BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2022
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Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2022 (Gordon) - As Amended March 31, 2016
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|Policy |Environmental Safety and Toxic |Vote:|7 - 0 |
|Committee: |Materials | | |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes the distribution of advanced purified
demonstration water for educational purposes and the promotion
of recycled water. Specifically, this bill:
1) Authorizes the operator of an advanced water
purification facility (facility) to bottle (up to eight
ounces) and distribute the water if it meets or exceeds all
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federal and state drinking water standards and goals.
2) Establishes bottling and labeling requirements.
3) Prohibits a facility from bottling more than 1,000
gallons of water per calendar year.
4) Requires the facility operator to establish a collection
and recycling program for distributed bottles.
5) Specifies that a violation of these provisions does not
constitute a crime, but clarifies that the bill does not
exempt a facility from any federal standard for bottling
water.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor, if any, additional state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, with the use of advanced
water purification technology, billions of gallons of water
that would otherwise be wasted and sent to the ocean can be
reused as a safe and reliable source of new
precipitation-independent water to help fulfill California's
ever-growing demand. Currently, only someone visiting a
facility may sample the water.
This bill allows the bottling of small amounts of advanced
purified water to expand educational opportunities to
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Californians who don't have the opportunity or means to visit
facilities. According to the author, this water will not be
sold; instead, it will be used to demonstrate to a broader
audience the cutting-edge technology used to purify wastewater
to near-distilled water quality.
2)Background. In California, the State Water Resources Control
Board's (SWRCB) Division of Drinking Water (DDW), in
conjunction with the appropriate Regional Water Quality
Control Boards, is responsible for evaluating the treatment,
production, distribution, and use of recycled water. The
Division does not regulate the public consumption of treated
recycled water from projects that do not meet the definition
of a public water system. The SWRCB has not approved the use
of any recycled water, including advanced purified
demonstration water, for direct potable reuse.
While the SWRCB does regulate recycled water, it does not
regulate bottled water or vended water -- these are regulated
as food by the Department of Public Health's (DPH) Food and
Drug Branch of the Department of Public Health.
State law requires SWRCB to convene and administer an expert
panel to advise it the
investigation of the feasibility of developing uniform water
recycling criteria for direct
potable reuse. SWRCB has convened the expert panel, and
expects to release the required
report on direct potable reuse of recycled water by December 31,
2016.
There is some concern about allowing the bottling and direct
drinking of treated recycled water prior to the release of the
report on the safety of the direct potable reuse of recycled
water.
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081