EXHIBIT
3-A
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AB 1471 |
Summary of AB 1471
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1471
Author: Rendon (D) and Atkins (D)
Amended: 8/13/14 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SUBJECT: Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of
2014
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill removes the existing water bond from the November 2014 ballot and replaces it with a new authorization totaling $7.545 billion. This bill reauthorizes $425 million in unissued bonds, in addition to authorizing $7.120 billion in new general obligation bonds, all to fund water resources related programs and projects.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/13/14 delete the prior version of the bill and create a vehicle to replace the $11.14 billion bond currently on the ballot as Proposition 43 with a new $7.545 billion measure.
ANALYSIS: Existing law:
1. Approved by the voters, enacted the Water Quality, Supply and Safe Drinking Water Projects Act (Proposition (Prop) 50), which authorized $3.4 billion in general obligation bonds to fund a variety of water projects.
2. Approved by voters, enacted the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Act of 2006 (Prop 84), which authorized $5.388 billion in general obligation bonds to fund safe drinking water, water quality and supply, flood control, waterway and natural resource protection, water pollution and contamination control, state and local park improvements, public access to natural resources, and water conservation efforts.
3. Approved by the Legislature and currently On November 2014 Ballot, SB 2X7 (Cogdill, Chapter 3, Statutes of 2009) provided for the submission of a bond act, the Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010, to the voters at the November 2, 2010, statewide general election. However, the bond act has been postponed twice and is currently expected to be on the ballot for the November 4, 2014 election. SB 2X7 provides a total of $11.14 billion to finance a safe drinking water and water supply reliability programs.
This bill reallocates $425 million of unissued bonds (Prop 84 (2006): $105 million; Prop 50 (2002): $95 million; Prop 1E (2006): $100 million; Prop 44 (1986): $13.5 million; Prop 204 (1996): $25.5 million Prop 13 (2000): $86 million) for the purposes
of a water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvement program, subject to
voter approval, and replaces
the $11.14 billion water bond that is currently on the November 2014 ballot
with a new $7.120 billion general obligation bond Act as follows:
1.
Clean, Safe and Reliable Drinking Water. Authorizes $520 million for expenditures,
grants and loans for projects that improve water quality or help provide clean,
safe, and reliable drinking water to all Californians.
A. Provides that the projects eligible for funding pursuant to this section shall help improve water quality for a beneficial use. The purposes of this section are to:
·
Reduce
contaminants in drinking water supplies regardless of the source of the water
or the contamination.
·
Assess
and prioritize the risk of contamination to drinking water supplies.
·
Address
the critical and immediate needs of disadvantaged, rural, or small communities
that suffer from contaminated drinking water supplies, including, but not
limited to, projects that address a public health emergency.
·
Leverage
other private, federal, state, and local drinking water quality and wastewater
treatment funds.
·
Reduce
contaminants in discharges to, and improve the quality of, waters of the state.
·
Prevent
further contamination of drinking water supplies.
·
Provide
disadvantaged communities with public drinking water infrastructure that
provides clean, safe, and reliable drinking water supplies that the community
can sustain over the long term.
·
Ensure
access to clean, safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water for California’s
communities.
·
Meet
primary and secondary safe drinking water standards or remove contaminants
identified by the state or federal government for development of a primary or
secondary drinking water standard.
B. $260 million shall be available for deposit into in the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund Small Community Grant Fund for grants for wastewater treatment projects. Priority shall be given to projects that serve disadvantaged communities and severely disadvantaged communities, and to projects that address public health hazards. Projects may include, but not be limited to, projects that identify, plan, design, and implement regional mechanisms to consolidate wastewater systems or provide affordable treatment technologies.
C. $260 million shall be available for grants and loans for public water system infrastructure improvements and related actions to meet safe drinking water standards, ensure affordable drinking water, or both. Priority shall be given to projects that provide treatment for contamination or access to an alternate drinking water source or sources for small community water systems or state small water systems in disadvantaged communities whose drinking water source is impaired by chemical and nitrate contaminants and other health hazards identified by the State Water Resources Control Board (Board).
D. Specifies that at least 10% of the funds must be allocated for severely disadvantaged communities and up to 15% of the funds to must be allocated for technical assistance to disadvantaged communities.
2. Protecting Rivers, Lakes, Streams, Coastal
Waters, and Watersheds. Authorizes $1.495 billion for competitive
grants for multibenefit ecosystem and watershed
protection and restoration projects in accordance with statewide priorities.
