Greetings,
Governor Calls Special Session
on Water
Progress Cited in Ongoing
Negotiations on Water Package
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called a
special session late yesterday to continue work on a
far-reaching legislative package to address the Delta, water
conservation and other
issues.
Hours before the midnight Sunday
deadline to sign or veto bills approved by the Legislature, the
governor said enough progress had been made on water over the
previous days to warrant a special session. He also cited that
progress in moving away from an earlier pledge to veto hundreds
of bills if lawmakers failed to agree on a comprehensive water
package.
“Over the past few days we have
made enough progress in our negotiations that I am calling a
special session on water. While we still have a few remaining
issues to work out, I commend the legislative leaders for their
focus and commitment to solving this crisis and I will weigh all
the bills on their merits,” Schwarzenegger said Sunday
evening.
A proclamation
signed by the governor calls for the special session to begin
today. It was not immediately clear when lawmakers would begin
meeting in public session to discuss the
package.
Some elements of the package now being
discussed have not been released. Once language is available,
ACWA will immediately review and analyze the bills and confer
with the ACWA Board and State Legislative Committee regarding
appropriate action.
Sunday’s announcement followed a
series of meetings among legislative leaders and the governor to
close a gap on outstanding issues such as water rights
enforcement, conservation requirements and the size of a
potential water bond.
On Friday, ACWA representatives joined
the governor and other stakeholders at a Capitol rally organized
by the California Latino Water Coalition. The rally was designed
to call for action on a comprehensive water package
now.
Outcome of
ACWA-Sponsored Bills
Among the bills signed by the governor
is SB 407 ( Padilla), an ACWA-sponsored measure requiring owners
of most residential and commercial properties built before 1994
to replace inefficient plumbing fixtures with water-efficient
models. Homes must be in compliance by 2017, while apartments
and businesses have until 2019.
SB 407 is co-sponsored by ACWA, San
Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California.
An ACWA-sponsored measure on invasive
species was vetoed yesterday. AB 804 (Hall) would have clarified
that water system operators and their employees who are in
compliance with dreissenid mussel control plan requirements
would not be subject to civil or criminal
liability.
Other Bills
of Interest
Other measures signed by the governor
include:
AB 262 (Bass) --
directs the $113 million from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act to the Energy Commisson to fund projects and
programs that are energy efficient. Water conservation is
included in the funding mix.
AB 474 (Blumenfield)
– expands the current authorization allowing public
agencies, including water agencies, to enter into
contractual assessments to finance installation
of permanent improvements. The authorization now
includes water-efficient improvements such as low-flow
toilets.
AB 1061 (Lieu)
– provides that provisions of any governing document in a
common interest development shall be void and unenforceable if
they prohibit the use of low water-using plants or have the
effect of prohibiting or restricting compliance with local
water-efficient landscape ordinances or water conservation
measures.
AB 1366 (Feuer)
– authorizes
local sanitation agencies in the hydrologic regions of the
Central Coast, South Coast, San Joaquin River, Tulare Lake, and
the Counties of Butte, Glenn, Placer, Sacramento, Solano,
Sutter, and Yolo, to take action to control salt discharges from
residential self-regenerating water softeners if the regional board has made a
finding that doing so would assist in achieving local water
quality objectives.
AB 1465 (Hill)
– updates the water demand management measures required as
part of the reporting for the Urban Water Management Plan to
conform to the Best Management Practices as adopted in the Memorandum
of Understanding by the members of the California Urban
Water Conservation Council (CUWCC).
Vetoed bills
include:
AB 943 (Mendoza)
– would have prohibited an employer from obtaining a
consumer credit report for employment purposes unless (1) the
information was substantially job-related, and (2) the position
being sought was a managerial position, a position in a city,
county, or both city and county, that of a sworn peace officer
or other law enforcement position, or a position for which the
information contained in the report was required to be disclosed
by law or to be obtained by the
employer.
AB 1242 (Ruskin)
– would have declared that it is the established policy of
the state that “every human being has the right to clean,
affordable, and accessible water for human consumption, cooking
and sanitary purposes [...].” The bill would also
have required relevant state agencies, including the
Department of Water Resources, State Water Resources Control
Board, and State Department of Public Health, to employ all
reasonable means to implement the state policy.
