Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: financial assistance.

Existing law, the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997, establishes the continuously appropriated Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to provide financial assistance for the design and construction of projects for public water systems that will enable those systems to meet safe drinking water standards. Existing law authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board, to the extent permitted by federal law, to provide up to 100% grant funding, and principal forgiveness and 0% financing on loans, from the fund to a project for a water system that serves a severely disadvantaged community. Existing law requires the interest rate for repayable financing provided from the fund to be 0% if the financing is for a public water system that serves a disadvantaged community with a financial hardship or if the financing is for a public water system that provides matching funds. This bill would delete those provisions relating to 0% financing and interest and would instead generally authorize the board, to the extent authorized by federal law, to provide reduced or 0% financing to further the purposes of the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997. The bill would delete the requirement that a water system serve a severely disadvantaged community in order to be provided with up to 100% grant funding or principal forgiveness and instead authorize providing that grant funding or principal forgiveness to certain other water systems. By making moneys in the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, available for new purposes, the bill would make an appropriation. Existing law, for community water systems and not-for-profit noncommunity water systems, allows planning and preliminary engineering studies, project design, and construction costs incurred by those water systems to be funded by loans and other repayable financing from the fund and requires the board to determine what portion of the full costs the water system is capable of repaying. Existing law authorizes providing grant or principal forgiveness to those water systems from the fund only to the extent the board finds the water system is unable to repay the full costs of the financing. Existing law imposes limitations on the financial assistance provided pursuant to these provisions to water corporations regulated by the Public Utilities Commission. This bill would delete the authorization to provide grant or principal forgiveness to those water systems only to the extent the board finds the water system is unable to repay the full costs of the financing. The bill would also delete those limitations on the financial assistance provided to water corporations regulated by the Public Utilities Commission. The bill would also define "community water system" for purposes of the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997.