Existing law provides for financial and food assistance benefits to needy Californians, including, among other programs, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and CalFresh, under which each county provides for financial and food assistance benefits to qualified individuals who meet specified eligibility criteria. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing those financial and food assistance benefits. Existing law authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh benefits and, upon election by the county, CalWORKs benefits through the use of an EBT system.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, on or before February 1, 2017, convene a workgroup to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water, as specified. The bill would require the workgroup to consist of representatives from specified entities, including the Department of Water Resources, the Office of Emergency Services, and applicable community advocates, and would require the workgroup to develop recommendations that include, among other things, an implementation plan for identification of eligible households and delivery of the benefit to those households. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, on or before July 1, 2017, submit a report with the recommendations to the Legislature and the California Health and Human Services Agency. The bill would also make relating findings and declarations.

Existing law provides for financial and food assistance benefits to needy Californians, including, among other programs, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and CalFresh, under which each county provides for financial and food assistance benefits to qualified individuals who meet specified eligibility criteria. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing those financial and food assistance benefits. Existing law authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh benefits and, upon election by the county, CalWORKs benefits through the use of an EBT system.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, on or before February 1, 2017, convene a workgroup to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water, as specified. The bill would require the workgroup to consist of representatives from specified entities, including the Department of Water Resources, the Office of Emergency Services, and applicable community advocates, and would require the workgroup to develop recommendations that include, among other things, an implementation plan for identification of eligible households and delivery of the benefit to those households. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, on or before July 1, 2017, submit a report with the recommendations to the Legislature and the California Health and Human Services Agency. The bill would also make relating findings and declarations.

Existing law provides for financial and food assistance benefits to needy Californians, including, among other programs, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and CalFresh, under which each county provides for financial and food assistance benefits to qualified individuals who meet specified eligibility criteria. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing those financial and food assistance benefits. Existing law authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh benefits and, upon election by the county, CalWORKs benefits through the use of an EBT system.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, on or before February 1, 2017, convene a workgroup to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water, as specified. The bill would require the workgroup to consist of representatives from specified entities, including the Department of Water Resources, the Office of Emergency Services, and applicable community advocates, and would require the workgroup to develop recommendations that include, among other things, an implementation plan for identification of eligible households and delivery of the benefit to those households. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, on or before July 1, 2017, submit a report with the recommendations to the Legislature and the California Health and Human Services Agency. The bill would also make relating findings and declarations.

Existing law provides for financial and food assistance benefits to needy Californians, including, among other programs, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and CalFresh, under which each county provides for financial and food assistance benefits to qualified individuals who meet specified eligibility criteria. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing those financial and food assistance benefits. Existing law authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh benefits and, upon election by the county, CalWORKs benefits through the use of an EBT system.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish and administer a process to deliver interim drinking water assistance benefits to low-income households, as defined, with inadequate access to safe drinking water. The bill would specify that eligible low-income households include, but are not limited to, households in disadvantaged communities, served by noncompliant small water systems, households located in communities deemed eligible for interim emergency drinking water benefits from the State Water Resources Control Board, and households whose private wells have active outages or water supply problems, as specified. The bill would require that the process be funded with existing emergency drought response resources allocated for interim water assistance and would require the department, in consultation with other specified state agencies, to identify existing resources. The bill would require the department to deliver the benefits through the EBT system. to, on or before February 1, 2017, convene a workgroup to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water, as specified. The bill would require the workgroup to consist of representatives from specified entities, including the Department of Water Resources, the Office of Emergency Services, and applicable community advocates, and would require the workgroup to develop recommendations that include, among other things, an implementation plan for identification of eligible households and delivery of the benefit to those households. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to, on or before July 1, 2017, submit a report with the recommendations to the Legislature and the California Health and Human Services Agency. The bill would also make relating findings and declarations.

Existing law provides for financial and food assistance benefits to needy Californians, including, among other programs, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and CalFresh, under which each county provides for financial and food assistance benefits to qualified individuals who meet specified eligibility criteria. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing those financial and food assistance benefits. Existing law authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh benefits and, upon election by the county, CalWORKs benefits through the use of an EBT system.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish and administer a safe drinking water assistance program to provide cash benefits process to deliver interim drinking water assistance benefits to low-income households, as defined, with inadequate access to safe drinking water so that they may obtain safe drinking water. The bill would specify that eligible low-income households include, but are not limited to, households in a disadvantaged community, in disadvantaged communities, served by noncompliant small water systems, households located in communities deemed eligible for interim emergency drinking water benefits from the State Water Resources Control Board, and households whose private wells have gone dry or become contaminated, active outages or water supply problems, as specified. The bill would require that the program process be funded with existing emergency drought response resources allocated for interim water assistance and would require the department, in consultation with other specified state agencies, to identify existing resources for the program. resources. The bill would require the department to deliver the cash benefits through the EBT system. The bill would also make relating findings and declarations.

Existing law provides for financial and food assistance benefits to needy Californians, including, among other programs, the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and CalFresh, under which each county provides for financial and food assistance benefits to qualified individuals who meet specified eligibility criteria. Existing law, administered by the State Department of Social Services, provides for the establishment of a statewide electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system for the purpose of providing those financial and food assistance benefits. Existing law authorizes a county to deliver CalFresh benefits and, upon election by the county, CalWORKs benefits through the use of an EBT system.

