Water theft: fire hydrants.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not specify the exact fines for unauthorized connections to fire hydrants, leaving this detail uncertain.

Water Theft from Fire Hydrants

This law makes it illegal for people to tamper with or connect to fire hydrants without permission and sets fines for such actions.

What This Bill Does

• Adds tampering with, connecting to, diverting water from, or causing water to be diverted from a fire hydrant as acts that utilities can sue over.
• Expands the list of things that create a presumption of water theft when found on premises controlled by someone using utility services.
• Revises fines for repeated violations of water theft laws without considering if they happened within one year.
• Allows local agencies to make rules and set fines against unauthorized connections to fire hydrants.
• Prevents local agencies from fining the same person twice for the same offense under different ordinances.

Who It Names or Affects

• Utilities that provide water services
• Local government bodies providing retail water services
• People who might tamper with or connect to fire hydrants without permission

Terms To Know

Utility

A company or organization that provides a public service such as electricity, gas, or water.

Rebuttable presumption

An assumption in law that something is true unless there is evidence to prove it false.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact fines for unauthorized connections to fire hydrants.
• It's unclear how this will be enforced or what happens if someone accidentally violates these rules.

Official Summary Text

SB 394, Allen.
Water theft: fire hydrants.
Existing law authorizes a utility to bring a civil action for damages against any person who commits, authorizes, solicits, aids, abets, or attempts certain acts, including, diverting or causing to be diverted, utility services by any means whatsoever. Existing law creates a rebuttable presumption that there is violation of these provisions if, on premises controlled by the customer or by the person using or receiving the direct benefit of utility service, certain actions occur, including that there is an instrument, apparatus, or device primarily designed to be used to obtain utility service without paying the full lawful charge for the utility.
This bill would add to the list of acts for which a utility may bring a civil cause of action under these circumstances to include tampering with a fire hydrant, fire hydrant meter, or fire detector
check, or connecting to, diverting water from, or causing water to be diverted from, a fire hydrant without authorization from the utility that owns the fire hydrant, except as provided. The bill would also expand the rebuttable presumption for a violation of these provisions to include, among other things, if a person tampers with or uses a fire hydrant, fire hydrant meter, or fire detector check without authorization to obtain water and without paying the full lawful charge of the water.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a local agency, as defined, that provides water services to adopt an ordinance that prohibits water theft, as defined, and makes a violation of the ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty, as specified. Existing law sets
forth a schedule of fines for a violation of an ordinance adopted pursuant to these provisions, including, if the violation is committed via meter tampering, a fine not exceeding $1,300 for a third or additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation, and for a violation of all other forms of water theft, a fine not exceeding $3,000 for a third or additional violation of the same ordinance within one year.
This bill would revise those fines to apply to the third or additional violation without regard to whether the violation occurred within one year of the first violation.
This bill would authorize a legislative body of a local agency, as defined, that provides retail water services, to adopt an ordinance that prohibits unauthorized connection to a fire hydrant, as defined, subject to an administrative fine or penalty, as specified. The bill would set forth a schedule of fines for a
violation of the ordinance. The bill would prohibit a local agency from imposing a fine for the same offense under both an ordinance adopted by a local agency pursuant to these provisions that prohibits unauthorized connection to a fire hydrant and an ordinance adopted by the local agency pursuant to the provisions described above that prohibits water theft.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF