BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 803|
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                                       CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 803
          Author:   Gomez (D), et al.
          Amended:  8/12/13 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 7/3/13
          AYES:  Hill, Gaines, Calderon, Corbett, Fuller, Hancock,  
            Jackson, Leno, Pavley
           
          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/29/13 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote


           SUBJECT  :    Water Recycling Act of 2013

           SOURCE  :     WateReuse


           DIGEST  :    This bill modifies the State Water Resources Control  
          Board (SWRCB) and Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCBs)  
          regulation of recycled water.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:  

          1. Pursuant to the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act  
             (Porter-Cologne Act), SWRCB has the authority over State  
             water rights and water quality policy.  Establishes eight  
             RWQCBs to oversee water quality on a day-to-day basis at the  
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             local and regional level.

          2. Requires, under Porter-Cologne Act, 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. Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to enforce  
             laws and regulations related to drinking water safety.

          4. Requires DPH to establish uniform statewide recycling  
             criteria for each type of use of recycled water use.

          5. Requires any person proposing to discharge waste within any  
             region to file a report of waste discharge with the  
             appropriate RWQCB.  No discharge may take place until the  
             RWQCB issues waste discharge requirements or a waiver of the  
             waste discharge requirements.

          This bill: 

          1. Designates this act as the Water Recycling Act of 2013. 

          2. Authorizes the use of recycled water in cemeteries hose bibs.

          3. Requires a cemetery supplied with disinfected tertiary  
             recycled water that installs a hose bib in a public access  
             area to post visible signage and labeling indicating that the  
             water is nonpotable.

          4. Authorizes compliance with effluent limitations and any other  
             permit or waste discharge requirements for the release or  
             discharge of recycled water determined to be suitable for  
             direct potable reuse or surface water augmentation into a  
             conveyance facility to be determined at the point where the  
             recycled water enters the conveyance facility but prior to  
             commingling with any raw water.  

          5. Requires, before a discharge may be allowed, consent be  
             obtained from the owner or operator of the conveyance  
             facility that directly receives the recycled water.

          6. Provides that raw water means surface or groundwater in its  
             naturally occurring state prior to treatment.

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           Background
           
           City of San Diego project  .  The City of San Diego is currently  
          considering the final phase of the water reuse program which is  
          the construction of a full-scale advanced water treatment plant  
          and transmission pipeline.  According to the City, the treatment  
          plant would take recycled water (acceptable for irrigation and  
          industrial applications) from the North City Water Reclamation  
          Plant and apply additional treatment to produce high quality  
          advanced treated water.  A 22-mile pipeline would then transport  
          this advanced treated recycled water to San Vicente Reservoir,  
          where it would blend with imported untreated water and reside  
          for several months prior to being sent to water treatment plants  
          for additional treatment and distribution as potable water.

           Chemicals of emerging concern (CECs)  .  SWRCB adopted a Recycled  
          Water Policy in February 2009, which is intended to provide  
          permitting clarity for recycled water projects.  One challenge  
          in developing that policy was how to address new classes of  
          chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals, current use pesticides, and  
          industrial chemicals, collectively referred to as CECs.  Many  
          CECs are potentially present in recycled water, but the  
          detection of many of these chemicals is so recent that robust  
          methods for their quantification and toxicological data for  
          interpreting potential human or ecosystem health effects are  
          unavailable.

          Requires recycled water to meet standards approved by DPH for  
          the purposes of discharge into a conveyance facility.  There is  
          currently not a specific DPH standard or process for approving  
          recycled water, nor does DPH or SWRCB law, regulation or policy  
          regarding discharge of the recycled water contemplate different  
          standards for different types of recycled water.  Creating this  
          new term in statute would conflict with the existing policy and  
          statutory framework regarding recycled water.  SB 918 (Pavley,  
          Chapter 700, Statutes of 2010) requires DPH to develop uniform  
          criteria for indirect reuse of recycled water and consider  
          direct reuse of recycled water.  Because SB 918 did not  
          contemplate different types of recycled water, by inserting a  
          new term for a type of recycled water potentially conflicts with  
          the criteria DPH is developing and thereby may impact the  

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          ability to implement that criteria.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/16/13)

          WateReuse (source)
          Association of California Water Agencies
          Burbank Water and Power
          California Association of Sanitation Agencies
          California Coastkeeper Alliance
          California Municipal Utilities Association
          California State Pipe Trades Council
          California Water Association
          Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
          Contra Costa Water District
          Desert Water Agency
          Dublin San Ramon Services District
          East Bay Municipal Utility District
          Irvine Ranch Water District
          Keith Caldwell, Napa County Supervisor
          Las Virgenes-Triunfo Joint Powers Authority
          Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
          North Bay Water Reuse Program
          Novato Sanitary District
          Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District
          San Diego County Water Authority
          San Gabriel Valley Water Association
          Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT :    According to the author, "This bill  
          will remove barriers to the increased use of recycled water and  
          ensure protection of public health and safety by aligning  
          existing provisions in law to reduce unnecessary paperwork that  
          results from the reporting of incidental run-off from recycled  
          water projects.  The bill clarifies existing Regional Water  
          Quality Control Board authority to permit [recycled water]  
          projects at the point where the highly treated water exits the  
          treatment plant and enters a conveyance facility.  In the case  
          of the City of San Diego, the permitting approach acknowledged  
          in the bill will avoid the cost and environmental impact of a  
          $220 million pipeline."


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          Additionally, the author's office states, that currently,  
          cemetery operators who wish to provide hose bibs for use by  
          visitors to fill flower vases at their sites either:  (1)  
          install at considerable cost, a parallel potable water  
          distribution system on-site to a significant number of hose  
          bibs, or (2) forego the use of recycled water and continue the  
          wasteful use of potable water for irrigation.  This bill will  
          require signage to ensure recycled water is not used for potable  
          purposes.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/29/13
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,  
            Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,  
            Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,  
            Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,  
            Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,  
            Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,  
            Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,  
            V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,  
            Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Holden, Linder, Vacancy


          RM:k  8/20/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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