(a) (1) To provide an adequate supply of affordable, safe drinking water to disadvantaged communities, voluntary participants, and public water systems that have demonstrated difficulty in maintaining technical, managerial, and financial capacity and to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse, the state board may do any of the following, if sufficient funding is available: (A) (i) Contract with, or provide a grant to, an administrator to provide administrative, technical, operational, legal, or managerial services, or any combination of those services, to a designated water system to assist the designated water system with the provision of an adequate supply of affordable, safe drinking water, which services may include steps necessary to enable consolidation. (ii) To fulfill the requirements of this section, the state board may contract with more than one administrator, but only one administrator may be assigned to provide services to a given designated water system. (iii) An administrator may provide services to more than one designated water system. (B) Order a designated water system to accept administrative, technical, operational, legal, or managerial services, including full management and control of all aspects of the designated water system, from an administrator selected by the state board. (C) Order a designated water system to accept administrative, technical, operational, legal, or managerial services from an administrator appointed by the state board for full oversight of construction or development projects related to a consolidation or extension of service, including, but not limited to, accepting loans and grants issued by the state board and entering into contracts on behalf of the designated water system. (2) In performing its duties pursuant to paragraph (1), the state board may use criteria from the handbook adopted pursuant to subdivision (g). (b) Unless the state board has already held a public meeting pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 116682, the state board shall do all of the following to determine that a public water system or state small water system is a designated water system: (1) Provide the public water system or state small water system with notice and an opportunity to show either of the following: (A) That the public water system or state small water system has neither consistently failed to provide an adequate supply of affordable, safe drinking water nor is it an at-risk water system. (B) That the public water system or state small water system has taken steps to timely address its failure to provide an adequate supply of affordable, safe drinking water and that it is not an at-risk water system. (2) (A) Conduct a public meeting in a location as close as feasible to the affected community. (B) The state board shall make reasonable efforts to provide a 30-day notice of the public meeting to affected ratepayers, renters, and property owners. (C) The state board shall provide representatives of the public water system or state small water system, affected ratepayers, renters, and property owners with an opportunity to present oral and written comments at the public meeting. (D) The state board shall provide at the meeting an opportunity for public comment. (3) Provide the public with an opportunity to submit comments by mail or electronically during the 30-day notice period and for at least one week after the public meeting described in paragraph (2). (4) If the public water system is operated by a local educational agency, obtain the local educational agencyâs agreement, in writing, to the appointment of an administrator. (c) The state board shall make financial assistance available to an administrator of a designated water system, as appropriate and to the extent that funding is available. (d) The authority granted to an administrator by the state board pursuant to subdivision (a) may include, but shall not be limited to, the authority to do all of the following: (1) Expend available moneys
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