BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 849
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 849
AUTHOR: Gatto
AMENDED: June 23, 2011
FISCAL: No HEARING DATE: July 6, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:
Rachel Machi Wagoner
SUBJECT : WATER: USE EFFICIENCY: GRAYWATER BUILDING
STANDARDS
SUMMARY :
Existing law authorizes a city, county, or other local agency
to adopt, after a public hearing and enactment of an ordinance
or resolution, building standards that prohibit entirely the
use of graywater, or building standards that are more
restrictive than the graywater building standards adopted by
the Department of Housing and Community Development and
published in the California Building Standards Code (CBSC).
This bill repeals the authority of a city, county, or other
local agency to adopt building standards that prohibit
entirely the use of graywater and instead authorize the
adoption, under specified requirements, of standards that
differ from the standards adopted by the department (e.g.,
requires that an ordinance enacted pursuant to this authority
include the local climatic, geological, or topographical
conditions requiring different building standards).
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, "despite the
Legislature setting statewide standards to regulate
graywater in California, Health & Safety Code Section
18941.7 allows local governments to apply stricter
regulations to graywater or to ban graywater altogether.
This makes following standards difficult for both builders
and private land owners who wish to utilize graywater as a
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means of water conservation in residential and commercial
developments. In some cases, locals living in areas where
graywater is banned have either resorted to using black
water to water their lawns or use home-made graywater
systems that are unregulated and do not necessarily meet
state graywater standards. Local governments should not be
able to opt out of a baseline standard for graywater as a
means of water conservation."
2) The California Building Standards Law . Under the
California Building Standards Law, the CBSC adopts state
building standards. Statewide building standards are
intended to provide uniformity in buildings across the
state. There are a few exemptions, which allow a local
governing body, city or county to modify state building
standards. A local governing body, city, or county can
adopt an ordinance or a resolution in a public meeting that
finds that a local building standard must be modified from
the state building standard because of local climatic,
geological or topographical conditions and file that
ordinance with the CBSC. The CBSC reviews the findings of
the ordinance to determine if the local governing body
followed the correct procedure.
3) Previous Legislation .
SB 1258 (Lowenthal) Chapter 72, Statutes of 2008, requires
HCD to adopt building standards for graywater systems for
residential indoor and outdoor use. The CBSC adopted these
standards on July 30, 2009.
SB 518 (Lowenthal) Chapter 622, Statutes of 2010, requires
the CBSC to adopt, as specified, non-residential building
standards for graywater systems for indoor and outdoor use.
4) Protection of Public Health . As the State of California
contemplates and adopts water conservation policies that
include standards for water reuse, it is important to build
in the statutory infrastructure that ensures that there are
appropriate standards to address the specific public and
environmental health risks associated with the specific use
of that water source. The Safe Drinking Water Act
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regulates potable/drinking water. The Federal Clean Water
Act and the California Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act
regulate overall water rights and water quality protection
of the surface and groundwater. As new laws are enacted
outside the perimeters of these statutes, public and
environmental health and safety provisions need to be
included.
AB 849 needs to be amended to address this need, by
requiring the local permitting agency to consult with the
local public health agency in the implementation of
graywater permitting and installation. Additionally,
criteria should be added to allow a city or county to make
a public health or safety finding that necessitates a more
restrictive standard in addition to climatic, geologic, or
topographical findings.
5) Intent Language . The intent language in this bill is
overly broad and needs to be stricken.
6) Sunset Review . As graywater standards, permitting and use
are relatively new in California, it may be useful to add a
sunset date of December 31, 2015, in order to give the
Legislature an opportunity to review and determine whether
this process is an effective and safe technology for
California or if the statute warrants some amendment to
expand or limit local authority.
SOURCE : Assemblymember Gatto
SUPPORT : California Building Industry Association
California State Pipe Trades Council
Natural Resources Defense Council
Planning and Conservation League
ReWater Systems
Tree People
1 individual letter
OPPOSITION : None on file
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