BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2282
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 14, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                     AB 2282 (Gatto) - As Amended:  May 8, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              Housing and  
          Community Development                         Vote: 7 - 0
                        Business and Professions                     14 -  
          0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Department of Housing and Community  
          Development (HCD) and the Building Standards Commission (CBSC),  
          in consultation with the Department of Water Resources and  
          others, to develop mandatory standards for recycled water  
          infrastructure. Specifically, this bill:

          1)Requires HCD and CBSC to conduct research to develop and adopt  
             mandatory building standards for the installation of recycled  
            water infrastructure for newly constructed single-family and  
            multifamily residential buildings and commercial and public  
            buildings, respectively. 

          2)Authorizes the HCD and the CBSC to expend funds from the  
            Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund to  
            research, develop, and propose these building standards.

          3)Requires HCD to submit proposed building standards for  
            residential buildings to CBSC for consideration in the 2017  
            triennial building standards cycle.

          4)Requires the CBSC to develop and adopt mandatory building  
            standards for commercial and public buildings in the 2017  
            triennial building standards code cycle.

          5)Limits the application of the standards to areas that have, or  
            will have, feasible and cost effective access to a water  
            recycling facility.









                                                                  AB 2282
                                                                  Page  2

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Minor and absorbable costs to HCD to develop the standards if  
            the standards involve existing technologies and are developed  
            during the normal standards adoption cycle.

          2)Unknown, but potentially significant costs to HCD if  
            developing the standards requires research and technical work  
            with new technologies with which HCD is not familiar.

          3)Significant costs to CBSC in the range of $350,000 for an  
            additional PY at the Associate Construction Analyst level for  
            two years. Developing standards for inclusion in both the  
            California Green Buildings Standards Code and the California  
            Plumbing Code is outside the CBSC's normal scope of rulemaking  
            authority and activity.

           COMMENTS
           
           1)Purpose  . According to the author, "Though recycled water plays  
            a crucial role in the water plans of most California cities,  
            there has been little effort in preparing the commercial and  
            residential building stock for recycled-water use.  Buildings  
            can only use recycled water if they have a second set of  
            plumbing, called 'purple pipes,' dedicated to recycled water.   
            It is difficult for local water agencies to finance large  
            recycled-water projects when buildings must undergo expensive  
            retrofits in order to use the water.  Conversely, the cost of  
            installing dual plumbing during construction is minimal." 

            This bill requires standards be adopted for installing  
            recycled water infrastructure in newly constructed buildings  
            to cost-effectively prepare buildings to use recycled water.

           2)Background  . Current water distribution systems utilize three  
            pipelines: one for drinking water delivery, one for wastewater  
            collection, and one for distribution of recycled water, which  
            keeps recycled water completely separate from drinking water.   
            Existing law requires pipes designed to carry recycled water  
            to be colored purple, and the California Plumbing Code, which  
            is part of the California Building Standards Code, requires  
            buildings to install an additional set of plumbing ("purple  
            pipes") in order to use recycled water.  

          Building standards for residential and non-residential buildings  








                                                                  AB 2282
                                                                  Page  3

            do not require the installation of recycled water  
            infrastructure.  However, any builder or developer may design  
            a residential or nonresidential building to include the  
            installation of recycled water plumbing, as long as a local  
            jurisdiction permits and inspects the installation to meet the  
            California Plumbing Code.  

            In several cities, recycled water has already been approved  
            for irrigation and other non-potable uses.  In 2009, 669,000  
            acre-feet of treated municipal wastewater was beneficially  
            rescued in California, and 51 out of 58 counties have  
            identified recycled water projects in their water plan updates  
            (CA Water Plan 2013 Update, Chapter 12).  

           3)Support  . Supporters, including builders, labor, and  
            environmental groups, believe this bill will help California  
            communities plan for and cost effectively use recycled water.   


           4)There is no opposition to the bill  .

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081