BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 322
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 322
AUTHOR: Hueso
AMENDED: April 22, 2013
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: May 1, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rachel Machi
Wagoner
SUBJECT : WATER RECYCLING
SUMMARY :
Existing federal law ,
1)Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), sets public health
regulatory standards for drinking water.
2)Under the Clean Water Act (CWA), regulates discharge of
pollutants into the waters of the United States and sets
quality standards for surface waters.
Existing California law :
1)Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to enforce
laws and regulations related to drinking water safety.
2)Requires the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and
the Regional Water Quality Control Boards (regional boards)
to enforce water quality laws and regulations for the state's
waterways.
3)Establishes the Water Recycling Act of 1991, creating a
statewide goal to recycle a total of 700,000 acre-feet of
water per year by 2000 and 1,000,000 acre-feet of water per
year by 2010.
4)Requires each urban water supplier to prepare, and update
every five years, an urban water management plan with
specified components, including information on recycled water
and its potential for use as a water source in the service
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area of the urban water supplier.
5)Requires DPH to adopt uniform water recycling criteria for
indirect potable reuse for groundwater recharge on or before
December 31, 2013.
6)Requires DPH to develop and adopt uniform water recycling
criteria for indirect potable reuse through reservoir
augmentation on or before December 31, 2016.
7)Requires DPH to investigate and report to the Legislature on
the feasibility of developing uniform water recycling
criteria for direct potable reuse, and requires a public
review draft report to the Legislature and public by June 30,
2016, and a final report by December 31, 2016.
8)Requires DPH to convene an expert panel to advise on
scientific and technical matters related to the development
of the aforementioned criteria, comprised of specified
experts. Allows DPH to also appoint an advisory group, task
force, or other group comprised of representatives of water
and wastewater agencies, local public health officers, and
related public health and environmental organizations.
9)Provides that funds generated by civil penalties deposited in
the Waste Discharge Permit Fund between July 1, 2011 and June
30, 2017 must be made available to DPH upon appropriation by
the Legislature in an amount of up to $500,000 each fiscal
year ($3 million dollars total), for the purpose of
completing these uniform water recycling criteria
requirements, and not to exceed specified amounts.
This bill :
1) Requires DPH in consultation with SWRCB, to investigate the
feasibility of developing uniform water recycling criteria
for direct potable reuse and to provide a final report on
that investigation to the Legislature no later than December
31, 2016.
2) Requires DPH to complete the public review draft of its
report by September 1, 2016.
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3) Requires, no later than January 30, 2014, the National Water
Research Institute to convene and administer an expert panel
to advise in place of an expert panel convened by DPH.
4) Requires the panel to assess any additional areas of
research that are needed to be able to establish uniform
regulatory criteria for direct potable reuse and recommend
an approach for accomplishing any of the additional needed
research in a timely manner.
5) Requires the inclusion of a limnologist in addition to the
other listed experts.
6) Authorizes the National Water Research Institute to appoint
an advisory group, task force, or other group, and would
expand the list of specified entities from which the
representatives could be selected to include the department,
the SWRCB and the United States Environmental Protection
Agency.
7) Provides that, on or before June 30, 2016, the National
Water Research Institute shall submit a draft report to DPH
summarizing the recommendations of the expert panel.
8) Provides that to the extent that state funds are available,
DPH shall use state funds for staff time, the expert panel
and the report.
9) Authorizes the expert panel, advisory panel, and report to
be directly funded through nonstate donations, and would
require DPH to provide staff for specified activities and to
use state funds for those activities to the extent state
funds are available.
10)Authorizes DPH to accept funds from any source and use those
funds for certain purposes.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, timely completion
of an expert panel report and recommendations from DPH on
the ability to ensure a safe water supply through direct
potable reuse projects is critical for the planning of
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potable reuse projects in California. While no agencies are
currently proposing direct potable reuse projects, safe use
of advanced treated purified water for direct potable water
would result in significant savings in costs of constructing
and operating infrastructure, and reduced energy
consumption.
2) Recycled water . Recycled water, sometimes called reclaimed
water, is former wastewater (sewage) that has been treated
to remove solids and certain impurities, and then allowed to
recharge the aquifer rather than being discharged to surface
water. This recharging is often done by using the treated
wastewater for irrigation. Recycled water is used for many
purposes including agricultural irrigation, landscape
irrigation, groundwater recharge, and seawater intrusion
barriers. Before recycled water can be used for these
beneficial uses, the regional boards and DPH require
treatment to remove pollutants that could be harmful to the
beneficial use.
