BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1738
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Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
AB 1738
(McCarty) - As Amended March 28, 2016
SUBJECT: Building Standards: Dark Graywater
SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development (Department) to develop building standards for the
construction, installation, and alteration of dark graywater
systems, as defined. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "dark graywater" as including untreated wastewater
from kitchen sinks or dishwashers that has not been
contaminated by any toilet discharge, has not been affected by
infectious, contaminated, or unhealthy bodily wastes, and does
not present a threat from contamination by unhealthful
processing, manufacturing, or operating wastes.
2)Requires the Department, at the next triennial building
standards rulemaking cycle, to develop and submit for approval
building standards for the construction, installation, and
alteration of dark graywater systems for indoor and outdoor
uses.
3)Requires the Department, at the next triennial building
standards rulemaking cycle, when developing building
standards, to add the consideration of dark graywater
regulation to existing requirements for graywater regulation.
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4)Requires the Department to consult with the State Water
Resources Control Board when developing building standards for
dark graywater.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Defines "graywater" as untreated wastewater that has not been
contaminated by any toilet discharge, has not been affected by
infectious, contaminated, or unhealthy bodily wastes, and does
not present a threat from contamination by unhealthful
processing, manufacturing, or operating wastes. Clarifies that
"graywater" includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers,
bathroom washbasins, clothes washing machines, and laundry
tubs, but does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or
dishwashers. (Health and Safety Code (HSC) § 17922.12 (a))
2)Requires the Department, at the next triennial building
standards rulemaking, to adopt and submit for approval
building standards for the construction, installation, and
alteration of graywater systems for indoor and outdoor uses.
(HSC § 17922.12 (b))
3)Requires the Department, in adopting building standards for
graywater, to do all of the following:
a) Convene and consult a stakeholder's group that includes
members with expertise in public health, water quality,
geology or soils, residential plumbing, home building, and
environmental stewardship;
b) Ensure protection of water quality in accordance with
applicable provisions of state and federal water quality
law;
c) Consider existing research available on the
environmental consequences to soil and groundwater of
short-term and long-term graywater use for irrigation
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purposes, including, but not limited to, research sponsored
by the Water Environment Research Foundation;
d) Consider graywater use impacts on human health;
e) Consider the circumstances under which the use of
in-home graywater treatment systems is recommended; and,
f) Consider the use and regulation of graywater in other
jurisdictions within the United States and in other
nations. (HSC § 17922.12 (c))
4)Authorizes the Department to revise and update graywater
standards at any time, and requires the Department to
reconsider graywater standards at the next triennial
rulemaking that commences after their adoption. (HSC §
17922.12 (d))
5)Requires any building standard adopted or proposed by state
agencies to be submitted to, and approved or adopted by, the
California Building Standards Commission (BSC) prior to
codification. Requires building standards adopted by state
agencies and submitted to the BSC to, to the satisfaction of
the commission, satisfy nine specific criteria, including that
the public interest requires the adoption of the building
standards and that the cost to the public is reasonable, based
on the overall benefit to be derived from the building
standards (HSC § 18930 (a))
6)Requires the BSC to adopt building standards for the
construction, installation, and alteration of graywater
systems for indoor and outdoor uses in nonresidential
occupancies. (HSC § 18941.8)
7)Governs the use of recycled water from sources that contain
domestic waste, in whole or in part. (California Code of
Regulations (CCR) Title 22 , Division 4, Chapter 3)
8)Establishes minimum requirements for the installation of
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graywater systems in occupancies regulated by the Department.
(CCR Title 24, Part 5, Chapter 16A, Part I (California
Plumbing Code))
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill: According to the author, "This bill would
create a new type of recyclable water ("dark graywater") from
kitchen sinks and dishwashers. Under the current definition of
graywater, water from kitchen sinks and dishwashers cannot be
recycled for any on-site use. This bill will create a
regulatory framework to allow for the issuance of permits for
graywater systems which recycle water from kitchens.
Currently, three other states (Washington, Oregon and Arizona)
have laws or administrative actions that allow for graywater
systems which use "dark" graywater for subsurface irrigation.
Many homeowners have started the practice of installing illegal
systems which recycle water from kitchen sinks and dishwashers.
Creating a new definition of "dark graywater" for just kitchen
water will allow for a framework to permit these systems, while
not affecting the current permitting system for traditional
graywater systems."
Graywater: In California, graywater is defined as, "untreated
wastewater that has not been contaminated by any toilet
discharge, has not been affected by infectious, contaminated, or
unhealthy bodily wastes, and does not present a threat from
contamination by unhealthful processing, manufacturing, or
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operating wastes." Under California law, graywater includes
wastewater from bathtubs, showers, bathroom washbasins, clothes
washing machines, and laundry tubs, but does not include
wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers.
This bill would define "dark graywater" as untreated wastewater
from kitchen sinks or dishwashers. Dark graywater typically has
a high level of suspended solids and a high organic content,
thus requiring a significant level of treatment to allow even
non-potable reuse.
Graywater: benefits: With careful management, graywater can be
a beneficial source of recycled water. Under current law, both
dark graywater and blackwater (toilet wastewater) must be
conveyed to and treated by centralized wastewater treatment
plants. Only graywater can be treated on-site for non-potable
usage. Graywater that can be used directly or with a reasonable
level of local treatment (i.e., at the point of use) includes
water from clothes washers, showers, baths, and faucets
(non-kitchen). According to a 2009 UCLA report, Graywater- A
Potential Source of Water, graywater constitutes about 60% of
the total indoor water use in single-family homes. The report
points out that 1.3% of the total indoor water used in a
single-family home is for washing dishes.
