BILL NUMBER: SB 565 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Part 5.5 (commencing with Section 12567) to Division
6 of the Water Code, relating to water recycling.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 565, as amended, Pavley. Water recycling.
Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board
(state board) and the California regional water
quality control boards as the principal state agencies with authority
over matters relating to water quality. Existing law requires
specified persons who discharge waste, as defined, in a manner that
could affect the quality of the waters of the state, to pay an annual
fee to the state board according to a fee schedule established by
the state board.
This bill would require the state board ,
in consultation with the Department of Water Resources and the State
Department of Public Health, to develop a plan to
ensure that at least 50% of wastewater that is annually discharged
into the ocean, as of the year 2009, is recycled and put to
beneficial use by the year 2030. The bill would prescribe various
requirements with respect to that plan. The bill would require the
state board to impose a fee on each person
discharging wastewater into the ocean and would require that fee to
be deposited into the Ocean Discharge Recycling Fund, which the bill
would establish. The bill would authorize the state
board to expend the moneys in that fund, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, for the purposes of carrying out the wastewater
recycling plan.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Part 5.5 (commencing with Section 12567) is added to
Division 6 of the Water Code, to read:
PART 5.5. Ocean Discharge Recycling Plan
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
12567. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Each year, urban water users in California discharge
approximately 3,500,000 to 4,000,000 acre-feet of wastewater into the
ocean. Unlike discharges into rivers and streams, which can be
recaptured downstream and reused, ocean discharges are not reused.
This water is truly wasted.
(b) Urban California continues to grow. The Department of Finance
projects California's population to reach almost 60,000,000 people by
the year 2050, an increase of over 25,000,000 people since the 2000
decennial census. These new Californians will need water.
(c) It is critical that California find new ways to accommodate
growth, with its resultant increase in water demand, in a manner that
is as environmentally benign as possible.
(d) Water recycling has long been recognized as a method of
helping to meet California's water needs that is cost-effective and
not affected by drought.
12567. 12567.1. For the purposes of
this part, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) "Fee" means the annual fee imposed pursuant to subdivision (a)
of Section 12568.
(a)
(b) "Fund" means the Ocean Discharge Recycling Fund
established pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 12568.4.
(b)
(c) "Plan" means the statewide plan adopted pursuant to
Section 12567.2.
12567.2. (a) The state board board, in
consultation with the department and the State Department of Public
Health, shall adopt a statewide plan to ensure that at least 50
percent of the wastewater annually discharged directly into the
ocean, as of the year 2009, is recycled and put to beneficial use by
the year 2030.
(b) The plan shall do all of the following:
(1) Identify the amount of water discharged directly into the
ocean, the San Francisco Bay, and any other enclosed bay in the
state, during the 2009 calendar year.
(2) Establish a statewide ocean discharge recycling goal that is
one-half of the amount identified pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) Identify all regulatory, financial, engineering,
jurisdictional, and other impediments to meeting the statewide ocean
discharge recycling goal.
(4) Identify all impediments to direct potable reuse of the water
described in paragraph (1).
(5) Develop specific actions and strategies to remove the
impediments identified pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4).
(c) In developing the plan, the board shall seek input from
wastewater dischargers, urban water suppliers, local government
agencies, and other interested parties.
(d) The board may appoint an advisory committee, task force, or
any other group or groups that the board determines to be necessary
or desirable to assist the board in implementing this part.
(e) Upon adoption of the plan, the board shall submit copies of
the plan to the Governor and the Legislature.
(b) The state
(f) The board shall adopt
measures that are necessary to implement the plan.
CHAPTER 2. FINANCING
12568. (a) The state board shall impose an
annual fee on discharges of wastewater into the ocean, subject to the
following requirements:
(1) The fee shall be imposed on each person that discharges
wastewater directly into the ocean, as determined by the
state board.
(2) The fee shall be in addition to any fees imposed pursuant to
Section 13260.
(3) The fee shall be in an amount that is necessary to reimburse
the state board's board, the department, and
the State Department of Public Health for the costs of
developing the plan and any measures implementing the plan pursuant
to Section 12567.2.
(4) The state board shall adopt a fee schedule
and a timetable for purposes of collecting the fee.
(5) The fee shall be collected in the same manner as set forth in
Section 13260.
(b) The state board shall adopt regulations to
implement the fee collection procedures set forth in this
section.
12568.2. Each person that is subject to the fee shall pay an
annual fee to the state board in accordance with
Section 12568.
12568.4. (a) All fees collected pursuant to this chapter shall be
deposited in the Ocean Discharge Recycling Fund, which is hereby
established in the State Treasury.
(b) The moneys in the fund shall be available for expenditure by
the state board, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for the purposes of carrying out this part.