BILL NUMBER: AB 2572 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 884
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2004
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2004
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2004
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 19, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 28, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 20, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 4, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Kehoe
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bermudez, Shirley Horton, Jackson,
Nation, and Pavley)
(Coauthors: Senators Alpert and Perata)
FEBRUARY 20, 2004
An act to amend Section 521 of, to amend and renumber Sections 110
and 111 of, to add Sections 527, 528, 529, and 529.5 to, and to add
the heading of Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 525) to Chapter 8
of Division 1 of, the Water Code, relating to water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2572, Kehoe. Water meters.
Existing law generally requires the installation of a water meter
as a condition of water service provided pursuant to a connection
installed on or after January 1, 1992. Existing law declares that
the state goal for measurement of water use is the achievement, on or
before January 1, 1992, of the installation of water meters on all
new water service connections after that date to systems owned or
operated by a water purveyor.
This bill, with certain exceptions, would require an urban water
supplier, as defined, on or before January 1, 2025, to install water
meters on all municipal and industrial water service connections that
are located in its service area.
The bill would require an urban water supplier, beginning on or
before January 1, 2010, but subject to certain exceptions, to charge
each customer that has a service connection for which a water meter
has been installed, based on the actual volume of deliveries, as
measured by a water meter.
The bill would require a water purveyor that becomes an urban
water supplier on or after January 1, 2005, to install water meters
on all municipal and industrial water service connections within 10
years of becoming an urban water supplier, and, with a certain
exception, to charge each customer for which a meter has been
installed, based on the actual volume of water delivered, as measured
by the water meter, within 5 years of becoming an urban water
supplier.
The bill would provide that these provisions supersede and preempt
all enactments, including charter provisions and amendments thereto,
and other local action of cities and counties, including charter
cities and charter counties, and other local public agencies that
conflict with these provisions, other than enactments or local action
that impose additional or more stringent requirements regarding
matters set forth in the bill.
The bill, on and after January 1, 2010, would require an urban
water supplier that applies for financial assistance from the state
for a wastewater treatment project, drinking water treatment project,
or water use efficiency project, or a permit for a new or expanded
water supply, to demonstrate that the applicant meets certain
requirements.
The bill would authorize a water purveyor, including an urban
water supplier, to recover the cost of providing services related to
the purchase, installation, and operation of a water meter from
rates, fees, or charges.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 110 of the Water Code is amended and renumbered
to read:
525. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, every water
purveyor who sells, leases, rents, furnishes, or delivers water
service to any person shall require, as a condition of new water
service on and after January 1, 1992, that a suitable water meter to
measure the water service shall be installed on the water service
facilities in accordance with this chapter. The cost of installation
of the meter shall be paid by the user of the water, and any water
purveyor may impose and collect charges for those costs.
(b) Subdivision (a) applies only to potable water.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to a community water system
which serves less than 15 service connections used by yearlong
residents or regularly serves less than 25 yearlong residents, or a
single well which services the water supply of a single-family
residential home.
SEC. 2. Section 111 of the Water Code is amended and renumbered to
read:
526. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an urban
water supplier that, on or after January 1, 2004, receives water from
the federal Central Valley Project under a water service contract or
subcontract executed pursuant to Section 485h(c) of Title 43 of the
United States Code with the Bureau of Reclamation of the United
States Department of the Interior shall do both of the following:
(1) On or before January 1, 2013, install water meters on all
service connections to residential and nonagricultural commercial
buildings constructed prior to January 1, 1992, located within its
service area.
(2) On and after March 1, 2013, or according to the terms of the
Central Valley Project water contract in operation, charge customers
for water based on the actual volume of deliveries, as measured by a
water meter.
(b) An urban water supplier that receives water from the federal
Central Valley Project under a water service contract or subcontract
described in subdivision (a) may recover the cost of providing
services related to the purchase, installation, and operation and
maintenance of water meters from rates, fees, or charges.
