2024 Proposed Legislation Impacting Water Rights, Water Quality, and Water Supply
The California Legislature’s 2024 legislative calendar is now in full swing. Baker Manock & Jensen’s Water and Public Agency teams have been monitoring dozens of bills related to water, public agencies, air quality, environmental permitting, and municipal fees and charges. Below we highlight fifteen pending bills that will impact water rights, quality, and supply.
If you have questions about how these pending bills may impact you, please contact Shareholder Lauren D. Layne at 559-432-5400.
AB 828: Sustainable groundwater management: managed wetlands.
Asm. Connolly (D- San Rafael). This bill would prohibit a groundwater sustainability agency from imposing a fee upon a small community water system serving a disadvantaged community or managed wetland purposes, provided the water use for each user does not increase above the extractors average annual extraction from 2015 to 2020, as determined by a groundwater sustainability agency using recognized methods to establish average groundwater use.
AB 1851: Drinking water: school sites: lead testing pilot program.
Asm. Holden (D- Pasadena). This bill would establish a pilot program applicable to yet-to-be-identified school districts (subject to certain exclusions) and require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to contract with a nonprofit technical assistance organization to do both of the following by January 1, 2028 for each identified district: (1) Sample all potable water system outlets at the school district’s campuses for lead contamination; and (2) Identify and remediate any potable water system outlet with lead levels that exceed five parts per billion (ppb).
AB 2079: Groundwater extraction: large-diameter, high-capacity wells: permits.
Asm. Bennet (D- Ventura). This bill would: (i) require a local enforcement agency (“LEA”) to provide notice to the public and certain entities at least 30 days before determining whether to approve a permit for a new “large-diameter, high capacity” well, as defined as any water well with a diameter of more than eight inches and intended to produce greater than two acre-feet annually; (ii) require an LEA, before approving any well permit for a large-diameter, high capacity well, to provide certain information to the applicant; (iii) prohibit an LEA from approving a permit for a large-diameter, high capacity well if that well is proposed to be located within one-quarter mile of a well used for supplying domestic water to one or more persons or to a community; and (iv) prohibit permit approval if that well is proposed to be located within one-quarter mile of an area that has subsided greater than 0.5 feet in total since January 1, 2015, as reported and defined by DWR.
AB 2599: Water: public beaches: discontinuation of residential water service.
Asm. Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. The Water Shutoff Protection Act (“Act”) requires an urban and community water system to comply with specified requirements before discontinuing residential service for nonpayment. The Act authorizes the Attorney General (A.G.), at the request of the SWRCB or upon the A.G.’s own motion, to bring an action in State court to restore to any person in interest any money or property, real or personal, that may have been acquired by any method, act, or practice declared by the Act to be unlawful. Among other things, this Committee bill would amend the Act by providing the A.G.’s restitution authority (1) does not cover personal property; and (2) applies only where there has been unlawful conduct under the Act – not when there “may have been” unlawful conduct.
AB 2614: Water policy: California tribal communities.
Asm. Ramos (D- Highland). Among other things, this bill would codify legislative findings and declarations that tribal water uses must be protected through the statewide program for the control of the quality of all the waters of the state and allow for tribal water uses to be a primary factor in determining the highest water quality that is reasonable in all regulatory decisions. The bill would include “tribal water uses” in the term “beneficial uses” of the waters of the state that may be protected against quality degradation. This bill would define “tribal water uses” as any tribal practice that involves contact with a body of water or use of animals, plants, or fungi that reside in, or are adjacent to, a body of water. A California tribal community that elects not to publicly disclose its tribal water uses would be authorized to confidentially disclose them to the SWRCB or a regional board.
AB 3073: Wastewater testing: illicit substances.
Asm. Haney (D- San Francisco). This bill would require the California Department of Public Health (“CDPH”), in consultation with participating wastewater treatment facilities, local public health agencies, and other subject matter experts, to create a pilot program to test for high-risk substances and related treatment medications in wastewater. The goal of the program would be to determine how wastewater data can be used by state and local public health programs to address substance abuse in California.
AB 3090: Drinking water standards: noncompliance: notification.
Asm. Maienschein (D- San Diego). The Safe Drinking Water Act requires public water systems to notify users when a primary drinking water standard contained in SWRCB regulations is not complied with, when required monitoring is not performed, or when a water purveyor fails to comply with the conditions of a variance or exemption. This bill would make a number of non-substantive updates to existing law and further authorize and encourage public water systems to provide additional notification of unsafe drinking water through public safety communications technology, including the federal Wireless Emergency Alert system, that communicates with groups in the affected geographic area.