This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to establish and administer a safe drinking water assistance program to provide cash benefits to low-income households, as defined, with inadequate access to safe drinking water so that they may obtain safe drinking water. The bill would specify that eligible low-income households include, but are not limited to, households in a disadvantaged community, households eligible for interim emergency drinking water benefits from the State Water Resources Control Board, and households whose private wells have gone dry or become contaminated, as specified. The bill would require that the program be funded with existing resources and would require the department, in consultation with other specified state agencies, to identify existing resources for the program. The bill would require the department to deliver the cash benefits through the EBT system. The bill would also make relating findings and declarations.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES

Senator McGuire, Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular

Bill No: AB 2099

Subject: Safe drinking water benefit

SUMMARY

This bill would require the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to establish and administer a safe drinking water assistance program to provide cash benefits to low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water. This bill would also require CDSS, in consultation with other specified state agencies, to create a workgroup to develop recommendations for the program.

ABSTRACT

Existing law:

1. Establishes the Human Right to Water Act, ensuring that every person has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for human consumption, cooking, and sanitary purposes. (WAT 106.3 (a))
2. Defines a “disadvantaged community” as a community “in which the median household income is less than 80 percent of the statewide average.” (HSC 116275 (ab))
3. Defines a “small community water system” as a “community water system that serves no more than 3,300 service connections or a year-long population of no more than 10,000 persons.” (HSC 116275 (aa))
4. Establishes the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Act, defining the EBT system as the program to provide benefits to recipients of public social services (WIC 10065 et seq.)
5. Requires the Office of Systems Integration within CDSS to implement a statewide automated welfare system for specified public assistance programs. (WIC 10823)
6. Establishes the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014, providing funding for projects that improve water quality and provide reliable drinking water. Eligible projects address the critical and immediate needs of disadvantaged, rural, or small communities that suffer from contaminated drinking water supplies, including, but not limited to, projects that address a public health emergency. (WAT 79720 et seq.)
7. Allocates, pursuant to Proposition 1, $260 million for grants and loans for public water system infrastructure improvements and related actions to meet safe drinking water standards and/or ensure affordable drinking water. Requires that priority is given to projects that provide treatment for contamination or access to an alternate drinking water source for small community water systems or state small water systems in disadvantaged communities whose drinking water source is impaired by chemical and nitrate contaminants and other health hazards identified by the State Water Board. (WAT 79724. (a)(1))

This bill:

1. Makes a series of uncodified Legislative findings and declarations including:
   1. Describing the EBT system and its advantages for delivering public benefits.
   2. Stating that the Legislature and the Governor established The Human Right to Water in 2013, and that despite a history of proactive water policies, California residents still face formidable challenges as the drought continues to exacerbate water quality issues for disadvantaged communities who disproportionately bear the health and financial impacts of inadequate access to safe water.
   3. Significant barriers to water access exist for marginalized Californians who are forced to choose between drinking water and expending scarce resources to pay for clean water, including in 2014, more than 1 million Californians faced water safety violations that made water unsafe to drink, and as the drought enters its fifth year, more than 2,000 domestic wells have gone dry in the Central Valley, affecting tens of thousands of people. Many small communities face chronic water quality problems. Almost 400 small rural water systems and schools are unable to provide safe drinking water.
   4. Declares Legislative intent to use the EBT system to deliver emergency water to households in disadvantaged communities.
2. Requires CDSS to convene a workgroup on or before February 1, 2017, to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water.
3. Requires that the water benefit to the extent possible, be provided through the EBT system and be funded from existing emergency drought response resources allocated for interim water assistance.
4. Requires the workgroup to consist of representatives from CDSS, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Water Resources, the Office of Emergency Services, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, Food Policy Advocates, and other applicable community advocates.
5. Requires the recommendations established through the workgroup to include the design of the benefit and an implementation plan that considers the following populations:
   1. Households in disadvantaged communities served by noncompliant small community water systems.
   2. Households located in communities deemed eligible for interim emergency drinking water benefits.
   3. Households with private wells that have active outages or water supply problems.
6. Requires the recommendations shall include possibilities for interim or permanent adoption and implementation of the benefit through regulations, all-county letters, or similar instruction.
7. Requires CDSS to submit a report of the recommendations to the Legislature and the California Health and Human Services Agency by July 1, 2017, as specified.
8. Sunsets the provisions of this bill on July 1, 2021, and repeals those provisions on January 1, 2022.

FISCAL IMPACT

According to an analysis by the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, costs for CDSS to convene the workgroup and to produce the required report to the Legislature for this bill would be minor and absorbable; future costs for CDSS to implement the recommendations in the report would be significant.

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

Purpose of the bill:

According to the author, the state has taken several measures – all implemented following the Governor’s emergency declaration for the drought – to increase adequate drinking water to low-income households, however these measures have not met the needs of all low-income Californians with inadequate drinking water. Access to programs providing resources for safe drinking water varies across the state: Some communities rely on grants awarded to the county, others rely on local non-profit organizations, and only in Tulare County do residents have access to a county-run water assistance program.

