BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2022| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2022 Author: Gordon (D), et al. Amended: 8/15/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/15/16 AYES: Wieckowski, Gaines, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/1/16 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Advanced purified demonstration water SOURCE: Orange County Sanitation District Orange County Water District WateReuse California DIGEST: This bill authorizes the operator of an advanced water purification facility (facility) to bottle and distribute advanced purified water as samples for educational purposes, under specified conditions. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/15/16 define "advanced purified demonstration water" as product water from an advanced water purification facility that satisfies specified requirements; provide that bottled advanced purified demonstration water to any person under 18 years of age without parental consent; clarify the amount of bottled advanced purified demonstration water that a facility may provide; and specify requirements for AB 2022 Page 2 recordkeeping for facilities that provide 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 the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to maintain a drinking water program. 3) Declares that a substantial portion of the future water requirements of this state may be economically met by AB 2022 Page 3 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. 4) 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. 5) 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. 6) 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. 7) Requires SWRCB, by December 31, 2013, to adopt uniform water recycling criteria for indirect potable reuse for groundwater recharge. 8) Requires SWRCB, by December 31, 2016, to develop and adopt uniform water recycling criteria for surface water augmentation. AB 2022 Page 4 9) 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. 10)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. 11)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. 12)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. This bill: 1) Authorizes the distribution of advanced purified demonstration water for educational purposes and the promotion of recycled water, as specified. 2) Defines "advanced purified demonstration water" as product water from an advanced water purification facility that satisfies specified requirements; provides that bottled advanced purified demonstration water to any person under 18 years of age without parental consent; clarifies the amount AB 2022 Page 5 of bottled advanced purified demonstration water that a facility may provide; and specifies requirements for recordkeeping for facilities that provide advanced purified demonstration 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 to 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 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 one million acre feet per year by 2020 and by at least two 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. AB 2022 Page 6 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 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. SWRCB has convened and is currently working with the expert AB 2022 Page 7 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 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 AB 2022 Page 8 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. 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. 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 AB 2022 Page 9 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. 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 six 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. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill will cost approximately $140,000 annually (Drinking Water Fund) for SWRCB to oversee purification facilities, some or all of which may be offset by fees assessed on the purification facilities. SUPPORT: (Verified8/3/16) Orange County Sanitation District (co-source) Orange County Water District (co-source) WateReuse California (co-source) Association of California Water Agencies CalDesal California Association of Sanitation Agencies California Coastal Protection Network California Coastkeeper Alliance California Groundwater Coalition AB 2022 Page 10 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 Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts 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 The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California OPPOSITION: (Verified8/3/16) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, AB 2022 Page 11 Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Daly, Mathis, Olsen Prepared by:Rachel Machi Wagoner / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108 8/16/16 17:57:14 **** END ****