BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 322 (Hueso) - Water recycling.
Amended: May 8, 2013 Policy Vote: EQ 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 20, 2013 Consultant: Marie Liu
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 322 would add additional requirements regarding
the development uniform water recycling criteria by the
Department of Public Health (DPH) with consultation with the
State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
Fiscal Impact: Unknown, but likely in the thousands to low tens
of thousands of dollars from the Waste Discharge Permit Fund
(special) or nonstate donations for additional requirements for
the development of uniform water recycling criteria.
Background: Existing law requires DPH take several actions
regarding water recycling. Specifically, DPH is required to:
Report to the Legislature regarding the feasibility of
developing uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable
reuse by December 31, 2016. DPH is authorized to convene and
advisory group, task force, or other group to advise DPH
regarding the development of this criteria.
Develop and adopt uniform water recycling criteria for surface
water augmentation. In developing these criteria, DPH is
required to consider specified reports and research. DPH is
required to convene and administer an expert panel for the
purposes of advising DPH regarding developing these criteria.
Adopt uniform water recycling criteria for indirect potable
reuse for groundwater recharge.
Existing law requires that civil penalties deposited in the
Waste Discharge Permit Fund be available to DPH, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, in an amount of up to $500,000
per FY for a total of $3 million, for the purposes of completing
uniform water recycling criteria requirements for direct and
indirect potable use (WC §13350(k)).
SB 322 (Hueso)
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Proposed Law: This bill would require that DPH consult with the
SWRCB in its investigation on the feasibility of developing
uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse.
This bill would expand the information that DPH must consider in
developing uniform water recycling criteria for surface water
augmentation to include a report by the National Research
Council of the National Academies.
This bill would require that DPH convene the expert panel on the
development of criteria for surface water augmentation by
January 30, 2014 and would additionally require the panel to
assess what, if any, additional areas of research are needed to
establish uniform regulatory criteria for indirect potable reuse
and recommend an approach for accomplishing that research. This
bill would expand the membership to include a limnologist and
would require DPH to consult with the National Water Research
Institute and the SWRCB to select panel members. DPH would be
required to prepare a draft report by June 30, 2016 that
summarizes the recommendations of the expert panel.
This bill would allow the expert panel, advisory group, and
resulting report to be directly funded through nonstate
donations. DPH would be required to use state funds for staff
time, the expert panel, and the report to the extent that state
funds are available. DPH would be allowed to accept funds from
any source and to expend these funds for the purpose of
completing its responsibilities in this chapter.
Related Legislation: SB 918 (Pavley) Chapter 700/2010 required
DPH to establish standards and regulations for various types of
water recycling.
Staff Comments: In the FY 2012-13 budget, DPH was appropriated
$700,000 for the development of the groundwater recharge
criteria. In the Governor's proposed budget for FY 2013-14, an
additional $700,000 is being requested for the development of
the surface water criteria. No funding source has been
identified for the development of criteria direct potable reuse.
DPH has indicated that the expert panel members have not yet
been selected yet and will likely not be selected unless this
year BCP for an additional $700,000 is approved.
SB 322 (Hueso)
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Staff believes that because development of the criteria on using
recycled water for surface water augmentation and direct potable
reuse has not yet begun, the additional workload required by
this bill will likely be minimal. At most, staff anticipates the
costs being in the low tens of thousands. These costs can be
covered either by future appropriations from the Waste Discharge
Permit Fund or by nonstate funds received by DPH for this
purpose.
Existing law allows DPH to receive nonstate funds to develop
uniform water recycling criteria, subject to appropriation by
the Legislature (WC §13569). This bill would create a new
section that would also DPH, the expert panel, advisory group,
and report preparation to be funded directly by nonstate
donations, that is without an appropriation from the
Legislature. Staff believes that combining these two sections
would provide more clarity on the use of nonstate funds.
Recommended Amendments: Staff recommends that section 4 of the
bill regarding use of nonstate funds be combined with WC §13569.