The 2024 legislative session ended on August 31, meaning the legislature passed all bills for this year. All of the bills are currently with Governor Newsom. He has until September 30 to sign or veto any bills. Any bills not signed by September 30 will be vetoed through a ‘pocket veto.’
This session was a busy one for bills affecting the water sector with at least nine bills passed impacting water and sewer systems in California. The bills cover a wide range of topics, including fines for violating State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) orders, Proposition 26 and 218 requirements for water-related fees, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requirements, and the California Water Plan.
AB 460
AB 460 is focused on increasing penalties for parties who use water illegally. It requires the State Water Board to increase the maximum amounts of civil and administrative liabilities or penalties it imposes by inflation every year starting in 2026. It also increases the penalty for not complying with a State Water Board cease and desist order from $1,000 per day to $2,500 per day. Further, it increases the penalty for not complying with a condition of a permit, license, or order from the State Water Board from $500 per day to $1,000 per day. If the non-compliance is with a curtailment order, the maximum fine is increased to $10,000 per day and $2,500 per day for each acre-foot of water.
AB 2257
AB 2257 includes an exhaustion of administrative remedies requirement for Proposition 218 and 26 challenges to property-related water or sewer fees or charges. It requires parties interested in challenging a fee under California Constitution Article XIII D (created and modified by Props 218 and 26) to submit written objections to the agency that passed those fees. The agency’s response to those objections would impact the weight of the evidence in a subsequent lawsuit; it is unclear what impact this provision will have on any judicial challenge, although it does imply that the agency’s written response to objections will help it survive any legal challenge thereto. The bill limits the administrative record in a lawsuit to certain documents although it does contain exceptions.
AB 1827
AB 1827 is intended to be declaratory of existing law and provides that fees or charges for property-related water service may be higher based on demand, maximum use, or projected peak water use. Like AB 2257, this bill is based on Propositions 218 and 26.
AB 828
AB 828 is focused on changing the SGMA requirements related to managed wetlands and small community water systems. It requires that a groundwater sustainability plan (GSP) under SGMA now include the GSP’s impacts on managed wetlands, managed wetland extractors, and small community water systems serving disadvantaged communities. It also prohibits groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) from regulating groundwater extraction by small community water systems or by managed wetland extractors. Last, the bill prevents GSAs from imposing certain fees on small community water systems or managed wetland purposes.
SB 366
SB 366 is designed to modify the contents of the California Water Plan while making new findings and declarations. The changes it makes include:
- Requiring the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to expand the membership of the plan’s advisory committee to include tribes, labor, and environmental justice parties;
- The plan must discuss groundwater recharge, conveyance, stormwater capture, water transfers, and demand management activities;
- The plan must discuss the following water needs: environmental, urban sector, and agricultural;
- The plan must discuss the estimated costs and benefits of any project type or action that could help achieve water supply targets and is recommended by DWR; and
- DWR must report to the Legislature and conduct public workshops.
AB 805
AB 805 is designed to allow the State Water Board to take over a struggling sewer system – which it calls a “designated sewer system” with a definition within the bill – and essentially act as a trustee or conservator. To qualify as a “designated sewer system,” the system must serve a disadvantaged community and must have a “demonstrated failure to maintain technical, managerial, or financial capacity to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.” The State Water Board would not be authorized to take control until it provides the sewer system with an opportunity to show that the state involvement is not necessary. Once the State Water Board takes over, it would have broad powers to improve the system and its operations with the ultimate goal of stepping aside and allowing the system to run itself once it has overcome its problems.
AB 2454
AB 2454 is focused on expanding domestic well testing to rental properties. It requires that an owner of a domestic well serving a rental property participate in the state’s current testing program, provide those results to the residents, and provide safe drinking water if the testing shows an exceedance of a primary drinking water standard. It also prevents the owner from imposing any fee for the testing and states that it is a crime for the owner made a false statement or misrepresentation in providing the test results to the renters. Last, it requires the state to post certain information related to the testing.
AB 2875
AB 2875 puts key aspects of Governor Pete Wilson’s Executive Order No. W-59-93 into legislation. That Order provides that it is the policy of the state to coordinate programs and policies that affect California wetlands; that the state wetland policy has three objectives – ensuring no net loss and long-term gain in the quantity, quality, and permanence of wetlands; to reduce complexity in the management of government wetlands programs, and to encourage partnerships to promote wetland conservation; created a California Wetlands Conservation Policy and detailed how to institute that policy; and more. AB 2875 makes legislative findings and declarations and provides that “It is the policy of the state to ensure no net loss and long-term gain in the quantity, quality, and permanence of wetlands acreage and values in California.”
SB 1304
SB 1304 increases the level of governmental review prior to the state submitting certain wells (Class II) as exempt from some EPA regulations. The review process for the state currently evaluating Class II wells is the Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) and the State Water Board evaluate the issue together. This bill changes that initial evaluation to CalGEM and State Water Board staff. If CalGEM and the State Water Board staff agree, then the staff should submit a report to the State Water Board, who makes a final decision.
