BILL ANALYSIS
AB 300
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 300 (Caballero)
As Amended April 20, 2009
Majority vote
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 7-0 WATER, PARKS & WILDLIFE 11-0
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|Ayes:|Caballero, Knight, |Ayes:|Huffman, Fuller, |
| |Arambula, Davis, Duvall, | |Anderson, |
| |Krekorian, Skinner | |Tom Berryhill, |
| | | |Blumenfield, Caballero, |
| | | |Fletcher, Krekorian, |
| | | |Bonnie Lowenthal, John A. |
| | | |Perez, Salas |
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APPROPRIATIONS 15-0
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|Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, | | |
| |Ammiano, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Davis, | | |
| |Duvall, Fuentes, Hall, | | |
| |Harkey, John A. Perez, | | |
| |Price, Skinner, Solorio, | | |
| |Audra Strickland, | | |
| |Torlakson | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires, until January 1, 2020, if a project
applicant elects to include voluntary demand management
measures, any city, county, or public water system preparing a
water supply assessment for a development project, as defined,
to reduce the anticipated water demand for the project based on
the project applicant's voluntary water demand management
measures. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, if a project applicant elects to include voluntary
demand management measures, any city, county, or public water
system preparing a water supply assessment for a development
project, as defined, to reduce the anticipated water demand
for the project based on the project applicant's voluntary
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water demand management measures that are permanently fixed to
residential, commercial, industrial, or other real property
that will reduce the subdivision's water demand beyond
existing statutory, regulatory, and local-ordinance
requirements.
2)Requires that the water savings projection attributable to
voluntary demand management measures be contained in the
written verification of the availability of a sufficient water
supply that must be obtained from the applicable public water
system by the subdivision applicant or local government in
order to meet the requirements of existing law.
3)Requires that the water savings projection attributable to
voluntary demand management measures also be verified for
accuracy and approved by: a) the public water system; or, if
there is no public water system; b) the local agency.
4)Provides that the public water agency may collect fees
necessary to provide additional analysis of voluntary demand
management measures.
5)Defines "voluntary demand management measures" to mean water
use efficiency measures that are permanently fixed to
residential, commercial, industrial, or other real property
that will reduce the subdivision's water demand below the
applicable statutory, regulatory, and local-ordinance
requirements for water conservation, and may include, but are
not limited to, all of the following:
a) Smart irrigation controllers;
b) Waterless urinals;
c) Ultra low flow and dual flow toilets;
d) Recycled water facilities;
e) Rainwater capture and reuse facilities;
f) Voluntary mitigation measures (as defined); or,
g) Any other measure that will prevent the waste of water
or promote the reasonable and efficient use and reuse of
available water supplies by the subdivision or the public.
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6)Specifies that voluntary mitigation measures may include, at
the applicant's sole discretion, water demand mitigation
measures that minimize a percentage, as determined by the
applicant, of a project's impact to the public water system.
7)Specifies that the applicant may enter into an agreement with
the public water system to mitigate water demand associated
with a proposed subdivision by depositing funds into a
"Voluntary Water Demand Mitigation Fund" (Fund).
8)Defines the Fund as the fund used to finance water
conservation and water supply augmentation measures by the
public water system that mitigate an agreed upon percentage of
the projected water demand impacts from the subdivision, at
the discretion of the applicant.
9)Prohibits the fees paid into the Fund from exceeding an amount
necessary to offset the actual or percentage of actual water
demand impacts agreed upon in the agreement between the
applicant and the public water system.
10)Prohibits the fees paid into the Fund from exceeding the
amount of all capacity charges and other water service fees
applicable to the subdivision.
11)Provides that all applicable capacity charges and other water
service fees shall be reduced to the extent possible that
contributions are made to the Fund.
12)Requires the public water system to expend all monies from
the Fund on water conservation measures that will reduce the
projected demand associated with the subdivision.
13)Specifies that the expenditure of monies from the Fund may be
made within the subdivision or elsewhere within the service
area of the public water supplier, at its discretion.
14)Prohibits monies from the Fund from being used to supplant
funding for water conservation programs already required under
existing law or paid for by existing rates and surcharges.
15)Authorizes water savings projections to be calculated using
the water savings projections adopted by the California Urban
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Water Conservation Council (CUWCC).
16)Specifies that if CUWCC does not have projections for a
measure, then the water supplier must base its estimate on
substantial evidence in the record.
