State Water Resources Control Board: grant program for school drinking water.

Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board as a state agency with authority over matters relating to water quality. Existing law requires the state board to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. . This bill would require the state board to establish a grant program to award grants to public elementary and secondary schools to improve access to, and the quality of, drinking water. The bill would specify various types of projects for which these grants could be awarded. The bill would require the state board to give priority to applicant public elementary and secondary schools that serve a disadvantaged community, as defined. The bill would require the state board to develop procedures for the submission of applications for grants by local educational agencies and criteria for the evaluation of these applications. The bill would appropriate $10,000,000, without regard to fiscal years, from the General Fund to the state board for allocation to local educational agencies as grants made pursuant to the bill. The bill would provide that funds allocated to local educational agencies pursuant to this bill would supplement, and not supplant, the other state funds apportioned to these local educational agencies for their support. To the extent that the funds appropriated by this bill are allocated to school districts, the amount of these funds would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.