BILL NUMBER: SB 1258 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 22, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 9, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 1, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal
FEBRUARY 15, 2008
An act to amend Sections 14877.1 and 14877.2 of the Water
Code, relating to graywater. An act to add Sections
17922.12 and 18941.7 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to
building standards.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1258, as amended, Lowenthal. Graywater standards.
Building standards: graywater.
The California Building Standards Law provides for the adoption of
building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies
that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit
the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission
for approval and adoption.
Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development to propose the adoption, amendment, or repeal of building
standards to the commission relating to hotels, motels, lodging
houses, apartment houses, and dwellings, and the buildings and
structures accessory thereto, except as specified.
Existing law authorizes a city or county to make changes or
modifications in the building standards proposed by the department
and approved by the commission, to provide for local variances
relating to local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions,
upon making certain findings and filing those findings with the
commission.
This bill would require the department, at the next triennial
building standards rulemaking cycle that commences on or after
January 1, 2009, in consultation with the State Department of Public
Health, to adopt and submit to the commission for approval building
standards for the construction, installation, and alteration of
graywater, as defined, systems for indoor use.
The bill would authorize a city, county, or other local agency to
adopt, after a public hearing and enactment of an ordinance or
resolution, building standards that prohibit entirely the use of
graywater, or building standards that are more restrictive than the
graywater building standards adopted by the department and published
in the California Building Standards Code.
Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources, on or
before January 1, 1997, and in consultation with the State Department
of Public Health and the Center for Irrigation Technology at
California State University, Fresno, to adopt standards for the
installation of graywater systems. Existing law defines "graywater,"
for the purposes of that provision, to include wastewater from
bathtubs, showers, bathroom washbasins, clothes washing machines, and
laundry tubs. Existing law permits a graywater system to be
installed if the city or county having jurisdiction over the
installation determines that the system complies with standards
adopted by the department.
This bill would require the department to adopt standards for the
construction, installation, or alteration of graywater systems. The
bill would also authorize a graywater system to be constructed or
altered if the city or county having jurisdiction over the
construction or alteration determines that the system complies with
standards adopted by the department.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 17922.12 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
17922.12. (a) For the purposes of this section, "graywater" means
untreated wastewater that has not been contaminated by any toilet
discharge, has not been affected by infectious, contaminated, or
unhealthy bodily wastes, and does not present a threat from
contamination by unhealthful processing, manufacturing, or operating
wastes. "Graywater" includes wastewater from bathtubs, showers,
bathroom washbasins, clothes washing machines, and laundry tubs, but
does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers.
(b) Notwithstanding Chapter 22 (commencing with Section 14875) of
Division 7 of the Water Code, at the next triennial building
standards rulemaking cycle that commences on or after January 1,
2009, the department, in consultation with the State Department of
Public Health, shall adopt and submit for approval pursuant to
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18935) of Part 2.5 building
standards for the construction, installation, and alteration of
graywater systems for indoor use.
(c) In adopting building standards under this section, the
department shall promote graywater systems while ensuring reasonable
protection of water quality in accordance with applicable provisions
of state and federal water quality law.
(d) The department may revise and update the standards adopted
under this section.
SEC. 2. Section 18941.7 is added to the
Health and Safety Code , to read:
18941.7. A city, county, or other local agency may adopt, after a
public hearing and enactment of an ordinance or resolution, building
standards that prohibit entirely the use of graywater, or building
standards that are more restrictive than the graywater building
standards adopted by the department under Section 17922.12 and
published in the California Building Standards Code.
SECTION 1. Section 14877.1 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
14877.1. (a) The department, in consultation with the State
Department of Public Health and the Center for Irrigation Technology
at California State University, Fresno, shall adopt standards for the
construction, installation, or alteration of graywater systems. In
adopting these standards, the department shall consider, among other
resources, "Appendix J," as adopted on September 29, 1992, by the
International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, the
graywater standard proposed for the latest edition of the Uniform
Plumbing Code of the International Association of Plumbing and
Mechanical Officials, the City of Los Angeles Graywater Pilot Project
Final Report issued in November 1992, and the advice of the Center
for Irrigation Technology at California State University, Fresno, on
the installation depth for subsurface drip irrigation systems.
(b) The department, in adopting standards pursuant to subdivision
(a), shall achieve the promotion of graywater systems while ensuring
reasonable protection of water quality in accordance with applicable
provisions of state and federal water quality law.
(c) The department shall include among the approved methods of
subsurface irrigation, but shall not be limited to, drip systems.
(d) The department shall revise its graywater systems standards as
needed.
SEC. 2. Section 14877.2 of the Water Code is
amended to read:
14877.2. A graywater system may be constructed, installed, or
altered if the city or county having jurisdiction over the
construction, installation, or alteration determines that the system
complies with standards adopted by the department.