Desalination.

The Cobey-Porter Saline Water Conversion Law authorizes the Department of Water Resources, either independently or in cooperation with public or private entities to conduct a program of investigation, study, and evaluation in the field of saline water conversion, to provide assistance to persons or entities seeking to construct desalination facilities, and after submission of a written report and upon appropriation from the Legislature, to finance, construct, and operate saline water conversion facilities. Existing law required the department, not later than July 1, 2004, to report to the Legislature on potential opportunities and impediments for using seawater and brackish water desalination, and to examine what role, if any, the state should play in furthering the use of desalination technology. Existing law also required the department to convene a Water Desalination Task Force, comprised of representatives from listed agencies and interest groups, to advise the department in carrying out these duties and in making recommendations to the Legislature. The California Ocean Protection Act establishes the Ocean Protection Council in state government. Existing law requires the Ocean Protection Council to coordinate activities of state agencies that are related to the protection and conservation of coastal waters and ocean ecosystems to improve the effectiveness of state efforts to protect ocean resources within existing fiscal limitations, to establish policies to coordinate the collection, evaluation, and sharing of scientific data related to coastal and ocean resources among agencies, and to identify and recommend to the Legislature changes in law needed to achieve these goals. This bill would require the council to report to the Legislature, by December 31, 2014, on opportunities for improving the current statewide permitting processes for seawater desalination facilities and to recommend potential administrative and legislative actions for improving the permitting process while maintaining current regulatory protections. The bill would require the chair of the council to select a member of the council to be the chair of the Seawater Desalination Permit Improvement Task Force. This bill would require the chair of the task force to convene the Seawater Desalination Permit Improvement Task Force to review the current permitting processes required by all state regulatory agencies for the planning, design, construction, monitoring, and operation of seawater desalination facilities, to identify opportunities for improving the permitting process, and to advise the council in making the report.