Article 2. Legislative Findings Of Necessity And Cause For Action of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 104. >> Part 12. >> Chapter 4.5. >> Article 2.
(a) Because the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 300j et seq.) provides for establishment of a perpetual
drinking water revolving fund, which will be partially capitalized by
federal contributions, it is in the interest of the people of the
state, in order to ensure full participation by the state under the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act, to enact this chapter to authorize
the state to establish and implement a state drinking water revolving
fund that will meet federal conditions for receipt of federal funds.
The primary purpose of this chapter is to enable receipt of funds
under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. It is the intent of the
Legislature that the terms of this chapter shall be liberally
construed to achieve this purpose.
(b) Toxic contaminants and new pathogenic organisms, including
cryptosporidium, have been discovered in many of California's public
drinking water systems.
(c) Many of the contaminants in California's drinking water
supplies are known to cause, or are suspected of causing, cancer,
birth defects, and other serious illnesses.
(d) It is unlikely that the contamination problems of small public
water systems can be solved without financial assistance from the
state.
(e) The protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the
people of California requires that the water supplied for domestic
purposes be at all times pure, wholesome, and potable. It is in the
interest of the people that the State of California provide technical
and financial assistance to ensure a safe, dependable, and potable
supply of water for domestic purposes and that water is available in
adequate quantity at sufficient pressure for health, cleanliness, and
other domestic purposes.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide for the
upgrading of existing public water supply systems to ensure that all
domestic water supplies meet safe drinking water standards and other
requirements established under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
116270).
(g) The extent of the current risk to public health from
contamination in drinking water creates a compelling need to upgrade
existing public water systems. The demand for financial assistance to
enable public water systems to meet drinking water standards and
regulations exceeds funds available from the Safe Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund.
(h) The Legislature further finds and declares that regional
solutions to water contamination problems are often more effective,
efficient, and economical than solutions designed to address solely
the problems of a single small public water system, and it is in the
interest of the people of the State of California to encourage the
consolidation of the management and the facilities of small water
systems to enable those systems to better address their water
contamination problems.
(i) The protection of drinking water sources is essential to
ensuring that the people of California are provided with pure,
wholesome, and potable drinking water.
(j) That coordination among local, state, and federal public
health and environmental management programs be undertaken to ensure
that sources of drinking water are protected while avoiding
duplication of effort and reducing program costs.
(k) It is necessary that a source water protection program be
implemented for the purposes of delineating, assessing, and
protecting drinking water sources throughout the state and that
federal funds be utilized pursuant to the federal Safe Drinking Water
Act to carry out that program.
(l) It is in the interest of the people of the state to provide
funds for a perpetual Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund that
may be combined with similar federal funding to the extent the
funding is authorized pursuant to the federal Safe Drinking Water
Act.
(m) This chapter shall govern implementation of the Safe Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund, and shall be implemented in a manner that
is consistent with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and, to the
extent authorized under the federal act, in a manner that is
consistent with the California Safe Drinking Water Act, Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 116270).
(n) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2014.