SECTIONS 79022-79026 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 79022-79026

79022. (a) The money transferred to the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund pursuant to Section 79021, except as otherwise
provided in Sections 79022.7 and 79025, shall be used by the state
department for loans and grants to suppliers for the purposes of
undertaking infrastructure improvements and related actions to meet
safe drinking water standards, in accordance with the Safe Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund Law of 1997 (Chapter 4.5 (commencing with
Section 116760) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety
Code).
(b) A supplier that is eligible for grants under Section 300j-12
(i) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1452(i)) may concurrently make
application for funds annually appropriated under the federal act
and for bond proceeds made available under this chapter. The state
department shall not place a public water system on the priority list
for project funding or enter into a contract and award a grant or
loan if a supplier has previously received a grant for public water
system expenditure for the same project under Section 300j-12(i) of
the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1452(i)) or if the supplier does not
have a public water system permit pursuant to Section 116525 of the
Health and Safety Code. The state department may place a public water
system on the priority list for funding if a supplier has not
otherwise received a letter of commitment to make a grant from the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency after 180 days
from the date of the original submission of an application for a
grant under Section 300j-12(i) of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
1452(i)).
(c) The Legislature finds and declares that Indian tribes shall be
encouraged to cooperate with an adjacent public water system to
determine whether the delivery of water from the public water system
to the Indian tribe would be feasible and cost-effective in
comparison to the improvement of a public water system owned or
operated by the Indian tribe. The determination of feasibility shall
include an assessment of whether the tribal water supplier possesses
adequate financial, managerial, and technical capability to ensure
the delivery of pure, wholesome, potable water to consumers. The
Legislature further finds and declares that public water suppliers
shall be encouraged to investigate opportunities for Indian tribes to
deliver water beyond trust land boundaries to consumers that may not
be economically served by a public water system.
(d) The state department shall encourage loan or grant applicants,
where feasible, to consider the consolidation of small public water
systems and community water systems with other public water systems
to reduce the cost of service and improve the level of protection for
consumers.
(e) To the extent that loans under this chapter that are made to a
public water system regulated by the Public Utilities Commission
bear a lower interest rate than that supplier could receive from
nongovernmental sources, the Public Utilities Commission shall ensure
that the entire benefit of the interest rate differential shall
benefit the rate payers of that system by including the lower
interest rate when establishing the water system's weighted average
cost of capital.

79022.5. Any repayment of loans made pursuant to this article,
including interest payments, and all interest earnings on or accruing
to, any money resulting from the implementation of this chapter in
the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund shall be deposited in
that fund and shall be available for the purposes of this chapter.

79022.7. Notwithstanding Item 4260-115-0001 of Section 2.00 of the
Budget Act of 1999 (Chapter 50, Statutes of 1999), no money
transferred to the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund pursuant
to this article may be transferred to the General Fund.

79023. There is hereby created in the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund the Technical Assistance Account.

79024. Of the funds transferred pursuant to Section 79021, the sum
of two million dollars ($2,000,000) is hereby transferred from the
Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to the Technical Assistance
Account.

79025. (a) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code,
the money in the Technical Assistance Account is hereby continuously
appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, to the state
department, to provide technical assistance to public water systems
in the state in accordance with Section 300j-12(g)(2) of the federal
act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1452(g)(2)). For the purposes of this section,
"technical assistance" includes assistance to disadvantaged
communities, including Indian tribes.
(b) In carrying out its responsibilities under subdivision (a),
the state department may do any of the following:
(1) Assess the technical, managerial, and financial capability of
a disadvantaged community.
(2) Assist an applicant in the preparation of an application for
funding under Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 116760) of Part 12
of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code or Section 300j-12(i)
of the federal act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1452(i)).
(3) Conduct workshops in locations in or near disadvantaged
communities to provide information regarding grants or loans for the
design and construction of projects for public water systems.

79026. Not more than 3 percent of the total amount deposited in the
account may be used to pay costs incurred in connection with the
administration of this chapter.