, an emergency regulation
adopted by the state board pursuant to this section is not subject to
review by the Office of Administrative Law and shall remain in
effect until revised by the state board.
SEC. 7. Section 116365.5 of the Health and Safety Code is
repealed.
116365.5. (a) The Department of Health Services shall commence
the process for adopting a primary drinking water standard for
hexavalent chromium that complies with the criteria established under
Section 116365.
(b) The department shall report to the Legislature on its
progress in developing a primary drinking standard for hexavalent
chromium by January 1, 2003.
(c) The department shall establish a primary drinking water
standard for hexavalent chromium on or before January 1, 2004.
SEC. 8. Section 116379 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
116379. Notwithstanding Sections 116360, 116375, and 116450,
public water systems are not required to observe the standards of
subdivision (f) of Section 64435 of Title 22 of the California Code
of Regulations.
SEC. 9. Section 116380 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
116380. (a) In addition to the requirements set forth in Section
116375, the regulations adopted by the department
state board pursuant to Section 116375 shall
may include requirements governing the use of
point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment by public water systems
with less than 200 service connections in lieu of
centralized treatment where it can be demonstrated that centralized
treatment is not immediately economically feasible, limited
to the following: feasible.
(1) Water systems with less than 200 service connections.
(2) Usage allowed under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and
its implementing regulations and guidance.
(3) Water systems that have submitted preapplications with the
State Department of Public Health for funding to correct the
violations for which the point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment is
provided.
(b) The department shall adopt emergency regulations governing the
permitted use of point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment by public
water systems in lieu of centralized treatment.
(1)
(b) The emergency regulations shall
comply with Section 116552 , and shall comply with all of
and the requirements set forth in subdivision
(a) applicable to nonemergency regulations
(a) , but shall not be subject to the rulemaking provisions of
the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code). The emergency regulations shall take effect
when filed with the Secretary of State, and shall be published in
the California Code of Regulations.
(2) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this subdivision
shall remain in effect until the earlier of January 1, 2014, or the
effective date of regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a).
SEC. 10. Section 116551 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
116551. The department shall not issue a permit to a public water
system or amend a valid existing permit for the use of a reservoir
as a source of supply that is directly augmented with recycled water,
as defined in subdivision (n) of Section 13050 of the Water Code,
unless the department does all of the following:
(a) Performs an engineering evaluation that evaluates the
proposed treatment technology and finds that the proposed technology
will ensure that the recycled water meets or exceeds
all applicable primary and secondary drinking water
standards and poses no significant threat to public health.
(b) Holds at least three duly noticed public hearings in the area
where the recycled water is proposed to be used or supplied for
human consumption to receive public testimony on that proposed use.
The department shall make available to the public, not less than 10
days prior to the date of the first hearing held pursuant to this
subdivision, the evaluations and findings made pursuant to
subdivision (a).
SEC. 11. Section 116552 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
116552. The department state board
shall not issue a permit to a public water system or amend a valid
existing permit to allow the use of point-of-use or
point-of-entry treatment unless the department
state board determines, after conducting a
public hearing in the community served by the public water system,
that there is no substantial community opposition to the installation
of point-of-use the treatment devices.
The issuance of a permit pursuant to this section shall be
limited to not more than three years or until funding for centralized
treatment is available, whichever occurs first.
SEC. 12. Section 116655 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
116655. (a) Whenever the department
state board determines that any person has violated or is
violating this chapter, or any order, permit, regulation,
or standard issued or adopted pursuant to this chapter, the
director state board may issue an order doing
any of the following:
(1) Directing compliance forthwith.
(2) Directing compliance in accordance with a time schedule set
by the department state board .
(3) Directing that appropriate preventive action be taken in the
case of a threatened violation.
(b) An order issued pursuant to this section may include, but
shall not be limited to, any or all of the following requirements:
(1) That the existing plant, works, or system be repaired,
altered, or added to.
(2) That purification or treatment works be installed.
(3) That the source of the water supply be changed.
(4) That no additional service connection be made to the system.
(5) That the water supply, the plant, or the system be monitored.
(6) That a report on the condition and operation of the plant,
works, system, or water supply be submitted to the
department state board .
SEC. 13. Section 116701 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
116701. (a) Within 30 days of issuance of an order or decision
issued by the deputy director under Article 8 (commencing with
Section 116625) or Article 9 (commencing with Section 116650), an
aggrieved person, as an alternative to Section 116700, may petition
the state board for reconsideration.
(b) The petition shall include the name and address of the
petitioner, a copy of the order or decision for which the petitioner
seeks reconsideration, identification of the reason the petitioner
alleges the issuance of the order was inappropriate or improper, the
specific action the petitioner requests, and other information as the
state board may prescribe. The petition shall be accompanied by a
statement of points and authorities of the legal issues raised by the
petition.
(c) The evidence before the state board shall consist of the
record before the deputy director and any other relevant evidence
that, in the judgment of the state board, should be considered to
implement the policies of this chapter. The state board may, in its
discretion, hold a hearing for receipt of additional evidence.
(d) The state board may refuse to reconsider the order or decision
if the petition fails to raise substantial issues that are
appropriate for review, may deny the petition upon a determination
that the issuance of the order or decision was appropriate and
proper, may set aside or modify the order or decision, or take other
appropriate action. The state board's action pursuant to this
subdivision shall constitute the state board's completion of its
reconsideration.
(e) The state board, upon notice and hearing, if a hearing is
held, may stay in whole or in part the effect of the order or
decision of the deputy director.
