AB 568 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tule East Groundwater Sustainability Agency Act.

Summary

Existing law, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, requires all groundwater basins designated as high- or medium-priority basins by the Department of Water Resources to be managed under a groundwater sustainability plan or coordinated groundwater sustainability plans, except as specified. The act authorizes any local agency or combination of local agencies overlying a groundwater basin to decide to become a groundwater sustainability agency for that basin. The act deems certain agencies created by statute to manage groundwater the exclusive local agencies within their respective statutory boundaries with powers to comply with the act and authorizes these agencies to opt out of being the exclusive groundwater management agency. This bill would create the Tule East Groundwater Sustainability Agency and would establish the agency's initial boundaries. The bill would authorize the boundaries of the agency to be adjusted, as specified. The bill would require the agency to elect to be a groundwater sustainability agency under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act for that portion of the Tule Subbasin that lies within the boundaries of the agency and would require the agency to develop and implement a groundwater sustainability plan to achieve sustainable groundwater management within the territory of the agency. The bill would generally specify the powers and purposes of the agency. The bill would prescribe the composition of the 5-member board of directors of the agency and would require members and alternates to be chosen, as specified. By imposing duties on the agency and the County of Tulare, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would deem the Tule East Groundwater Sustainability Agency the exclusive local agency with powers to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Tule Subbasin. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Sep 2025

Assembly Passage

Jun 2025

Senate Passage

Sep 2025

Governor

Introduced Feb 12, 2025 Last action Mar 9, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

07/18/25 - Amended Senate → AB568 · 1 edit

MINOR

The changes between these two versions are entirely formatting and presentation in nature. The bill text moved from a traditional legislative document format (with line numbers, page headers, and column layout) to a web-based publication format (with navigation menus, search tools, and different structural markup). No substantive policy language was added, removed, or modified.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was reformatted from a printed legislative document style (with line numbers, page breaks, and column layout) to a web-based publication format with navigation elements, search functionality, and different structural markup. The underlying statutory language is identical in both versions.

05/23/25 - Amended Assembly → 06/24/25 - Amended Senate · 7 edits · Jun 24, 2025

MODERATE

AB 568 was dramatically expanded in the Senate from a narrow criminal justice bill (restricting plea bargaining for serious felonies including fentanyl furnished to minors) into a combined bill that also creates the Tule East Groundwater Sustainability Agency in Tulare County and amends Water Code Section 10723 to designate specific agencies as exclusive groundwater management authorities. Additionally, fentanyl was removed from the general list of drugs in the serious felony definition (paragraph 24), leaving it only in a separate provision that requires specific knowledge the substance was fentanyl, which narrows when furnishing fentanyl to a minor qualifies as a serious felony.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded dramatically from a single-topic criminal justice measure (Penal Code Section 1192.7 on plea bargaining restrictions for serious felonies) to a combined bill that also establishes an entirely new groundwater management agency in Tulare County and amends Water Code Section 10723 to create a framework for designating exclusive groundwater sustainability agencies statewide.

SCOPE

The bill now creates the Tule East Groundwater Sustainability Agency in Tulare County, with initial boundaries covering the Hope Water District, Ducor Water District, and the area within the Tule Subbasin east of the Lower Tule, Pixley, and Delano-Earlimart Irrigation Districts (excluding several other districts and the City of Porterville).

REQUIREMENT

The new agency must develop and implement a groundwater sustainability plan under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, elect to be a groundwater sustainability agency for its portion of the Tule Subbasin, and enter into coordination agreements with other local agencies in the subbasin.

DEFINITION

Water Code Section 10723 is amended to deem 18 specific agencies (including the new Tule East Groundwater Sustainability Agency) as the exclusive local agencies within their statutory boundaries for groundwater management purposes, with an opt-out mechanism available.

FISCAL

The new agency is granted fee authority under Water Code Chapter 8 to impose permit fees and extraction fees to fund its groundwater sustainability program, including plan preparation, investigations, enforcement, and administration.

ELIGIBILITY

Fentanyl was removed from paragraph (24) of the serious felony definition in Penal Code Section 1192.7(c). It remains only in paragraph (43), which requires the person to have known the substance was fentanyl. This means furnishing fentanyl to a minor without specific knowledge no longer qualifies as a serious felony under this section.

TECHNICAL

The agency is governed by a 5-member board: one member each from Hope Water District, Ducor Water District, and Tulare County, plus two members representing groundwater-dependent agricultural interests selected from nominations by the Tulare County Farm Bureau. Board members serve 4-year terms with compensation capped at $100 per day and 10 days per month.

