California SB 394

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.