Modelos de gestión del territorio y acciones territoriales .1 Introducción

With the COVID-19 vaccination rates rising, schools are beginning to go back to in-person learning and community activities will likely follow in the coming months. With these opportunities becoming available, the Public Information team is enhancing the education program and preparing to go back to these outreach events. Staff is creating an annual event calendar that will show upcoming events in our service area which we could attend for community engagement. In addition, staff is increasing outreach to schools in the area in order to collaborate with them to educate K-12 students on water sustainability, recycling, and future careers in water.

ALTERNATIVES:

Not applicable FISCAL ANALYSIS:

Not applicable

ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS: Not applicable

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EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS:

COMMITTEE INFORMATION PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE

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ITEM 8: UPDATE ON STATE LEGISLATIVE AND FEDERAL LOBBYING ACTIVITIES

RESPONSIBLE/LEAD STAFF MEMBER(S):

Governmental Affairs Manager, Meggan Valencia RECOMMENDATION:

This item is presented for the Planning and Administration Committee’s (Committee) information.

DISCUSSION:

This report will highlight legislative activities that affect Rancho California Water District (Rancho Water/District).

COVID-19 continues to be one of the areas of focus with all of our partners and community at this time. As an essential business, Rancho Water has been working closely with all of our partner agencies to receive the most up-to-date information and to share that information with Rancho Water employees and customers.

Our Governmental Affairs Manager continues to sit on weekly calls with the Riverside County Operational Area Partners. During these calls the latest information, recommendations, and regulations are provided and allow the District to continue to be engaged with all of our partners.

On March 2, District staff and Board President Gonzales-Brady met with Assembly Member Seyarto. This was an introduction meeting with the Assembly Member in his new role.

During the meeting, Rancho Water’s legislative priorities were discussed including, energy costs, Vail Dam, and current draft legislation. The meeting was very successful and staff will continue to work closely with the Assembly Member’s office throughout the year.

The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) held the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) Cost Assessment Model Preliminary Results and Gap Analysis webinar on February 26. The focus of the webinar was to seek public feedback on the preliminary results of the Cost Assessment model and proposed methodology for the Gap

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Analysis. The Cost Assessment is evaluating various solutions (i.e., consolidation, treatment, etc.) for systems on the Human Right to Water (HR2W) list and those that are At-Risk. The results of the Cost Assessment will be used to evaluate the potential gap in available funding to support the implementation of solutions for the systems evaluated. Staff listened to the webinar and continues to stay engaged in this process to analyze the potential impacts to the District.

On February 24, Rancho Water staff and some Board members participated in the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) DC Conference. The virtual conference featured many California Congressmen, as well as the new Senator from California, Senator Mr.

Alex Padilla. The speakers gave insight to what they see as the priorities related to water in the federal government.

In mid-February the nine separate House Congressional Committees are marking up the legislative portions of the developing $1.9 trillion COVID relief package. The House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Government Reform and Oversight Committees released the COVID relief provision included in their respective panel measures. The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s package contains $500 million to the Department of Health and Human Services for the low-income water and wastewater ratepayer emergency assistance program that was established with H.R. 133 (FY21 Omnibus/COVID Package). The $500 million combined with the $638 million that was enacted as part of H.R. 133 would bring the funding in the program to $1.138 billion, which would be sent to the states under a formula-based allocation. The $500 million for low-income water and wastewater ratepayer emergency assistance program was dwarfed by the $4.5 billion contained in the legislation for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The House Government Reform and Oversight package contained $350 billion in direct aid to state, localities, and tribes. Of that amount, $195.3 billion will go to states, with local governments receiving $130.2 billion - evenly divided between cities and counties. While there is a provision in the legislation that allows

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unanticipated expenses incurred during the pandemic. Additionally, the Financial Services Committee package contains $19 billion to states and local governments for rental assistance to eligible households, which will be administered by the Department of Treasury. Acceptable uses of the rental assistance funds includes current and late utility payments. The $19 billion is in addition to the $25 billion that was included for this program in H.R. 133.

Following consideration of the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, Congress is expected to shift its attention to passage of an infrastructure bill. In the House, last year’s infrastructure measure, the Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), which proposed more than a trillion dollars in new spending for infrastructure, including water and wastewater, is expected to be the guide. To this end, both the House and Senate water infrastructure committees are readying hearings into funding needs and policy. In the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, indications are the panel will draw on spending levels it approved last year as part of its State Revolving Fund (SRF) reauthorization bill, H.R. 1497.

Representative Grace Napolitano (D-CA) is expected to reintroduce her WIIN Title XVI grant program reauthorization measure titled the “Water Recycling Investment and Improvement Act.” As crafted in the 116th Congress (H.R. 1162), this measure would increase funding for the WIIN Title XVI competitive grant program to $500 million over a five year period ($100 million annually), and will make the program permanent as it is currently set to expire at the end of 2021.