17)Specifies that if a project applicant proposes to use a new
voluntary water reduction demand management measure that is
not based on water savings projections adopted by CUWCC,
the city or county must impose a requirement that the applicant
enter an agreement with the water supplier to implement and
monitor the actual water savings over time through conditions
of approval.
18)Requires the public water system to prepare a written report
of the projected demand and actual water use five years after
the project has been fully developed.
19)Requires copies of the report to be provided to the project
applicant, the city or county that approved the subdivision
map, CUWCC, and the Department of Water Resources.
20)Requires at the time of final inspection, a manual providing
directions to the owner or occupant on the proper use of water
conservation devices and systems to be placed in the dwelling.
21) Provides that these provisions automatically terminate on
January 1, 2020.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits approval of a tentative map, or a parcel map for
which a tentative map was not required, or a development
agreement for a subdivision of property of more than 500
dwelling units, except as specified, including the design of
the subdivision or the type of improvement, unless the
legislative body of a city or county or the designated
advisory agency provides written verification from the
applicable public water system that a sufficient water supply
is available or, in addition, a specified finding is made by
the local agency that sufficient water supplies are, or will
be, available prior to completion of the project.
2)Provides that whenever a city or county determines that a
project, as defined, is subject to the California
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Environmental Quality Act, the project must comply with the
provisions of law that evaluate the sufficiency of water
supplies.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there are minor, absorbable costs to the Department
of Water Resources.
COMMENTS : The Subdivision Map Act prohibits approval of a
tentative map for a subdivision of property of more than 500
dwelling units, unless the legislative body of a city or county
provides written verification from the applicable public water
system that a sufficient water supply is available or, in
addition, a specified finding is made by the local agency that
sufficient water supplies are, or will be, available prior to
completion of the project. This requirement was placed into law
by SB 221 (Kuehl), Chapter 642, Statutes of 2001. This bill
requires the public water system, or the local agency if there
is no public water system, to verify the subdivider's water
savings projections attributable to voluntary demand management
measures.
Existing law further provides that whenever a city or county
determines that a development project is subject to CEQA, the
project must comply with the provisions of law that evaluate the
sufficiency of water supplies. This requirement was placed into
law by SB 610 (Costa), Chapter 643, Statutes of 2001. This bill
requires a city, county, or public water system that is
evaluating the sufficiency of water supplies for a project to
reduce the anticipated water demand for the project based on the
water service provider's voluntary water demand management
measures.
According to the sponsor, the California Building Industry
Association, homebuilders for years have been employing systems
and technologies to save water, but they have not regularly
received adequate credit from water agencies during the
entitlement process. Under current law, California homebuilders
who propose large scale development projects must complete an
analysis during the entitlement process which substantiates that
adequate water supplies exist to support the project. However,
when local water agencies analyze the projected water demand for
a proposed housing development, they do not always take into
consideration the existence and use of voluntary water saving
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devices, and therefore, subject homebuilders to inaccurate water
demand assessments. Instead, current water demand projections
often rely on out-dated consumption models that do not reflect
actual water use in proposed subdivisions. As California's water
situation worsens, it has become increasingly difficult to
ensure reliable water supplies for new housing.
The author believes that this bill will encourage innovative
approaches to reduce water consumption in new homes by
accounting for voluntary water conservation measures when a
local agency quantifies a project's water demand. The bill
would establish a voluntary program to allow homebuilders to
introduce new information about water saving strategies they are
employing in an effort to get a more accurate report on water
use. In doing so, this bill will
assist water agencies and the state in documenting the potential
water savings from new water use efficiency projects and
programs in a manner that will promote successful water
conservation strategies and discourage ineffective ones. Most
importantly, by creating an incentive based conservation
program, this bill will achieve reductions in water consumption
without any additional cost to state or local governments.
In its "Support, if amended" letter, the Association of
California Water Agencies (ACWA) states that they have been
working closely with the author on amendments but would like to
continue to work on a few more areas including "limiting the
bill's provisions to one stage in the process." ACWA believes
that there is a redundancy created by requiring the water
supplier to assess water savings in both the water supply
assessment stage and water verification stage. ACWA also
reports that they would like to "continue discussing how to
ensure that the voluntary measures which are part of the
property are lasting. Because a water supplier will be counting
on the water savings attributable to the devices installed on
the property, ACWA believes there has to be a mechanism that
notifies the property owner of their duty to [keep] the device
on the property."
This measure is very similar to AB 2219 (Parra) of 2008 that was
held in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
AB 300
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FN:0000896