SEC. 3. Section 521 of the Water Code is amended to read:
521. The Legislature further finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Water furnished or used without any method of determination of
the quantities of water used by the person to whom the water is
furnished has caused, and will continue to cause, waste and
unreasonable use of water, and that this waste and unreasonable use
should be identified, isolated, and eliminated.
(b) Water metering and volumetric pricing are among the most
efficient conservation tools, providing information on how much water
is being used and pricing to encourage conservation.
(c) Without water meters, it is impossible for homeowners and
businesses to know how much water they are using, thereby inhibiting
conservation, punishing those who conserve, and rewarding those who
waste water.
(d) Existing law requires the installation of a water meter as a
condition of water service provided pursuant to a connection
installed on or after January 1, 1992, but the continuing widespread
absence of water meters and the lack of volumetric pricing could
result in the inefficient use of water for municipal and industrial
uses.
(e) The benefits to be gained from metering infrastructure are not
recovered if urban water suppliers do not use this infrastructure.
(f) This chapter addresses a subject matter of statewide concern.
It is the intent of the Legislature that this chapter supersede and
preempt all enactments and other local action of cities and counties,
including charter cities and charter counties, and other local
public agencies that conflict with this chapter, other than
enactments or local action that impose additional or more stringent
requirements regarding matters set forth in this chapter.
(g) An urban water supplier should take any available necessary
step consistent with state law to ensure that the implementation of
this chapter does not place an unreasonable burden on low-income
families.
SEC. 4. The heading of Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 525)
is added to Chapter 8 of Division 1 of the Water Code, to read:
Article 3.5. Metered Service
SEC. 5. Section 527 is added to the Water Code, to read:
527. (a) An urban water supplier that is not subject to Section
526 shall do both the following:
(1) Install water meters on all municipal and industrial service
connections located within its service area on or before January 1,
2025.
(2) (A) Charge each customer that has a service connection for
which a water meter has been installed, based on the actual volume of
deliveries, as measured by the water meter, beginning on or before
January 1, 2010.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), in order to provide
customers with experience in volume-based water service charges, an
urban water supplier that is subject to this subdivision may delay,
for one annual seasonal cycle of water use, the use of meter-based
charges for service connections that are being converted from
nonvolume-based billing to volume-based billing.
(b) A water purveyor, including an urban water supplier, may
recover the cost of providing services related to the purchase,
installation, and operation of a water meter from rates, fees, or
charges.
SEC. 6. Section 528 is added to the Water Code, to read:
528. Notwithstanding Sections 526 and 527, any water purveyor
that becomes an urban water supplier on or after January 1, 2005,
shall do both the following:
(a) Install water meters on all municipal and industrial service
connections located within its service area within 10 years of
meeting the definition of urban water supplier.
(b) (1) Charge each customer for which a water meter has been
installed, based on the actual volume of water delivered, as measured
by the water meter, within five years of meeting the definition of
urban water supplier.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in order to provide customers
with experience in volume-based water service charges, an urban water
supplier that is subject to this subdivision may delay, for one
annual seasonal cycle of water use, the use of meter-based charges
for service connections that are being converted from nonvolume-based
billing to volume-based billing.
(c) For the purposes of this article, an "urban water supplier"
has the same meaning as that set forth in Section 10617.
SEC. 7. Section 529 is added to the Water Code, to read:
529. (a) This article addresses a subject matter of statewide
concern.
(b) Subject to subdivision (c), this article supersedes and
preempts all enactments, including charter provisions and amendments
thereto, and other local action of cities and counties, including
charter cities and charter counties, and other local public agencies
that conflict with this article.
(c) This article does not supersede or preempt any enactment or
other local action that imposes additional or more stringent
requirements regarding matters set forth in this article.
SEC. 8. Section 529.5 is added to the Water Code, to read:
529.5. On and after January 1, 2010, any urban water supplier
that applies for financial assistance from the state for a wastewater
treatment project, a water use efficiency project, or a drinking
water treatment project, or for a permit for a new or expanded water
supply, shall demonstrate that the applicant meets the requirements
of this article.