SEC. 14. Section 116735 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
116735. (a) (1) In order to carry out the
purposes of this chapter, any duly authorized representative of the
department state board may, at any
reasonable hour of the day, do any of the following:
(1)
(A) Enter and inspect any public water system or any
place where the public water system records are stored, kept, or
maintained.
(2)
(B) Inspect and copy any records, reports, test
results, or other information required to carry out this chapter.
(3)
(C) Set up and maintain monitoring equipment for
purposes of assessing compliance with this chapter.
(4)
(D) Obtain samples of the water supply.
(5)
(E) Photograph any portion of the system, any activity,
or any sample taken.
(2) An owner of a public water system shall provide to the state
board reports, test results, and other information required to carry
out this chapter within five business days of a request for the
records from a duly authorized representative of the state board.
(b) The department state board shall
inspect each public water system as follows:
(1) A system with any surface water source with treatment shall be
inspected annually.
(2) A system with any groundwater source subject to treatment with
only groundwater sources shall be inspected biennially.
(3) A system with only groundwater sources not subject to
treatment shall be inspected every three years.
(c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the department
state board from inspecting public water
systems on a more frequent basis. An opportunity shall be provided
for a representative of the public water system to accompany the
representative of the department state board
during the inspection of the water system.
(d) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to prevent,
interfere with, or attempt to impede in any way any duly authorized
representative of the department state board
from undertaking the activities authorized by paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a). A person who violates paragraph
(2) of subdivision (a) shall be subject to the provisions of Section
116730, as applicable.
SEC. 15. Section 116751 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
116751. The Department of Fish and Game may
Wildlife shall not introduce a poison to a drinking water
supply for purposes of fisheries management unless the State
Department of Health Services state board
determines that the activity will not have a permanent adverse impact
on the quality of the drinking water supply or wells connected to
the drinking water supply. In making this determination, the
State Department of Health Services state board
shall evaluate the short- and long-term health effects of the poison
in drinking water, ensure that an alternative supply of drinking
water is provided to the users of the drinking water supply while the
activity takes place, and, in cooperation with the Department of
Fish and Game Wildlife , develop and
implement a monitoring program to ensure that no detectable residuals
of the poison, breakdown products, and other components of the
poison formulation remain in the drinking water supply or adjoining
wells after the activity is completed.
SEC. 16. Section 116760.20 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
116760.20. (a) Unless the
context otherwise requires, the following definitions govern the
construction of this chapter:
(1)
(a) "Acceptable result" means the project that, when
constructed, solves the problem for which the project was placed on
the project priority list, ensures the owner and operator of the
improved or restructured public water system shall have long term
technical, managerial, and financial capacity to operate and maintain
the public water system in compliance with state and federal safe
drinking water standards, can provide a dependable source of safe
drinking water long term, and is both short-term and long-term
affordable, as determined by the board.
(b) "Administrative fund" means the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund Administration Fund created by Section 116761.70.
(2)
(c) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control
Board.
(3)
(d) "Cost-effective" means achieves an acceptable
result at the most reasonable cost.
(4)
(e) "Disadvantaged community" means a community that
meets the definition provided in Section 116275.
(5)
(f) "Federal Safe Drinking Water Act" or "federal act"
means the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300f et
seq.) and acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto.
(6)
(g) "Fund" means the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund created by Section 116760.30.
(7)
(h) "Financing" means financial assistance awarded under
this chapter, including loans, refinancing, installment sales
agreements, purchase of debt, loan guarantees for municipal revolving
funds, and grants.
(8)
(i) "Matching funds" means state money that equals that
percentage of federal contributions required by the federal act to
be matched with state funds.
(9)
(j) "Project" means cost-effective facilities for the
construction, improvement, or rehabilitation of a public water
system. It also may include the planning and design of the
facilities, annexation or consolidation of water systems, source
water assessments, source water protection, and other activities
specified under the federal act.
(10)
(k) "Public agency" means any city, county, city and
county, whether general law or chartered, district, joint powers
authority, or other political subdivision of the state, that owns or
operates a public water system , or any municipality, as
that term is defined in the federal act .
(11)
(l) "Public water system" or "public water supply
system" means a system for the provision to the public of water for
human consumption, as defined in Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 116270) Section 116275 .
(12)
(m) "Safe drinking water standards" means those
standards established pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
116270), as they may now or hereafter be amended.
(13)
(n) "Severely disadvantaged community" means a
community with a median household income of less than 60 percent of
the statewide average.
(14)
(o) "Small community water system" has the meaning set
forth in Section 116275.
(15)
(p) "Supplier" means any person, partnership,
corporation, association, public agency, or other entity that owns or
operates a public water system.
(b) This section shall become operative on January 1 of the next
calendar year occurring after the board provides notice to the
Legislature and the Secretary of State and posts notice on its
Internet Web site that the board has adopted a policy handbook
pursuant to Section 116760.43.
SEC. 17. Section 116760.38 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
116760.38. Subject to all applicable constitutional restrictions,
a city, county, or special district may borrow money and incur
indebtedness pursuant to this chapter.
SEC. 18. Section 116761.65 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
116761.65. (a) The board shall annually
establish , and may periodically adjust, the interest rate
for repayable financing made pursuant to this chapter at a rate not
to exceed 50 percent of the average interest rate, computed by the
true interest cost method, paid by the state on general obligation
bonds issued in the prior calendar year, rounded up to the closest
one-tenth of 1 percent.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if the financing is for a
public water system that serves a disadvantaged community with a
financial hardship as determined by the board or if the financing is
for a public water system that provides matching funds, the interest
rate shall be 0 percent.