Purchasing bottled water is a costly alternative to gain access to safe drinking water. In households where income falls below the poverty level, 20% of their income can be devoted to water sanitation and purchasing bottled water. The author acknowledges that long-term solutions are necessary to increase access to adequate drinking water, however this bill provides “temporary relief to struggling families who live in homes with inadequate drinking water supplies.”

Access to safe drinking water

In 2012, the Human Right to Water Law (AB 685, Eng, Chapter 524, Statutes of 2012), affirmed the right of every person to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible drinking water. Because of both human actions and naturally occurring processes, such as infrastructure failures, polluted water sources, and the drought, many low-income communities have inadequate drinking water. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) almost 400 small rural water systems and schools across the state are unable to provide safe drinking water, and treatment to remove contaminants is costly for small systems.

In 2013, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency survey identified California as the state with the greatest infrastructure improvement needs. The state has taken a number of interim steps to help ensure that low-income households can obtain safe drinking water. Recent measures taken include approval by the State Water Resources Board of $19 million from the Cleanup and Abatement Account in 2015 to meet interim emergency drinking water needs. Additionally, the Office of Emergency Services received $22 million in 2015 to provide emergency drinking water, and the Department of Water Resources received $45 million to assist with drinking water shortages.

The sponsors of the bill, California Food Policy Advocates, state that “without affordable access to safe water, disadvantaged communities in California will continue to bear a disproportionate burden of this drought.” They contend that this bill will provide an interim, supplemental benefit for households in disadvantaged communities.

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

The EBT system is an electronic system in California used for the delivery of public assistance benefits such as CalWORKS and CalFresh. EBT is currently used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. In California, recipients of public assistance access their benefits through the Golden State Advantage EBT card. California EBT cards can be used at more than 15,000 businesses and over 54,000 ATMs in California. The cards are used similarly to a bank ATM or debit card by sliding the card through a point-of-sale device or ATM to receive and use benefits. Bottled drinking water is currently an eligible food item under the California EBT program, but purchasing bottled water with EBT credit reduces the remaining benefit amount available for other nutritional needs.

Related legislation:

AB 1376 (Perea, 2015) would have general fund monies for projects that address drought-related drinking water emergencies. It was held in the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

AB 401 (Dodd, Chapter 662, Statutes of 2015) required the State Water Resources Control Board and the Board of Equalization to develop a plan to fund and implement the Low-Income Water Rate Assistance Program, which would create recommendations for cost-effective methods of offering assistance to low-income water customers.

AB 1471 (Rendon, Chapter 188, Statutes of 2014) established the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014.

SB 104 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 3, Statutes of 2014) appropriated funds to the Department of Water Resources for integrated regional water management grants for projects that provide immediate regional drought preparedness, increase local water supply reliability and the delivery of safe drinking water, and appropriated funds to the Department of Water Resources for integrated regional water management grants.

AB 685 (Eng, Chapter 524, Statutes of 2012) established the Human Right to Water Act.

COMMENTS

The intention of this bill is to provide an interim solution for increasing access to safe drinking water for individuals in disadvantaged communities whose water supply is inadequate. This bill would create a committee to study the feasibility of, among other things, delivering emergency water benefits through the EBT system, or to consider the most efficient and effective way of implementing the benefit.

It is unclear if the existing EBT system can dedicate benefits specifically to emergency water relief. However, the state is working to fulfill a federal mandate which requires state agencies that deliver food benefits to implement EBT systems that incorporate WIC by October 1, 2020. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is currently working on meeting the Federal mandate by developing technology that incorporates EBT Services for Food and Cash programs and the WIC Program. Though still in development, it is possible that this technology will allow for benefits to be more targeted, and would allow specific allocations for an emergency water benefit. As that technology is not currently developed, and may not be available before October 1, 2020, the author may want to emphasize that the EBT system is to be used only if it is feasible to do so.

Staff recommends the following amendment:

(j) Recognizing this, it is the intent of the Legislature to utilize the existing EBT system to deliver appropriate emergency water benefits to disadvantaged households in an efficient and effective manner, and to the extent possible, to utilize the EBT system to accomplish this goal.

PRIOR VOTES

POSITIONS

Support:

California Food Policy Advocates (Sponsor)

Asian Law Alliance

CA4Health

California Academy of Physicians

California Health+ Advocates

Community Health Councils

Community Water Center

Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles (JFS)

Rural Community Assistance Corporation

The American heart Association/ American Stroke Association

The California Association of Food Banks

The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health

Oppose:

None

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 2099

Author:(Mark Stone)

As Ver:

Majority vote

SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to establish a workgroup charged with developing recommendations for the delivery of a water benefit to low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water, as specified. Specifically, this bill:

