BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND HOUSING
Senator Jim Beall, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1738 Hearing Date: 6/21/2016
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|Author: |McCarty |
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|Version: |3/28/2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Randy Chinn |
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SUBJECT: Building standards: dark graywater
DIGEST: This bill requires the Department of Housing and
Community Development (HCD) to develop building standards for
the construction, installation, and alteration of dark graywater
systems.
ANALYSIS:
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. Graywater
includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers, bathroom
washbasins, clothes washing machines, and laundry tubs, but
does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers.
2)Requires the HCD to adopt and submit for approval building
standards for the construction, installation, and alteration
of graywater systems for indoor and outdoor uses.
3)Requires the HCD, in adopting building standards for
graywater, to do all of the following:
a) Convene and consult a stakeholder's group that includes
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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
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
f) Consider the use and regulation of graywater in other
jurisdictions within the United States and in other nations
4)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.
5)Requires building standards adopted by state agencies and
submitted to the BSC to 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.
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.
7)Establishes minimum requirements for the installation of
graywater systems in occupancies regulated by HCD.
This bill:
1)Defines "dark graywater" to include untreated wastewater from
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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 HCD, at its 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.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author introduced this bill to allow for
Californians to be more water-conscious by considering a new
type of recyclable water from kitchen sinks and dishwashers,
known as dark graywater. Under the current definition of
graywater, water from kitchen sinks and dishwashers cannot be
recycled for any on-site use. The author believes that this
bill creates a regulatory framework to allow for the issuance
of permits for dark graywater systems that recycle water from
kitchen sinks and dishwashers.
2)Building standards background. HCD develops proposed building
standards for adoption by the BSC. The standards must meet a
number of statutory criteria for adoption, including that they
must be in the public interest; not be unreasonable,
arbitrary, or unfair; and that the cost to the public is
reasonable based on the overall benefit. BSC adopts building
codes every three years. This bill requires HCD to develop
and propose building standards for dark graywater at their
next code cycle, the 2018 triennial code adoption cycle.
These standards apply only to residential structures.
3)Voluntary, not mandatory. The creation of dark graywater
building standards does not obligate the installation of a
dark graywater capture system nor does it require a local
government to permit such a system. However, should a local
government decide to authorize the installation of such a
system, that system would need to comply with the standard or
a more stringent standard if adopted by the local
jurisdiction.
4)Dark graywater used elsewhere. The state of Washington
permits the use of dark graywater. Unlike standard graywater,
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dark graywater must be treated before it is used. The same is
true in the state of Arizona.
5)Every drop counts. California's ongoing drought and continued
growth make it certain that water conservation and reuse will
be pillars of California water policy. While the amount of
water saved through dark graywater reuse may not be large and
the process for reusing dark graywater more expensive than for
standard graywater, every possible source of water should be
considered.
6)Double-referred. This bill has also been referred to the
Committee on Environmental Quality.
Related Legislation:
AB 2601 (Eggman) - would require the HCD, on or after January 1,
2017, to adopt and submit amendments to the building standards
that require all new single-family and duplex residential
dwelling units include specified components to allow the
separate discharge of graywater for direct irrigation and 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 held in the Assembly Committee on Housing
and Community Development.
AB 2282 (Gatto, Chapter 606, Statues of 2014) - requires HCD to
conduct research to assist in the development of, and to submit
for adoption, mandatory building standards for the installation
of recycled water systems for newly constructed single-family
and multifamily residential buildings.
SB 518 (Lowenthal, Chapter 622, Statutes of 2010) - requires the
BSC, 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.
Assembly Votes
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Floor: 59-21
Appr: 15-5
ES&TM: 5-2
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 15, 2016.)
SUPPORT:
California League of Conservation Voters
City of Santa Monica
Ojai Valley Green Coalition
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Sierra Club of California
Sustainable Silicon Valley
7 individuals
OPPOSITION:
Eastern Municipal Water District
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