BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2230
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Date of Hearing: April 10, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared Huffman, Chair
AB 2230 (Gatto) - As Introduced: February 24, 2012
SUBJECT : Recycled water: car washes
SUMMARY : Requires new car washes to reuse at least 60% of the
on-site wash and rinse water unless recycled water is utilized
for washing and rinsing. Specifically, this bill :
1)Declares that the purpose of the bill is to reduce water
consumption by commercial car washes.
2)Defines in-bay and conveyor car washes and requires that
commercial in-bay and conveyor car washes constructed after
January 1, 2014 must:
a) Have recycling systems that reuse 60% of the wash and
rinse water; or,
b) Contract to use recycled water for washing and rinsing.
3)Exempts self-service commercial car washes where the customer
uses a wand to wash his or her own vehicle.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines waste to include sewage and all other waste substances
from human habitation or producing, manufacturing or
processing operations.
2)Defines recycled water as water which, as a result of the
treatment of waste, is suitable for a direct beneficial use or
a controlled use that would not otherwise occur.
3)Declares it is the policy of the State that the use of potable
domestic water for nonpotable uses is an unreasonable use of
the water if recycled water, which meets specific criteria
including, but not limited to, quality and affordability, is
available.
4)Authorizes any public agency to require the use of recycled
water, if specified conditions are met, for: residential
landscaping; toilet and urinal flushing; and listed industrial
AB 2230
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applications, such as cooling towers and air-conditioning
devices.
5)Requires the state to achieve a 20% reduction in urban per
capita water use in California by December 31, 2020 and
requires each urban retail water supplier to comply with that
target.
6)Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to convene
the Commercial, Industrial, and Institutional Task Force (CII
Task Force) in order to provide recommendations, by April 1
2012 on water use efficiency standards for commercial,
industrial, and institutional use among various sectors.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: This bill would require new commercial in-bay and
conveyor car washes to either utilize systems that reuse 60% of
the wash and rinse water on-site or contract to use recycled
water. An in-bay car wash is one where a car is parked in a bay
and an automated machine or one or more car wash employees clean
the stationary vehicle. A conveyor car wash is one where the
parked vehicle moves on a conveyer belt during the wash.
Support Arguments : The CII Task Force draft report, cited by
the author, estimates that commercial vehicle washes will use
approximately 60,000 acre-feet of water by 2020 and that
statewide requirements for the use of reclaimed water in all new
conveyor and in-bay automatic vehicle wash systems could save
22,877 acre-feet of water in 2020, "enough water to supply over
45,000 families for a year." Supporters also state that water
recycling is an important asset within their region's diverse
local resource portfolio, helps bring greater water supply
reliability to Southern California, and prevents the waste or
unreasonable use of water while giving urban water agencies an
opportunity to reduce per capita water consumption.
This bill exempts self-service commercial car washes because the
author's research concluded that self-service commercial car
washes tend to be used in more low-income areas and use far less
water than in-bay and conveyor car washes. That research is
consistent with both the conventional wisdom in the commercial
car washing systems industry that "low income areas use more
self-service. Medium to high income markets tend to use
automatics more" and a report to the International Car Wash
AB 2230
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Association that concluded self-service washes use around 15
gallons per vehicle while in-bay automatic washes use between
50-60 gallons per vehicle and conveyor washes from 65.8 to 85.3.
Although the on-site reuse of water described under this bill
does not neatly fit into the existing definition of recycled
water, this bill could still make a substantial contribution to
the goal of conserving and reusing water and reducing the
application of potable domestic water to a nonpotable use.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
WateReuse California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096