10/8/11
A series of bills designed to ensure the availability of clean drinking water was signed off by Gov. Jerry Brown Friday.
The legislation, sponsored by area senator Lois Wolk, includes planning for basic infrastructure in disadvantaged, unincorporated communities.
"Clean drinking water is a basic human right," said Brown in a statement released by his office on Wolk's bills. "The bills I have signed today will help ensure that every Californian has access to clean and safe sources of water. Protecting the water we drink is an absolutely crucial duty of state government."
Wolk's Senate Bill 244 would ensure that cities and counties review and update the elements of their general plans to include data and analysis, goals, and implementation measures regarding unincorporated island, fringe, or legacy communities. This requirement would apply the next time that local officials revise their general plans.
Additionally, this bill provides authority for local governments to access the Clean Water State
Revolving Fund Loan Program for planning costs to implement infrastructure projects. This would give disadvantaged communities like those targeted in this bill the ability to gain financial assistance for planning costs and level the playing field for various classes of local government.
"This measure addresses a very serious public health and planning problem in California that has for too long been largely hidden from view," said Wolk, D-Davis. "There are hundreds of underserved communities in this state, many of them in my district. They are home to an estimated one million Californians who lack basic necessities such as clean drinking water, adequate sewage disposal and other critical infrastructure. My legislation takes the first step toward ensuring that these neglected communities, some of the state's poorest, are provided with the basic necessities for a safe and healthy living environment. I applaud the Governor's decision to sign this measure into law.
