Bill Text: CA AB1588 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Program.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 7-2)

Status: (Vetoed) 2016-09-22 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB1588 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB1588-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1588	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 16, 2016
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 15, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 31, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 16, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 9, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 29, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Mathis and Alejo
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Arambula, Chávez, Lackey, and Olsen)
   (Coauthors: Senators Berryhill, Cannella, and Vidak)

                        JANUARY 6, 2016

   An act to add Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 13486) to
Division 7 of the Water Code, relating to  water, and
declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. 
 water, and making an appropriation therefor. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1588, as amended, Mathis. Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant
Program.
   Existing law, the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of
1997, establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to
provide 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.
   This bill  would require   would, to the
extent funding is made available, authorize  the State Water
Resources Control Board to establish a program to provide funding to
counties  and qualified nonprofit organizations  to award
low-interest loans and grants to eligible applicants for specified
purposes relating to drinking water and wastewater treatment. This
bill would authorize a county  or qualified nonprofit
organization  to apply to the board for a grant to award loans
or grants, or both, to residents of the county, as prescribed.
 This bill would create the Water and Wastewater Loan and
Grant Fund and provide that the moneys in this fund are available,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the board to administer and
implement the program. This bill would transfer to the Water and
Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund $10,000,000 from the General Fund.
  To fund this program, the   bill would
authorize the board to use funding appropriated in an item of the
Budget Act of 2016 from the   State Water Quality Control
Fund, or to use any other funding source consistent with the purposes
of the program. By expanding the purposes of an appropriation, the
bill would make an appropriation.  
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute. 
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation:  no   yes  .
Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    The Legislature hereby finds and
declares as follows:
   (a) Many areas of the state are disproportionately impacted by
drought because they are heavily dependent or completely reliant on
groundwater from basins that are in overdraft and in which the water
table declines year after year or from basins that are contaminated.
   (b) There are a number of state grant and loan programs that
provide financial assistance to distressed communities to address
drinking water and wastewater needs. Unfortunately, there is no
program in place to provide similar assistance to individuals who are
reliant on their own groundwater wells and who may not be able to
afford conventional private loans to undertake vital water supply,
water quality, and wastewater improvements.
   (c) The program created by this act is intended to bridge that gap
by providing assistance to individual homeowners and renters to
undertake actions necessary to provide safer, cleaner, and more
reliable drinking water and wastewater treatment. These actions may
include, but are not limited to, digging deeper wells, improving
existing wells and related equipment, addressing drinking water
contaminants in the individual's water, or connecting to a local
water or wastewater system. 
   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.   Chapter 6.6
(commencing with Section 13486) is added to Division 7 of the Water
Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 6.6.  WATER AND WASTEWATER LOAN AND GRANT PROGRAM


   13486.  (a)  The   To the extent the funding
is made available, the  board  shall   may
 establish a program in accordance with this chapter to provide
funding to counties  and qualified nonprofit organizations 
to award low-interest loans and grants to eligible applicants for any
of the following purposes:
   (1) Extending or connecting service lines from a water or
wastewater system to the applicant's residence or plumbing.
   (2) Paying reasonable charges or fees for connecting to a water or
wastewater system.
   (3) Paying costs to close abandoned septic tanks and water wells,
as necessary, to protect health and safety as required by local or
state law.
   (4) Deepening an existing groundwater well.
   (5) Improving an existing groundwater well, including associated
equipment.
   (6) Installing a water treatment system if the groundwater exceeds
a primary or secondary drinking water standard, as defined in
Section 116275 of the Health and Safety Code.
   (b) The board may adopt any guidelines it determines are necessary
to carry out the purposes of this chapter. A guideline adopted
pursuant to this subdivision shall not be subject to the rulemaking
requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. 
   (c) As used in this chapter, "qualified nonprofit organization"
means an organization with experience in providing financial and
technical assistance to disadvantaged communities that is qualified
to operate in California and qualified for exempt status under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  
   13487.  (a) The Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund is hereby
created in the State Treasury. The moneys in the Water and
Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund are available, upon appropriation by
the Legislature, to the board to administer and implement the program
in accordance with this chapter.
   (b) Notwithstanding Section 16475 of the Government Code, any
interest earned upon the moneys in the Water and Wastewater Loan and
Grant Fund shall be deposited in the Water and Wastewater Loan and
Grant Fund.  
   13487.  (a) To fund the program authorized in this chapter, the
board may use funding appropriated in Item 3940-101-0679 in the
Budget Act of 2016 (Chapter 23 of the Statutes of 2016), or any other
funding source that is consistent with the purposes of this chapter.

   (b) The board shall use reasonable and feasible efforts to secure
local matching funds for the purposes of funding projects pursuant to
this chapter. 
   13487.5.  (a) A county  or qualified nonprofit organization
 may apply to the board for a grant to award loans or grants, or
both, to residents of the county in accordance with this chapter.

   (b) The board shall develop guidelines that determine how to
apportion funds among the counties.  
   (c) 
    (b)  A county  or qualified nonprofit organization
 that receives funding pursuant to this chapter shall annually
provide the following information to the board:
   (1) The number of loans and grants awarded.
   (2) The types of projects funded.
   (3) Project costs.
   (4) Whether there is demand for additional funding. 
   (c) The board may advance funds pursuant to an agreement with a
county or qualified nonprofit organization in accordance with this
chapter. Section 11019 of the Government Code does not apply to an
advance made pursuant to this subdivision. 
   13488.  (a) An eligible applicant for a loan shall meet all of the
following criteria:
   (1) Have a household income below the statewide median household
income.
   (2) Have an ownership interest in the residence.
   (3) Be unable to obtain financial assistance at reasonable terms
and conditions from private lenders and lack the personal resources
to undertake these improvements.
   (4) Demonstrate an ability to repay the loan. This requirement may
be satisfied by having another party join the application as a
cosigner.
   (b) Any loan granted shall be secured by a mortgage on the
residence and repaid within 20 years in accordance with terms
established by the board. The interest rate on the loan shall not
exceed 1 percent. While any balance on the loan is outstanding, a
loan recipient shall furnish evidence of and continually maintain
homeowner's insurance on the security residence to protect the state'
s interest in the residence.
   (c) The county  or   qualified nonprofit organization
 may enter into a contract with a private financial institution
to provide loans consistent with the purposes of this chapter.
   13489.  (a) An eligible applicant for a grant shall meet both of
the following criteria:
   (1) Have a household income that is 80 percent or less of the
statewide median household income. 
   (2) Have an ownership or leasehold interest in the residence.
 
   (2) 
    (   3)  Be unable to obtain financial
assistance at reasonable terms and conditions from private lenders
and lack the personal resources to undertake these improvements.
   (b) A grant recipient shall repay to the county  or  
qualified nonprofit organization  the grant amount in full if
that recipient sells the residence less than five years from the date
that the grant agreement was signed.
   (c) A grant recipient shall repay to the county  or qualified
nonprofit organization  any unused grant funds. 
  SEC. 3.    Ten million dollars ($10,000,000) is
hereby transferred from the General Fund to the Water and Wastewater
Loan and Grant Fund.  
  SEC. 4.    This act is an urgency statute
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health,
or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and
shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity
are:
   In order to provide eligible households with access to safer,
cleaner, and more reliable drinking water and wastewater treatment
during California's prolonged drought, it is necessary that this act
take effect immediately.