BILL NUMBER: AB 1975	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Fong

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2010

   An act to add Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 537) to
Division 1 of the Water Code, relating to water.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1975, as introduced, Fong. Water charges and meters: multiunit
residential structures.
   The Water Measurement Law requires every water purveyor to
require, as a condition of new water service on and after January 1,
1992, the installation of a water meter to measure water service.
That law also requires urban water suppliers to install water meters
on specified service connections, and to charge water users based on
the actual volume of deliveries as measured by those water meters in
accordance with a certain timetable.
   This bill, with a certain exception, would require every water
purveyor that provides water service to a person residing in a
multiunit residential structure for which a construction permit has
been issued on or after January 1, 2011, to require the installation
of meters or submeters on each individual rental unit as a condition
of new water service to that property. The bill would authorize the
owner or operator to charge tenants based on the actual volume of
water delivered as measured by the water meter or submeter.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 537) is added to
Division 1 of the Water Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 8.5.  MULTIUNIT RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES


   537.  (a) Each water purveyor that sells, leases, rents,
furnishes, or delivers water service to a person residing in a
multiunit residential structure for which a construction permit has
been issued on or after January 1, 2011, shall require the
installation of meters or submeters on each individual rental unit as
a condition of new water service to that property, except if
plumbing configurations with multiple points of entry in high rise
structures make the installation of submeters infeasible.
   (b) The owner or operator of the multiunit residential structure
described in subdivision (a) may charge tenants for water service
based on the actual volume of water delivered to the unit as measured
by the meter or submeter installed pursuant to subdivision (a).