BILL NUMBER: AB 1669AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 1, 2012 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Perea FEBRUARY 14, 2012 An act to add Section 13444 to the Water Code, relating to water. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1669, as amended, Perea. Groundwater: Nitrate at Risk Area Fund. Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board and authorizes the board to adopt regulations to carry out its powers and duties. Under existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, the board is required to formulate and adopt state policy for water quality control. Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Department of Public Health to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health, including, but not limited to, conducting research, studies, and demonstration programs relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, adopting enforcement regulations, and conducting studies and investigations to assess the quality of water in domestic water supplies. This bill would establish the Nitrate at Risk Area Fund, to be administered by the board and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the fund would be available for the purposes of developing and implementing sustainable and affordable solutions for disadvantaged communities in areas reliant on nitrate-contaminated groundwater as their source of drinking water, as determined by theboard and thedepartment and the board, consistent with specified data . Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 13444 is added to the Water Code, to read: 13444. (a) The Nitrate at Risk Area Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury, to be administered by the state board. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the fund shall be available for the purposes of developing and implementing sustainable and affordable solutions for disadvantaged communities in areas designated pursuant to subdivision (b). (b) The State Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the state board,in conjunction with the State Department of Public Health,shall , using existing data on public water systems, designate areas that are reliant on nitrate-contaminated groundwater for their source of drinking water and that do not have reliable access to safe, affordable drinking water.