Following the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations Chairs’ announcement that earmarks will be brought back for the upcoming appropriations cycle, Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro and Chairman Patrick Leahy reached an understanding on the rules for governing a return to congressionally directed spending. While the discussion on “community based projects” have surrounded the appropriations process over the last few weeks, it now appears that Democrats are looking beyond the appropriations bills to accomplish major spending goals.

This includes using the budgetary tool to secure the large-scale infrastructure investment package congressional Democrats are pursuing for the spring. Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Peter DeFazio (D-OR), stated this week that he intends to use community based projects (earmarks) in the committee’s upcoming five-year

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highway infrastructure bill. The committee also plans on developing a comprehensive water infrastructure package this session, which could also be an opportunity for the use of community based projects. Currently, congressional Republicans are divided on the issue, with the Freedom Caucus strongly opposed and more moderate Republicans open to it. House Committee on Appropriations Ranking Member, Kay Granger (R-TX), has stated her support for their return so long as there are appropriate “safeguards”, and Representative Tom Cole (R-OK), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Rules, expressed support for a return to earmarks stating, “There is a time and a place for congressionally directed appropriations that are guided by a set of specific parameters.” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is reportedly holding off on taking a position pro or con until he has a chance to review the Democrats’ formal proposal.

Last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the state, legislators pared back their bill loads. In contrast, this year legislators do not appear to believe the ongoing pandemic will continue to affect their ability to legislate. According to Mr. Chris Micheli, a veteran lobbyist who tracks these issues, 2,369 bills were introduced in 2021. Comparably, in the two prior odd years — 2019 and 2017 — 2,576 and 2,495 bills were introduced, respectively. This means bill introductions in 2021 are in line with the non-pandemic years and suggests legislators are eager to tackle a wide range of issues because of, but also regardless of, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Per the State Constitution, bills are typically not heard in policy committee until 30 days after they have been introduced. The Senate has approved a motion to suspend this rule to create efficiency in the legislative process because of COVID-19; the Senate only has two hearing rooms that allow for social distancing. In a normal year, the Senate has several more hearing rooms for its use. The Senate Majority Leader believes the rule change will increase transparency because it will give more opportunities for the public to weigh in, while Republican Senators argued against the rule change. The rule change means that Senate committees can vote on bills earlier than normal and stakeholders will have less time to review

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Districts Association (CSDA), California Water Association, and the California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) issued a letter to Governor Newsom regarding the allocation of California’s share of federal funding for low-income household drinking water and wastewater emergency assistance program. The coalition is urging a meeting with the Governor to inform the Administration on existing pathways to allocate the resources in an expeditious manner directly to the water providers to ensure that the funding is utilized to address the system arrearages. The coalition is urging the usage of existing departments including California Office of Emergency Services or potentially the existing LIHEAP support structure. While the water community has long encouraged the use of CalFresh to provide funding for low income residents that are struggling to afford their water bills, the distinction that the water community is working to provide is that CalFresh should be the structure for ongoing support to residents and ratepayers, while these other emergency related departments are better equipped to provide this emergency funding to cover the current, limited duration, crisis funding.

Friday, February 19, was the deadline for bill introductions. Rancho Water’s associations and related groups have opted to sponsor legislation this year. The District has weighed-in to support a number of these bills, and Governmental Affairs staff will continue to work with Rancho Water experts, and consult the Board of Directors approved Legislative Priorities, to weigh-in on the remainder of these sponsored bills. Association sponsored bills include:

Assembly Bill (AB) 442 (Mayes) Surface Mining Reclamation Act: Exemption: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) is again sponsoring the Surface Mining Reclamation Act (SMRA) which would exempt from SMRA MWD emergency operations and excavation activities that they conduct on MWD property. AB 361 (R. Rivas) Open Meetings:

Local Agencies: Teleconferences: AB 361 is sponsored by the CSDA, and Rancho Water has supported this effort, which codifies the current Executive Order declaring that teleconferences may be used to conduct public meetings during a governor declared State of Emergency. AB 361 is a permissive measure that will provide a benefit to those public agencies that elect to utilize this technology. Senate Bill (SB) 230 (Portantino) SWRCB: Constituents: SB 230, which Rancho Water has supported, is sponsored by CMUA, and MWD. SB 230 is a transparency

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measure that prescribes an approach that the SWRCB must utilize while seeking to address constituents of emerging concern. SB 230 establishes a science advisory panel that will guide the response undertaken by the State Board. SB 323 (Caballero) Local Government: Water or Sewer Services: Legal Actions: ACWA is sponsoring SB 323, which would establish a process where a water provider may utilize a validation process through the courts when seeking to set water rates or increases. This process would allow rate challenges to be raised early and would eliminate legal challenges for rates that have been implemented for many months or years, which can be extremely costly for a water provider. Rancho Water has joined a coalition letter assembled by ACWA on this effort. SB 351 (Caballero) Water Innovation Act of 2021: This most recent addition to the sponsored bill list is SB 351 by Senator Caballero. SB 351 creates the Office of Water Innovation at the California Water Commission for the furtherance of new technologies and other innovative approaches in the water sector. This bill is intended to implement recommendations from the California Water Resilience Portfolio. As of yet, a source of funding has not been identified for the effort, however Senator Caballero has a long history of working with the water sector and does not wish to pursue a funding source from water providers or ratepayers.