(c) This section shall become operative on January 1 of the next
calendar year occurring after the board provides notice to the
Legislature and the Secretary of State and posts notice on its
Internet Web site that the board has adopted a policy handbook
pursuant to Section 116760.43.
SEC. 19. Section 116761.70 of the Health and Safety Code is
repealed.
116761.70. (a) Not more than 4 percent of the capitalization
grant may be used by the board for administering this chapter. The
board may establish a reasonable schedule of administrative fees that
shall be paid by the applicant to reimburse the state for the costs
of the state administration of this chapter.
(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2014.
SEC. 20. Section 116761.70 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
116761.70. (a) The Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
Administration Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury.
(b) The following moneys shall be deposited into the
administration fund:
(1) Moneys transferred to pay the costs incurred by the state
board in connection with the administration of this chapter.
(2) The amounts collected for financial assistance services
pursuant to subdivision (c).
(3) Notwithstanding Section 16475 of the Government Code, any
interest earned upon the moneys in the fund.
(c) (1) For financial assistance made pursuant to this chapter,
where that financial assistance is to be repaid to the state board,
the state board may assess an annual charge for financial assistance
services with regard to the financial assistance, not to exceed one
percent of the financial assistance balance, computed according to
the true interest cost method.
(2) The financial assistance service rate authorized by this
subdivision may be applied at any time during the term of the
financial assistance, and once applied, shall remain unchanged for
the duration of the financial assistance and shall not increase the
financial assistance repayment amount, as set forth in the terms and
conditions imposed pursuant to this chapter.
(d) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the
administration fund may be expended by the state board for payment of
the reasonable costs of administering the fund.
(e) The state board shall set the total amount of revenue
collected each year through the charge authorized by subdivision (c)
at an amount that is equal as practicable to the appropriation amount
set forth in the annual Budget Act for this activity. At least once
each fiscal year, the state board shall adjust the financial
assistance service charge imposed pursuant to subdivision (c) to
conform with the appropriation amount set forth in the annual Budget
Act.
SEC. 21. Section 117125 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
117125. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Department of Fish and Game
Wildlife may stock with fish any body of water opened to public
fishing pursuant to this article.
SEC. 22. Section 10735.4 of the Water Code is amended to read:
10735.4. (a) If the board designates a basin as a probationary
basin pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) (1),
(2), or (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 10735.2, a local
agency or groundwater sustainability agency shall have 180 days to
remedy the deficiency. The board may appoint a mediator or other
facilitator, after consultation with affected local agencies, to
assist in resolving disputes, and identifying and implementing
actions that will remedy the deficiency.
(b) After the 180-day period provided by subdivision (a), the
board may provide additional time to remedy the deficiency if it
finds that a local agency is making substantial progress toward
remedying the deficiency.
(c) The board may develop an interim plan pursuant to Section
10735.8 for the probationary basin at the end of the period provided
by subdivision (a) or any extension provided pursuant to subdivision
(b), if the board, in consultation with the department, determines
that a local agency has not remedied the deficiency that resulted in
designating the basin as a probationary basin.
SEC. 23. Section 10735.6 of the Water Code is amended to read:
10735.6. (a) If the board designates a basin as a probationary
basin pursuant to paragraph (3) or (5) of subdivision (a)
of Section 10735.2, the board shall identify the specific
deficiencies and identify potential actions to address the
deficiencies. The board may request the department to provide local
agencies, within 90 days of the designation of a probationary basin,
with technical recommendations to remedy the deficiencies.
(b) The board may develop an interim plan pursuant to Section
10735.8 for the probationary basin one year after the designation of
the basin pursuant to paragraph (3) or (5) of subdivision
(a) of Section 10735.2, if the board, in consultation with the
department, determines that a local agency has not remedied the
deficiency that resulted in designating the basin a probationary
basin.
SEC. 24. Section 13176 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13176. (a) (1) The analysis of any material
required by this division shall be performed by a laboratory that
has accreditation or certification pursuant to Article 3 (commencing
with Section 100825) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 101 of the
Health and Safety Code. This
(2) This requirement does not
apply to field tests, such as tests for color, odor, turbidity, pH,
temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and disinfectant
residual.
(b) A person or public entity of the state shall not contract with
a laboratory for environmental analyses for which the State
Department of Public Health requires required by
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) unless the laboratory has valid
accreditation or certification pursuant to this
chapter, unless the laboratory holds a valid certification or
accreditation .
SEC. 25. Section 13177 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13177. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state
board continue to implement the California State Mussel Watch
Program.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that the California State
Mussel Watch Program provides the following benefits to the people of
the state:
(1) An effective method for monitoring the long-term effects of
certain toxic substances in selected fresh, estuarine, and marine
waters.
(2) An important element in the state board's comprehensive water
quality monitoring strategy.
(3) Identification, on an annual basis
basis, of specific areas where concentrations of toxic
substances are higher than normal.
(4) Valuable information to guide the state and regional boards
and other public and private agencies in efforts to protect water
quality.
(c) To the extent funding is appropriated for this purpose, the
state board, in conjunction with the Department of Fish and
Game Wildlife , shall continue to implement the
long-term coastal monitoring program known as the California State
Mussel Watch Program. The program may consist of, but is not limited
to, the following elements:
(1) Removal of mussels, clams, and other aquatic organisms from
relatively clean coastal sites and placing them in sampling sites.
