COUNTY ADMINISTRATION OFFICE - R. ESPINOSA

Approve and sign letter supporting Senate Bill 623. Advocate by sending  Support letter to Assembly Member Bill Monning, and CC: Senate pro team Kevin de Leon, Principle Co-Author; Kip Lipper, Office of Senate Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon; and ALF Brandt, Office of Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.

SBC:119

Senate Bill No. 623, would create the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, administered by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), and imposes water, fertilizer and dairy fees to fund safe drinking water programs.

Highlights of the fund include the following:  

·        Prioritized in a manner to encourage long-term sustainability and cost-effectiveness of drinking water service and infrastructure.

·        Operated in transparent manner similar to other funding programs at the State Water Board, and will include stakeholder and public processes to solicit input and ensure undoing is being targeted and deployed effectively.

·        Facilitate implementation by public water agencies by allowing water agencies to utilize a portion of revenues collected to support local implementation and for administration purposes.

Funding shall come from an increase to the existing fertilizer mill fee, a new safe drinking water fee on dairies, and a new small safe drinking water fee assessed monthly on water bills.

The imposed Drinking Water Fee (water fee) on each customer of a public water system until July 1, 2020 is as follows:

The combined fees will raise an estimated total of $140 million annually for the first two years and thereafter can be kept consistent or reduced by the State Water Board based on its annual needs assessments.