Drinking water: technical, managerial, and financial standards.

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. Existing law requires the state board to directly enforce the provisions of the act for all public water systems, except as specified. The act prohibits a person from operating a public water system unless the person first submits an application to the state board and receives a permit to operate the system, as specified. Existing law authorizes the state board to impose permit conditions, requirements for system improvements, technical, financial, or managerial requirements, and time schedules as it deems necessary to ensure a reliable and adequate supply of water at all times that is pure, wholesome, potable, and does not endanger the health of consumers. Existing law makes it a crime to knowingly make any false statement or representation in any application, record, report, or other document submitted, maintained, or used for purposes of compliance with the act. This bill would require the state board to develop and adopt minimum standards related to the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of community water systems serving fewer than 10,000 people or 3,300 service connections and nontransient noncommunity water systems that serve K–12 schools. The bill would require community water systems serving fewer than 10,000 people or 3,300 service connections and nontransient noncommunity water systems that serve K–12 schools to demonstrate compliance with those standards, as provided. The bill would require new community water systems serving fewer than 10,000 persons or 3,300 service connections and nontransient noncommunity water systems that serve K–12 schools to demonstrate, as part of a permit application, compliance with the minimum technical, managerial, and financial standards. This bill would authorize the state board to require a community water system serving fewer than 10,000 people or 3,300 service connections and a nontransient noncommunity water system that serves K–12 schools subject to the minimum standards to show proof that it has the technical, managerial, and financial capacity to comply with the standards, including, but not limited to, annual reporting of information necessary and appropriate to monitor its current capacity status. Because knowingly making a false statement or representation in that report would be a crime under the California Safe Drinking Water Act, the 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.