BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 814
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Date of Hearing: June 14, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
SB
814 (Hill) - As Amended June 6, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 23-11
SUBJECT: Drought: excessive water use: urban retail water
suppliers
SUMMARY: This bill prohibits excessive water use by a
residential customer during specified emergency drought
conditions. Additionally, if specified conditions are met,
requires urban retail water suppliers to establish a method to
identify and discourage excessive water use. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Only applies to an urban retail water supplier under any of
the following conditions:
a) There is a statewide drought emergency declared by the
Governor and the urban retail water supplier is in a state
of action in response to a local water supply shortage.
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b) An urban retail water supplier is in a state of action
in response to a local water supply shortage.
c) An urban retail water supplier is affected during a
local drought emergency declared by the Governor.
1)Prohibits excessive water use by residential customers in a
single-family residence or in multiunit housing that is
individually metered.
2)Requires an urban retail water supplier to establish a method
to identify and discourage excessive water use through either
a rate structure, or; by ordinance, rule, tariff condition, or
procedure.
3)Applies specific conditions to how an ordinance, rule, tariff
condition, or procedure developed by an urban retail water
supplier must apply in fully metered service areas, including:
a) what is to be evaluated for excessive use,
b) a process for notification of excessive use,
c) a process to appeal an excessive use violation,
and
d) permits a fine of up to $500 for an excessive use
violation for each hundred cubic feet or 748 gallons of
water used.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Declares, in the California Constitution, that:
a) The water resources of the state are to be put to
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beneficial use to the fullest extent of which they are
capable.
b) The waste or unreasonable use or unreasonable method of
use of water is to be prevented.
c) The conservation of such waters is to be exercised with
a view to the reasonable and beneficial use of the waters
in the interest of the people and for the public welfare.
1)Authorizes any public entity that supplies water at retail or
wholesale to, by ordinance or resolution, adopt and enforce a
water conservation program to reduce the quantity of water
used for the purpose of conserving the water supplies of the
public entity.
2)Provides that a violation of a requirement of a water
conservation program is a misdemeanor punishable by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 30 days, or by
a fine not exceeding $1,000, or both.
3)Requires urban water management plans to, among other things,
include a water shortage contingency analysis that has stages
of action to be taken in response to water supply shortages.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible if any state
costs.
COMMENTS: This bill prohibits excessive water use by a
residential customer during specified emergency drought
conditions. Additionally, under those specified conditions,
this bill requires urban retail water suppliers to establish a
method to identify and discourage excessive water use.
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1)Author's Statement: This bill ensures that no one can buy
their way out of the drought during a drought emergency. While
most Californians have reduced their water use and face stiff
penalties for waste, there are some Californians that use as
much water as they want without any repercussions.
Statewide, there are hundreds of households using more than 1
million gallons of water a year, far above the average level
of use. The biggest user consumed almost 12 million gallons in
one year.
With few exceptions, water agencies do not have policies to
target and reduce this excessive water use. SB 814 fixes this
gap by simply requiring every water agency to have a policy in
place to curb excessive water use.
2)Background: In response to drought, since 2014 and now
permanently, a fine of up to $500 may be assessed for wasteful
water use that includes:
using a hose to wash a car without an automatic shutoff
valve,
washing down a driveway or sidewalk,
watering outdoor landscaped area within 48 hours of a
measurable rain event,
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watering lawns in a manner that causes runoff, or
watering outdoor landscapes on the wrong day or during
the wrong time of day.
There are 411 urban water suppliers in the state and since
June of 2015, according to the State Resources Water Control
Board, they have issued an average of 8,900 penalties per
month for either water waste or drought surcharges. Despite
these fines on typical water users there is no requirement for
penalties on individuals who are heavy water users.
While local agencies can prohibit excessive water use, this
bill makes it a requirement that there is a process to do so
when there are local water shortage conditions. This bill
allows local discretion in the development of the
identification and enforcement that occurs locally against
excessive water use.
While there is limited anecdotal evidence, several newspaper
articles suggest that, when penalties on heavy water users
have been put in place there has been a significant increase
in water conservation.
