BILL ANALYSIS
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2009-2010 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 1975 HEARING DATE: June 29, 2010
AUTHOR: Fong URGENCY: No
VERSION: June 28, 2010 CONSULTANT: Dennis O'Connor
DUAL REFERRAL: Committee on Rules FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Water charges and meters: multiunit structures.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
The Water Measurement Law required, beginning January 1, 1992,
every water purveyor to require the installation of a water
meter as a condition of new water service. That law also
requires urban water suppliers to install water meters on
service connections that predate January 1, 1992, in accordance
with a specific timetable, but in all cases by January 1, 2025.
The law does not require the metering or submetering of
individual units in multiunit residential structures.
PROPOSED LAW
1.This bill would require, beginning January 1, 2013:
Architectural plans for individual dwelling units in
newly constructed multiunit residential structures must
include the installation of either a water meter or a
submeter, at the discretion of the water purveyor, as a
condition for the issuance of the building permit.
A multiunit residential structure or mixed-use
residential and commercial structure that are part of a
common interest development could not be required to use
sub-meters.
The owner of the structure must ensure that a water
submeter complies with laws and regulations governing
installation, certification, maintenance, reading, billing,
and testing of water submeters, and be responsible for any
associated costs.
These provisions become operative upon adoption by the
California Building Standards Commission of building
standards as describe below.
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1.The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD),
during the next regularly scheduled building standards annual
code adoption cycle beginning on or after January 1, 2011,
would be required to do the following:
Develop and submit building standards for the
installation of water meters and submeters in residential
units within a multiunit residential structure or a
mixed-use residential and commercial structure.
Determine circumstances under which the installation of
water meters or submeters shall be deemed infeasible, and
provide an exemption for these circumstances in the
proposed building standards.
Exempt from those building standards low-income housing,
student dormitories, senior living facilities, and
timeshare plans.
Before adopting these proposed building standards, the
department must determine that a sufficient number of water
meters and submeters are available in the market.
1.HCD would be further required to assemble a task force to
develop recommendations for minimum submetering standards.
The recommendations would be required to include billing
standards and provisions to ensure submetered water is not
resold at a profit.
The task force would be comprised of representatives
from tenant organizations, property owners, water
purveyors, and other interested parties.
The task force would operate from January 1, 2011 to
June 30, 2011.
HCD would be required to report to the Legislature no
later than December 31, 2011, on the recommendations from
the task force and any proposed changes to statute.
1.The bill would prohibit any fee, charge, assessment, or other
requirement from being imposed upon the property owner
directly or indirectly for the approval, connection,
installation, or use of a submeter.
2.The bill would prohibit any owner or association from
assessing or collecting any separate charges or fees, such as
for sewers, which are based upon water usage.
3.The bill would state legislative intent to enact comprehensive
legislation to establish standards and procedures governing
the practice of assessing and charging tenants, or homeowners
in a planned unit development, for water usage, by a landlord
or homeowners' association.
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the Sierra Club, "Water metering and volumetric
pricing are paramount to giving Californians an accurate price
signal for their water use. However for most multiple dwelling
housing units, like apartments and condominiums, water agencies
do not provide meters to individual unit. Instead, there are
master meters for groups of dwelling units. The cost of water
use is included with the cost of rent, charged as a flat fee, or
allocated in some way among residents connected to the master
meter. Residents in such dwelling units will not know how much
water they use unless their units are sub-metered."
"Studies have shown that water submeters are associated with
decreased water usage. A 2004 Aquacraft Inc. study showed water
savings of 15.3% when comparing sub-metered properties with
rental properties that do not bill water separately from rent
("in-rent" properties.) Another study showed water usage in
sub-metered properties to be 18% to 39% less than in-rent
properties."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
The Western Center on Law & Poverty, commenting on the previous
version of the bill, writes "The bill would require water usage
in each new multifamily dwelling unit to be measured by a
utility-owned and operated meter, or a submeter owned and
operated by the building's owner or landlord. It is the latter
option that causes our concern." The Center identifies a number
of concerns, mostly related to tenant rights under a submetering
program. These concerns include issues associated with:
Enforced installation standards.
Adequate disclosures.
Conservation not being an excuse for soaking tenants.
Billing practices.
Dispute resolution.
Leaks.
Landlord remedies
COMMENTS
Sub-Metering Is The Challenge. In a metered system, the water
purveyor supplies and bills water to each unit on the basis of a
meter serving just that unit. The bill is paid directly by the
resident of that unit to the water purveyor. In contrast, in a
submetered system, the water purveyor supplies and bills water
on the basis of a master meter at the main service connection.
The bill is paid by the owner or the owner's agent. Further
"down line", submeters are installed on the supply line to each
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unit. The landlord then reads and bills each unit separately
based on the reading of the submeter.
The challenge is that under a submetered system, the landlord
acts in a way similar to a retail water utility, but without the
same level of regulatory oversight. Consequently, conflicts can
arise over issues of meter accuracy, billing surcharges, etc.
The HCD taskforce is intended to address and resolve all of
these issues.
There Are Issues, But Not Ours. The new language raises a
number of questions, most of which would better addressed by one
or more other committees.
Refer to Rules. The Rules Committee has asked that the bill be
referred back to them for further consideration.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS: None
SUPPORT (6/16/10 version)
Sierra Club California (Sponsor)
American Society of Engineers
Association of California Water Agencies
California League of Conservation Voters
California Municipal Utilities Association
Clean Water Action
County of Los Angeles
East Bay Municipal Utility District
El Dorado Irrigation District
GreenPlumbersUSA
Inland Empire Utilities Agency
Planning and Conservation League
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Utility Conservation Coalition
Walnut Valley Water District
OPPOSITION (6/16/10 version)
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Coalition for Economic Survival
Western Center on Law & Poverty
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