BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 803
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Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Anthony Rendon, Chair
AB 803 (Gomez) - As Amended: April 9, 2013
SUBJECT : Water recycling
SUMMARY : Harmonizes recycled water spill reporting standards,
statutorily supersedes specified recycled water terms as defined
in regulation, and codifies Regional Water Quality Control Board
(RWQCB) authority to permit recycled water advanced treatment
projects. Specifically, this bill :
1)Enacts the Water Recycling Act of 2013.
2)Eliminates inconsistent recycled water spill reporting
thresholds by making those in the Health and Safety Code the
same as those in the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act
(Porter-Cologne).
3)Supersedes, by statute, specified recycled water definitions
currently found in Title 17 of the California Code of
Regulations (CCR) and adds new definitions as follows:
a) "Auxillary Water Supply" is revised to include recycled
water;
b) "Air-gap Separation" technology is redefined;
c) "Changeover Device" is defined as a fitting or assembly
that is used to change a supply of water from one source to
another such that non-potable and potable supplies cannot
be connected at the same time.
d) "Cross-Connection" is limited to actual
cross-connections and not potential cross-connections
between potable water supplies and nonpotable or unapproved
water supplies;
e) "Recycled Water" is redefined to match the definition in
Porter-Cologne;
f) "Water Supplier" is redefined from a person to an
entity; and,
g) "User Supervisor" is added to define a person
responsible for the avoidance of cross-connections during
the installation, operation and maintenance of systems.
4)Supersedes a recycled water table in CCR Title 17 and revises
it to include a category of non-residential premises.
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5)Specifies, in CCR Title 17, how and when a changeover device
that switches between a potable and nonpotable system may be
used including, but not limited to, emergency situations and
when the alternative water supply is locked and a water supply
is a necessity.
6)Supersedes, by statute, specified recycled water definitions
currently found in CCR Title 22 as follows:
a) "Coagulated wastewater" includes biological processes in
addition to chemical processes;
b) "Conventional treatment" states a sedimentation process
and filtration process will be used but no longer specifies
sedimentation will occur between coagulation and
filtration;
c) "Dual plumbed system" includes uses for outdoor
irrigation at individual residences but only where
supervised by an owner or tenant. Supervision by a
homeowner's association or equivalent is expressly
prohibited;
d) "Filtered wastewater" deletes language referring to
coagulation. Also deletes limits on exceeding rates of
filtration, as measured in gallons per minute, and instead
relies on prohibitions against exceeding turbidity levels
in Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs), which measure the
cloudiness of liquids;
e) "Peak dry weather design flow" is quantified as a
maximum flow measured over three hours in a 24-hour dry
weather period; and,
f) "Regulatory agency" is expanded to include the
California Department of Public Health having potential
jurisdiction over recycling plants in addition to the
RWQCBs.
7)Supersedes, by statute, specified CCR Title 22 recycled water
use terms, as follows:
a) Irrigation is no longer restricted to surface
irrigation;
b) Recycled water used for other purposes references
"vehicle washing" instead of "commercial car washes."
c) Allows hose bibs that carry recycled water if those hose
bibs have adequate signage, notification, and inspection to
ensure the general public is on notice that the water is
not potable;
d) Permits the use of recycled water in individual dwelling
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units or the use of recycled water for nonpotable uses
located in a food or beverage processing facility;
e) Modifies the prohibition on public water supplies being
used as a backup on dual-plumbed recycled water systems to
allow two different types of plumbing separation
technologies; and,
f) Greater detail is provided on how and when to test
dual-plumbed systems in order to prevent cross-connection
with potable systems.
8)Memorializes RWQCB authority to permit Advanced Treated
Purified Water (ATPW) projects at the point where the highly
treated water enters a conveyance facility exiting the
treatment plant.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires, under the Health and Safety Code, immediately
notification to a local health officer or the director of
environmental health if there is any discharge of sewage or
other waste, or the effluent of treated sewage or other waste,
to the waters of the state.
2)Requires, under Porter-Cologne, that tertiary treated recycled
water is only reportable at 50,000 gallons or more and that
recycled water that is treated to less than a tertiary level
is reportable at 1,000 gallons.
