AB 2728

AB2728:v97#DOCUMENT

Bill Start

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2728

An act to add Article 4.8 (commencing with Section 53759.5) to Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 12405, 12410, and 12415 Section 10730 of the Water Code, relating to water.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2728, as amended, Soria. Open and Transparent Water Data Act. Groundwater: de minimis extractors: fees: exemption.

Existing law authorizes a groundwater sustainability agency to impose fees, including, but not limited to, permit fees and fees on groundwater extraction or other regulated activity, to fund the costs of a groundwater sustainability program, and investigations, inspections, compliance assistance, enforcement, and program administration, as provided. Existing law prohibits a groundwater sustainability agency from imposing those fees on a de minimis extractor, as defined, unless the agency has regulated the user, as provided.This bill would authorize a local government, including, but not limited to, a groundwater sustainability agency, that imposes a fee, levy, charge, or exaction for groundwater monitoring or management, upon making specified findings, to exempt de minimis extractors, including the above-described regulated users, from the payment of the fee, levy, charge, or exaction, as provided.

Existing law, the Open and Transparent Water Data Act, requires the Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to coordinate and integrate existing water and ecological data from local, state, and federal agencies for specified purposes, including, among others, improving the management of the state’s water resources.

This bill would specify for purposes of that provision that improving the management of the state’s water resources includes improving the efficacy of management actions.

The act requires the Department of Water Resources, in consultation with the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, in accordance with a specified schedule, to create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform that, among other things, integrates existing water and ecological data information from multiple databases.

This bill would require, by August 1, 2027, the Department of Water Resources to make available on the platform specified information from state and federal agencies, including information on hatchery production, release, and escapement.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YESNO Local Program: NO

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Article 4.8 (commencing with Section 53759.5) is added to Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, to read:

Article 4.8. De Minimis Extractors53759.5. (a) For purposes of Article XIII C and Article XIII D of the California Constitution and this article, a local government, including, but not limited to, a groundwater sustainability agency, that imposes a fee, levy, charge, or exaction for groundwater monitoring or management may exempt de minimis extractors from paying the fee, levy, charge, or exaction upon making both of the following findings:(1) The groundwater monitoring or management activities for which the fee, levy, charge, or exaction is imposed directly benefit parties other than de minimis extractors.(2) Any benefits received by de minimis extractors as a consequence of providing the groundwater monitoring or management activities occur incidentally and without additional cost to the parties upon whom the fee, levy, charge, or exaction is imposed.(b) For purposes of this section, “de minimis extractor” has the same meaning as in Section 10721 of the Water Code.(c) This section is declaratory of existing law, and does not limit the ability of a local government to establish other exemptions from any fee, levy, charge, or exaction when otherwise permissible under Article XIII C or XIII D of the California Constitution.

SEC. 2.

Section 10730 of the Water Code is amended to read:

10730.

(a) A groundwater sustainability agency may impose fees, including, but not limited to, permit fees and fees on groundwater extraction or other regulated activity, to fund the costs of a groundwater sustainability program, including, but not limited to, preparation, adoption, and amendment of a groundwater sustainability plan, and investigations, inspections, compliance assistance, enforcement, and program administration, including a prudent reserve. A groundwater sustainability agency shall not impose a fee pursuant to this subdivision on a de minimis extractor unless the agency has regulated the users user pursuant to this part. part, and may exempt regulated de minimis extractors from payment of any fee in accordance with Section 53759.5 of the Government Code.

(b) (1) Prior to Before imposing or increasing a fee, a groundwater sustainability agency shall hold at least one public meeting, at which oral or written presentations may be made as part of the meeting.

(2) Notice of the time and place of the meeting described in paragraph (1) shall include a general explanation of the matter to be considered and a statement that the data required by this section is available. The notice shall be provided by publication published pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government Code, by posting notice posted on the Internet Web site internet website of the groundwater sustainability agency, and by mail mailed to any interested party who files a written request with the agency for mailed notice of the meeting on new or increased fees. A written request for a mailed notices shall be notice is valid for one year from the date that the request is made and may be renewed by making a written request on or before April 1 of each year.

(3) At least 20 days prior to before the meeting, the groundwater sustainability agency shall make available to the public the data upon which the proposed fee is based.

(c) Any action by a groundwater sustainability agency to impose or increase a fee shall be taken only by ordinance or resolution.

