BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2270
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 2270 (Laird) - As Amended: March 25, 2008
Policy Committee: Water, Parks &
Wildlife Vote: 9-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill expands various reporting requirements related to the
supply and availability of recycled water, and allows local
agencies that operate sewer systems to better control salinity
introduced into the system from homes.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor costs, less than $75,000 every five years starting in
2009-10, to the Department of Water Resources to include and
update more recycled water information in the California Water
Plan. (Available bond proceeds.)
2)Potentially significant costs, in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars annually starting in 2008-09, to DWR to provide Prop
84 grants to local agencies that adopt an ordinance to control
residential salinity inputs into sewer systems. (Prop 84 bond
proceeds.)
3)Potentially significant reallocation of existing bond-funded
grant programs administered by DWR and the State Water
Resources Control Board, to the extent the bill's provisions
result in greater emphasis on local recycled water supply and
use efforts. (Available bond proceeds.)
SUMMARY CONTINUED
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires DWR, as part of the study conducted in connection to
its quintennial update of the California Water Plan, to
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include the statewide water recycling targets (currently
expressed as goals) of one million acre-feet by 2010, and
requires the department to quintennially update these targets.
2)Allows local agencies operating sewer systems, upon a finding
by the SWRCB or any regional board, to control residential
salinity inputs to the system that are due primarily from
household water softener devices.
3)Changes, from quarterly to annually, the frequency with which
a recycled water supplier or distributor who holds a master
reclamation permit issued by a regional board, must report on
various aspects of recycled water volume and use.
4)Requires recycled water suppliers and distributors to annually
report to the appropriate regional board and the National
WateReuse Foundation, a private entity, the amount of recycled
water supplied or distributed in the previous year.
5)Requires DWR and the SWRCB to reflect the California Water
Plan policies related to water use efficiency and recycled
water in the priorities for awarding state water management
grants and loans.
6)Requires an urban water management plan to quantify, in
acre-feet per year, already required information to be
provided on recycled water and its potential for use as a
water source.
7)Expresses legislative intent that Prop 84 funds earmarked for
drinking water grants to local agencies be spent to implement
the requirements of this bill.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author believes recycled water is a
potentially major component of the state's overall water
supply and that the profile of recycled water needs to be
increased. The author believes more information on recycled
water availability and use needs to be provided and that this
information needs to be considered as part of the ongoing
water supply planning process. The author also believes that
local agencies need the tools to be more proactive in
controlling salt input into their sewer system, a problem in
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many communities that makes development and use of recycled
water considerably more difficult and expensive. Finally, the
author believes that Prop 84 and other available bond proceeds
should be brought to bear to fund efforts to meet water
recycling volume targets and to pay local agencies' costs to
control salinity in their sewer systems.
2)Water Recycling Goals . AB 673 (Cortese) - Chapter 187,
Statutes of 1991 established a statewide goal to recycle a
total of 700,000 and one million acre-feet of water per year
for 2000 and 2010, respectively. The 2000 goal was not met
(current recycled water use stands at 600,000 to 700,000
acre-feet per year), and it is likely to 2010 goal will not be
met. Several factors have contributed to the slow rate of
progress toward recycled water goals, including lack of
consistent water quality regulation from region to region,
lack of consistent data, and lack of fiscal resources to build
the infrastructure necessary to process and deliver recycled
water to consumers.
3)Water Softener Devices . Heavy salt loads into local sewer
systems makes water recycling more difficult and makes it more
difficult for local agencies to abide by state standards for
salinity in wastewater. Salt is a major byproduct of
self-regenerating water softener devices installed in many
homes in areas that depend on water supplies with high
concentrations of salts. The water softener device "softens
water" by filtering out the suspended salts in a home's water
supply. These removed salts are designed to be released into
the local sewer system, thus adding substantially to the salt
load in some communities.
This bill both allows local agencies to limit household water
softeners in a more cost-effective manner than is currently
permitted in statute, and expresses legislative intent that
these costs be eligible for state grants.
4)Prior Legislation . SB 475 (Runner) - Chapter 393, Statutes of
2006 allowed the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District to
require the removal of all self-regenerating water softener
devices that discharge into the community sewer system.
5)Technical Amendment . This bill allows a local agency to
control the level of salt loads from homes after enabling
actions are taken by the SWRCB or a regional board. Since
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this could mean any regional board, it is appropriate to amend
this bill on Page 5, line 40, by changing "a regional board"
to "an appropriate regional board".
Analysis Prepared by : Steve Archibald / APPR. / (916)
319-2081