For purposes of this section, "sampling sites" means selected waters
of concern to the state board and the Department of Fish and
Game Wildlife .
(2) After specified exposure periods at the sampling sites,
removal of the aquatic organisms for analysis.
(3) Laboratory analysis of the removed aquatic organisms to
determine the amounts of various toxic substances that may have
accumulated in the bodies of the aquatic organisms.
(4) Making available both the short- and long-term results of the
laboratory analysis to appropriate public and private agencies and
the public.
SEC. 26. Section 13177.5 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13177.5. (a) The state board, in consultation with the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, shall develop a comprehensive
coastal monitoring and assessment program for sport fish and
shellfish, to be known as the Coastal Fish Contamination Program. The
program shall identify and monitor chemical contamination in coastal
fish and shellfish and assess the health risks of consumption of
sport fish and shellfish caught by consumers.
(b) The state board shall consult with the Department of Fish and
Game Wildlife , the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and regional water quality
control boards with jurisdiction over territory along the coast, to
determine chemicals, sampling locations, and the species to be
collected under the program. The program developed by the state board
shall include all of the following:
(1) Screening studies to identify coastal fishing areas where fish
species have the potential for accumulating chemicals that pose
significant health risks to human consumers of sport fish and
shellfish.
(2) The assessment of at least 60 screening study monitoring sites
and 120 samples in the first five years of the program and an
assessment of additional screening study sites as time and resources
permit.
(3) Comprehensive monitoring and assessment of fishing areas
determined through screening studies to have a potential for
significant human health risk and a reassessment of these areas every
five years.
(c) Based on existing fish contamination data, the state board
shall designate a minimum of 40 sites as fixed sampling locations for
the ongoing monitoring effort.
(d) The state board shall contract with the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to prepare comprehensive
health risk assessments for sport fish and shellfish monitored in the
program. The assessments shall be based on the data collected by the
program and information on fish consumption and food preparation.
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, within 18
months of the completion of a comprehensive study for each area by
the state board, shall submit to the board a draft health risk
assessment report for that area. Those health risk assessments shall
be updated following the reassessment of areas by the board.
(e) The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment shall
issue health advisories when the office determines that consuming
certain fish or shellfish presents a significant health risk. The
advisories shall contain information for the public, and particularly
the population at risk, concerning health risks from the consumption
of the fish or shellfish. The office shall notify the appropriate
county health officers, the State Department of Public
Health Services , and the Department of Fish and
Game, prior to Wildlife before the
issuance of a health advisory. The notification shall provide
sufficient information for the purpose of posting signage. The office
shall urge county health officers to conspicuously post health
warnings in areas where contaminated fish or shellfish may be caught
including piers, commercial passenger fishing vessels, and shore
areas where fishing occurs. The Department of Fish and Game
Wildlife shall publish the office's health
warnings in its Sport Fishing Regulations Booklet.
SEC. 27. Section 13177.6 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13177.6. To the extent funding is appropriated for this purpose,
the state board, in consultation with the Department of Fish and
Game Wildlife and Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, shall perform a monitoring
study to reassess the geographic boundaries of the commercial fish
closure off the Palos Verdes Shelf. The reassessment shall include
collection and analysis of white croaker caught on the Palos Verdes
Shelf, within three miles south of the Shelf, and within San Pedro
Bay. Based on the results of the reassessment, the Department of Fish
and Game Wildlife , with guidance from
the Office of the Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, shall
redelineate, if necessary, the commercial fish closure area to
protect the health of consumers of commercially caught white croaker.
The sample collection and analysis shall be conducted within 18
months of the enactment of this section and the reassessment of the
health risk shall be conducted within 18 months of the completion of
the analysis of the samples.
SEC. 28. Section 13178 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13178. (a) (1) On
or before June 30, 2001, the The state board, in
conjunction with the State Department of Public Health
Services and a panel of experts established by the
state board, shall develop source investigation protocols for use in
conducting source investigations of storm drains that produce
exceedences of bacteriological standards established pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code. The
protocols shall be based upon the experiences drawn from previous
source investigations performed by the state board, regional boards,
or other agencies, and other available data. The protocols shall
include methods for identifying the location and biological origins
of sources of bacteriological contamination, and, at a minimum, shall
require source investigations if bacteriological standards are
exceeded in any three weeks of a four-week period, or, for areas
where testing is done more than once a week, 75 percent of testing
days that produce an exceedence of those standards.
(2)
(b) The development of source investigation protocols
pursuant to paragraph (1) subdivision (a)
is not subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340)
of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(b) On or before December 1, 2001, the state board, in conjunction
with the State Department of Health Services, shall report to the
Legislature on the methods by which it intends to conduct source
investigations of storm drains that produce exceedences of
bacteriological standards established pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code. Factors to be addressed
in the report shall include the approximate number of public beaches
expected to be affected by the exceedence of bacteriological
standards established pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 115880
of the Health and Safety Code, as well as the costs expected for
source investigation of the storm drains affecting those public
beaches. The report shall include a timeline for completion of source
investigations.
SEC. 29. Section 13181 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13181. (a) (1) On or before December 1, 2007, the California
Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources
Agency shall enter into a memorandum of understanding for the
purposes of establishing the California Water Quality Monitoring
Council, which shall be administered by the state board.
(2) As used in this section, "monitoring council" means the
California Water Quality Monitoring Council established pursuant to
this section.