(d) (1) As an alternative method for the collection of fees imposed pursuant to this section, a groundwater sustainability agency may adopt a resolution requesting collection of the fees in the same manner as ordinary municipal ad valorem taxes.

(2) A resolution described in paragraph (1) shall be adopted and furnished to the county auditor-controller and board of supervisors on or before August 1 of each year that the alternative collection of the fees is being requested. The resolution shall include a list of parcels and the amount to be collected for each parcel.

(e) The power granted by this section is in addition to any powers a groundwater sustainability agency has under any other law.

SECTION 1.Section 12405 of the Water Code is amended to read:

12405.

The department, the state board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife shall coordinate and integrate existing water and ecological data from local, state, and federal agencies. The purposes for integrating water and ecological data include, but are not limited to, providing adequate information to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720)), improving the management of the state’s water resources, including the efficacy of management actions, and bringing greater transparency to water transfers and the market.

SEC. 2.Section 12410 of the Water Code is amended to read:

12410.

(a)The department, in consultation with the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, the state board, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, shall create, operate, and maintain a statewide integrated water data platform in accordance with Section 12415 and the following schedule:

(1)By January 1, 2018, the department shall do both of the following:

(A)Make public the protocols developed pursuant to Section 12406.

(B)Publish a strategic plan for data management to guide the implementation of this part.

(2)By April 1, 2018, the department shall release any request for proposals necessary for the development of a statewide integrated water data platform.

(3)(A)By September 1, 2019, the department shall make available existing water and ecological data held by state agencies on the platform.

(B)The department shall quarterly add the information described in subparagraph (A) not available as of September 1, 2019, that becomes available at a later date.

(4)(A)By August 1, 2020, the department shall make available on the platform available water and ecological data related to California water supply and management that is held by the following agencies:

(i)The United States Bureau of Reclamation.

(ii)The United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

(iii)The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(iv)The United States Geological Survey.

(v)The United States Forest Service.

(B)The department shall quarterly add the information described in subparagraph (A) not available as of August 1, 2020, that becomes available at a later date.

(5)By August 1, 2020, the department shall make available on the platform any other existing information listed in Section 12415.

(6)By August 1, 2027, the department shall make available on the platform any other existing information listed in subdivision (b) of Section 12415.

(b)The department may partner with an existing nonprofit organization, with a new nonprofit organization that the department creates, organized under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 501 of Title 26 of the United States Code, or with another state agency to create, operate, or maintain, or any combination thereof, the platform.

(c)Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the department may enter into an agreement with an existing nonprofit organization, with a new nonprofit organization that the department creates, organized under paragraph (3) of subsection (c) of Section 501 of Title 26 of the United States Code, or with another state agency for that nonprofit organization or state agency to create, operate, or maintain, or any combination thereof, the platform.

(d)The Department of Technology is deemed to have delegated to the department any authority over the implementation of this part granted to it pursuant to Section 11546 of the Government Code.

(e)Nothing in subdivision (a) shall prevent a state agency from disseminating, managing, or publishing data separately from the platform.

SEC. 3.Section 12415 of the Water Code is amended to read:

12415.

The statewide integrated water data platform created pursuant to Section 12410 shall, at a minimum, do all of the following:

(a)Integrate existing water and ecological data information from multiple autonomous databases managed by federal, state, and local agencies and academia using consistent and standardized formats.

(b)Integrate the following datasets, as available:

(1)The department’s information on State Water Project reservoir operations, groundwater use, groundwater levels, urban water use, and land use.

(2)The state board’s data on water rights, water diversions, and water quality through California Environmental Data Exchange Network (CEDEN).

(3)The Department of Fish and Wildlife’s information on fish abundance, fish distribution, and hatchery production, release, and escapement.

(4)The United States Geological Survey’s streamflow conditions information through the National Water Information System.

(5)The United States Bureau of Reclamation’s federal Central Valley Project operations information.

(6)The United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s, United States Forest Service’s, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries’ fish abundance and hatchery production, release, and escapement information.

(c)Provide data on completed water transfers and exchanges, including publicly available or voluntarily provided data on the volume, price, and delivery method, identity of the buyers and sellers, and the water right associated with the transfer or exchange.

(d)Provide documentation of data quality and data formats through metadata.

(e)Adhere to data protocols developed by state agencies pursuant to Section 12406.

(f)Be able to receive both spatial and time series data from various sources.