3) Related Legislation .
AB 803 (Gomez) enacts the Water Recycling Act of 2013.
Specifically the measure makes consistent recycled water
spill reporting standards in the Health and Safety Code and
Porter Cologne Water Quality Act, 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. This measure passed out of Assembly Water, Parks
and Wildlife (15-0). It will be heard in Assembly
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee on April
30.
AB 1200 (Levine) requires the San Francisco Bay Regional
Water Quality Control Board (SF Regional Board) to authorize
a five-year pilot project in Sonoma County that would study
the effects, if any, of allowing small agricultural
irrigation ponds containing recycled water to occasionally
overflow during storm events into an area that is already
irrigated by recycled water. This measure passed out of
Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee (15-0). It
will be heard in Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic
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Materials Committee on April 30.
SB 918 (Pavley), Chapter 700, Statutes of 2010 requires DPH
to establish standards and adopt regulations for various
types of water recycling.
4) State Regulations for Groundwater Recharge . DPH regulates
projects under the State Water Recycling Criteria (Title 22)
and draft groundwater recharge regulations. The draft
recharge regulations, which are used as guidance in
evaluating projects, specifically address protection of
public health.
a) In January 2007, DPH posted a revised draft of the
groundwater recharge regulations on its Internet web site
and formed an expanded Groundwater Recharge Regulations
Working Group to discuss and revise the draft
regulations. In August 2008, DPH posted a revised draft
of the regulations on its Internet web site and asked for
public comments to be submitted in October 2008.
b) In 2009, DPH submitted the draft regulations to DPH's
legal services group for review. Once a final draft has
been prepared based on the legal services input, the
complete regulatory package must be prepared and the
formal regulatory process can begin.
c) In November 2011, DPH released revised draft
regulations addressing groundwater replenishment using
recycled water from domestic wastewater sources, for
aquifers designated as a source of drinking water. In
December 2011, DPH held workshops throughout the state
and requested written comments from all interested
parties. DPH has reviewed the comments and has revised
the proposed regulations accordingly. The proposed
regulations would replace the existing regulations,
adopted in 1978. DPH is currently in the process of
developing the remainder of the regulation package based
on this latest draft.
Through SB 918 (2010), Water Code section 13562 requires
DPH to adopt revised groundwater replenishment
regulations by December 31, 2013. According to the DPH's
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Internet web site, however, it's unlikely this deadline
will be met since DPH has not received the additional
resources necessary to meet the deadline in SB 918.
Nevertheless, proposed groundwater replenishment (and
surface water augmentation) projects continue to move
forward.
5) National Water Research Institute (NWRI) . The NWRI was
established in 1991 to address water supply and quality
challenges facing our nation through cooperative research
efforts. Our mission is to create new sources of water
through research and technology and to protect the
freshwater and marine environments.
NWRI's main source of funding is provided by the Joan Irvine
Smith and Athalie R. Clarke Foundation. Mrs. Joan Irvine
Smith, a philanthropist from San Juan Capistrano,
California, encouraged the establishment of NWRI because she
recognized that water was critically important to a viable
economy and healthy environment, especially in regions like
arid Southern California.
6) Amendment Needed . SB 322 authorizes a private research
institution, the NWRI, to appoint an advisory group, submit
a draft report to DPH instead of DPH appointing a panel.
The bill specifies that NWRI shall summarize the
recommendations of the expert panel. The bill further
requires DPH to use state funds to fund the NWRI activities
and use state staff to do the staff work, but authorizes DPH
to accept funds from nonstate donations and use those funds
for specified activities all with the expectation that DPH
will develop and implement state policy on direct potable
reuse of recycled water. Authorizing a private research
institution to convene a research panel, in lieu of a state
entity could result in incomplete or one-sided
recommendations or the perception of one-sided
recommendations. In general, the Legislature directs state
scientists or state university scientists to do research on
behalf of the state. However, the sponsor's concern is that
DPH will not convene the panel due to insufficient staff.
The bill should be amended to direct DPH to convene the
expert panel and make recommendations to the State regarding
water recycling and direct potable reuse, but allow for DPH
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to contract with a qualified third party, for the services.
SOURCE : San Diego County Water Authority
SUPPORT : None on file
OPPOSITION : None on file