A. $327.5 million shall be available for multibenefit water quality, water supply, and watershed
protection and restoration projects for the watersheds of the state in
accordance with the following schedule:
·
Baldwin
Hills Conservancy, $10 million.
·
California
Tahoe Conservancy, $15 million.
·
Coachella
Valley Mountains Conservancy, $10 million.
·
Ocean
Protection Council, $30 million.
·
San
Diego River Conservancy, $17 million.
·
San
Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, $30 million.
·
San
Joaquin River Conservancy, $10 million.
·
Santa
Monica Mountains Conservancy, $30 million.
·
Sierra
Nevada Conservancy, $25 million.
· State Coastal Conservancy, $100.5 million. (Eligible watersheds for the funds allocated pursuant to this subdivision include, but are not limited to, those that are in the San Francisco Bay Conservancy region, the Santa Ana River watershed, the Tijuana River watershed, the Otay River watershed, Catalina Island, and the central coast region)
·
Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta Conservancy, $50 million.
B.
Provides that, in protecting and restoring
California rivers, lakes, streams, and watersheds, the purposes of this section
are to:
·
Protect and increase the economic benefits arising
from healthy watersheds, fishery resources, and instream
flow.
·
Implement watershed adaptation projects in order to
reduce the impacts of climate change on California’s communities and
ecosystems.
·
Restore river parkways throughout the state,
including, but not limited to, projects pursuant to the California River
Parkways Act of 2004, in the Urban Streams Restoration Program and urban river
greenways.
·
Protect and restore aquatic, wetland, and migratory
bird ecosystems, including fish and wildlife corridors and the acquisition of
water rights for instream flow.
·
Fulfill the obligations of the State of California
in complying with the terms of multiparty settlement agreements related to
water resources.
·
Remove barriers to fish passage.
·
Collaborate with federal agencies in the protection
of fish native to California and wetlands in the central valley of California.
·
Implement fuel treatment projects to reduce
wildfire risks, protect watersheds tributary to water storage facilities, and
promote watershed health.
·
Protect and restore rural and urban watershed
health to improve watershed storage capacity, forest health, protection of life
and property, stormwater resource management, and
greenhouse gas reduction.
·
Protect and restore coastal watersheds, including,
but not limited to, bays, marine estuaries, and nearshore
ecosystems.
·
Reduce pollution or contamination of rivers, lakes,
streams, or coastal waters, prevent and remediate mercury contamination from
legacy mines, and protect or restore natural system functions that contribute
to water supply, water quality, or flood management.
·
Assist in the recovery of endangered, threatened,
or migratory species by improving watershed health, instream
flows, fish passage, coastal or inland wetland restoration, or other means,
such as natural community conservation plan and habitat conservation plan
implementation.
·
Assist in water-related agricultural sustainability
projects.
C.
$200
million shall be administered by the
Wildlife Conservation Board for projects that result in enhanced stream flows.
D.
$100 million shall be available, upon appropriation
of the Legislature, for projects to protect and enhance an urban creek.
E.
$20 million shall be made available to the
Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency for a competitive program to fund multibenefit watershed and urban rivers enhancement
projects in urban watersheds that increase regional and local water
self-sufficiency and that meet at least two of the following objectives:
·
Promote
groundwater recharge and water reuse.
·
Reduce
energy consumption.
·
Use
soils, plants, and natural processes to treat runoff.
·
Create
or restore native habitat.
·
Increase
regional and local resiliency and adaptability to climate change.
· Specifies that at least 25% of the funds listed in D and E above, shall be allocated for projects that benefit disadvantaged communities and up to 10% of the funds available may be allocated for project planning.
F.
$475
million shall be available to the
Agency to support projects that fulfill the obligations of the State of
California in complying with the terms of and of the following:
·
Central Valley Project Improvement Act.
·
Intrastate compacts.
·
Intrastate or multiparty water quantification
settlement agreement provisions, including ecosystem restoration projects.
·
The settlement agreement referenced.
·
Any intrastate or multiparty settlement
agreement related to water acted upon or before December 31, 2013. Priority shall be given to projects that meet
one or more of the following criteria:
a) The project
is of statewide significance.
b) The project
restores natural aquatic or riparian functions, or wetlands habitat for birds
and aquatic species.
c) The project
protects or promotes the restoration of endangered or threatened species.
d) The project
enhances the reliability of water supplies on a regional or interregional
basis.
e) The project
provides significant regional or statewide economic benefits.
