BILL NUMBER: SB 565 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 4, 2009
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
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 board.
This bill would require the 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 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 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.
12567.1. 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.
(b) "Fund" means the Ocean Discharge Recycling Fund established
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 12568.4.
(c) "Plan" means the statewide plan adopted pursuant to Section
12567.2.
12567.2. (a) The 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 do all of the following:
(1) Seek input from wastewater
dischargers, urban water suppliers, local government agencies, and
other interested parties.
(2) Ensure that any action authorized pursuant to this chapter is
consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
(3) Integrate research by the board regarding unregulated
pollutants, and consult with the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment, to evaluate the impact of unregulated pollutants
and determine whether there is a practical method for eliminating
unregulated pollutants from recycled water.
(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.
(f) The board shall adopt measures that are necessary to implement
the plan.
(g) Any action authorized pursuant to this chapter shall be
consistent with the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1341 et
seq.) and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7
(commencing with Section 13000)).
CHAPTER 2. FINANCING
12568. (a) The 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 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 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 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 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 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 board, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of
carrying out this part.