Proposed new public water system: preliminary technical report.

Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, imposes on the State Water Resources Control Board various responsibilities and duties relating to providing a dependable, safe supply of drinking water. The act prohibits a person from operating a public water system unless he or she first submits an application to the state board and receives a permit, as specified. The act requires a proposed new public water system to first submit a preliminary technical report to the state board at least 6 months before initiating construction of any water-related improvement that includes, among other things, the name of each public water system for which any service area boundary is within 3 miles of the proposed new public water system's service area and discussions of the feasibility of each of the adjacent public water systems supplying domestic water to the proposed new public water system's service area. The act makes it a misdemeanor for a person to knowingly make a false statement or representation in a report submitted, maintained, or used for purposes of compliance with the act. This bill would authorize the state board to approve the preliminary technical report and allow construction to proceed before the end of the 6-month period. The bill would require the preliminary technical report additionally to include the type of each public water system with a service boundary within 3 miles and would instead require discussions of each adjacent community water system's feasibility of supplying domestic water to the proposed new service area. Because a false statement in the report could be a crime under the provision described above, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the scope of a crime. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.