G. $285 million shall be available to the Department of Fish and Wildlife for watershed
restoration projects statewide.
H.
$87.5 million shall be available to the Department
of Fish and Wildlife for water quality, ecosystem restoration, and fish
protection facilities that benefit the Delta, as specified.
3.
Regional Water Security, Climate and Drought
Preparedness. Authorizes $810 million, upon
appropriation of the Legislature, for expenditures on, and competitive grants
and loans to, projects that are included in and implemented in an adopted
integrated regional water management plan.
A.
In order to improve regional water self-reliance
security and adapt to the effects on water supply arising out of climate
change, the purposes of this section is to:
·
Help water infrastructure systems adapt to climate
change, including, but not limited to, sea level rise.
·
Provide incentives for water agencies throughout
each watershed to collaborate in managing the region’s water resources and
setting regional priorities for water infrastructure.
·
Improve regional water self-reliance.
B.
$510 million shall be allocated to the hydrologic
regions as identified in the California Water Plan. Funds made available by this chapter shall be
allocated as follows:
·
$26.5
million for the North Coast hydrologic region.
·
$65
million for the San Francisco Bay hydrologic region.
·
$43
million for the Central Coast hydrologic region.
·
$98
million for the Los Angeles subregion.
·
$63
million for the Santa Ana subregion.
·
$52.5
million for the San Diego subregion.
·
$37
million for the Sacramento River hydrologic region.
·
$31
million for the San Joaquin River hydrologic region.
·
$34
million for the Tulare/Kern hydrologic region.
·
$24.5
million for the North/South Lahontan hydrologic region.
·
$22.5
million for the Colorado River Basin hydrologic region.
·
$13
million for the Mountain Counties Overlay.
C.
Specifies that the Department of Water Resources
shall expend no less than 10% of funds from the regional allocation of
disadvantaged communities.
D.
$100 million shall be available for direct
expenditures, and for grants and loans, for specified water conservation and
water-use efficiency plans, projects, and programs.
E. $200 million shall be available for grants
for multibenefit stormwater
management projects. Eligible projects
may include, but shall not be limited to, green
infrastructure, rainwater and stormwater capture
projects, and stormwater treatment facilities. Development
of plans for stormwater projects shall address the
entire watershed and incorporate the perspectives of communities adjacent to
the affected waterways, especially disadvantaged communities.
4. Statewide Water System Operational
Improvement and Drought Preparedness. Authorizes a $2.7 billion
continuous appropriation without regard to fiscal year for water storage, to
the California Water Commission for public benefits associated with water
storage projects that improve the operation of the state water system, are cost
effective, and provide a net improvement in ecosystem and water quality
conditions.
A.
Requires
projects to be selected by the
California Water Commission through a competitive public process that ranks
potential projects based on the expected return for public investment as
measured by the magnitude of the public benefits provided, pursuant to
specified criteria.
B.
Specifies projects for which the public benefits
are eligible for funding under this section consist of only the following:
·
Surface
storage projects identified in the CALFED Bay-Delta Program Record of Decision,
dated August 28, 2000, except for specified prohibited projects.
·
Groundwater
storage projects and groundwater contamination prevention or remediation
projects that provide water storage benefits.
·
Conjunctive
use and reservoir reoperation projects.
·
Local
and regional surface storage projects that improve the operation of water
systems in the state and provide public benefits.
5.
Water Recycling.
Authorizes $725 million to be made available to the Legislature for
water recycling and advanced treatment technology projects.
A.
Provides that the grants or loans for water
recycling and advanced treatment technology projects, including all of the
following:
·
Water
recycling projects, include, but not limited to, treatment, storage,
conveyance, and distribution facilities for potable and nonpotable
recycling projects.
·
Contaminant
and salt removal projects, including, but not limited to, groundwater and
seawater desalination and associated treatment, storage, conveyance, and
distribution facilities.
·
Dedicated
distribution infrastructure to serve residential, commercial, agricultural, and
industrial end-user retrofit projects to allow use of recycled water.
·
Pilot
projects for new potable reuse and other salt and contaminant removal
technology.
·
Multibenefit
recycled water projects that improve water quality.
·
Technical
assistance and grant writing assistance for disadvantaged communities.
B.
