BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
                                Senator Wieckowski, Chair
                                  2015 - 2016  Regular 
           
          Bill No:            AB 2022
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          |Author:    |Gordon                                               |
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          |Version:   |3/31/2016              |Hearing      |6/15/2016       |
          |           |                       |Date:        |                |
          |-----------+-----------------------+-------------+----------------|
          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:      |Yes             |
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          |Consultant:|Rachel Machi Wagoner                                 |
          |           |                                                     |
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          SUBJECT:  Advanced purified demonstration water.

            ANALYSIS:
          
          Existing federal law:

          1)Authorizes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the  
            Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, to regulate bottled water  
            products that are in interstate commerce.

          2)Authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US  
            EPA), under the Safe Drinking Water Act, to set national  
            health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both  
            naturally-occurring and anthropogenic contaminants.

          3)Requires, when US EPA sets a new standard for a contaminant in  
            drinking water, that the FDA must establish a new standard for the  
            same contaminant in bottled water or find that US EPA's new  
            standard is not applicable to bottled water.

          Existing state law:

          1)Authorizes the Department of Public Health (DPH) to license and  
            regulate manufacturers of bottled water and vended water.  
            Establishes requirements for bottled, vended, hauled and processed  
            water.

          2)Requires, as a condition of licensure, water-bottling plants to  
            annually prepare a bottled water report, including disclosure of  
            the source of the bottled water, and to make the report available  







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            to each customer. 

          3)Requires the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to  
            maintain a drinking water program. 

          4)Declares that a substantial portion of the future water  
            requirements of this state may be economically met by beneficial  
            use of recycled water.  Finds that the utilization of recycled  
            water by local communities for domestic, agricultural, industrial,  
            recreational, and fish and wildlife purposes will contribute to  
            the peace, health, safety and welfare of the people of the state. 

          5)Requires the SWRCB to establish uniform statewide recycling  
            criteria for the various uses of recycled water where the use  
            involves the protection of public health. 

          6)States that although there has been much scientific research on  
            public health issues associated with indirect potable reuse  
            through groundwater recharge, there are a number of significant  
            unanswered questions regarding indirect potable reuse through  
            surface water augmentation and direct potable reuse. 

          7)Defines "direct potable reuse" as introducing recycled water  
            either directly into a public water system or into a raw water  
            supply immediately upstream of a water treatment plant; "indirect  
            potable reuse for groundwater recharge" as using recycled water to  
            replenish a groundwater basin or an aquifer that has been  
            designated as a source of water supply for a public drinking water  
            system; and, "surface water augmentation" as placing recycled  
            water into a surface water reservoir used as a source of domestic  
            drinking water supply. 

          8)Requires SWRCB, by December 31, 2013, to adopt uniform water  
            recycling criteria for indirect potable reuse for groundwater  
            recharge. 

          9)Requires SWRCB, by December 31, 2016, to develop and adopt uniform  
            water recycling criteria for surface water augmentation.  

          10) Requires, prior to adopting water recycling criteria for surface  
            water augmentation, SWRCB to submit the proposed criteria to the  
            expert panel, which is required to review the proposed criteria  
            and adopt a finding as to whether, in its expert opinion, the  
            proposed criteria would adequately protect public health. 









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          11) Prohibits the SWRCB from adopting uniform water recycling  
            criteria for surface water augmentation unless and until the  
            expert panel adopts a finding that the proposed criteria would  
            adequately protect public health. 

          12) Requires SWRCB, on or before December 31, 2016, to investigate  
            and report to the Legislature on the feasibility of developing  
            uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse. 

          13) Requires the SWRCB, in conducting the investigation on direct  
            potable reuse, to examine all of the following, among other  
            criteria:

             a)   The availability and reliability of recycled water treatment  
               technologies necessary to ensure the protection of public  
               health;

             b)   Multiple barriers and sequential treatment processes that  
               may be appropriate at wastewater and water treatment  
               facilities;

             c)   Available information on health effects;

             d)   Mechanisms that should be employed to protect public health  
               if problems are found in recycled water that is being served to  
               the public as a potable water supply; and,

             e)   Monitoring needed to ensure protection of public health,  
               including, but not limited to, the identification of  
               appropriate indicator and surrogate constituents. 

          14) Requires SWRCB to convene and administer an expert panel to  
            advise it on public health issues and scientific and technical  
            matters regarding development of uniform water recycling criteria  
            for indirect potable reuse through surface water augmentation and  
            investigation of the feasibility of developing uniform water  
            recycling criteria for direct potable reuse. 

