ACWA Bill Goes to Governor; Water Rights Measure Dies on Assembly Floor

ACWA-sponsored legislation addressing penalties for wastewater discharge reporting was sent to the governor while a strongly opposed bill on water rights died on the Assembly floor as the legislative session came to an end Tuesday night.

Lawmakers also passed a handful of bills on local government compensation, including a measure prohibiting automatic raises exceeding cost-of-living adjustments for specified local officials. The bills emerged in the wake of salary abuses reported in the city of Bell.

SB 1284 (Ducheny), sponsored by ACWA, addresses high penalties for water agencies and others for failing to report there was no wastewater discharge or failing to report a discharge that did not violate environmental standards. It cleared its final legislative hurdle last week and is now on the governor’s desk.

The bill would provide that failure to file a discharge monitoring report in certain situations would not be subject to mandatory minimum penalties. The bill was co-sponsored by the Regional Council of Rural Counties and the California Chamber of Commerce and is supported by the League of California Cities, the California Association of Sanitation Agencies and the California State Association of Counties.

ACWA-opposed SB 565 (Pavley) died on the Assembly floor after the author decided to drop it in the face of widespread opposition from water agencies, business groups and agricultural organizations. The bill would have established several new penalty provisions and investigative powers for the State Water Resources Control Board. It would also have reduced or eliminated existing due process and property rights protections for water rights holders.

SB 565 included provisions that failed passage last year amid similar opposition. The provisions are inconsistent with language enacted as part of the comprehensive water package in November 2009.