BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1463


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          Date of Hearing:  April 14, 2015


                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE


                                 Marc Levine, Chair


          AB 1463  
          (Gatto) - As Introduced February 27, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Onsite recycled water


          SUMMARY:  Requires that the State Water Resources Control Board  
          (State Water Board), in consultation with the State Department  
          of Public Health (DPH), the California Building Standards  
          Commission, and stakeholders, develop standards that are  
          protective of public health, safety, and the environment for  
          reusing graywater, rainwater, and other water at the same  
          location that it is captured, also called onsite water reuse.  


          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Establishes the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act  
            giving authority to the State Water Board over state water  
            rights and water quality policy.


          2)Designates the State Water Board with the primacy to enforce  
            federal and state safe drinking-water acts and regulatory  
            responsibility for oversight of 8,000 public water systems  
            throughout the state.










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          3)Defines "recycled water" as "water which, as a result of  
            treatment of waste, is suitable for a direct beneficial use or  
            a controlled use that would not otherwise occur and is  
            therefore considered a valuable resource." 


          4)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 the year 2000 and 1,000,000 acre-feet of  
            water per year by the year 2010.  The State Water Board  
            updated these goals to 1,000,000 acre feet per year above 2002  
            levels by 2020 and by at least 2,000,000 acre feet per year by  
            2030.



          5)Required DPH to establish uniform statewide recycling criteria  
            for each type of use of recycled water use, as specified.  
            These duties transitioned to the State Water Board on July 1,  
            2014. 


          6)Required DPH to: (1) adopt regulations regarding groundwater  
            replenishment with recycled water; (2) adopt regulations  
            regarding surface water augmentation with recycled water; and,  
            (3) report to the Legislature on the feasibility of developing  
            uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse.  
            These duties transitioned to the State Water Board on July 1,  
            2014. 


          7)Required the State Water Board adopt a general permit for  
            landscape irrigation use of recycled water. 


          8)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. 



          9)Authorizes the Building Standards Commission (BSC) to approve  
            and adopt building standards. Every three years building  
            standards rulemaking is undertaken to revise and update the  
            California Building Standards Code. (Title 24 of the  
            California Code of Regulations). 


          10)Allows the use of recycled water in condominium projects  
            subject to specified conditions, including a requirement that  
            the agency delivering the recycled water to the condominium  
            project file a report with the appropriate regional water  
            quality control board, etc. 


          11)Allows a public agency to require the use of recycled water  
            in floor trap priming, cooling towers and air-conditioning  
            devices when public health is adequately protected as  
            specified. 


          12)Establishes, in the California Plumbing Code, design  
            standards for plumbing buildings with both potable and  
            recycled water systems. These statewide standards apply for  
            installing both potable and recycled water plumbing systems in  
            commercial, retail, and office buildings, theaters,  
            auditoriums, condominiums, schools, hotels, apartments,  
            barracks, dormitories, jails, prisons, and reformatories. 


          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown


          COMMENTS:  This bill requires the State Water Board to spearhead  
          a process for the development of standards that will encourage  
          the safe use of onsite water.








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          California is now experiencing its fourth consecutive year of  
          drought.  On April 1, 2015 Governor Jerry Brown issued Executive  
          Order B-29-15 with 31 directives intended to help California  
          respond to the drought State of Emergency.  Directive 17 is for  
          the California Energy Commission, the Department of Water  
          Resources, and the State Water Board to deploy an innovative  
          Water Energy Technology (WET) program for businesses, residents,  
          industries and agriculture by accelerating the use of  
          cutting-edge technologies.  The Governor includes among those  
          technologies "integrated on-site reuse systems."


          Supporting arguments:  The author states that this bill is  
          needed because water conservation and water-use efficiency  
          cannot be overstated as "California faces the fourth year of the  
          worst drought in 1000 years."  The author adds that despite  
          incredibly dire conditions, water continues to be wasted through  
          the state and there are existing opportunities to conserve water  
          and use it more efficiently, including increasing the use of  
          recycled water.  Other supporters add that this bill is a  
          "worthy successor to last year's AB 2282 'purple pipe'  
          legislation" and "seeks to clear barriers to responsible onsite  
          water recycling."  Supporters add that this bill will help  
          California to "keep making a better, more sustainable 'New  
          Normal'" by "putting fresh, potable water to its best use and  
          employing 'near potable' recycled water for other uses."   
          Supporters state this bill will "spark a transformation in how  
          well buildings use water, and will literally create the basic  
          plumbing or a new generation of innovative filtration and  
          storage projects." 


          Related legislation


          AB 2282 (Gatto), Chapter 606, Statutes of 2014, required the  
          Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation  








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          with other designated entities, to conduct research to assist in  
          the development, and submission for adoption, of mandatory  
          building standards for the installation of recycled water  
          systems for newly-constructed single-family  and multifamily  
          residential buildings.


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support


          California Coastal Protection Network


          California League of Conservation Voters


          Nexus eWater


          Sierra Club California


          Surfrider Foundation


          Tree People


          U.S. Green Building Council California


          West Marin Environmental Action Committee










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          Wholly H2O







          Opposition


          None on file




          Analysis Prepared by:Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916)  
          319-2096