SACRAMENTO – Legislation advanced today from Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would expand provisions of his Water Shutoff Protection Act, ensuring more low-income Californians have uninterrupted access to essential drinking water, especially in times of skyrocketing costs.
“Today’s vote is a step toward ensuring the tap does not get turned off just because someone falls behind on their bills,” Sen. Dodd said. “Access to water is a fundamental right. This bill enhances my previous legislation by covering people in smaller, rural communities who are struggling financially. It will allow them to continue using water for drinking, cooking and necessities such as washing clothes while they get caught up on missed payments.”
Sen. Dodd has a long history of water-related legislation. In response to rising water rates, he authored the Water Shutoff Protection Act of 2018, which extends due process protections to people at risk of service discontinuance because they are unable to pay their bills. Among other things, it affords those served by water systems of 200 customers or more a 60-day grace period to cover past debt and establishes a system for making payments. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.
With Senate Bill 3, Sen. Dodd is proposing to extend those same protections to more people, reducing the threshold for compliance to water systems of 15 customers or more. The change is expected to affect thousands of low-income families across California and extends an executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom that has expired. SB 3 is sponsored by Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.
The bill cleared the Assembly Environmental Quality committee with overwhelming support. It previously was approved by the full Senate.
Senator Bill Dodd represents the 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties. You can learn more about the district and Senator Dodd at www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.
Under SB 3:
This bill would expand the scope of the Water Shutoff Protection Act by requiring that it instead apply to a community public water system, defined to have the same meaning as existing law. include specified water systems and suppliers, including a community water system. The bill would require a community water system that supplies water to 200 service connections or fewer to comply with the act’s provisions on and after August 1, 2024. The bill would instead apply the above-described language requirements for the written policy of discontinuation of residential service for nonpayment to a community public water system that serves 200 or more service connections. The bill would require a community public water system that serves fewer than 200 service connections to have a written policy on disconnection of residential service for nonpayment available in English, any language spoken by at least 10% of the people residing in its service area, and, upon request of a customer, the specified languages in the Civil Code. other designated languages. The bill would authorize, as part of the act, the Attorney General, at the request of the board or upon the Attorney General’s own motion, to bring an action in state court to restore to any person in interest any money or property, real or personal, that may have been acquired by any method, act, or practice prohibited by the act. The bill would make related changes.
Dec 6, 2022: Sen. Dodd Introduces Bill Expanding Water Shutoff Protections
