AB 2728 clarifies fee exemptions for small well owners under SGMA; bill advances

An author and Ara Azdarian, general manager of the Monterey County Water Resources Agency, told the committee AB 2728 resolves a legal question that arose when some agencies used preexisting county monitoring programs supported by Prop 218 fees. Azdarian described the bill as restoring the intended exemption for de minimis extractors under SGMA so that vulnerable well owners are not burdened with monitoring implementation costs that were never intended for them.

Support from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, Rural County Representatives of California and the California State Association of Counties framed the bill as a clarification to prevent duplicative fees and to preserve equitable treatment of small groundwater users. Committee members moved to concur in the Senate amendments and advanced the measure.