CalMutuals’ Bill Tracker February 27th, marked the last day for legislators to introduce bills. With the ongoing concerns posed by the drought, the legislature is focused on water management. Listed below are the bills Association staff is diligently monitoring. We will keep our members apprised of the legislation and any issues that may require action on the part of the Association and our members. CalMutuals will consider taking positions on many of these bills. If you are interested in helping shape our position, please contact us and let us know if you would like to participate in legislative committee meetings which are held during the legislative session AB 149 (Chavez) – Urban Water Management Plans: Commencing on January 1, 2017, this bill would require an urban water supplier to update its Urban Water Management Plan (“UWMP”) at least once every five years -- on or before December 31 in years ending in “six” and “one,” and would require the Department of Water Resources to submit its report to the Legislature, on or before December 31, in years ending in “seven” and “two.” Under current law, UWMPs are scheduled to be adopted by December 31 in years ending in “zero” and “five.” With the U.S. Census conducted in years ending in “zero,” new demographic information becomes available for integration into UWMPs during the same year the UWMPs must be prepared, which leaves insufficient time for that information to be incorporated into an agency’s UWMP for the years ending in “zero.” Thus, water suppliers must wait to incorporate the data in a year ending in “five,” by which time the data is already five years old. By changing the UMWP update deadline to December 31 in years ending in “six” and “one,” water suppliers are allocated enough time to incorporate the full range of Census data into their UMWPs. Additionally, the bill ensures that 2020 interim water use target reporting data, required by the 20X2020 water conservation target statute enacted in 2009, will be fully included in 2020 UWMPs, and any future UWMPs if such reporting is required. Last year, in the absence of this guarantee for 2015 UWMPs, AB 2067 was necessary to extend the submittal date for the 2015 UWMP to July 1, 2016 in order to include interim water use targets. This bill would correct this problem and prevent the need for any similar legislation in the future. AB 401 (Dodd) Low-Income Water Rate Assistance Program. Current Text: Summary: Would require the Department of Community Services and Development, no later than January 1, 2017, in collaboration with the State Board of Equalization and relevant stakeholders, to develop a plan for the funding and implementation of the Low-Income Water Rate Assistance Program, which would include specified elements. The bill would require the department, no later than January 1, 2017, to report to the Legislature on its findings regarding the feasibility and desired structure of the program, including any recommendations for legislative action that may need to be taken. This bill contains other existing laws. AB 434 (Garcia, Eduardo) Drinking water: point-of-entry and point-of-use Summary: Would specifically make the emergency regulations adopted by the State Department of Public Health before January 1, 2014, operative and would require that the emergency regulations remain in effect until repealed or amended by the State Water Resources Control Board. The bill would authorize the State Water Resources Control Board to award a grant for point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment, in lieu of centralized treatment, by a public water system that meets certain requirements. This bill contains other related provisions. AB 615 (Rendon) The Center for Community Water Projects. Current Text: Summary: Would establish The Center for Community Water Projects, to be administered by the Division of Financial Assistance within the State Water Resources Control Board. The bill would declare the purpose of the center is to provide a centralized, multidisciplinary technical assistance program for disadvantaged communities and to assist those communities in designing and building clean and sustainable water projects. AB 617 (Perea) Groundwater: Makes a number of changes to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) including allowing a private mutual water company to: a) Join Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) formed by one or more public agencies pursuant to a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA); b) Exercise the GSA power to include or exclude a water corporation regulated by the Public Utilities Commission; c) Hold in common the GSA powers provided by SGMA in order for the GSA to exercise those powers. AB 656 (Garcia, Cristina) Joint powers agreements: mutual water companies. Summary: Current law authorizes local public entities, as defined, to enter into a joint powers agreement for the purposes of providing risk-pooling, as specified. This bill would specifically authorize 2 or more mutual water companies, or 2 or more mutual water companies and one or more public agencies that operate a public water system, to participate in joint powers agreement for risk-pooling, technical support, and other similar services. AB 1077 (Holden) Mutual water companies: open meetings. Under existing law, a mutual water company is defined as a corporation organized for or engaged in the business of selling, distributing, supplying, or delivering water for irrigation or domestic purposes that provides in its articles or bylaws that the water shall be sold, distributed, supplied, or delivered only to owners of its shares, as specified. A mutual water company may be organized under the General Corporation Law or the Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation Law. The Mutual Water Company Open Meeting Act authorizes an eligible person, upon 24 hours advance written notice, to attend meetings of the board of directors of a mutual water company that operates a public water system, except when the board adjourns to, or meets solely in, executive session. This bill would prohibit a mutual water company from meeting solely in an executive session without holding a meeting. The bill would require a board of directors of a mutual water company to allow an eligible person to personally attend a meeting of the board, if the eligible person gave the board at least 24 hours advance written notice of his or her intent to personally attend the meeting. The bill would require 99the board to allow an eligible person who was denied attendance at a meeting for failure to provide this notice to be able to attend the meeting by technology that allows the eligible person to hear the meeting and verbally interact with the board, and would further require the board to provide to an eligible person attending a meeting by technology a copy of the documents to be discussed at the meeting, as specified. SB 20 (Pavley) – Well Reports – Public Availability: This bill would require the Department of Water Resources to make well completion reports available to the public, upon request, and with certain disclaimers. The bill would require DWR to redact the well owner’s name and address from the report. The bill would also require a person who requests a report to provide his or her name, address, identification number from a government-issued source and state the reason for making the request. The bill is similar to prior legislation (SB 263 in 2011 and SB 1146 in 2012) that was not enacted into law. There has been prior opposition to such legislation for security reasons, and the federal government through various security bulletins encourages public entities to limit the disclosure of such information. In addition, the Department of Public Health previously concluded that there are credible threats to the state public water system and, as such, implemented a policy of withholding public well log information from the public. Thus, this bill will also likely encounter opposition from many in the water industry. SB 226 (Pavley) – Groundwater Rights: This bill is essentially a spot bill at this time, but will likely be amended to provide greater detail regarding a possible streamlined groundwater adjudication procedure. Currently, the bill specifies that it will be amended to address: (1) basin boundaries, (2) notice and service, (3) expert information and science, (4) fairness and balance under the law, and (5) consistency with federal doctrines of Winters v. United States (207 U.S. 564 (1908)), the McCarran Amendment (codified at 43 U.S.C. Sec. line 20 666), and any other federal laws regarding the determination of federal or tribal water rights. This bill also would require the boundaries of a basin to be as identified in Bulletin 118, unless other basin boundaries are established, as specified in the bill. SB 317 (DeLeón) - Safe Neighborhood Parks, Rivers, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2016: This bill would enact the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Rivers, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2016, which, if adopted by the voters at the November 8, 2016 statewide general election, would authorize the issuance of bonds in an unspecified amount to finance a safe neighborhood parks, rivers, and coastal protection program. The bond proceeds would be used for the creation and expansion of safe neighborhood parks; the protection of rivers, lakes and streams and their watersheds; the protection of beaches, bays and coastal resources; and climate resilience of urban areas and natural resources. SB 385 (Hueso) Primary drinking water standards: variances: hexavalent chromium. Summary: Would authorize, until January 1, 2020, the State Water Resources Control Board, at the request of a public water system, to grant a variance from the primary drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium if the public water system prepares and submits a compliance plan, the state board approves the compliance plan, the public water system provides specified notice requirements regarding the compliance plan to its customers, and the public water system sends annual reports to the state board that updates the status of the approved compliance plan.