Article 1. General Provisions of California Water Code >> Division 7. >> Chapter 16. >> Article 1.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the California Safe Drinking Water Bond Law of 1988.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
  (a) The State Department of Health Services has discovered toxic chemicals in 126 of California's large public drinking water systems.
  (b) Many of the chemical contaminants in California's drinking water supplies are known or suspected of causing cancer, birth defects, and other serious illnesses.
  (c) New monitoring programs for small public water systems are expected to identify many new toxic contamination problems. It is unlikely that these problems can be solved without financial assistance from the State of California.

The Legislature further finds and declares that the protection of the health, safety, and welfare of the people of California requires that water supplied for domestic purposes be at all times pure, wholesome, and potable, and that it is in the interest of the people that the State of California provide technical and financial assistance to the end that the people of California are assured 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.

The Legislature further finds and declares that it is the intent of the Legislature to provide for the upgrading of domestic water supply systems to assure that all domestic water supplies at least meet minimum domestic water supply standards established under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 116275) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code.

As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
  (a) "Committee" means the Safe Drinking Water Finance Committee created by Section 14032.
  (b) "Cost-per-connection" means the total amount of funds in grants or loans, or combination thereof, to be provided by the department to a supplier for any project, divided by the number of service connections in the water system.
  (c) "Department" means the Department of Water Resources.
  (d) "Domestic water system" means a system for the provision to the public of piped water for human consumption, if the system has at least five service connections or regularly supplies water to at least 25 individuals. The term includes any water supply, treatment, storage, and distribution facilities under the control of the operator of the system.
  (e) "Fund" means the California Safe Drinking Water Fund created pursuant to Section 14010.
  (f) "Supplier" or "supplier of water" means any person, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity or political subdivision of the state which owns or operates a domestic water system.
  (g) "Federal assistance" means funds available, or which may become available, to a supplier either directly or through allocation by the state from the federal government as grants or loans for the improvement of domestic water systems.
  (h) "Treatment works" means any devices or systems used in the treatment of water supplies, including necessary lands, which render water supplies pure, wholesome, and potable for domestic purposes.
  (i) "Project" means proposed facilities for the construction, improvement, or rehabilitation of the domestic water system, and may include water supply, treatment works, and all or part of a water distribution system, if necessary to carry out the purpose of this chapter.
  (j) "Public agency" means any city, county, city and county, district, joint powers authority, or other political subdivision of the state which owns or operates a domestic water system. For purposes of this chapter, Chapter 10.2 (commencing with Section 13810), Chapter 10.5 (commencing with Section 13850), Chapter 10.6 (commencing with Section 13880), and Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 13895) a political subdivision of the state may be any public agency.