          15) Delineates advanced treatment criteria for oxidized wastewater.   
            (CCR, Title 22, §60320.201)

          This bill:  authorizes the distribution of advanced purified  
          demonstration water for educational purposes and the promotion of  
          recycled water.  Specifically, this bill:









          AB 2022 (Gordon)                                        Page 4 of ?
          
          

             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 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.





          Background


             1)   Recycled water:  Water recycling is reusing treated  
               wastewater for direct beneficial or controlled purposes, such  
               as for agricultural and landscape irrigation, industrial  
               processes, toilet flushing, and replenishing groundwater  
               basins. According the US EPA, recycled water can satisfy most  
               water demands, as long as it is adequately treated to ensure  
               water quality appropriate for the use.  In addition to  
               providing a dependable, locally controlled water supply, water  
               recycling can provide environmental benefits. By providing an  
               additional source of water, water recycling can decrease the  
               diversion of water from sensitive ecosystems. Other benefits  
               include decreasing wastewater discharges and reducing and  
               preventing pollution. Recycled water can also be used to create  
               or enhance wetlands and riparian habitats. 

             2)   State water recycling policy:  In 2009, the SWRCB adopted  








          AB 2022 (Gordon)                                        Page 5 of ?
          
          
               Resolution No. 2009-0011 to update the state's water recycling  
               policy.  This state policy includes the goal of increasing the  
               use of recycled water in the state over 2002 levels by at least  
               1 million acre feet per year by 2020 and by at least 2 million  
               acre feet per year by 2030.  State law recognizes that the use  
               of recycled water for indirect potable reuse is critical to  
               achieving the SWRCB's goals for increased use of recycled water  
               for the state.  State law also declares that the achievement of  
               the state's goals depends on the timely development of uniform  
               statewide recycling criteria for indirect and direct potable  
               water reuse.  State law states that although there has been  
               much scientific research on public health issues associated  
               with indirect potable reuse through groundwater recharge, there  
               are a number of significant unanswered questions regarding  
               indirect potable reuse through surface water augmentation and  
               direct potable reuse.

             3)   Recent legislative and regulatory action on recycled water  
               in California: SB 918 (Pavley, Chapter 700, Statutes of 2010)  
               revised the state's approach to regulating recycled water by  
               requiring DPH to establish uniform statewide recycling criteria  
               for each use of recycled water where the use involves the  
               protection of public health.  In 2014, all authority and  
               responsibility for the state's drinking water programs were  
               transferred from DPH to SWRCB, including the recycled water  
               program (Health and Safety Code §1116271).

            SB 918 requires SWRCB (formerly DPH) to take action on three uses  
            of recycled water.  First, it required the SWRCB, by December 31,  
            2013, to adopt uniform recycled water criteria for indirect  
            potable reuse for groundwater recharge. The SWRCB has developed  
            uniform regulations authorizing the use of highly treated  
            wastewater for groundwater recharge, if specified requirements are  
            met, including a requirement that the treated wastewater must have  
            a residence time in the ground of at least two months, before  
            reaching drinking water intake pumps.  These regulations went into  
            effect on June 18, 2014.  

            Second, SB 918 requires the SWRCB, by December 31, 2016, to  
            develop and adopt uniform water recycling criteria for surface  
            water augmentation.  The law also requires SWRCB to convene and  
            administer an expert panel to advise it on public health,  
            scientific, and technical matters regarding the development of  
            uniform water recycling criteria for indirect potable reuse  
            through surface water augmentation.  The SWRCB reports that it is  








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            currently working with the expert panel and it is developing  
            regulations for surface water augmentation with recycled water.   
            It is on target to adopt these regulations by December 31, 2016.  

            Finally, SB 918, and later SB 322 (Hueso, Chapter 637, Statutes of  
            2013), require SWRCB, by December 31, 2016, to investigate and  
            report to the Legislature on the feasibility of developing uniform  
            water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse.  Statute  
            requires SWRCB to examine specific information, including the  
            availability and reliability of recycled water treatment  
            technologies necessary to ensure the protection of public health;  
            barriers and treatment processes that may be appropriate at  
            wastewater and water treatment facilities; available information  
            on health effects; mechanisms that should be employed to protect  
            public health if problems are found in recycled water that is  
            being served to the public as a potable water supply; and,  
            monitoring needed to ensure protection of public health.  The law  
            also requires SWRCB to convene and administer an expert panel to  
            advise in the investigation of the feasibility of developing  
            uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse. 

            SWRCB has convened and is currently working with 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 SWRCB's report on the  
            safety of the direct potable reuse of recycled water.  