1. Makes a number of Legislative findings and declarations regarding barriers to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water faced by many Californians, and the effectiveness and efficiency of the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system in delivering assistance to individuals and households.
2. Requires DSS to, by February 1, 2017, convene a workgroup to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water in order to supplement the purchase of drinking water.
3. Requires the water benefit to be:
   1. Made available to low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water;
   2. Provided through the EBT system, to the extent possible; and
   3. Funded from existing emergency drought response resources, as specified and to the extent possible.
4. Requires the workgroup to consist of specified entities, including, among others: DSS, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Water Resources, and food policy advocates.
5. Requires the recommendations developed by the workgroup to include all of the following:
   1. The design of the benefit;
   2. An implementation plan for identification of eligible households and delivery of the benefit to those households, as specified; and
   3. Possibilities for interim or permanent adoption and implementation of the benefit through regulations, all-county letters, or similar instruction.
6. Requires DSS to submit a report with the recommendations developed pursuant to this bill to the Legislature and the California Health and Human Services Agency by July 1, 2017, as specified.
7. Sunsets the provisions of this bill on July 1, 2021, as specified.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Act, and defines the EBT system as the program designed to provide benefits to those eligible to receive public assistance benefits such as CalWORKs and CalFresh. (Welfare and Institutions Code Section (WIC) 10065 et seq.)
2. Establishes the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014. (Water Code Section (WAT) 79700 et seq.)
3. Provides funding pursuant to the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 to address the critical and immediate needs of disadvantaged, rural, or small communities that suffer from contaminated drinking water supplies, including, but not limited to, projects that address a public health emergency. (WAT 79720 et seq.)
4. Defines "disadvantaged community" for the purposes of various sections of state Water Code to mean a community with an annual median household income that is less than 80% of the statewide annual median household income. (WAT 79505.5)
5. Requires the Office of Systems Integration within DSS to implement a statewide automated welfare system (SAWS) for specified public assistance programs. (WIC 10823)

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill may result in the following costs:

1. Minor and absorbable costs to DSS to convene the working group and produce the required report.
2. Significant future cost pressure to DSS to implement the recommendations in the report.

COMMENTS:

Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT): EBT is an electronic system that automates the delivery, redemption, and reconciliation of issued public assistance benefits such as CalWORKs. EBT is also the method for distributing Cal Fresh benefits (formerly known as Food Stamps and currently known federally as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)). EBT is currently used in all 50 states. In California, CalWORKs and CalFresh recipients access their benefits via what has been named the Golden State Advantage EBT card. As with a bank-issued automated teller machine (ATM) card, the cardholder slides this card through a point-of-sale (POS) device, or uses the card at an ATM.

Access to safe drinking water for low-income households: Infrastructure failures, polluted water sources, and the drought all contribute to decreased access to adequate drinking water. Small, disadvantaged communities face particular challenges with inadequate drinking water supplies. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), "several recent studies indicate that a lack of access to safe drinking water in poor, rural communities is a serious problem. Small water systems generally rely on groundwater supplies. They have little ratepayer capacity and high unit costs for supplying safe piped drinking water to households, and they are often in areas where groundwater is highly contaminated."

The state has taken a number of steps in the wake of the drought to help ensure that low-income households can obtain safe drinking water; these have included interim measures such as: the State Water Resources Control Board approving funds to repair wells and supply bottled water and filtration devices, among other services; the Office of Emergency Services providing emergency drinking water; and the Department of Water Resources working on finding longer-term solutions to assist with the drinking water shortage. However, California Food Policy Advocates, the sponsors of this bill, point to the gap left by these current efforts, stating that, among other things the slow implementation and the often longer-term, infrastructure-focused approaches can lead to somewhat uneven and limited access to emergency drinking water assistance. This bill, they contend, helps fill that gap because it provides an individual household-level, easy-to-access benefit that a family can access when it is needed in a given month.

Need for this bill: According to the author, this bill "represents a temporary, interim solution to upholding the right of all Californians to have safe drinking water. The Legislature has taken several necessary steps to make long-term improvements to water delivery and water quality infrastructure. Yet over a million Californians continue to live in households where their tap water is so contaminated that no one can drink it, and thousands of Californians live in homes where there simply is no water to use – their wells dried up during the drought. When families can no longer trust their municipal water systems or private wells to access enough clean water, they must rely on local utilities delivering water, private companies or charities donating water, or their own ability to purchase bottled water.

"Ultimately, the best way to address the crisis of inadequate drinking water supplies across the state is by investing in several expensive, long-term solutions, including upgrading existing infrastructure, improving water use efficiency and conservation, improving water treatment, and carefully monitoring and minimizing the use of contaminated water supplies. In the meantime, though, poor people need and deserve to access clean and safe drinking water. [This bill] adds an additional means of reaching additional families who need safe drinking water, and it would become part of an already broad state response to California's drinking water crisis."

Analysis Prepared by: Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089 FN: 0003330

Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2099

Author:(Mark Stone) – As Amended Ver:April 14, 2016

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS), on or before February 1, 2017, to convene a workgroup to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water. The bill requires DSS, on or before July 1, 2017, to submit a report with recommendations to the Legislature and the California Health and Human Services Agency.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. Minor and absorbable costs to DSS to convene the working group and produce the required report.
2. Significant future cost pressure to DSS to implement the recommendations in the report.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. The author argues that while the Legislature has taken several necessary steps to make long-term improvements to water delivery and water infrastructure, "over a million Californians continue to live in households where their tap water is so contaminated that no one can drink it, and thousands of Californians live in homes where there simply is no water to use – their wells dried up during the drought." The Orange County Food Access Coalition argues, "The drought continues to exacerbate water quality issues for disadvantaged communities who disproportionately bear the health and financial impacts of unsafe drinking water… Families should not be spending scarce resources to pay for clean water. Californians should not be forced to choose between drinking contaminated water and expending scarce household resources to pay for clean water. In the Central Valley, some households devote approximately 20 percent of their annual median income of $14,000 to pay for water and sanitation services and to purchase bottled water."

