BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 803|
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THIRD READING
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
CONTINUED
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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 8/26/13)
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
El Dorado Irrigation 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, Ch�vez, 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 Hern�ndez,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Linder, Vacancy
RM:k 8/26/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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