BILL NUMBER: AB 2515INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Perez FEBRUARY 19, 2010 An act relating to local government. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2515, as introduced, V. Manuel Perez. Local government: environmental health departments. Existing law authorizes local government agencies, in conjunction with other public entities, to organize and operate local public health services within their jurisdictional areas. These services may include implementing projects and policies pertaining to water conservation and water quality. This bill would make several findings and declarations relating to the groundwater contamination in the Coachella Valley. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that clarifies the authority of the local environmental health department in Riverside County with respect to water delivery. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following: (1) The arsenic contamination ground water problem in the southeastern Coachella Valley in Riverside County is largely naturally occurring and is getting progressively worse. (2) There are many limitations to providing the small, unincorporated communities in the Coachella Valley access to safe drinking water. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that clarifies the authority of the local environmental health department in Riverside County in order to ensure potable water delivery to residents of community water systems contaminated with arsenic.