This bill seeks to develop another tool by which to provide communities in need with immediate access to drinking water assistance.

1. Drinking water contamination. According to the State Water Board (SWB) report, "Communities that Rely on Contaminated Groundwater," released in January 2013, 682 community public water systems, which serve nearly 21 million people, rely on contaminated groundwater as a primary source of drinking water. The report points out that an additional two million Californians rely on groundwater from either private domestic wells or smaller groundwater-reliant systems that are not regulated by the state, the water quality of which is uncertain. The findings from State Water Board report, and a 2012 UC Davis study, "Addressing Nitrate in California's Drinking Water," suggest that drinking water contamination in California disproportionally affects small, rural and low-income communities that depend mostly on groundwater as their drinking water source.

The recent drought has further compromised the state's drinking water supplies. Since many rural households rely on shallow domestic wells or small, poorly funded community water supply systems, these communities have been the hardest hit. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, as of early July 2015, more than 2,000 dry domestic wells were reported, mostly in the Central Valley and Sierras, with more than half in Tulare County. Emergency water supply needs have also been identified for more than 100 small water community water systems around the state

1. State Action. In light of increasing drinking water system failures exasperated by the drought, both the Legislature and the Governor have taken many steps to provide funding for drought relief, including the provision of safe drinking water. For example, Proposition 1 (Assembly Bill (AB) 1471, Rendon, Chapter 188, Statutes of 2014), authorized $7.545 billion in general obligation bonds for water projects, including, among other provisions, drinking water protection. Proposition 1 allocates $260 million for drinking water grants and loans for public water system infrastructure improvements and related actions to meet safe drinking water standards, ensure affordable drinking water, or both. As of February 1, 2016, about $9 million of this allocation was awarded.

Additionally, on March 27, 2015, Governor Brown approved a $1 billion emergency drought relief package when he signed AB 91 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 1, Statutes of 2015) and AB 92 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 2, Statutes of 2015). As a result of the Governor’s action, the SWB approved $19 million in funding from the Cleanup and Abatement Account to meet interim emergency drinking water needs for those communities with a contaminated water supply, or that suffer drought related water outages or threatened emergencies. In an effort to distribute funds as quickly and efficiently as possible, the SWB is coordinating with the Regional Water Quality Control Boards, its Division of Drinking Water district offices, the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, the Department of Water Resources, and other stakeholders (e.g., environmental justice groups, community assistance groups) to identify those communities that are most at risk and require financial assistance. Approximately $11 million of this funding allocation has been committed or spent.

Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS

Luis Alejo, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2099 (

Author:Mark Stone) – As Amended Ver:March 31, 2016

SUBJECT: Safe drinking water assistance

SUMMARY: Requires, on or before February 1, 2017, the State Department of Social Services (DSS) to convene a workgroup to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water. Specifically, this bill:

1. Makes legislative findings about the effectiveness of the electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system and the lack of accessible, safe drinking water for many Californians.
2. Requires, on or before February 1, 2017, DSS to convene a workgroup to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water.
3. Requires the water benefit to do all of the following:
   1. Be made available to low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water, including, but not limited to all of the following:
      1. Households served by noncompliant small water systems in disadvantaged communities;
      2. Households located in communities deemed eligible for interim emergency drinking water benefits by the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board); and,
      3. Households whose private wells have active outages or water supply problems, as determined by the Department of Water Resources;
   2. Be provided, to the extent possible, through the EBT system; and,
   3. Be funded, to the extent possible, from existing emergency drought response resources allocated for interim water assistance.
4. Requires the workgroup to consist of representatives from all of the following entities: DSS; the State Water Board; the Department of Water Resources; the Office of Emergency Services; the County Welfare Directors Association of California; food policy advocates; and, other applicable community advocates.
5. Requires the workgroup to develop recommendations that include all of the following:
   1. The design of the benefit;
   2. An implementation plan for identification of eligible households and delivery of the benefit to those households; and,
   3. Possibilities for interim or permanent adoption and implementation of the benefit through regulations, all-county letters, or similar instruction.
6. Requires DSS to submit a report with the recommendations to the Legislature and the California Health and Human Services Agency by July 1, 2017.
7. Sunsets the provisions of this bill on July 1, 2021, and on January 1, 2022, repeals those provisions.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1), which was approved by the voters on November 4, 2014. (Water Code (WC) §79700 et seq.)
2. Allocates, pursuant to Proposition 1, two hundred sixty million dollars ($260,000,000) for grants and loans for public water system infrastructure improvements and related actions to meet safe drinking water standards, ensure affordable drinking water, or both. Requires that priority is given to projects that provide treatment for contamination or access to an alternate drinking water source or sources for small community water systems or state small water systems in disadvantaged communities whose drinking water source is impaired by chemical and nitrate contaminants and other health hazards identified by the State Water Board. (WC § 79724. (a)(1))
3. Defines "disadvantaged community" as a community with an annual median household income that is less than 80% of the statewide annual median household income. (WC §79505.5)
4. Establishes the EBT Act, and defines the EBT system as the program designed to provide benefits to those eligible to receive public assistance benefits such as California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) and CalFresh. (Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) §10065 et seq.)
5. Requires the Office of Systems Integration within the Department of Social Services (DSS) to implement a statewide automated welfare system (SAWS) for specified public assistance programs. (WIC §10823)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS:

Need for the bill: According to the author,

"AB 2099 provides temporary relief to struggling families who live in homes with inadequate drinking water supplies by offsetting the cost of bottled water during the interim wait for long-term water supply infrastructure upgrades. The measure allows impoverished families and who live in a community or home with insufficient, contaminated, or otherwise unsafe drinking water supplies to access a small supplemental cash benefit for purchasing water.