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1)Suggested technical amendments: These are intended only to
make the reading of the bill more clear and are not intended
to change the substance of the bill.
Amendment 1: The existing language in Section 366 (a) should
be rewritten to read as follows:
During periods described in subdivision (a) of Section 367,
excessive water use is prohibited by a residential customer in
a single-family residence or by a customer in a multiunit
housing complex in which each unit is individually metered or
submetered by an urban retail water supplier.
Amendment 2: Section 366 (b)(2) should be restructured as
follows:
(2) (A) Establishing an excessive water use ordinance, rule,
or tariff condition, or amending an existing ordinance, rule,
or tariff condition, that includes a definition of or a
procedure to identify and address excessive water use by
metered single-family residential customers and customers in
multiunit housing complexes in which each unit is individually
metered or submetered and may include a process to issue
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written warnings to a customer and perform a site audit of
customer water usage prior to deeming the customer in
violation.
(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A) excessive water use
shall be measured in terms of either gallons or hundreds of
cubic feet of water used during the urban retail water
supplier's regular billing cycle. In establishing the
definition of excessive use, the urban retail water supplier
may consider factors that include, but are not limited to, all
of the following:
(i) Average daily use.
(ii) Full-time occupancy of households.
(iii) Amount of landscaped land on a property.
(iv) Rate of evapotranspiration.
(v) Seasonal weather changes.
(C) A violation of an excessive use ordinance, rule, or
tariff condition established pursuant to subparagraph (A)
shall result in an infraction or administrative civil penalty.
The penalty for a violation may be based on conditions
identified by the urban retail water supplier and may include,
but is not limited to, a fine of up to five hundred dollars
($500) for each hundred cubic feet of water, or 748 gallons,
used above the excessive water use threshold established by
the urban retail water supplier in a billing cycle.
(i) Any fine imposed pursuant to this subparagraph shall be
added to the customer's water bill and is due and payable with
that water bill.
(ii) Each urban retail water supplier shall have a process for
nonpayment of the fine, which shall be consistent with due
process and reasonably similar to the water supplier's
existing process for nonpayment of a water bill.
(D) (i) Consistent with due process, an urban retail water
supplier shall establish a process and conditions for the
appeal of a fine imposed pursuant to subparagraph (C) whereby
the customer may contest the imposition of the fine for
excessive water use.
(ii) As part of the appeal process, the customer shall be
provided with an opportunity to provide evidence that there
was no excessive water use , or of a bona fide reason for the
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excessive water use, including evidence of a water leak, a
medical reason, or any other reasonable justification for the
water use, as determined by the urban retail water supplier.
(iii) As part of the appeal process, the urban retail water
supplier shall provide documentation demonstrating the
excessive water usage.
This bill was amended and went into print on June 7, 2016.
With the exception of the East Bay Municipal Utility District
at the time of this analysis all positions represented are to
previous versions of the bill. It is unknown if the recent
changes to the bill change the previously stated positions.
2)Supporting Arguments (to previous version): During the state's
worst drought in recorded history, water users can be fined
$500 for infractions such as watering on the wrong day, but
residential water users that use an excessive amount of water
are not subject to any fines. The great majority of
Californias are making sacrifices to conserve but there is a
segment of residential water users that appear to be using as
much water as they want. For those users, extraordinary
measures are needed to provide the impetus to curtail
consumption.
3)Opposing Arguments (to previous version): All local agencies
should have a water shortage contingency plan adopted by their
locally elected governing bodies that authorize the use of
fines for excessive use. These fining structures should be
locally developed to allow for a progressive penalty structure
that provides appropriate flexibility and emphasizes
education, outreach and customer service. Existing law allows
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for fines to be imposed for violations of water conservation
mandates. Another state law is not needed. A locally
controlled approach toward water management will achieve
better long-term water use efficiency, a more educated
customer base, and a reduction of excessive water use.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support (To Previous Version)
California League of Conservation Voters
Clean Water Action
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Sierra Club California
Opposition (To Previous Version)
Association of California Water Agencies (unless amended)
City of Roseville
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Desert Water Agency
El Dorado Irrigation District
Mesa Water District
Regional Water Authority
Analysis Prepared by:Ryan Ojakian / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096