(3) The monitoring council may include representatives from state
entities and nonstate entities. The representatives from nonstate
entities may include, but need not be limited to, representatives
from federal and local government, institutions of higher education,
the regulated community, citizen monitoring groups, and other
interested parties.
(4) The monitoring council shall review existing water quality
monitoring, assessment, and reporting efforts, and shall recommend
specific actions and funding needs necessary to coordinate and
enhance those efforts.
(5) (A) The recommendations shall be prepared for the ultimate
development of a cost-effective, coordinated, integrated, and
comprehensive statewide network for collecting and disseminating
water quality information and ongoing assessments of the health of
the state's waters and the effectiveness of programs to protect and
improve the quality of those waters.
(B) For purposes of developing recommendations pursuant to this
section, the monitoring council shall initially focus on the water
quality monitoring efforts of state agencies, including, but not
limited to, the state board, the regional boards, the department, the
Department of Fish and Game Wildlife ,
the California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission, the
Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection, and the Department of Pesticide
Regulation, and the State Department of Health Services
Regulation .
(C) In developing the recommendations, the monitoring council
shall seek to build upon existing programs rather than create new
programs.
(6) Among other things, the memorandum of understanding shall
describe the means by which the monitoring council shall formulate
recommendations to accomplish both of the following:
(A) Reduce redundancies, inefficiencies, and inadequacies in
existing water quality monitoring and data management programs in
order to improve the effective delivery of sound, comprehensive water
quality information to the public and decisionmakers.
(B) Ensure that water quality improvement projects financed by the
state provide specific information necessary to track project
effectiveness with regard to achieving clean water and healthy
ecosystems.
(b) The monitoring council shall report, on or before December 1,
2008, to the California Environmental Protection Agency and the
Natural Resources Agency with regard to its recommendations for
maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of existing water
quality data collection and dissemination, and for ensuring that
collected data are maintained and available for use by decisionmakers
and the public. The monitoring council shall consult with the United
States Environmental Protection Agency in preparing these
recommendations. The monitoring council's recommendations, and any
responses submitted by the California Environmental Protection Agency
or the Natural Resources Agency to those recommendations,
shall be made available to decisionmakers and the public by means of
the Internet.
(c) The monitoring council shall undertake and complete, on or
before April 1, 2008, a survey of its members to develop an inventory
of their existing water quality monitoring and data collection
efforts statewide and shall make that information available to the
public.
(d) All state agencies, including institutions of higher education
to the extent permitted by law, that collect water quality data or
information shall cooperate with the California Environmental
Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency in
achieving the goals of the monitoring council as described in this
section.
(e) In accordance with the requirements of the Clean Water Act (33
U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.) and implementing guidance, the state board
shall develop, in coordination with the monitoring council, all of
the following:
(1) A comprehensive monitoring program strategy that utilizes and
expands upon the state's existing statewide, regional, and other
monitoring capabilities and describes how the state will develop an
integrated monitoring program that will serve all of the state's
water quality monitoring needs and address all of the state's waters
over time. The strategy shall include a timeline not to exceed 10
years to complete implementation. The strategy shall be comprehensive
in scope and identify specific technical, integration, and resource
needs, and shall recommend solutions for those needs so that the
strategy may be implemented within the 10-year timeframe.
(2) Agreement, including agreement on a schedule, with regard to
the comprehensive monitoring of statewide water quality protection
indicators that provide a basic minimum understanding of the health
of the state's waters. Indicators already developed pursuant to
environmental protection indicators for statewide initiatives shall
be given high priority as core indicators for purposes of the network
described in subdivision (a).
(3) Quality management plans and quality assurance plans that
ensure the validity and utility of the data collected.
(4) Methodology for compiling, analyzing, and integrating readily
available information, to the maximum extent feasible, including, but
not limited to, data acquired from discharge reports, volunteer
monitoring groups, local, state, and federal agencies, and recipients
of state-funded or federally funded water quality improvement or
restoration projects.
(5) An accessible and user-friendly electronic data system with
timely data entry and ready public access via the Internet. To the
maximum extent possible, the geographic location of the areas
monitored shall be included in the data system.
(6) Production of timely and complete water quality reports and
lists that are required under Sections 303(d), 305(b), 314, and 319
of the Clean Water Act and Section 406 of the Beaches Environmental
Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000, that include all available
information from discharge reports, volunteer monitoring groups, and
local, state, and federal agencies.
(7) An update of the state board's surface water ambient
monitoring program needs assessment in light of the benefits of
increased coordination and integration of information from other
agencies and information sources. This update shall include
identification of current and future resource needs required to fully
implement the coordinated, comprehensive monitoring network,
including, but not limited to, funding, staff, training, laboratory
and other resources, and projected improvements in the network.
(f) The state board shall identify the full costs of
implementation of the comprehensive monitoring program strategy
developed pursuant to subdivision (e), and shall identify proposed
sources of funding for the implementation of the strategy, including
federal funds that may be expended for this purpose. Fees collected
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 13260 may be
used as a funding source for implementation of the strategy to the
extent that the funding is consistent with subparagraph (B) of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 13260.
(g) Data, summary information, and reports prepared pursuant to
this section shall be made available to appropriate public agencies
and the public by means of the Internet.
(h) (1) Commencing December 1, 2008, the Secretary of the
California Environmental Protection Agency shall conduct a triennial
audit of the effectiveness of the monitoring program strategy
developed pursuant to subdivision (e). The audit shall include, but
need not be limited to, an assessment of the following matters:
(A) The extent to which the strategy has been implemented.