CASA’s “Non-flushable Wipes Bill,” AB 818 (Bloom), sponsored in partnership with National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC) and Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) was introduced ahead of the February 19^th bill introduction deadline. Assembly Member Richard Bloom is once again carrying the bill this year, which requires “Do Not Flush” symbols and phrases for non-flushable wet wipes products that are used for diapering and other household purposes. Flushed wipes not only cause dangerous and costly backups in sewer pipes, but they also contribute to microplastics pollution.

Assembly Member Robert Rivas introduced a controversial measure to bring all impaired water bodies into compliance by 2050. On February 1, Assembly Member Robert Rivas introduced AB 377 Water Quality: Impaired Water. AB 377 is a controversial, yet well

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procedures and creates a new enforcement program. Rancho Water is working with associations to share initial concerns over the bill.

The CMUA Legislative Committee agreed to ask the state for at least $1 billion in state funding to help customers with their water, wastewater and electric utility bills. CMUA worked with several other coalition partners and submitted a letter to the Governor and Legislative leadership, along with an infographic to provide more context. Rancho Water submitted a letter to our elected officials.

Attached for the Committee’s information are letters that were sent out in the last month from the Governmental Affairs staff.

In addition, a report prepared by Federal Lobbyist, Eric Sapirstein is attached for the Committee’s review and information.

ALTERNATIVES:

Not applicable FISCAL ANALYSIS:

Not applicable ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS:

Not applicable EXHIBITS/ATTACHMENTS:

A. COVID Assistance Letter - Senator Melendez B. Congratulations Letter - Senator Padilla C. Thank You Letter - Representative Calvert D. Southern California Edison Rate Increase Letter E. ENS Report - March 2021

Board of Directors Best Best & Krieger LLP General Counsel

Re: COVID-19 Assistance for Publicly Owned Water and Electric Customers Dear Senator Melendez:

On behalf of Rancho California Water District (Rancho Water), we strongly urge the Legislature to allocate additional and dedicated funding in the amount of at least $1 billion for past-due public water/wastewater agency and publicly owned electric utility bills, which will provide significant relief for Californians as the state continues to grapple with the economic and personal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In California, there is a staggering amount of past due utility bills. The State Water Resources Control Board estimated there is between $600 and $700 million in drinking water-related debt, and even more including wastewater bills. In addition, there is more than $300 million in unpaid bills to publicly owned electric utilities. These mounting arrearages are negatively impacting communities across the state, and they are continuing to grow.

Specifically, our agency has been significantly affected both in overall revenue loss and past due utility bills. We currently have over 5,000 accounts that are in arrears representing approximately $1 million in customer debt. If these balances continue to remain unpaid, it would cause significant pressure to raise rates in the future which puts further strain on already burdened households and businesses.

Rancho Water deferred our rate increase that would have gone into effect July 1, 2020 in order to help address this very affordability issue facing customers that were struggling due to the pandemic. The District cut operating costs, increased the use of technology, and pursued federal and state grants and low-interest loans for capital projects to help make this rate deferral possible.

There have been several efforts to date to provide utility bill relief to customers, but unfortunately those efforts have fallen far short of overall need. For instance, while utility payments are an eligible category in the distribution of funds through the SB 91 Rental Assistance Program, the core focus is rightfully on ensuring Californians can stay in their homes without the fear of eviction. Additionally, California’s portion of specific federal funding for water and wastewater utility bills is expected to cover only a very small portion of the entire amount of unpaid bills. Furthermore, the Federal government has only been able to provide an

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This means that further assistance is needed to help customers with their past-due water, wastewater and electric utility bills. As such, we strongly urge the Legislature to allocate at least

$1 billion in additional and dedicated funding for publicly owned utilities and water/wastewater agencies to work with their customers on arrearages, preferably as an early budget action so assistance can be provided as soon as possible.

If you would like more information about our agency or to discuss this further, please contact Meggan Valencia, Governmental Affairs Manager at 951-526-6961.

Sincerely,

RANCHO CALIFORNIA WATER DISTRICT

Carol Lee Gonzales-Brady Board President

cc: The Honorable Gavin Newsom, Governor

The Honorable Toni Atkins, Senate President pro Tempore The Honorable Anthony Rendon, Speaker of the Assembly

The Honorable Nancy Skinner, Chair, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee The Honorable Phil Ting, Chair, Assembly Budget Committee

The Honorable Richard Bloom, Chair, Assembly Subcommittee on Climate Crisis, Resources, Energy, and Transportation

The Honorable Bob Wieckowski, Chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection and Energy

California Municipal Utilities Association

035/mjr/gonzales-brady

Board of Directors Best Best & Krieger LLP General Counsel congratulations on becoming California’s newest Senator. We wish you the best as you take up your new responsibilities and look forward to working with you in the years ahead.