             4)   Recycled water for direct consumption:  In California,  
               SWRCB's Division of Drinking Water (DDW), in conjunction with  
               the appropriate Regional Water Quality Control Boards, which  
               are the permitting authorities, are responsible for evaluating  
               the treatment, production, distribution, and use of recycled  
               water.  DDW does not regulate public consumption of treated  
               recycled water from projects that do not meet the definition of  
               a public water system per CCR, Title 22, Section 64400.  The  
               SWRCB has not approved the use of any recycled water, including  
               advanced purified drinking water, for direct potable reuse. The  
               US EPA does not have regulations for treating wastewater to  
               drinking water quality; they leave it up to the states to do  
               so.  

               While the SWRCB does regulate recycled water, it does not  
               regulate bottled water or vended water -- these are regulated  
               as food by DPH's Food and Drug Branch.  It is unclear how  








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               bottled advanced purified drinking water would be regulated  
               under the California bottled water law.

             5)   Concerns about recycled water for direct consumption:  While  
               recycled water has potential for providing solutions for the  
               state's limited water resources, recycled water regulations are  
               currently being developed and potential human health impacts of  
               the direct consumption of recycled water are being studied.   
               Numerous contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals, personal care  
               products (antibacterial soaps, sunscreen, bath gels, etc.),  
               flame retardants, and other constituents of emerging concern,  
               are more likely to be present in municipal wastewater than in  
               other water sources.  Although they typically exist in small  
               concentrations, there is growing concern about the impact of  
               constituents of emerging concern, and other unregulated  
               compounds, on public health and the environment.  Since there  
               are currently no state or federal drinking water standards for  
               these constituents, allowing the direct consumption of treated  
               recycled water, as opposed to consumption after a spatial or  
               temporal buffer as is required with groundwater or surface  
               water recharging, may be cause for caution.

             6)   Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS):   
               Operational since January 2008, Orange County's GWRS is the  
               world's largest advanced water purification system for potable  
               reuse, producing about 100 million gallons a day of highly  
               purified potable water.  A joint project of the Orange County  
               Water District and the Orange County Sanitation District (which  
               are also jointly sponsoring this bill), the GWRS takes treated  
               wastewater from the Orange County Sanitation District and  
               treats it further using microfiltration, reverse osmosis, and  
               ultraviolet light with hydrogen peroxide.  According to the  
               Orange County Water District, the product water is  
               near-distilled-quality.  Currently, roughly half of the  
               purified water from the GWRS is injected into Orange County's  
               expanded seawater intrusion barrier.  The remaining water is  
               piped to percolation basins in Anaheim where the water filters  
               through clay and rock into groundwater aquifers. There, the  
               water blends with the existing groundwater before it is used as  
               drinking water for northern and central Orange County  
               residents.
           
          Treated water samples are currently offered to visitors at the GWRS.  
           The Orange County Water District states that while the advanced  
          purified water that they produce meets or exceeds all state and  








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          federal drinking water standards, it still faces a tough battle with  
          public perception.  They argue that the sampling of advanced  
          purified water is seen as one of the most effective ways of  
          educating policymakers and members of the community about the safe  
          purification process for this growing source of water supply.  They  
          contend that public understanding of the purity of this water is  
          seen as a key requirement for more widespread acceptance of potable  
          reuse in California.
            
          Comments
          
          1)Purpose of Bill.  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 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)Analyzing and preparing for the unanticipated.  Both the federal  
            and state Safe Drinking Water Acts are structured to set standards  
            for known contaminants that impact source waters- not emerging  
            issues.  Recycling water creates a new issue.  Recycled water is  
            wastewater that goes back into productive use.  Waste water will  
            have been far more likely if not definitely contaminated with  
            constituents that do not have standards set in statute or  
            regulation for treatment.  For example, pharmaceutical  
            constituents are still evading waste water and water recycling  
            facilities from successful complete removal of all pharmaceutical  
            constituents.  

            In an article published in the Washington Post on June 10, 2016,  
            the author states that "For all the pathogens and chemicals  
            monitored by the federal government to protect drinking water, a  
            far broader universe of 'emerging contaminants' is going  
            unregulated."









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            The Environmental Protection Agency keeps tabs on scores of  
            substances that have surfaced in water systems around the country,  
            with the aim of restricting those that endanger public health. But  
            partly because the rules that the agency must follow are  
            complicated and contentious, officials have failed to successfully  
            regulate any new contaminant in two decades.

            Only once since the 1990s has the EPA come close to imposing a new  
            standard - for perchlorate, a chemical found in explosives, road  
            flares, rocket fuel and, it turns out, the drinking water of over  
            16 million people.

            The years of inaction, critics say, have left many Americans at  
            potential risk from substances that few even realize might be in  
            their water in the first place."

