BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1463
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1463 (Gatto)
As Introduced February 27, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Water |15-0 |Levine, Bigelow, | |
| | |Dahle, Dodd, Beth | |
| | |Gaines, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Gomez, Gray, Harper, | |
| | |Lopez, Mathis, | |
| | |Medina, Rendon, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Ridley-Thomas, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Business & |14-0 |Bonilla, Jones, | |
|Professions | |Baker, Bloom, Burke, | |
| | |Chang, Dodd, Eggman, | |
| | |Gatto, Holden, | |
| | |Mullin, Ting, Wilk, | |
| | |Wood | |
AB 1463
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| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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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
(BSC), 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 million acre-feet of water per
year by the year 2010. The State Water Board updated these
goals to 1 million acre feet per year above 2002 levels by 2020
and by at least 2 million 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: a) adopt regulations regarding groundwater
replenishment with recycled water; b) adopt regulations
regarding surface water augmentation with recycled water; and,
c) 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 area of the
urban water supplier.
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9)Authorizes the BSC to approve and adopt building standards.
Every three years building standards rulemaking is undertaken to
revise and update the California Building Standards Code.
(California Code of Regulations Title 24).
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: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Increased first year costs of $615,000 (General Fund (GF)) and
ongoing annual costs of $420,000 for State Water Board to
establish, monitor and enforce the standards.
2)Increased costs for DPH to consult in the development of the
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program of $150,000 (GF).
3)Increased costs for BSC to consult in the development of the
program of $150,000 (GF).
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.
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 a 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 integrated on-site reuse systems among those
technologies.
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.
Supporters add that this bill is a worthy successor to last year's
AB 2282 (Gatto) Chapter 606, Statutes of 2014, which required the
Department of Housing and Community Development, in consultation
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
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for newly-constructed single-family and multifamily residential
buildings. Supporters state that this bill seeks to clear
barriers to responsible onsite water recycling and that this bill
will help California to make a new normal that is better and more
sustainable by putting fresh, potable water to its best use and
employing near potable recycled water for other uses. Supporters
maintain that this bill will spark a transformation in how well
buildings use water, and will literally create the basic plumbing
for a new generation of innovative filtration and storage
projects.
There is no known opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Tina Leahy / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096 FN:
0000774