(B) The effectiveness of the monitoring and assessment program and
the monitoring council with regard to both of the following:
(i) Tracking improvements in water quality.
(ii) Evaluating the overall effectiveness of programs administered
by the state board or a regional board and of state and federally
funded water quality improvement projects.
(2) The Secretary of the California Environmental Protection
Agency shall consult with the Secretary of the Natural
Resources Agency in preparing the audit, consistent with the
memorandum of understanding entered into pursuant to subdivision (a).
(i) The state board shall prioritize the use of federal funding
that may be applied to monitoring, including, but not limited to,
funding under Section 106 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,
for the purpose of implementing this section.
(j) The state board shall not use more than 5 percent of the funds
made available to implement this section for the administrative
costs of any contracts entered into for the purpose of implementing
this section.
SEC. 30. Section 13275 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13275. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a public water system
regulated by the State Department of Public Health
state board pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
116270) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code
shall have the same legal rights and remedies against a
responsible party, when the water supply used by that public water
system is contaminated, as those of a private land owner whose
groundwater has been contaminated.
(b) For purposes of this section, "responsible party" has the same
meaning as defined in Section 25323.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
SEC. 31. Section 13285 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13285. (a) A discharge from a storage tank, pipeline, or other
container of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), or of any pollutant
that contains MTBE, that poses a threat to drinking water, or to
groundwater or surface water that may reasonably be used for drinking
water, or to coastal waters shall be cleaned up to a level
consistent with subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 25296.10 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(b) (1) A public water system, or its customers, shall not be
responsible for remediation or treatment costs associated with MTBE,
or a product that contains MTBE. However, the public water system
may, as necessary, incur MTBE remediation and treatment costs and
include those costs in its customer rates and charges that are
necessary to comply with drinking water standards or directives of
the State Department of Public Health state
board or other lawful authority. Any A
public water system that incurs MTBE remediation or treatment
costs may seek recovery of those costs from parties responsible for
the MTBE contamination, or from other available alternative sources
of funds.
(2) If the public water system has included the costs of MTBE
treatment and remediation in its customer rates and charges, and
subsequently recovers all, or a portion of, its MTBE treatment and
remediation costs from responsible parties or other available
alternative sources of funds, it shall make an adjustment to its
schedule of rates and charges to reflect the amount of funding
received from responsible parties or other available alternative
sources of funds for MTBE treatment or remediation.
(3) Paragraph (1) does not prevent the imposition of liability on
any person for the discharge of MTBE if that liability is due to the
conduct or status of that person independently of whether the person
happens to be a customer of the public water system.
SEC. 32. Section 13304.1 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13304.1. (a) A groundwater cleanup system that commences
operation on or after January 1, 2002, and that is required to obtain
a discharge permit from the regional board pursuant to the regional
board's jurisdiction, and that discharges treated groundwater to
surface water or groundwater, shall treat the groundwater to
standards approved by the regional board, consistent with this
division and taking into account the beneficial uses of the receiving
water and the location of the discharge and the method by which the
discharge takes place.
(b) In making its determination of the applicable water quality
standards to be achieved by the operator of a groundwater cleanup
system that commences operation on or after January 1, 2002, that
draws groundwater from an aquifer that is currently being used, or
has been used at any time since 1979 as a source of drinking water
supply by the owner or operator of a public water system, and that
discharges treated groundwater to surface water or groundwater from
which a public water system draws drinking water, the regional board
shall consult with the affected groundwater management entity, if
any, affected public water systems, and the State Department
of Public Health state board to ensure that the
discharge, spreading, or injection of the treated groundwater will
not adversely affect the beneficial uses of any groundwater basin or
surface water body that is or may be used by a public water system
for the provision of drinking water.
SEC. 33. Section 13331.2 of the Water Code is repealed.
13331.2. The provisions of Assembly Bill 3036 of the 1995-96
Regular Session, which, among other things, amended provisions of
this chapter, do not apply to any proceeding for the judicial review
of a decision or order of the state board that is pending on December
31, 1996, and the applicable law in effect on that date shall
continue to apply to that proceeding.
SEC. 34. Section 13392 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13392. The state board and the regional boards, in consultation
with the State Department of Public Health and the Department of Fish
and Game Wildlife , shall develop and
maintain a comprehensive program to (1) identify and characterize
toxic hot spots, as defined in Section 13391.5, (2) plan for the
cleanup or other appropriate remedial or mitigating actions at the
sites, and (3) amend water quality control plans and policies to
incorporate strategies to prevent the creation of new toxic hot spots
and the further pollution of existing hot spots. As part of this
program, the state board and regional boards shall, to the extent
feasible, identify specific discharges or waste management practices
that contribute to the creation of toxic hot spots, and shall develop
appropriate prevention strategies, including, but not limited to,
adoption of more stringent waste discharge requirements, onshore
remedial actions, adoption of regulations to control source
pollutants, and development of new programs to reduce urban and
agricultural runoff.
SEC. 35. Section 13392.5 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13392.5. (a) Each regional board that has regulatory authority
for one or more enclosed bays or estuaries shall, on or before
January 30, 1994, develop for each enclosed bay or estuary, a
consolidated data base that identifies and describes all known and
potential toxic hot spots. Each regional board shall, in consultation
with the state board, also develop an ongoing monitoring and
surveillance program that includes, but is not limited to, the
following components:
(1) Establishment of a monitoring and surveillance task force that
includes representation from agencies, including, but not limited
to, the State Department of Public Health and the Department of Fish
and Game Wildlife , that routinely
monitor water quality, sediment, and aquatic life.