            Recycled water may exacerbate this situation because these  
            emerging contaminants are completely unregulated at this point.

            In a recent study published in Environmental Science & Technology  
            researchers found that anticonvulsive epilepsy drug carbamazepine,  
            which is released in urine, can accumulate in crops irrigated with  
            recycled water and end up in the urine of produce-eaters not on  
            the drugs.  The study validates the long-held suspicion that  
            pharmaceuticals may get trapped in infinite urine to food to urine  
            loops, exposing consumers to drug doses with unknown health  
            effects.


            While the amounts of the drug in the patients' urine were four  
            orders of magnitude lower than what is seen in the urine of  
            patients purposefully taking the drugs, researchers speculate that  
            the trace amounts could still have health effects in some people,  
            such as those with a genetic sensitivity to the drugs, pregnant  
            women, children, and those who eat a lot of produce, such as  
            vegetarians. And with the growing practice of reclaiming  
            wastewater for crop irrigation-particularly in places that face  
            water shortages such as California, Israel, and Spain-the produce  
            contamination could become more common and more potent, the  
            authors argue.


            Water used for crop irrigation does not nearly meet the level of  
            treatment of advanced treated purified water.  The study simply  
            illustrates that there are still concerns that need to be  








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            addressed before recycled water is used for all purposes.  


            This bill exempts, for educational purposes, advance purified  
            bottled water from all regulatory requirements in current law  
            under the presumption that it is safe to drink in advance of the  
            SB 918 SWRCB review.


          3)Getting out ahead.  SB 918 directed SWRCB to conduct a feasibility  
            study for the direct potable reuse of water.  That feasibility  
            study and the accompanying scientific review are due by the end of  
            this year.  SWRCB is on target to meet that mandate.  Why would  
            the Legislature go counter to its own directive and exempt  
            recycled water, even in this limited context, from the regulatory  
            requirements, accountability and enforceability of both the Safe  
            Drinking Water Act and the bottled water requirements under both  
            state and federal less than 6 months before the feasibility report  
            is due from SWRCB?  It may be more appropriate to wait and  
            consider the validity and need of this proposal after SWRCB has  
            finished its review.

            Should the committee feel that there is merit in considering the  
            educational benefit of allowing some advanced treated purified  
                                                    water to be bottled, the committee may wish to amend the bill to  
            authorize the SWRCB to allow for some limited amount of bottling  
            strictly for educational purposes if it deems it safe and  
            appropriate after the completion and review of the feasibility  
            report.

            Related/Prior Legislation
          
          SB 322 (Hueso, Chapter 637, Statutes of 2013).  This bill adds  
          additional requirements to the investigation and expert panel  
          requirements in SB 918 (Pavley, Chapter 700, Statutes of 2010).  


          SB 918 (Pavley, Chapter 700, Statutes of 2010).  This bill requires  
          DPH (the responsibility for recycled water has since been shifted to  
          the SWRCB) to adopt uniform water recycling criteria for indirect  
          potable water reuse for groundwater recharge by December 31, 2013;  
          to develop and adopt uniform water recycling criteria for surface  
          water augmentation by December 31, 2016; and, to investigate and  
          report on the feasibility of developing uniform water recycling  
          criteria for direct potable reuse.








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          AB 1100 (Duval, 2009).  This bill was very similar to AB 2022, as  
          introduced, and would have allowed the bottling of potable reuse  
          demonstration water, as defined, to be distributed, free of charge,  
          for educational purposes or to promote water recycling.  AB 1100  
          passed out the Assembly Environmental Safety Committee on a 7-0  
          vote, but subsequently failed passage in the Senate Environmental  
          Quality Committee.   


            
          SOURCE:               Orange County Sanitation District & Orange County  
                         Water District 
                               WateReuse California 

            SUPPORT: 
                         
          Association of California Water Agencies
          CalDesal
          California Association of Sanitation Agencies
          California Coastal Protection Network
          California Coastkeeper Alliance
          California Groundwater Coalition
          California Municipal Utilities Association
          California Special Districts Association
          City of San Diego
          Costa Mesa Sanitary District
          Desal Response Group
          Eastern Municipal Water District
          Environmental Water Caucus
          Inland Empire Coastkeeper
          Irvine Ranch Water District
          Midway City Sanitation District
          Orange County Coastkeeper
          Residents for Responsible Desalination
          San Diego County Water Authority
          Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles
          Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
          Santa Clara Valley Water District
          Sierra Club Angeles Chapter
          Sierra Club California
          Southern California Watershed Alliance
          Surfrider Foundation
          Sustainable Silicon Valley








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          The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
           
           OPPOSITION:    

          None received  

           
                                            
                                        -- END --