Ultimately, the best way to address the crisis of inadequate drinking water supplies across the state is by investing in several expensive, long-term solutions, including upgrading existing infrastructure, improving water use efficiency and conservation, improving water treatment, and carefully monitoring and minimizing the use of contaminated water supplies. In the meantime, though, poor people need and deserve to access clean and safe drinking water."

Drinking water contamination in disadvantaged communities. According to the State Water Board report, "Communities that Rely on Contaminated Groundwater," released in January 2013, 682 community public water systems, which serve nearly 21 million people, rely on contaminated groundwater as a primary source of drinking water. The report points out that an additional two million Californians rely on groundwater from either a private domestic well or a smaller groundwater-reliant system that is not regulated by the state, the water quality of which is uncertain. The findings from State Water Board report, and a 2012 UC Davis study, "Addressing Nitrate in California's Drinking Water," suggest that drinking water contamination in California disproportionally affects small, rural and low-income communities that depend mostly on groundwater as their drinking water source.

The recent drought has further compromised the state's drinking water supplies. Since many rural households rely on shallow domestic wells or small, poorly funded community water supply systems, these communities have been the hardest hit. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, as of early July 2015, more than 2,000 dry domestic wells were reported, mostly in the Central Valley and Sierras, with more than half in Tulare County. Emergency water supply needs have also been identified for more than 100 small water community water systems around the state

Recent action to address drinking water needs: In December 2013, Governor Brown established an interagency drought response team to coordinate drought relief efforts, and in January 2014, he declared a statewide drought emergency. According to the PPIC, the state has recently significantly improved its emergency response for communities lacking drinking water. The multiple agencies involved have strengthened coordination to identify needs and deliver help.

In light of increasing drinking water system failures exasperated by the drought, both the Legislature and the Governor have taken many steps to provide funding for drought relief, including the provision of safe drinking water. For example, Proposition 1 (Assembly Bill (AB) 1471, Rendon, Chapter 188, Statutes of 2014), approved by the voters on November 4, 2014, authorized $7.545 billion in general obligation bonds for water projects, including surface and groundwater storage; ecosystem and watershed protection and restoration; and, drinking water protection. Proposition 1 allocates $260 million for drinking water grants and loans for public water system infrastructure improvements and related actions to meet safe drinking water standards, ensure affordable drinking water, or both. As of February 1, 2016, about $9 million of this allocation was awarded.

Additionally, on March 27, 2015, Governor Brown approved a $1 billion emergency drought relief package when he signed AB 91 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 1, Statutes of 2015) and AB 92 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 2, Statutes of 2015). As a result of the Governor’s action, the State Water Board approved $19 million in funding from the Cleanup and Abatement Account to meet interim emergency drinking water needs for those communities with a contaminated water supply or which suffer drought related water outages or threatened emergencies. In an effort to distribute funds as quickly and efficiently as possible, the State Water Board is coordinating with the Regional Water Quality Control Boards, the State Water Board’s Division of Drinking Water district offices, the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, the Department of Water Resources, and other stakeholders (e.g., environmental justice groups, community assistance groups) to identify those communities that are most at risk and require financial assistance. Approximately $11 million of this funding allocation has been committed or spent.

Additional drinking water needs: The author argues that while the Legislature has taken several necessary steps to make long-term improvements to water delivery and water infrastructure, "over a million Californians continue to live in households where their tap water is so contaminated that no one can drink it, and thousands of Californians live in homes where there simply is no water to use – their wells dried up during the drought." The Orange County Food Access Coalition argues, "The drought continues to exacerbate water quality issues for disadvantaged communities who disproportionately bear the health and financial impacts of unsafe drinking water… Families should not be spending scarce resources to pay for clean water. Californians should not be forced to choose between drinking contaminated water and expending scarce household resources to pay for clean water. In the Central Valley, some households devote approximately 20 percent of their annual median income of $14,000 to pay for water and sanitation services and to purchase bottled water."

Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Program: The EBT Project is the system used in California for the delivery, redemption, and reconciliation of issued public assistance benefits, such as CalFresh benefits (formerly known as Food Stamps and currently known federally as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits), California Food Assistance Program benefits, and cash aid benefits. EBT is used is all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. Recipients of public assistance in California access their issued benefits with the Golden State Advantage EBT card. California EBT cards can be used at more than 15,000 businesses and over 54,000 ATMs in California and are used similarly to a bank ATM or debit card to receive and use food stamp and/or cash benefits. Food stamp benefits can only be used for food and for plants and seeds to grow food for household consumption. Bottled drinking water is an eligible food item under the California EBT program; however, of course, purchasing water with EBT credit reduces the amount of the benefit that the recipient can use for other nutritional needs.

