Opinion ID: 2585152
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The PUC Has Authority to Enforce Water Quality and Limited Authority to Adopt Water Quality Standards for Regulated Utilities

Text: Plaintiffs argue that the DHS and the EPA have exclusive authority to set standards and enforce laws related to the state and federal SDWA's and that the regulation of water quality is the function of the DHS, not the PUC. Plaintiffs are correct that the Legislature has vested in DHS primary responsibility for the administration of the safe drinking water laws. (Health & Saf.Code, § 116325.) However, they are incorrect in asserting that the PUC has no authority to set and enforce drinking water standards when regulating water providers. The Legislature has vested the PUC with general and specific powers to ensure the health, safety, and availability of the public's drinking water. Article X, section 5 of the California Constitution states: The use of all water now appropriated, or that may hereafter be appropriated, for sale, rental, or distribution, is hereby declared to be a public use, and subject to the regulation and control of the State, in the manner to be prescribed by law. Article XII, section 3 of the California Constitution provides that Private corporations and persons that own, operate, control, or manage a line, plant, or system for ... the production, generation, transmission, or furnishing of ... water ... directly or indirectly to or for the public ... are public utilities subject to control by the Legislature. Such public utilities are thereby subject to regulation by the PUC. (Cal. Const, art. XII, § 5; Pub. Util.Code, §§ 701, 761, 770, 2701.) In regulating utilities, the PUC is authorized to do all things ... which are necessary and convenient in the exercise of [its] power and jurisdiction (§ 701) and required to ensure that the service and equipment of any public utility protect the public health and safety. (§§ 451, [7] 768. [8] ) Drinking water quality affects health and safety and is therefore within the PUC's regulatory jurisdiction over public utility water companies to ensure that public health and safety are protected. (§§ 451, 739.8, subd. (a), 761, 768, 770, subd. (b); see Citizens Utilities Co. v. Superior Court (1976) 56 Cal.App.3d 399, 408, 128 Cal.Rptr. 582.) The PUC's most obvious regulatory authority includes the regulation of rates: Access to an adequate supply of healthful water is a basic necessity of human life, and shall be made available to all residents of California at an affordable cost. (§ 739.8, subd. (a).) In addition, section 770 addresses water quality regulation and provides in pertinent part: The commission may after hearing: [¶] ... [¶] (b) Ascertain and fix adequate and serviceable standards for the measurement of ... quality ... or other condition pertaining to the supply of the product, commodity, or service furnished or rendered by any such public utility. No standard of the commission applicable to any water corporation shall be inconsistent with the regulations and standards of the State Department of Health pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 116275) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code. In 1974, when Congress first passed the federal SDWA, the Legislature amended section 770, subdivision (b), to include the following proscription: No standard of the commission relating to water quality, however, shall be applicable to any water corporation which is required to comply with the regulations and standards of the State Department of Health pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 4010) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Health and Safety Code. (Stats. 1974, ch. 229, § 1, p. 434.) In 1976, the Legislature again amended subdivision (b) to eliminate the proscription and instead to provide that: No standard of the commission applicable to any water corporation shall be inconsistent with the regulations and standards of the State Department of Health pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 4010) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Health and Safety Code. (Stats.1976, ch. 1087, § 4, p. 4929, italics added; see Stats.1976, ch. 1037, § 3, p. 4648.) Thus, the present statute gives the PUC authority to develop and apply standards for the quality of the product or service provided by regulated water companies as long as they are not inconsistent with the regulations and standards of DHS. [9] Nevertheless, whether the PUC has independent authority to set water quality standards is not dispositive. The PUC has constitutional and statutory authority and responsibilities to ensure that the regulated water utilities provide service (e.g., water) that protects the public health and safety. (§§ 701, 451, 768.) While the water quality standards may be the product of DHS study and expertise, they are the PUC standards as well. The Legislature, by mandating that the PUC standards cannot be inconsistent with DHS water quality standards, has established that the DHS safety standards are the minimum standards for the PUC to use in performing its regulatory function of ensuring compliance with safety standards. Since 1956, the PUC's supervisory policy, as embodied in general order No. 103, has required public utilities to comply with the water quality standards of the relevant state and federal health agencies, `except as otherwise ordered by the Commission.' (Cal.P.U.C. Dec. No. 99-06-054, supra, 1999 Cal.P.U.C. Lexis 312 at p. 40.) In implementing that policy, the PUC can require prescribed water quality corrective actions, both in rate and complaint cases affecting particular utilities and in industrywide investigations such as the 1998-2000 investigation into water quality. (Pub. Util. Code, §§ 1701-1702, 2101; Health & Saf.Code, § 116465; Ford v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (1997) 60 Cal. App.4th 696, 707, 70 Cal.Rptr.2d 359; see also Consumers Lobby Against Monopolies v. Public Utilities Com. (1979) 25 Cal.3d 891, 907, 160 Cal.Rptr. 124, 603 P.2d 41.) It can enforce its orders and decisions by suit (Pub.Util.Code, § 2101), by mandamus or injunction ( id., §§ 2102-2103), by actions to recover penalties ( id., §§ 2104, 2107), and by contempt proceedings ( id., § 2113). Thus, the PUC has the authority to adopt a policy on water quality and to take the appropriate actions, if any, to ensure water safety.