The UCLA report predicts that recycling all of the graywater in
households in Southern California would be sufficient to meet
outdoor water use demands in the area. Adding dark graywater to
the recycling equation could then provide enough water to meet
up to 41% of toilet water needs, provided that the dark
graywater undergoes treatment before use. The report points out
that participation of 10% of the households in the South Coast
Hydrologic Region in the recycling of their graywater and dark
graywater could produce potable water savings of between 40 to
100 million gallons per day (1.6% - 4% of total water use).
This volume of water is equivalent to, or more than, the
capacity of a modern, large seawater desalination plant.
Graywater: health risks: The recycling and reuse of graywater
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can create health risks, such as a potential exposure to
pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Exposure to graywater can
occur both through direct contact and through exposure to
graywater-contaminated irrigated landscaping, crops, or
groundwater. Because dark graywater can contain chemicals from
dishwashing detergents, food particles, oils, fats, grease,
pathogens from meat preparation, and even, as some studies have
shown, concentrations of fecal coliform similar to toilet water,
it can be considered a high-risk wastewater. For this reason,
it is important that robust regulations with strong public
health and environmental protections are promulgated for the
reuse of graywater and dark graywater.
Graywater regulation in California: Since the 1990s,
California's Building Code has included provisions that
authorized the installation and use of graywater systems, but
the regulations were deemed by many to be restrictive and
complicated.
In 2008, California revised its approach to graywater regulation
by enacting SB 1258 (Lowenthal, Chapter 172, Statutes of 2008),
the "Showers to Flowers" bill, which shifted responsibility for
regulating residential graywater use from the Department of
Water Resources to the Department. SB 1258 required the
Department to revise building standards for the construction,
installation, and alteration of graywater systems for indoor and
outdoor uses. The goal of the bill was to facilitate and
encourage safe graywater systems in California.
The Department promulgated the new residential graywater
standard, incorporated into the 2007 California Plumbing Code
(Title 24, Part 5, Chapter 16A), which is intended to conserve
water by facilitating greater reuse of laundry, shower, lavatory
and similar sources of discharge for irrigation and/or indoor
use; reduce the number of non-compliant graywater systems by
making legal compliance easily achievable; provide guidance for
avoiding potentially unhealthful conditions; and, provide an
alternative way to relieve stress on a private sewage disposal
system by diverting the graywater. According to the Department,
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the regulations were developed with input from stakeholders
representing a wide variety of interests during several public
meetings, with several drafts for public comment. Toward the
end of the development of the regulations, the Department made a
decision to propose the graywater standards on an emergency
basis in order to allow the regulations to become effective
approximately 18 months sooner than they would have been through
the standard adoption process.
This bill adds dark graywater to the existing regulatory
framework for graywater.
Related bills:
1)AB 1463 (Gatto). This bill would require the State Water
Resources Control Board, in consultation with the State
Department of Public Health, the California Building Standards
Commission, and stakeholders, to establish water quality
standards and distribution, monitoring, and reporting
requirements for onsite water recycling systems prior to
authorizing the use of onsite treated water in internal
plumbing of residential and commercial buildings. This bill
has been referred to the Senate Environmental Quality
Committee.
2)AB 2022 (Gordon). This bill would authorize the operator of a
facility producing advanced purified demonstration water, as
defined, to cause that water to be bottled and distributed as
samples for educational purposes and to promote water
recycling. This bill has been referred to the Assembly
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
3)AB 2076 (C. Garcia). This bill would require the State Water
Resources Control Board to adopt uniform water recycling
criteria for the use of recycled water in the manufacture of
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beer and wine. This bill has been referred to the Assembly
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.
4)AB 2601 (Eggman). This bill would require the Department, on
or after January 1, 2017, to adopt and submit amendments to
the building standards that require that all new single-family
and duplex residential dwelling units include specified
components to allow the separate discharge of graywater for
direct irrigation and that all new single-family residential
dwelling units include a segregated building drain for
lavatories, showers, and bathtubs to allow for future
installation of a distributed graywater system. This bill was
referred to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community
Development.
5)AB 2282 (Gatto, Chapter 606, Statues of 2014). This bill
requires the Department to conduct research to assist in the
development of, and to submit for adoption of, mandatory
building standards for the installation of recycled water
systems for newly constructed single-family and multifamily
residential buildings.
6)SB 518 (Lowenthal, Chapter 622, Statutes of 2010). This bill
requires the California Building Standards Commission, as a
part of the next triennial edition of the California Building
Standards Code adopted after January 1, 2011, to adopt
building standards for the construction, installation, and
alteration of graywater systems for indoor and outdoor uses in
nonresidential occupancies.
7)SB 1258 (Lowenthal, Chapter 172, Statutes of 2008). This bill
requires the Department, at the next triennial building
standards rulemaking, to adopt and submit building standards
for the construction, installation, and alteration of
graywater, as defined, systems for indoor and outdoor uses.
This bill also moved the responsibility for regulating
residential graywater from the Department of Water Resources
to the Department.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
California League of Conservation Voters
Grateful Roots, Residential Greywater Installer
Greywater Action
Kingdom Industry Construction, LLC
Oasis Design
Ojai Valley Green Coalition
RainThanks & Greywater
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Sierra Club
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Sierra Watershed Progressive
Sustainable Silicon Valley
Individual: Mark Lundegren
Opposition
Eastern Municipal Water District
Analysis Prepared by:Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965