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Legislative Alert to Oppose AB 2153 (Krekorian)
Contact your Legislator to Urge Opposition on Overreaching Bill
AB 2153, as amended on May 22, would require a residential or commercial building project that is subject to CEQA to implement all feasible and cost-effective water efficiency measures. These residential and commercial buildings would be required to mitigate their projected annual water consumption, within the same hydrologic region. However, many water district’s service area span across multiple hydrologic regions. This is a one-size fits all, overreaching approach that is not workable for public water agencies. The mitigation measures taken would be reviewed, approved, and monitored by the lead agency. The lead agency, in consultation with a water supplier, would be authorized to deem a residential or commercial building project to be in compliance with the mitigation requirement if the lead agency determines that compliance by the building project with a local program would result in equivalent or greater mitigation of the building project's water supply impacts. The bill would exempt defined affordable housing projects and public building projects from this mitigation requirement. It is important that you contact your legislators now and urge them vote “NO” on AB 2153 (Krekorian) when it is heard on the Assembly Floor. Assembly members need to hear that this bill has a number of key problems that need to be addressed to make this legislation plausible.
Dear [ Decision Maker ] , (Your agency's name here) is writing to convey our opposition to AB 2153 (Krekorian) related to water conservation. This bill, as amended on May 22, would require a residential or commercial construction project that is subject to CEQA and required by a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration or an environmental impact report to implement all feasible and cost-effective water efficiency measures. These projects would then be required to mitigate its projected annual water consumption. Affordable housing projects and public building projects would be exempt from this mitigation requirement. The mitigation measures taken would be subject to review and approval by a lead agency. We believe AB 2153 is inconsistent with CEQA's purpose of identifying and disclosing actual environmental impacts. By requiring water efficiency measures for construction projects, even where water supplies are sufficient for both the project and the next 20 years of planned future uses, is totally inconsistent with CEQA's bedrock principle that mitigation is required only for significant impacts. AB 2153 adds yet another layer of water-policing without the means to fund this new responsibility to the water utility. We believe that reimbursements to the water utility should be required otherwise it creates an unfunded mandate. AB 2153 would require these projects to mitigate its projected annual water consumption, within the same hydrologic region. Mitigation measures should apply within the service area of the local water utility rather than the same hydrologic region as the project. Some of the terms in language of the bill need to be clarified. The lack of a definition for the terms "new residential or commercial building project," "feasible," "cost-effective," and "real" could result in an inconsistent interpretation thus creating the potential of unnecessary litigation. It is the aforementioned reasons that (Your water district's name here) respectfully urges you to vote "NO" when AB 2153 is heard on the Assembly Floor.
Sincerely, |
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