This bill seeks to develop another tool by which to provide communities in need with immediate access to drinking water assistance.

Double referral: This bill was double referred to the Assembly Committees on Human Services and on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. It passed the Committee on Human Services on March 29, 2016 on a 6 – 0 vote.

Committee amendments: The Committee may wish to amend the bill as follows.

1. Authorize the workgroup to consider the listed criteria for eligibility for the water benefit, instead of requiring them to include all of the criteria.
2. Ensure that all potential households served by dry wells are included for consideration for eligibility by amending the bill as follows: On page 5, line 34 and 35, strike "as determined by the Department of Water Resources."
3. Ensure that the appropriate communities are targeted by the provisions of the bill by amending the bill as follows: On page 5, delete lines 27 – 29, and instead insert: "Households in disadvantaged communities served by noncompliant small community water systems, as defined in HSC 116275."

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

CA4Health

California Academy of Family Physicians

California Association of Food Banks

California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA)

California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA) – sponsor

California Health Councils

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

California Primary Care Association (CPCA)

California Retailers Association

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF)

California State Alliance of YMCAs

Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations (CCWRO)

Community Health Councils

Community Water Center

Environmental Justice Coalition for Water

Food Access Coalition

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Orange County Food Access Coalition

Rural Community Assistance Corporation

Sacramento Hunger Coalition (SHC)

Sierra Club California

St. Anthony Foundation

The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965

Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SERVICES

Susan Bonilla, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2099 (

Author:Mark Stone) – As Amended Ver:March 28, 2016

SUBJECT: Safe drinking water assistance program

SUMMARY: Provides for safe drinking water assistance to be made available to specified individuals via the electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system.

Specifically, this bill:

1. Makes a number of Legislative findings and declarations regarding barriers to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water faced by many Californians, and the effectiveness and efficiency of the EBT system in delivering assistance to individuals and households.
2. Requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to establish and administer a process for delivering interim emergency drinking water assistance to households that are both of the following:
   1. Low-income, as determined through participation in a means-tested public assistance program, as specified; and
   2. Lacking adequate access to safe drinking water because they are one of the following: served by noncompliant small water systems in disadvantaged communities, located in communities deemed eligible for interim emergency drinking water benefits, or have private wells with active outages or water supply problems, as specified.
3. Requires DSS to utilize a computerized data-matching system using existing databases, as specified.
4. Requires DSS to deliver the benefits through the EBT system, to the extent allowable under state and federal law.
5. Requires the process to be funded from existing drought response resources allocated for interim water assistance, and further requires DSS, in consultation with specified entities, to identify existing resources.
6. Stipulates that the benefits shall be in addition to the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program and shall not be considered as income or resources for any other program established under the Welfare and Institutions Code.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Act, and defines the EBT system as the program designed to provide benefits to those eligible to receive public assistance benefits such as CalWORKs and CalFresh. (WIC 10065 et seq.)
2. Establishes the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014. (WAT 79700 et seq.)
3. Provides funding pursuant to the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 to address the critical and immediate needs of disadvantaged, rural, or small communities that suffer from contaminated drinking water supplies, including, but not limited to, projects that address a public health emergency. (WAT 79720 et seq.)
4. Defines “disadvantaged community” for the purposes of various sections of state Water Code to mean a community with an annual median household income that is less than 80% of the statewide annual median household income. (WAT 79505.5)
5. Requires the Office of Systems Integration within DSS to implement a statewide automated welfare system (SAWS) for specified public assistance programs. (WIC 10823)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS:

Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT): EBT is an electronic system that automates the delivery, redemption, and reconciliation of issued public assistance benefits such as CalWORKs. EBT is also the method for distributing Cal Fresh benefits (formerly known as Food Stamps and currently known federally as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)). EBT is currently used in all 50 states. In California, CalWORKs and CalFresh recipients access their benefits via what has been named the Golden State Advantage EBT card. As with a bank-issued automated teller machine (ATM) card, the cardholder slides this card through a point-of-sale (POS) device, or uses the card at an ATM.

Access to safe drinking water for low-income households: Infrastructure failures, polluted water sources, and the drought all contribute to decreased access to adequate drinking water. Small, disadvantaged communities face particular challenges with inadequate drinking water supplies. According to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), “several recent studies indicate that a lack of access to safe drinking water in poor, rural communities is a serious problem. Small water systems generally rely on groundwater supplies. They have little ratepayer capacity and high unit costs for supplying safe piped drinking water to households, and they are often in areas where groundwater is highly contaminated.”

The state has taken a number of steps in the wake of the drought to help ensure that low-income households can obtain safe drinking water; these have included interim measures such as: the State Water Resources Control Board approving funds to repair wells and supply bottled water and filtration devices, among other services; the Office of Emergency Services providing emergency drinking water; and the Department of Water Resources working on finding longer-term solutions to assist with the drinking water shortage. However, California Food Policy Advocates, the sponsors of this bill, point to the gap left by these current efforts, stating that, among other things the slow implementation and the often longer-term, infrastructure-focused approaches can lead to somewhat uneven and limited access to emergency drinking water assistance. This bill, they contend, helps fill that gap because it provides an individual household-level, easy-to-access benefit that a family can access when it is needed in a given month.

