BILL NUMBER: AB 2022 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gordon
FEBRUARY 16, 2016
An act to add Section 13570 to the Water Code, relating to water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2022, as introduced, Gordon. Advanced purified demonstration
water.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to, on
or before December 31, 2013, adopt uniform water recycling criteria
for indirect potable reuse for groundwater recharge and to
investigate and, on or before December 31, 2016, report to the
Legislature on the feasibility of developing uniform water recycling
criteria for direct potable reuse. Existing law transferred these
powers and responsibilities to the State Water Resources Control
Board on July 1, 2014.
Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health licenses
and regulates water bottlers, distributors, and vendors. Existing
law prescribes various quality and labeling standards for bottled
water and limits the levels of certain contaminants that may be
contained in those water products. Violation of these provisions is a
crime.
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. The bill would prohibit the
advanced purified demonstration water from being distributed unless
the water meets or is superior to all federal and state drinking
water standards. The bill would authorize advanced purified
demonstration water to be bottled at a licensed water-bottling plant
in compliance with specified provisions. The bill would further
establish bottling and labeling requirements for advanced purified
demonstration water and would prohibit a facility from bottling more
than 2,500 gallons of the water in a calendar year. The bill would
specify that a violation of these provisions does not constitute a
crime.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 13570 is added to the Water Code, to read:
13570. (a) As used in this section, "advanced purified
demonstration water" means product water from an advanced water
purification facility that satisfies both of the following
requirements:
(1) The product water is treated by means of all of the following
treatment processes:
(A) Microfiltration, ultrafiltration, or other filtration
processes to remove particulates before reverse osmosis.
(B) Reverse osmosis.
(C) Advanced oxidation.
(2) The product water meets or is superior to all federal and
state drinking water standards.
(b) An advanced water purification facility may use an alternative
treatment process in lieu of a process specified in subdivision (a)
if the facility demonstrates to the Division of Drinking Water of the
State Water Resources Control Board that the proposed alternative
ensures at least the same level of protection to public health.
(c) Except as expressly set forth in this section, the operator of
a facility producing advanced purified demonstration water may cause
that water to be bottled and distributed as samples for educational
purposes and to promote water recycling, without complying with the
requirements of Article 12 (commencing with Section 111070) of
Chapter 5 of Part 5 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code.
(d) Any operator seeking to bottle advanced purified demonstration
water shall collect water samples prior to the commencement of the
bottling process, and test that water in accordance with Section
111165 of the Health and Safety Code. Advanced purified demonstration
water shall not be distributed unless that water meets or is
superior to all federal and state drinking water standards, all
maximum contaminant levels established by the Division of Drinking
Water of the State Water Resources Control Board for public drinking
water, and all water purification requirements imposed by regulatory
agencies on the water reclamation facility that produces the product
water being used as advanced purified demonstration water.
(e) Advanced purified demonstration water may be bottled only at a
licensed water-bottling plant in compliance with Sections 111080,
111120, 111145, and 111155 of the Health and Safety Code.
(f) Advanced purified demonstration water shall be handled from
the point of production to the completion of bottling in accordance
with all regulations governing the transportation, bottling, and
handling of bottled water, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section
111070 of the Health and Safety Code, including, but not limited to,
subdivisions (b), (f), and (h) of Section 111075 of the Health and
Safety Code. A water bottling plant that bottles advanced purified
demonstration water in accordance with this section may also bottle
other potable water, subject to compliance with Article 12(commencing
with Section 111070)of Chapter 5 of Part 5 of Division 104 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(g) Advanced purified demonstration water shall be bottled in
nonreturnable (one-way) bottles or packages with labels containing
the following information in an easily readable format that complies
with all of the following:
(1) The label shall state "sample water--not for sale" and
"advanced purified water meeting all federal and state drinking water
standards."
(2) The label shall set forth the name, address, telephone number,
and Internet Web site of the operator of the facility producing the
advanced purified demonstration water.
(3) The label shall include a brief description of the advanced
purified demonstration water, including its source and the treatment
processes to which the water is subjected.
(h) A single water purification facility may not bottle more than
2,500 gallons of advanced purified demonstration water in a calendar
year.
(i) Advanced purified demonstration water shall not be sold or
otherwise distributed in exchange for financial consideration.
(j) A violation of this section shall not be subject to Section
111825 of the Health and Safety Code.