3)Specifies, in CCR Titles 17 and 22, definitions, including
technical definitions, and compliance procedures related to
recycled water.
4)Authorizes the RWQCBs to permit waste discharges to the waters
of the state.
5)Classifies recycled water, including ATPW, as a waste.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The 2009 update of the California Water Plan, also
known as "Bulletin 160," projected that 0.9 million to 1.4
million acre-feet of "new water" could be achieved by 2030
through the recycling of municipal wastewater that is currently
discharged into the ocean or saline bays. An acre-foot is enough
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water to flood an acre of land a foot deep and supply, on
average, five people for one year. In 2008, the Legislative
Analyst's Office issued California's Water: An LAO Primer, which
found that if you used a "least cost, highest gain" criterion
for long-term water supply options then "investing in the
long-term solution of recycled municipal water would be the
first funding priority."
In January 2012 the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a
report entitled: Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the
Nation's Water Supply Through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater. In
that report the NAS states that, nationwide, approximately 12
billion gallons of municipal wastewater effluent is discharged
each day to an ocean or estuary and that reusing these coastal
discharges could directly augment public supply by 27 percent.
Unlike water that is discharged into a stream and potentially
used by another downstream party, water discharged to the ocean
is considered "irrecoverable."
Also in January 2012, the National Water Research Institute
(NWRI), in a white paper entitled Direct Potable Reuse: Benefits
for Public Water Supplies, Agriculture, the Environment, and
Energy Conservation, concluded that treating a significant
fraction of the municipal wastewater now being discharged to the
ocean to drinking water standards and introducing direct potable
reuse of municipal wastewater could stabilize the water supply
in Southern California by augmenting reduced State Water Project
deliveries and ensuring against water supply interruptions due
to unforeseen events, such as a natural or human-made disasters.
Despite recycled water's potential, its classification as a
waste may continue to create some barriers to increased use.
For example, ATPW, a highly-purified recycled water, is still
classified as a waste subject to discharge permitting. Raw
water supplies are not considered a waste, even if they are of
lower water quality than ATPW. This creates a conundrum where
if ATPW is blended with raw water and the entire blend is
treated as a waste, the blended water may be incapable of
meeting discharge requirements even when the ATPW alone was
expected to meet them. This bill proposes to eliminate that
potential dilemma by clarifying that ATPW can be permitted as a
discharge at the point it leaves the treatment plant but prior
to blending with other water supplies.
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Prior Legislation : AB 2398 (Hueso/2012) would have
comprehensively reorganized the State's recycled water statutes
into a new Division of the Water Code. AB 2398 was held in the
Senate with a commitment by the author to convene a stakeholder
working group that could identify administrative and statutory
impediments to water recycling and propose solutions.
Supporting Arguments : The author states that this bill will
remove barriers to the increased use of recycled water while
maintaining public health and safety. Supporters add that this
bill will achieve that goal by eliminating obsolete and
inconsistent regulatory requirements and specifying that ATPW
shall be permitted at its point of discharge. Supporters state
that "until such time as DPH acts through its regulatory
process" this bill will impose "sensible restrictions on
non-potable hose bibs in cemeteries and updated definitions of
water treatment processes." Supporters also emphasize that
"despite the enormous success we have achieved with recycled
water, there is still more we hope to do" and that this bill
will "advance the viability of recycled water in California and
is consistent with the state's goal of providing a more reliable
water supply."
Opposing Arguments : Opponents raise technical concerns related
to the proposed changes in this bill related to backflow devices
and other plumbing measures and maintain those changes will be
inadequate to prevent possible contamination of potable water
supplies by cross-connection to nonpotable sources. Opponents
state that this bill fails to provide sufficient checks on
backflow prevention assemblies, which "are mechanical devices
that require periodic testing and maintenance to ensure they are
protecting our potable water supply."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
WateReuse (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
Association of California Water Agencies
California Association of Sanitation Agents
California Coastkeeper Alliance
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Water Association
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Desert Water Agency
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Eastern Municipal Water District
El Dorado Irrigation District
Irvine Ranch Water District
Olivenhain Municipal Water District
Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District
San Diego County Water Authority
West Basin Municipal Water District
Opposition
One individual
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096