BILL NUMBER: AB 19 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 23, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fong
DECEMBER 6, 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 19, as amended, Fong. Building standards: water meters:
multiunit 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 would require a water purveyor that provides
water service to a multiunit residential structure or mixed-use
residential and commercial structure that is part of a common
interest development that submits an application for a water
connection after January 1, 2014, to require the installation of a
water meter, as defined, to measure water supplied to each individual
dwelling unit as a condition of new water service. The bill
would require a water purveyor that provides water service
to a newly constructed multiunit residential structure or
newly constructed mixed-use residential and commercial
structure that is not part of a common interest development
that submits an application for a water connection after
January 1, 2014, to either adopt a general policy to require the
installation of either a water meter , as defined,
or a submeter, as defined, to measure water supplied to each
individual dwelling unit, or to inform, on an individual basis, an
applicant for new water service as to whether a water meter or
submeter is required to be installed for each individual dwelling
unit. The bill would require the owner of the structure to ensure
that a water submeter installed for these purposes complies with laws
and regulations governing installation, approval of meter type,
maintenance, reading, billing, and testing of water submeters. The
bill would except certain buildings from these requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
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 STRUCTURES
537. (a) The following definitions govern the construction of
this chapter:
(1) "Master meter" means a meter that measures water usage for an
entire property or structure, which may include common areas, and is
read by the water purveyor.
(2) "Meter" has the same meaning as "water meter" in Section 516
of the Water Code.
(3) "Submeter" means a device that measures water consumption of
an individual unit within a master-metered structure, and is read by
the owner of the structure or the owner's agent.
(b) (1) Section 538 controls the obligation of a water purveyor
with respect to service provided to a multiunit residential structure
or mixed-use residential and commercial structure that is part of a
common interest development.
(2) Section 539 controls the obligation of a water purveyor with
respect to service provided to a multiunit residential structure or
mixed-use residential and commercial structure that is not part of a
common interest development.
(c)
(b) Structures in all of the following categories shall
be exempt from the provisions of this chapter:
(1) Low-income housing. For purposes of this paragraph,
"low-income housing" means a residential building financed with
low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds,
general obligation bonds, or local, state, or federal loans or
grants, for which the rents of the occupants in lower income
households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health and Safety
Code, do not exceed rents prescribed by deed restrictions or
regulatory agreements pursuant to the terms of the financing or
financial assistance, and for which not less than 25 percent of the
dwelling units within the building are designated for occupancy by
lower income households, as defined in Section 50079.5 of the Health
and Safety Code.
(2) Student dormitories.
(3) Long-term health care facilities, as defined in Section 1418
of the Health and Safety Code.
(4) Time-share property, as defined in subdivision (aa) of Section
11212 of the Business and Professions Code.
(c) This chapter does not apply to a structure that is greater
than four stories in height above grade if the owner, or his or her
agent, demonstrates to the satisfaction of the water purveyor that
the structure's plumbing configuration incorporates multiple points
of entry in each dwelling unit and renders the installation of
submeters infeasible.
(d) A meter or submeter used to measure water supplied to an
individual residential unit that is required to be installed by a
water purveyor pursuant to this chapter, shall be of a type approved
pursuant to Section 12500.5 of the Business and Professions Code, and
shall be installed and operated in compliance with regulations
established pursuant to Section 12107 of the Business and Professions
Code.
538. Except as provided in Section 537, each water purveyor that
sells, leases, rents, furnishes, or delivers water service to a
multiunit residential structure or mixed-use residential and
commercial structure that is part of a common interest development
for which an application for a water connection or connections is
submitted after January 1, 2014, shall require the installation of a
water meter to measure water supplied to each individual dwelling
unit as a condition of new water service.
539. (a) Except as provided in Sections 537 and 538, each
538. Each water purveyor that sells,
leases, rents, furnishes, or delivers water service to a newly
constructed multiunit residential structure or newly
constructed mixed-use residential and commercial structure for
which an application for a water connection, or more than one
connection, is submitted after January 1, 2014, shall require the
installation of a water meter or submeter to measure the water
supplied to each individual dwelling unit as a condition of new water
service by doing either of the following:
(1) Adopt a general policy to determine when the installation of
either a water meter or submeter to measure water supplied to each
individual dwelling unit shall be required. The water purveyor shall
inform all local building departments within its service area of the
policy.
(2) On an individual basis, and upon receipt of an application for
new water service to the structure, inform the applicant, and the
appropriate local building department, as to whether a water meter or
submeter is required to be installed to measure water supplied to
each individual dwelling unit in the structure.
(b) (1) If the water purveyor requires installation of submeters
pursuant to subdivision (a), the owner of the structure shall ensure
that each submeter installed complies with all laws and regulations
governing installation, approval of meter type, maintenance, reading,
billing, and testing of water submeters.
(2) This subdivision does not require a water purveyor to fund or
assume responsibility for ensuring compliance with any law or
regulation governing installation, approval of submeter type,
maintenance, reading, billing, and testing of water submeters and
associated onsite plumbing.
(c) A water purveyor shall not charge an owner of a structure, or
his or her agent, a fee, charge, or assessment, either directly or
indirectly, for the installation, approval, connection, or use of a
submeter that is installed by the owner or his or her agent. This
subdivision shall not be construed to restrict the authority of a
water purveyor to collect fees or charges for meters or connection
and installation of meters, or other fees or charges associated with
providing and maintaining water service, as described in the water
purveyor's authorized tariffs or rates.
(d) This section shall not restrict the authority of a water
purveyor to adopt and implement a program for the use of water meters
or submeters for multiunit residential structures or mixed-use
residential and commercial structures that promotes water
conservation, at least as stringently, as the requirements of this
section.
(e) This section does not apply to a structure described in
subdivision (a) that is greater than four stories in height above
grade if the owner, or his or her agent, demonstrates to the
satisfaction of the water purveyor that the structure's plumbing
configuration incorporates multiple points of entry in each dwelling
unit and renders the installation of submeters infeasible.
540. 539. It is the intent of the
Legislature that this chapter should not be construed to impose costs
on any local government agency, except to the extent that the local
government agency is a water purveyor subject to subdivision (a) of
Section 538.