SB 903: Environmental health: product safety: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Sen. Skinner (S- Berkeley). This bill would, beginning January 1, 2032, prohibit a person from distributing, selling, or offering for sale a product that contains intentionally added PFAS, as defined, unless the Department of Toxic Substances Control has determined that the use of PFAS in the product is a currently unavoidable use, the prohibition is preempted by federal law, or the product is previously used.
SB 1110: Urban retail water suppliers: informational order: conservation order.
Sen. Ashby (D- Sacramento). Existing law authorizes the SWRCB, after considering certain information, to issue informational orders, pertaining to water production, water use, and water conservation to an urban retail water supplier that does not meet its urban water use objective. This bill would require the SWRCB to additionally consider lower cost actions the water supplier has implemented or will implement to help the water supplier achieve overall water supply resiliency in determining whether to issue an informational order. This bill would authorize the SWRCB to consider the water suppliers overall water supply management portfolio, including lower cost actions the water supplier has implemented or will implement in order to help the water supplier achieve overall water supply resiliency in deciding whether to issue a conservation order.
SB 1147: Drinking water: bottled water: microplastics.
Sen. Portantino (D- Burbank). This bill would require, upon adoption by the SWRCB of a primary drinking water standard for microplastics, any water-bottling plant that produces bottled water that is sold in this state to provide CDPH’s Food and Drug Branch an annual report on the levels of microplastics found in the source water used for bottling and in the final bottled water product that is offered for sale, as provided.
SB 1185: Water conservation: water use objectives.
Sen. Niello (R- Fair Oaks). This bill would, among other things, require the following to apply to any water use objective adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board (“SWRCB”): (1) a water use objective shall not cause a reduction of more than 20 percent when compared to the water supplier’s actual water use in 2023; (2) SWRCB shall not adopt a water use objective that exceeds a water use standard recommended by Department of Water Resources (“DWR”); (3) any amount of water may be used for a variance from a water use objective (there shall not be a required minimum amount of water for a variance); and (4) a water supplier may use estimates for its water use objectives using SWRCB’s Water Use Objective Exploration Tool.
SB 1188: Drinking water: technical, managerial, and financial standards.
Sen. Laird (D- Santa Cruz). This bill would require the SWRCB to develop and adopt minimum standards for certain criteria related to the technical, managerial, and financial (“TMF”) capacity of public water systems with fewer than 10,000 service connections. Public water systems with fewer than 10,000 connections would be required to have the capacity to demonstrate compliance with the minimum TMF capacity standards within two years of adoption of these standards. SWRCB or DWR would be prohibited from granting or loaning state funding to a public water system that fails to comply with the adopted standards unless certain conditions are met.
SB 1218: Water: emergency water supplies.
Sen. Newman (D- Fullerton). Existing law, the Urban Water Management Planning Act (“Act”), requires every public and private urban water supplier that directly or indirectly provides water for municipal purposes to prepare and adopt an urban water management plan. The Act requires an urban water management plan to include a water shortage contingency plan, as provided. This bill would declare that it is the established policy of the state to encourage and incentivize, but not mandate, the development of emergency water supplies, and to support their use during times of water shortage.
SB 1255: Public water systems: needs analysis.
Sen. Durazo (D- Los Angeles). This bill would require the SWRCB to update a needs analysis of the state’s public water systems to include an assessment of the funds necessary to (1) provide a 20 % discount for low-income households served by community water systems with fewer than 3,000 service connections; and (2) for community water systems with fewer than 3,000 service connections to meet a certain affordability threshold on or before July 1, 2026, and on or before July 1 of every three years thereafter.
SB 1330: Urban retail water supplier: water use.
Sen. Archuleta (D- Pico Rivera). Among other things, this bill would require the SWRCB to adopt variances recommended by DWR for unique uses that can have a material effect on an urban retail water suppliers urban water use objective, and extend certain deadlines by which the SWRCB is authorized to issue information and conservation orders related to urban water use objectives.
By Lauren’s law practice focuses on general water and environmental law, including CEQA and NEPA compliance, and includes various business transactional matters in the areas of water rights, water quality, public agency law, agribusiness, and real property.
By Kaitlin’s legal practice focuses on water and natural resources law, water rights, water quality, municipal rates and fees, public agency law, agribusiness, eminent domain, real property, and general civil litigation.
Disclaimer
This Legal Update / Bulletin is for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. This update should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.
