BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1738
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1738 (McCarty)
As Amended March 28, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Environmental |5-2 |Alejo, Gray, Lopez, |Dahle, Beth Gaines |
|Safety | |McCarty, Ting | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |15-5 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow, Gallagher, |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, |Jones, Obernolte, |
| | |Calderon, Chang, |Wagner |
| | |Daly, Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development (Department) to develop building standards for the
construction, installation, and alteration of dark graywater
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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.
4)Requires the Department to consult with the State Water
Resources Control Board (State Water Board) when developing
building standards for dark graywater.
EXISTING LAW:
1)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.
2)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 satisfy nine specific
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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.
3)Requires the BSC to adopt building standards for the
construction, installation, and alteration of graywater
systems for indoor and outdoor uses in nonresidential
occupancies.
4)Establishes minimum requirements for the installation of
graywater systems in occupancies regulated by the Department.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, should this bill be enacted, it could result in:
increased staffing and overhead costs of $145,000 (general fund
(GF)) for the Department to develop dark greywater building
standards over an 18-month period; potential future costs of
$500,000 (GF) to prepare an Environmental Impact Report if the
Governor's emergency order providing a California Environmental
Quality Act exemption for drought-related activities is not
extended beyond 2020, and the regulations developed for the
triennial code adoption cycle are legally challenged; and,
increased costs in the $140,000 range (GF) for the State Water
Board to advise the Department on the development of the dark
graywater building standards.
COMMENTS: 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."
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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 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
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 non- kitchen faucets.
According to a 2009 University of California, Los Angeles
(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
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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
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,
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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,
the regulations were developed with input from stakeholders
representing a wide variety of interests during several public
meetings, with several drafts for public comment.
This bill adds dark graywater to the existing regulatory
framework for graywater.
Analysis Prepared by:
Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916) 319-3965
FN:
0003094
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