Existing law designates the State Water Resources Control Board as the agency responsible for administering specific programs related to drinking water, including, among others, the California Safe Drinking Water Act and the Emerging Contaminants for Small or Disadvantaged Communities Funding Program.
This bill would create the PFAS Mitigation Fund in the State Treasury and would authorize certain moneys in the fund to be expended by the state board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified purposes. The bill would authorize the state board to seek out and deposit nonstate, federal, and private funds, require those funds to be deposited into the PFAS Mitigation Fund, and continuously appropriate the nonstate, federal, and private funds in the fund to the state board for specified purposes, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would authorize the state board to establish accounts within the PFAS Mitigation Fund. The bill would authorize the state board to expend moneys from the fund in the form of a grant, loan, or contract, or to provide assistance services to water suppliers and sewer system providers, as those terms are defined, for multiple purposes, including, among other things, to cover or reduce the costs for water suppliers associated with treating drinking water to meet the applicable state and federal maximum perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminant levels. The bill would require a water supplier or sewer system provider to include a clear and definite purpose for how the funds will be used to provide public benefits to their community related to safe drinking water, recycled water, or treated wastewater in order to be eligible to receive funds. The bill would require the state board, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt guidelines to implement these provisions, as provided.