Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Program.

Existing law, the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997, establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to provide grants or revolving fund loans for the design and construction of projects for public water systems that will enable those systems to meet safe drinking water standards. This bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board to establish a program to provide low-interest loans and grants to local agencies for low-interest loans and grants to eligible applicants for specified purposes relating to drinking water and wastewater treatment. This bill would create the Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund and provide that the moneys in this fund are available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the board for expenditure for the program. This bill would transfer to the Water and Wastewater Loan and Grant Fund $10,000,000 from the General Fund. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.