(2) Suggested guidelines to promote standardized analytical
methodologies and consistency in data reporting.
(3) Identification of additional monitoring and analyses that are
needed to develop a complete toxic hot spot assessment for each
enclosed bay and estuary.
(b) Each regional board shall make available to state and local
agencies and the public all information contained in the consolidated
data base, as well as the results of new monitoring and surveillance
data.
SEC. 36. Section 13393.5 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13393.5. On or before January 30, 1994, the state board, in
consultation with the State Department of Public Health
Services and the Department of Fish and
Game Wildlife , shall adopt general criteria for
the assessment and priority ranking of toxic hot spots. The criteria
shall take into account the pertinent factors relating to public
health and environmental quality, including, but not limited to,
potential hazards to public health, toxic hazards to fish, shellfish,
and wildlife, and the extent to which the deferral of a remedial
action will result, or is likely to result, in a significant increase
in environmental damage, health risks, or cleanup costs.
SEC. 37. Section 13400 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13400. As used in this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from
the context:
(a) "Facilities" means any of the following:
(1) Facilities for the collection, treatment, or export of waste
when necessary to prevent water pollution.
(2) Facilities to recycle wastewater and to convey recycled water.
(3) Facilities or devices to conserve water.
(4) Any combination of the facilities described in paragraph (1),
(2), or (3).
(b) "Fund" means the State Water Quality Control Fund.
(c) "Not-for-profit organization" means an organization operated
on a not-for-profit basis, including, but not limited to, an
association, cooperative, or private corporation that is a public
water system, as defined in Section 116275 of the Health and Safety
Code, that meets technical, managerial, and financial capacity
criteria specified by the State Department of Public Health
state board for public water systems, or that is
subject to regulatory authority pursuant to this division."
Not-for-profit organization" includes only an organization that is
either controlled by a local public body or bodies or has a broadly
based ownership by, or membership of, people of the local community.
(d) "Public agency" means any city, county, city and county,
district, or other political subdivision of the state.
SEC. 38. Section 13426 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13426. The state board, subject to approval by the Director of
Finance, may agree to provide a guarantee pursuant to this article
for all or a specified part of the proposed local agency bond issue
upon making, after consultation with the State Department of
Public Health, making all of the following
determinations:
(a) The facilities proposed by an applicant are necessary to the
health or welfare of the inhabitants of the state and are consistent
with water quality control plans adopted by regional boards.
(b) The proposed facilities meet the needs of the applicant.
(c) The proposed bond issue and plan repayment are sound and
feasible.
(d) In the case of facilities proposed under paragraph (2) of
subdivision (c) (a) of Section 13400,
the facilities will produce recycled water and the applicant has
adopted a feasible program for the use of the facilities. The state
board may adopt criteria for ranking and setting priorities among
applicants for those guarantees.
SEC. 39. Section 13476 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13476. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this chapter:
(a) "Administration fund" means the State Water Pollution Control
Revolving Fund Administration Fund.
(b) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(c) "Federal Clean Water Act" or "federal act" means the Clean
Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.) and acts amendatory thereof
or supplemental thereto.
(d) (1) "Financial assistance" means assistance authorized under
Section 13480. Financial assistance includes loans, refinancing,
installment sales agreements, purchase of debt, and loan guarantees
for municipal revolving funds, but excludes grants.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), financial assistance may
include grants or other assistance directed by a federal
capitalization grant deposited in the fund to the extent
authorized and funded by that grant.
(e) "Fund" means the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund.
(f) "Grant fund" means the State Water Pollution Control Revolving
Fund Small Community Grant Fund.
(g) "Matching funds" means money that equals that percentage of
federal contributions required by the federal act to be matched with
state funds.
(h) "Municipality" has the same meaning and construction as in the
federal act and also includes all state, interstate, and
intermunicipal agencies.
(i) "Publicly owned" means owned by a municipality.
(j) "Severely disadvantaged community" means a community with a
median household income of less than 60 percent of the statewide
median household income.
SEC. 40. Section 13480 of the Water Code is amended to read:
13480. (a) Moneys in the fund shall be used only for the
permissible purposes allowed by the federal act or a federal
capitalization grant deposited in the fund to the extent
authorized and funded by that grant, including providing
financial assistance for the following purposes:
grant.
(1) The construction of publicly owned treatment works, as defined
by Section 212 of the federal act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1292), by any
municipality.
(2) Implementation of a management program pursuant to Section 319
of the federal act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1329).
(3) Development and implementation of a conservation and
management plan under Section 320 of the federal act (33 U.S.C. Sec.
1330).
(4) Financial assistance, other than a loan, toward the nonfederal
share of costs of any grant-funded treatment works project, but only
if that assistance is necessary to permit the project to proceed.
(5) Financial assistance provided under the federal American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) for projects
authorized pursuant to this subdivision.
(b) Consistent with expenditure for authorized purposes, moneys in
the fund may be used for the following purposes:
(1) Loans that meet all of the following requirements:
(A) Are made at or below market interest rates.
(B) Require annual payments of principal and any interest, with
repayment commencing not later than one year after completion of the
project for which the loan is made and full amortization not later
than 20 30 years after project
completion unless otherwise authorized by a federal
capitalization grant deposited in the fund to the extent
authorized and funded by that grant. Loan forgiveness is permissible
to the extent authorized by a federal capitalization
grant deposited in the fund to the extent authorized and
funded by that grant.