Need for this bill: According to the author, this bill “represents a temporary, interim solution to upholding the right of all Californians to have safe drinking water. The Legislature has taken several necessary steps to make long-term improvements to water delivery and water quality infrastructure. Yet over a million Californians continue to live in households where their tap water is so contaminated that no one can drink it, and thousands of Californians live in homes where there simply is no water to use – their wells dried up during the drought. When families can no longer trust their municipal water systems or private wells to access enough clean water, they must rely on local utilities delivering water, private companies or charities donating water, or their own ability to purchase bottled water.

With California’s poverty rate at 16%, many Californians must choose between using contaminated water and expending their own scarce resources to pay for clean water. And it should come as no surprise that inadequate drinking water supplies disproportionately burden people living in poverty, communities of color, homeless people, indigenous peoples, and residents of unincorporated areas.

Since the onset of the drought, the state has taken several measures to help ensure that low-income households can access adequate drinking water supplies. Sadly, these interim measures have not met the needs of all low-income Californians with inadequate drinking water supplies.

Ultimately, the best way to address the crisis of inadequate drinking water supplies across the state is by investing in several expensive, long-term solutions, including upgrading existing infrastructure, improving water use efficiency and conservation, improving water treatment, and carefully monitoring and minimizing the use of contaminated water supplies. In the meantime, though, poor people need and deserve to access clean and safe drinking water.

[This bill] provides temporary relief to struggling families who live in homes with inadequate drinking water supplies by offsetting the cost of bottled water during the interim wait for long-term water supply infrastructure upgrades. The measure allows impoverished families and who live in a community or home with insufficient, contaminated, or otherwise unsafe drinking water supplies to access a small supplemental cash benefit for purchasing water. [This bill] adds an additional means of reaching additional families who need safe drinking water, and it would become part of an already broad state response to California's drinking water crisis.” 

Staff comments: The policy objective of this bill is clear, and it is important: providing vulnerable populations with access to safe drinking water is arguably an imperative goal – and unfortunately, a persistent challenge – for the state. However this bill, as written, necessarily raises questions regarding the ability of the SAWS and EBT system to deliver the proposed benefit to all intended recipients. There remain questions about proper identification of all eligible households and, upon identification, seamless delivery of benefits to those individuals.

While the bill currently establishes a framework for identifying eligible households, it doesn’t define roles and responsibilities for the various entities involved (including, at least, DSS, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Water Resources). More importantly, however, is the question about how the benefit will be delivered to individuals who may be eligible per the bill’s requirements, but not in possession of an EBT card. For example, if an individual is a Medi-Cal participant, but doesn’t participate in any other means-tested programs, he or she would both be eligible for the benefit proposed by this bill, but also lacking an EBT card, and therefore a means for readily accessing this benefit. This type of probable scenario highlights some of the issues, and lack of clear direction, inherent in the current design of this benefit as put forth by the bill.

Recommended amendments: To address the above concerns, with the goal of developing an easily-implemented and fully-accessible benefit, committee staff recommends establishing a workgroup to develop recommendations regarding the design and implementation of the benefit proposed by this bill, and therefore, committee staff recommends the following amendments:

1. Strike lines 29 through 40 on page 3 of the bill, and pages 4 and 5, inclusive.
2. After line 28 on page 3 of the bill, insert:

18997

1. The Department of Social Services shall convene a workgroup by February 1, 2017, to develop recommendations for delivering a water benefit to supplement the purchase of drinking water for low-income households with inadequate access to safe drinking water.
2. The water benefit to be developed shall do all of the following:
3. Be made available to low-income households with limited access to safe drinking water including, but not limited to: households served by noncompliant small water systems in disadvantaged communities, as defined in Section 79505.5 of the Water Code; households located in communities deemed eligible for interim emergency drinking water benefits by the State Water Resources Control Board; and households whose private wells have active outages or water supply problems as determined by the Department of Water Resources.
4. To the extent possible, be made available via the electronic benefits transfer system.
5. To the extent possible, be funded from existing emergency drought response resources allocated for interim water assistance.
6. The workgroup shall consist of representatives from all of the following entities:
7. Department of Social Services
8. State Water Resources Control Board
9. Department of Water Resources
10. Office of Emergency Services
11. County Welfare Directors Association of California
12. Food policy advocates
13. Other community advocates, as applicable
14. The workgroup shall develop recommendations to include the following:
15. The design of the benefit.
16. An implementation plan for identification of eligible households and delivery of the benefit to those households.
17. Possibilities for interim or permanent adoption and implementation of the benefit through regulations, all-county letters, or related.
18. The Department of Social Services shall produce a report with recommendations for the Legislature and the Administration by July 1, 2017.

DOUBLE REFERRAL. This bill has been double-referred. Should this bill pass out of this committee, it will be referred to the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

CA4Health

California Association of Food Banks

California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA)

California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA) – sponsor

California Primary Care Association (CPCA)

California Retailers Association

California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF)

Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations (CCWRO)

Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles (CCALAC)

Community Health Councils

Community Water Center

Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Orange County Food Access Coalition

Rural Community Assistance Corporation

Sacramento Hunger Coalition (SHC)

St. Anthony Foundation

The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Daphne Hunt / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089