Specifies that at least a 50% local cost share
shall be required for projects funded pursuant to this section. That cost share may be suspended or reduced
for disadvantaged communities and economically distressed areas.
C.
Requires projects funded pursuant to this section
to be selected on a competitive basis, consistent with water recycling
programs, and considering all of the following criteria:
·
Water
supply reliability improvement.
·
Water
quality and ecosystem benefits related to decreased reliance on diversions from
the Delta or instream flows.
·
Public
health benefits from improved drinking water quality or supply.
·
Cost-effectiveness.
·
Energy
efficiency and greenhouse gas emission impacts.
·
Reasonable
geographic allocation to eligible projects throughout the state, including both
northern and southern California and coastal and inland regions.
6.
Groundwater Sustainability. Authorizes $900 million to be made available
to the Legislature for expenditures on, and competitive grants, and loans for,
projects to prevent or clean up the contamination of groundwater that serves or
has served as a source of drinking water.
Funds appropriated pursuant to this section shall be available to the
State Water Resources Control Board for projects necessary to protect public
health by preventing or reducing the contamination of groundwater that serves
or has served as a major source of drinking water for a community.
A. Requires projects to be prioritized based upon the following criteria:
· The threat posed by groundwater contamination to the affected community’s overall drinking water supplies, including an urgent need for treatment of alternative supplies or increased water imports if groundwater is not available due to contamination.
·
The
potential for groundwater contamination to spread and impair drinking water
supply and water storage for nearby population areas.
·
The
potential of the project, if fully implemented, to enhance local water supply
reliability.
·
The
potential of the project to maximize opportunities to recharge vulnerable,
high-use groundwater basins and optimize groundwater supplies.
·
The
project addresses contamination at a site for which the courts or the
appropriate regulatory authority has not yet identified responsible parties, or
where the identified responsible parties are unwilling or unable to pay for the
total cost of cleanup, including water supply reliability improvement
for critical urban water supplies in designated superfund areas with
groundwater contamination listed on the National Priorities list.
B.
Specifies that at least 10% of the funds shall be
allocated for projects serving severely disadvantaged communities.
C.
$80 million shall be available for grants
for treatment and remediation activities that prevent or reduce the
contamination of groundwater that serves as a source of drinking water.
D.
$100 million shall be made available for
competitive grants for projects that develop and implement groundwater plans
and projects in accordance with groundwater planning requirements.
7.
Flood Management.
Authorizes $395 million shall be available, upon appropriation by the
Legislature from the fund, to the Department of Water Resources and the Central
Valley Flood Protection Board for the purpose of statewide flood management
projects and activities. Funds shall be
allocated to multibenefit projects that achieve
public safety and include fish and wildlife habitat enhancement. The Department of Water Resources shall make
its best effort to coordinate this funding with proceeds from Propositions 84
and 1E.
A.
$295 million shall be available to reduce the risk
of levee failure and flood in the Delta for any of the following:
·
Local
assistance under the Delta levee maintenance subventions program, as specified.
·
Special
flood protection projects, as specified.
·
Levee
improvement projects that increase the resiliency of levees within the Delta to
withstand earthquake, flooding, or sea level rise.
·
Emergency
response and repair projects.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
· Annual debt service payments of $491 million (General Fund) for 30 years for a total of $14.724 billion assuming an interest rate of 5%.
· Unknown potential costs, likely in the low millions, to the General Fund for the printing and mailing of a supplemental budget.
SUPPORT: (Verified 8/13/14)
American Rivers
Association of California Water Agencies
Audubon Society
Azul
Bay Area Business Council
California Alliance for Jobs
California Building Industry Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Coalition of Utility Workers
California Coastal Protection Network
California Conference of Carpenters
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Labor Federation
California League of Conservation Voters
California State Pipe Trades
California Trout
California Waterfowl Association
California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Community Water Center
Contra Costa Water District
Defenders of Wildlife
Ducks Unlimited
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Natural Resources Defense Council
Ocean Conservancy
San Diego County Water Authority
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Save Our Shores
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Sonoma County Water Agency
State Association of Electrical Workers
State Building and Trades Council
State Council of Laborers
Surfrider Foundation
The Nature Conservancy
The Otter Project
Trout Unlimited
U.S. Green Building Council, California
Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District
Western Growers
Westlands Water District
WiLDCOAST
Yuba County Water Agency
RM:nl 8/13/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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