The bill author changed from 'Assembly Member Lackey' to 'Assembly Member Lackey Macedo,' reflecting a name change of the sponsoring legislator.

06/24/25 - Amended Senate → 07/18/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Jul 18, 2025

MODERATE

The July 18 Senate amendment to AB 568 removes the entire Penal Code provision that would have added knowingly furnishing fentanyl to a minor as a serious felony, narrowing the bill to solely creating the Tule East Groundwater Sustainability Agency. The amendment also modifies board composition requirements by adding a socially disadvantaged farmer representation mandate and changing how the county appoints its board member, and extends the public notice period for boundary changes from 14 to 30 days.

SCOPE

The entire amendment to Penal Code Section 1192.7 was removed. This provision would have added knowingly furnishing fentanyl to a minor as a serious felony, which carried a 5-year sentencing enhancement for repeat offenders and prohibited plea bargaining. The bill now focuses exclusively on groundwater management.

The bill title and legislative digest no longer reference felonies or the Penal Code amendment. Coauthors Patterson, Schiavo, and Seyarto were removed, leaving only Assembly Member Macedo as the author.

ELIGIBILITY

Section 501(a)(3) now requires the county board member to be chosen specifically from members of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, rather than being chosen by the county more broadly.

New Section 501(a)(4)(B) requires that at least one of the two agricultural interest board members shall be or represent socially disadvantaged farmers, to the extent authorized by law.

REQUIREMENT

Section 501(a)(4) changed from 'shall be selected' to 'may be selected' from the Tulare County Farm Bureau nomination list, making the farm bureau's role advisory rather than mandatory for selecting agricultural board members.

TIMELINE

Section 302(a) increased the public notice period for boundary change hearings from 14 calendar days to 30 calendar days, and added a requirement that the boundary map be submitted to the Department of Water Resources in addition to being maintained by the board.

03/27/25 - Amended Assembly → 05/23/25 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · May 23, 2025

MODERATE

The May 23 amendment dramatically narrows the scope of AB 568. The original version would have added knowingly furnishing fentanyl to a minor as a 'serious felony' for three purposes: the three strikes law (Section 667), the prior serious felony enhancement (Section 1170.125), and the plea bargaining prohibition (Section 1192.7). The amended version removes all three strikes and prior serious felony enhancement provisions, keeping only the addition to Section 1192.7's serious felony definition, which affects plea bargaining rules. As a consequence, the voting requirement drops from two-thirds to a simple majority since the bill no longer amends initiative statutes.

Scope change

The bill's scope was substantially narrowed. It no longer affects three strikes sentencing or the prior serious felony enhancement under Section 1170.125. It now only adds fentanyl-to-minor (with a knowledge requirement) to the serious felony definition in Section 1192.7, which governs plea bargaining prohibitions and the 5-year enhancement under that specific section.

SCOPE

Removed amendments to Penal Code Section 667.1 (three strikes law) and Section 1170.125 (prior serious felony enhancement). The bill no longer makes fentanyl-to-minor a serious felony for three strikes or prior serious felony sentencing enhancement purposes.

Assembly Member Schiavo added as a principal coauthor alongside Assembly Member Patterson.

DEFINITION

Added a new item (43) to the 'serious felony' definition in Section 1192.7: selling, furnishing, administering, giving, or offering to do so to a minor any fentanyl as described in subdivision (c) of Section 11055 of the Health and Safety Code, when the person knew the substance was fentanyl. This is narrower than the existing item (24), which covers fentanyl plus heroin, cocaine, PCP, and methamphetamine-related drugs without a specific knowledge requirement.

REQUIREMENT

Voting requirement changed from two-thirds majority to simple majority, reflecting that the bill no longer amends initiative statutes (Propositions 184 and 21) and therefore does not need supermajority approval.

Floor votes · Senate Sep 4, 2025 · Assembly Jun 4, 2025

How they voted

39–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 40

Sep 4, 2025

D Democratic30

29 Yea 1

96% Yea

R Republican10

10 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Sep 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: That the Senate amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (September 10).

lower

Sep 4, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on W. P., & W. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2.

lower

Sep 4, 2025

Introduced

In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

lower

Sep 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2501.).

upper

Aug 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

upper

Jul 18, 2025

Upper · Passed

Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jul 18, 2025

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 16).

upper

Jul 2, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W.

upper

Jun 25, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Jun 24, 2025

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

Jun 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

upper

Jun 18, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

upper

Jun 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 72. Noes 0. Page 2079.)

lower

May 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

lower

May 23, 2025

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (May 23).

lower

Apr 9, 2025

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

Mar 28, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Mar 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 26, 2025

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (March 25).

lower

Feb 24, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on PUB. S.

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 15.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors