BILL NUMBER: AB 1371	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 20, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Smyth

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

    An act to amend Section 13552.8 of the Water Code,
relating to recycled water.   An act to add Section
13552.7 to the Water Code, relating to water. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1371, as amended, Smyth.  Recycled water. 
 Reasonable use of water: generating facilities.  
   The California Constitution provides that the right to water shall
be limited to that amount of water that is reasonably required for
the beneficial use to be served. Existing law declares that the use
of potable domestic water for cooling towers is a waste or on
unreasonable use of water if recycled water is available and other
requirements are met.  
   This bill would declare that the use of potable domestic water for
cooling towers that are part of a generating facility that is an
eligible renewable energy resource is a reasonable use of water if
certain conditions are met.  
   Existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act,
authorizes a public agency to require the use of recycled water in
floor trap priming, cooling towers, and air conditioning devices if
certain requirements are met.  
   This bill would make technical changes to that provision.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 13552.7 is added to the 
 Water Code   , to read:  
   13552.7.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the
interest of the State of California to construct generating
facilities that are eligible renewable energy resources, as described
in Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of
Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code.
   (b) Notwithstanding Section 1352.6, the use of potable domestic
water for cooling towers that are part of a generating facility that
is an eligible renewable energy resource is a reasonable use of water
within the meaning of Section 2 of Article X of the California
Constitution if both of the following apply:
   (1) The renewable energy resource meets the requirements of
Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1
of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code.
   (2) The facility is a project for which a negative declaration was
certified pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources
Code.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 13552.8 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
   13552.8.  (a) Any public agency, including a state agency, city,
county, city and county, district, or any other political subdivision
of the state, may require the use of recycled water in floor trap
priming, cooling towers, and air-conditioning devices, if all of the
following requirements are met:
   (1) Recycled water, for these uses, is available to the user and
meets the requirements set forth in Section 13550, as determined by
the state board after notice and a hearing.
   (2) The use of recycled water does not cause any loss or
diminution of any existing water right.
   (3) If public exposure to aerosols, mist, or spray may occur,
appropriate mist mitigation or mist control is provided, such as the
use of mist arrestors or the addition of biocides to the water in
accordance with criteria established pursuant to Section 13521.
   (4) The person intending to use recycled water has prepared an
engineering report pursuant to Section 60323 of Title 22 of the
California Code of Regulations that includes plumbing design,
cross-connection control, and monitoring requirements for the public
agency, which are in compliance with criteria established pursuant to
Section 13521.
   (b) This section applies to both of the following:
   (1) New industrial facilities and subdivisions for which the
building permit is issued on or after March 15, 1994, or, if a
building permit is not required, new structures for which
construction begins on or after March 15, 1994, for which the State
Department of Public Health has approved the use of recycled water.
   (2) Any structure that is retrofitted to permit the use of
recycled water for floor traps, cooling towers, or air-conditioning
devices, for which the State Department of Public Health has approved
the use of recycled water.
   (c) (1) Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public
Resources Code does not apply to any project which only involves the
repiping, redesign, or use of recycled water for floor trap priming,
cooling towers, or air-conditioning devices necessary to comply with
a requirement prescribed by a public agency pursuant to subdivision
(a).
   (2) The exemption in paragraph (1) does not apply to any project
to develop recycled water, to construct conveyance facilities for
recycled water, or any other project not specified in this
subdivision.