BILL ANALYSIS
AB 715
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 715 (Laird)
As Amended September 7, 2007
Majority vote
ASSEMBLY: 46-25 (May 03, 2007) SENATE: (September
11, 2007)
(vote not available)
Original Committee Reference: H. & C.D.
SUMMARY : Phases in requirements that water closets and
water-using urinals have lower flush volumes, requiring
manufacturers to produce an increasing percentage of
high-efficiency models until 2014 when all new water closets and
urinals would have to meet the high-efficiency definition.
The Senate amendments make the following changes to the Assembly
version of the bill:
1)Move the compliance deadline for lower flush volumes back from
2010 to 2014.
2)Requires all water closets installed or sold in the state to
use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush and all urinals other
than blow-out urinals to average no more than one gallon per
flush by 2014.
3)Requires each manufacturer selling water closets or urinals in
California to offer no less than the following percentages of
high-efficiency models:
a) 50% by 2010;
b) 67% by 2011;
c) 75% by 2012;
d) 85% by 2013; and
e) 100% by 2014.
4)Requires each manufacturer, from 2010 to 2013, to inform the
California Energy Commission, in writing, of the percentage of
models that meet the high-efficiency standards.
5)Makes the standards provided in the bill operative until 2014
or until the California Building Standards Commission adopts
standards that conform to the bill which ever date is later.
AB 715
Page 2
6)Allows the California Building Standards Commission to require
any additional conditions on the installation and use of
nonwater-supplied urinals.
7)Makes technical changes.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , phases in requirements that water
closets and urinals have lower flush volumes, generally reducing
toilets from 1.6 to 1.3 gallons per flush and urinals from 1.0
to 0.5 gallons per flush. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "floor-mounted/floor-outlet water closets" as models
that are mounted with the fixture base on the floor and
discharge to the drainage system through the floor.
2)Defines "nonlow-consumption flushometer valve,"
"nonlow-consumption urinal," and "nonlow consumption water
closet" as devices that use more than 1.6 gallons per flush
for toilets and more than 1.0 gallons per flush for urinals.
3)Defines "wall-mounted/wall-outlet water closets" as models
that are mounted on the wall and discharge to the drainage
system through the wall.
4)Defines "washdown urinals" as models that operate primarily on
a dilution only, nonsiphonic principle.
5)Updates California's standards for toilets and urinals to the
current standards set by the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME) Standards.
6)Requires, on or after January 1, 2010, tank type water
closets, including pressure tank water closets installed in
new buildings, must use no more than an average of 1.3 gallons
per flush for single-flush water closets, and dual-flush
toilets must use no more than an average of 1.6 gallons per
flush for solids and 1.1 gallons per flush for liquids.
7)Requires, on or after January 1, 2010, all floor-mounted/floor
outlet and wall-mounted/wall-outlet flushometer water closets
installed in new buildings must use no more than an average of
1.3 gallons per flush for single flush, and dual-flush water
closets use no more than an average of 1.6 gallons per flush
for solids and 1.1 gallons per flush for liquids.
AB 715
Page 3
8)Requires, on or after January 1, 2010, all wash-down urinals
installed in new buildings must use no more than 0.5 gallon
per flush.
9)Provides, on or after January 1, 2011, tank type water closets
including pressure tank water closets sold or installed must
use no more than an average of 1.3 gallon per flush for
single-flush water closets, and for dual-flush toilets no
more than an average of 1.6 gallons per flush for solids and
1.1 gallons per flush for liquids.
10) Provides on or after January 1, 2012, all flushometer-type
water closets sold or installed in this state shall use not
more than an average of 1.3 gallons per flush for single
flush, and for dual flush use no more than an average of 1.6
gallons per flush for solids and 1.1 gallons per flush for
liquids.
11) Provides, on or after January 1, 2010, all washdown urinals
sold or installed in the state must use no more than 0.5
gallons per flush.
12) Allows the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC),
upon the recommendation of the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD), to delay the implementation of
the new requirements for water closets and urinals through
regulation by up to two years if CBSC determines that
manufacturers are not capable of producing enough units to
meet demand or if there are significant technical problems.
13) Allows CBSC to reduce the quantity of water per flush
required by this bill based on the future versions of the
California Plumbing Code.
14) Requires all nonwater-supplied urinals sold or installed
until January 1, 2010, to satisfy the following performance
standards:
a) Be certified to meet standards established by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers;
b) Provide a barrier liquid sealant to maintain a trap
seal;
c) Permit the uninhibited flow of waste;
AB 715
Page 4
d) Be cleaned and maintained in accordance with the
manufacturer's instructions after installation; and,
e) Be installed with a water supply rough-in to the urinal
location that allows replacement with a water-supplied
urinal.
15) Requires, by January 1, 2009, those state agencies
responsible for proposing building standards for plumbing
systems to determine whether or not to propose building
standards to CBSC for nonwater-supplied urinals.
16) Provides if new building standards are adopted for
nonwater-supplied urinals that they at least meet list of
requirements of those sold until January 1, 2009.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, any costs to state agencies would be
absorbable. This bill amends requirements of State Housing Law,
the violation of which is punishable as a misdemeanor, thus
cities and counties could incur non-reimbursable costs for
prosecution and incarceration, offset to some extent by fine
revenues.
COMMENTS : The statewide standards for toilet water flush volume
were last updated in 1992. In 1992, the law was expanded to
require not just toilets and urinals installed in new buildings
but all toilets sold or installed in California to use no more
than an average of 1.6 gallons per flush and urinals which use
an average of one gallon per flush and which meet the
performance standards established by ASME by January 1, 1994.
According to the author, it was difficult for toilet
manufacturers to meet the requirements established until several
years later. By 1995, toilets had been redesigned to operate
more efficiently. After 1992, the federal government
established the California standard as the national standard
preempting the standards of other states. The federal
preemption was conditioned on enactment of subsequent
improvements in toilet efficiency within five years. These
improvements did not happen and the federal preemption expired.
This bill requires a reduction in the amount of water required
for each flush as follows: 1) single flush from 1.6 gallons to
1.3 gallons; 2) dual flush from 1.6 gallons to 1.6 for solid and
AB 715
Page 5
1.3 gallons for liquid; and, 3) urinals from 1.0 gallons to 0.5
gallons per flush. The new standards would apply to residential
and commercial toilets and urinals, but would largely exclude
those that are used in very specialized buildings and require
special fittings and molds like those used in prisons.
This bill would not require all toilets and urinals to
immediately comply with new standards but rather would
incorporate a phased-in approach requiring compliance by 2014.
According to the author, at the present time there are 24
manufacturers producing 111 models of toilets and nine
manufacturers producing 34 models of urinals that meet the
standards proposed in this bill.
Last year the author carried a similar bill, AB 2496, which
would have revised the requirements for toilet water flush
volume standards with the ultimate goal of creating greater
water
conservation by saving as much as eight billion gallons of water
per year after all of the new standards have been in operation
for 10 years. According to the author, one of the concerns
raised in the veto message, that the reduced quantity of water
would not be sufficient to carry wastes in under-floor pipes,
has been addressed by a recent study of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency which found that flushes of 1.28
gallons is sufficient to carry waste.
Analysis Prepared by : Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085
FN: 0003399