BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 20|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 20
Author: Pavley (D)
Introduced:12/1/14
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 7-2, 3/24/15
AYES: Pavley, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Wolk
NOES: Stone, Fuller
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 5-2, 4/15/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NOES: Gaines, Bates
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: Wells: reports: public availability
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the Department of Water Resources
(DWR) to make well log reports for water wells available to the
public.
ANALYSIS:
The Legislature first required well drillers to file a well
completion report with the State for each well drilled. Two
years later, in 1951, the Legislature enacted AB 1512 (Dickey)
which restricted access to well completion reports to "to
SB 20
Page 2
governmental agencies for use in making studies." According to
a May 21, 1951 letter from the Director of Public Works to
Governor Warren, it was because the information in the reports
"is regarded by some well drillers as part of their stock in
trade." That is, for competitive reasons.
While the statute has been amended a number of times in the
intervening 60 plus years, the restriction to access has largely
stayed the same.
This bill:
1) Makes well completion reports available to the public.
2) Requires persons requesting a report to do so on a form
identifying the name and address of the requestor, and the
reason for the request.
3) Requires the release of the well logs to comply with the
privacy and other provisions of the Information Practices
Act.
4) Requires a disclosure statement regarding the appropriate
use of the data.
5) Authorizes the DWR to charge a fee for providing the well
completion reports.
Comments
1) What Is A Well Completion Report? Also known as drillers'
logs or well logs, well completion reports are a record of
the drilling and construction of the well. They include,
among other things, the location of the well, the depth of
the well, the type of soils encountered at each elevation as
SB 20
Page 3
drilling, depth to water, etc.
2) Why Are They Required? It is important that wells be
properly constructed, modified, or decommissioned. Well
completion reports provide the record necessary to
demonstrate that the well was properly constructed,
modified, or decommissioned, and further provides the
necessary construction detail should the well need to be
modified at some later date.
3) What Other Uses Do They Have? Data in the reports can be
used to construct detailed underground aquifer maps. These
maps are critical to developing and implementing groundwater
management plans. For example, such data can be used to
find the best possible locations groundwater banking,
identify key recharge areas, and to better avoid impaired
groundwater quality.
4) What Do Other States Do? No other western state restricts
access to well logs as in California. Indeed, 10 of 11
western states provide internet access to well logs.
5) How Does California Deal With Similar Issues? Every time
an oil or gas well is drilled, the driller must provide a
copy of the well log to the Department of Conservation.
Those logs are deemed public records for purposes of the
California Public Records Act. (There are exceptions, logs
for exploratory wells, for example, are considered
confidential for a specific period of time.) The Department
of Conservation provides public access to those logs through
a GIS map on the internet.
6) What Do Other Water Agencies Do? A review of urban water
management plans and capital improvement plans shows that
over 160 water agencies have published the location of their
wells, usually on maps, but sometimes the actual addresses.
This represents locations of over 2,200 water system wells,
of which the author's staff has located 96 percent through
online maps.
SB 20
Page 4
Adjudicated groundwater basins have court appointed
watermasters, a number of whom have published maps showing
the location of production wells within their jurisdiction.
For example, the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster
published a fairly detailed 2008 map showing the location of
99 active production wells.
The drilling of a new water system well is usually a project
subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
CEQA, among other things, requires the disclosure of the
location of the project. A review of CEQA Clearinghouse's
online database shows the location of over 70 wells.
7) What Would The Fee Cover? It is not clear how large the
fee for a copy of a well log would be. However, the fee
would likely include a share of the following:
a) Costs to create and maintain a copy of the log that
redacts personal information pursuant to the Information
Practices Act of 1977.
b) Costs of duplicating the redacted well log.
c) Cost to develop and disseminate the disclosure
statement regarding the appropriate use of the data.
d) Costs to develop and maintain the form identifying the
name and address of the requestor, and the reason for the
request.
e) Any additional administrative costs associated with
implementing this bill.
Prior Legislation
In 2011, Senator Pavley carried SB 263 to make well completion
reports available to the public. To address the opposition's
concerns, the bill was amended on the Assembly floor to restrict
access to persons with specific qualifications and added penalty
provisions for disclosing information in the well log. The
Governor vetoed that bill because of those provisions, and
directed DWR to work with the author "to ensure responsible
public access to well logs."
SB 20
Page 5
The next year, Senator Pavley introduced SB 1146. That bill was
the result of negotiations with DWR, the Department of Health
Services, and CalEMA, "to ensure responsible public access to
well logs." That bill failed on the Senate Floor (19-16).
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill
would incur one-time costs of $625,000 from the General Fund to
DWR to establish an electronic database.
SUPPORT: (Verified5/28/15)
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE-Region 9)
California Environmental Justice Alliance
California League of Conservation Voters
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California Water Impact Network
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment
Clean Water Action
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
Community Water Center
Defenders of Wildlife
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Environmental Water Caucus
Food & Water Watch
Friends of the River
Groundwater resources Association of California
Karuk Tribe
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
North County Watch
Planning and Conservation League
PolicyLink
Public Trust Water
SB 20
Page 6
Sierra Club California
Southern California Watershed Alliance
The Nature Conservancy
Wholly H2O
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/28/15)
California Chamber of Commerce
California Citrus Mutual
California Cotton Ginners Association
California Cotton Growers Association
California Dairies, Inc.
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Fresh Fruit Association
California League of Food Processors
Central Coast Forest Association
Desert Water Agency
Family Winemakers of California
Kings River Conservation District
Kings River Water Association
Nisei Farmers League
Tulare County Farm Bureau
Valley Ag Water Coalition
Western Agricultural Processors Association
Western Growers Association
Western Plant Health Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "Every time a
water well is drilled, the driller is required by law to provide
DWR a well completion report, also known as a well log."
"These reports contain critical information for groundwater
managers, consulting hydrologists, academics, and others
interested in the geologic and hydrologic characteristics of
groundwater basins. Unfortunately, those who would benefit from
this information cannot have access to it.
Farmers can't know how deep they need to drill their wells.
Academics cannot develop sophisticated maps and models without
the sponsorship of the government.
Local community activists cannot gain the information they need
to better protect drinking water quality of disadvantaged
SB 20
Page 7
communities.
The list goes on."
"The Governor directed DWR to work with me 'to ensure
responsible public access to well logs.' This bill is the
result of those negotiations with DWR, along with the Department
of Health Services (DHS) and CalEMA, which is California's
official homeland security agency. This bill addresses and
resolves the various security concerns raised by DHS and
CalEMA."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: A coalition of agricultural
interests asserts "Well logs are already required to be
submitted to the Department of Water resources and are available
to the appropriate public agencies. For example, groundwater
management agencies already have access and utilize this
information to better manage their groundwater locally. We
understand the importance of managing our scarce groundwater
resources and are fully supportive of local efforts to do just
that. We believe the well log data is available to those
entities that have a genuine need to evaluate and utilize it for
the benefit of managing our groundwater supplies. No beneficial
purpose could be gained by making this confidential data
available to the public. We believe this measure will only
assist those trolling for lawsuits."
Prepared by:Dennis O'Connor / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
5/31/15 11:27:01
**** END ****