An act to amend and repeal Section 10912 of the Water Code, relating to water supply, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

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


SECTION 1.
Section 10912 of the Water Code, as amended by Section 1 of Chapter 588 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended to read:
10912.
For the purposes of this part, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Project” means any of the following:
(1) A proposed residential development of more than 500 dwelling units.
(2) A proposed shopping center or business establishment employing more than 1,000 persons or having more than 500,000 square feet of floor space.
(3) A proposed commercial office building employing more than 1,000 persons or having more than 250,000 square feet of floor space.
(4) A proposed hotel or motel, or both, having more than 500 rooms.
(5) (A) Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph (B), a proposed industrial, manufacturing, or processing plant, or industrial park planned to house more than 1,000 persons, occupying more than 40 acres of land, or having more than 650,000 square feet of floor area.
(B) A proposed photovoltaic or wind energy generation facility approved on or after October 8, 2011, is not a project if the facility would demand no more than 75 acre-feet of water annually.
(6) A mixed-use project that includes one or more of the projects specified in this subdivision.
(7) A project that would demand an amount of water equivalent to, or greater than, the amount of water required by a 500 dwelling unit project.
(b) If a public water system has fewer than 5,000 service connections, then “project” means any proposed residential, business, commercial, hotel or motel, or industrial development that would account for an increase of 10 percent or more in the number of the public water system’s existing service connections, or a mixed-use project that would demand an amount of water equivalent to, or greater than, the amount of water required by residential development that would represent an increase of 10 percent or more in the number of the public water system’s existing service connections.
(c) “Public water system” means a system for the provision of piped water to the public for human consumption that has 3,000 or more service connections. A public water system includes all of the following:
(1) Any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution facility under control of the operator of the system that is used primarily in connection with the system.
(2) Any collection or pretreatment storage facility not under the control of the operator that is used primarily in connection with the system.
(3) Any person who treats water on behalf of one or more public water systems for the purpose of rendering it safe for human consumption.
(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 2.
Section 10912 of the Water Code, as added by Section 2 of Chapter 588 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended to read:
10912.
For the purposes of this part, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Project” means any of the following:
(1) A proposed residential development of more than 500 dwelling units.
(2) A proposed shopping center or business establishment employing more than 1,000 persons or having more than 500,000 square feet of floor space.
(3) A proposed commercial office building employing more than 1,000 persons or having more than 250,000 square feet of floor space.
(4) A proposed hotel or motel, or both, having more than 500 rooms.
(5) A proposed industrial, manufacturing, or processing plant, or industrial park planned to house more than 1,000 persons, occupying more than 40 acres of land, or having more than 650,000 square feet of floor area.
(6) A mixed-use project that includes one or more of the projects specified in this subdivision.
(7) A project that would demand an amount of water equivalent to, or greater than, the amount of water required by a 500 dwelling unit project.
(b) If a public water system has fewer than 5,000 service connections, then “project” means any proposed residential, business, commercial, hotel or motel, or industrial development that would account for an increase of 10 percent or more in the number of the public water system’s existing service connections, or a mixed-use project that would demand an amount of water equivalent to, or greater than, the amount of water required by residential development that would represent an increase of 10 percent or more in the number of the public water system’s existing service connections.
(c) “Public water system” means a system for the provision of piped water to the public for human consumption that has 3,000 or more service connections. A public water system includes all of the following:
(1) Any collection, treatment, storage, and distribution facility under control of the operator of the system that is used primarily in connection with the system.
(2) Any collection or pretreatment storage facility not under the control of the operator that is used primarily in connection with the system.
(3) Any person who treats water on behalf of one or more public water systems for the purpose of rendering it safe for human consumption.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2018.
SEC. 3.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 4.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to encourage the development of photovoltaic and wind generation facilities to meet the state’s renewable portfolio standard and greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.

Summary: Existing law requires a city or county that determines that a project, as defined, is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act to identify any public water system that may supply water for the project and to request those public water systems to prepare a specified water supply assessment. If no public water system is identified, the city or county is required to prepare the water supply assessment.
Existing law defines “project” for purposes of these provisions as, among other things, a project that would demand an amount of water equivalent to, or greater than, the amount of water required by a 500 dwelling unit project. For a public water system that has fewer than 5,000 service connections, existing law defines “project” as development that would account for a specified increase in the number of service connections. Existing law, until January 1, 2017, exempts from the definition of “project” a proposed photovoltaic or wind energy generation facility that would demand no more than 75 acre-feet of water annually.
This bill would, until January 1, 2018, exempt the above-described proposed photovoltaic or wind energy generation facilities from the definition of “project.” The bill would thereby extend the duties on local agencies with respect to determining whether a project is subject to the water supply assessment requirements, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.