(C) Require the loan recipient to establish an acceptable
dedicated source of revenue for repayment of a loan.
(D) (i) Contain other terms and conditions required by the board
or the federal act or applicable rules, regulations, guidelines, and
policies. To the extent permitted by federal law, the combined
interest and loan service rate shall be set at a rate that does not
exceed 50 percent of the interest rate paid by the state on the most
recent sale of state general obligation bonds and the combined
interest and loan service rate shall be computed according to the
true interest cost method. If the combined interest and loan service
rate so determined is not a multiple of one-tenth of 1 percent, the
combined interest and loan service rate shall be set at the multiple
of one-tenth of 1 percent next above the combined interest and loan
service rate so determined. A loan from the fund used to finance
costs of facilities planning, or the preparation of plans,
specifications, or estimates for construction of publicly owned
treatment works shall comply with Section 603(e) of the federal act
(33 U.S.C. Sec. 1383(e)).
(ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), if the loan applicant is a
municipality, an applicant for a loan for the implementation of a
management program pursuant to Section 319 of the federal Clean Water
Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1329), or an applicant for a loan for nonpoint
source or estuary enhancement pursuant to Section 320 of the federal
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1330), and the applicant provides
matching funds, the combined interest and loan service rate on the
loan shall be 0 percent. A loan recipient that returns to the fund an
amount of money equal to 20 percent of the remaining unpaid federal
balance of an existing loan shall have the remaining unpaid loan
balance refinanced at a combined interest and loan service rate of 0
percent over the time remaining in the original loan contract.
(2) To buy or refinance the debt obligations of municipalities
within the state at or below market rates if those debt obligations
were incurred after March 7, 1985.
(3) To guarantee, or purchase insurance for, local obligations
where that action would improve credit market access or reduce
interest rates.
(4) As a source of revenue or security for the payment of
principal and interest on revenue or general obligation bonds issued
by the state, if the proceeds of the sale of those bonds will be
deposited in the fund.
(5) To establish loan guarantees for similar revolving funds
established by municipalities.
(6) To earn interest.
(7) For payment of the reasonable costs of administering the fund
and conducting activities under Title VI (commencing with Section
601) of the federal act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1381 et seq.). Those costs
shall not exceed 4 percent of all federal contributions to the fund,
except that if permitted by federal and state law, interest
repayments into the fund and other moneys in the fund may be used to
defray additional administrative and activity costs to the extent
permitted by the federal government and approved by the Legislature
in the Budget Act four hundred thousand dollars
($400,000) per year, or one-fifth percent per year of the current
valuation of the fund, whichever amount is greatest, plus
the amount of any fees collected by the state for this purpose
regardless of the source .
(8) For financial assistance toward the nonfederal share of the
costs of grant-funded treatment works projects to the extent
permitted by the federal act.
(9) Grants, principal forgiveness, negative interest rates, and
any other type of, or variation on the above types of, assistance
authorized by a federal capitalization grant
deposited in the fund to the extent authorized and funded by that
grant.
SEC. 41. Section 79702 of the Water Code is amended to read:
79702. Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions set
forth in this section govern the construction of this division, as
follows:
(a) "Acquisition" means obtaining a fee interest or any other
interest in real property, including,
including easements, leases, water, water rights, or interest
in water obtained for the purposes of instream flows and development
rights.
(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 Water Quality, Supply, and
Infrastructure Improvement Finance Committee created by Section
79787.
(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 counties" means the Counties of Contra Costa,
Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, and Yolo.
(h) "Delta plan" has the meaning set forth in Section 85059.
(i) "Director" means the Director of Water Resources.
(j) "Disadvantaged community" has the meaning set forth in
subdivision (a) of Section 79505.5, as it may be amended.
(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 Water Quality, Supply, and
Infrastructure Improvement Fund of 2014 created by Section 79715.
(m) "Instream flows" means a specific streamflow, measured in
cubic feet per second, at a particular location for a defined time,
and typically follows seasonal variations.
(n) "Integrated regional water management plan" has the meaning
set forth in Part 2.2 (commencing with Section 10530) of Division 6,
as that part may be amended.
(o) "Long-term" means for a period of not less than 20 years.
(p) "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.
(q) "Proposition 1E" means the Disaster Preparedness and Flood
Prevention Bond Act of 2006 (Chapter 1.699 (commencing with Section
5096.800) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code).
(r) "Proposition 84" means the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality
and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of
2006 (Division 43 (commencing with Section 75001) of the Public
Resources Code).
(s) "Public agency" means a state agency or department, special
district, joint powers authority, city, county, city and county, or
other political subdivision of the state.
(t) "Rainwater" has the meaning set forth in subdivision (c) of
Section 10573.
(u) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency.
(v) "Severely disadvantaged community" has the meaning set forth
in subdivision (a) of Section 116760.20 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(w) "Small community water system" means a community water system
that serves no more than 3,300 service connections or a yearlong
population of no more than 10,000 persons.
(x) "State board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(y) "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).
(z) "State small water system" has the meaning set forth in
subdivision (n) of Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.
(aa) "Stormwater" has the meaning set forth in subdivision (e) of
Section 10573.
(ab) "Water right" means a legal entitlement authorizing water to
be diverted from a specified source and put to a beneficial,
nonwasteful use.
SEC. 42. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.