BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1258|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1258
Author: Lowenthal (D)
Amended: 5/29/08
Vote: 21
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/7/08
AYES: Simitian, Runner, Aanestad, Kuehl, Lowenthal
NO VOTE RECORDED: Florez, Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 12-0, 4/28/08
AYES: Torlakson, Cox, Aanestad, Cedillo, Corbett, Dutton,
Florez, Kuehl, Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ashburn, Oropeza, Simitian
SENATE FLOOR : 34-0, 5/8/08 (Consent)
AYES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Alquist, Ashburn, Calderon,
Cedillo, Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, Ducheny,
Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Kehoe, Kuehl, Lowenthal,
Machado, Margett, McClintock, Migden, Negrete McLeod,
Oropeza, Padilla, Perata, Romero, Scott, Simitian,
Steinberg, Torlakson, Wiggins, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Battin, Florez, Maldonado,
Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Vincent
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 6/26/08 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Building standards: graywater
SOURCE : Author
CONTINUED
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DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Housing and
Community Development, at the next triennial building
standards rulemaking cycle that commences on or after
January 1, 2009, to adopt and submit to the California
Building Standards Commission, for approval, building
standards for the construction, installation, and
alteration of graywater systems for indoor and outdoor use.
Assembly Amendments (1) required the graywater building
standards to also apply to "outdoor uses," (2) added
specific requirements for the Department of Housing and
Community Development to carry out in adopting the building
standards, and (3) provided that the approval by the
California Building Standards Commission of the standards
for graywater systems adopted under this bill shall
terminate the authority of the Department of Water
Resources to adopt and update standards for the
installation, construction, and alteration of graywater
systems in residential buildings, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. 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
(Commission) for approval and adoption.
2. Requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) 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.
3. Authorizes a city or county to make changes or
modifications in the building standards proposed by the
HCD and approved by the Commission, to provide for local
variances relating to local climatic, geological, or
topographical conditions, upon making certain findings
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and filing those findings with the Commission.
This bill:
1. Defines "graywater" to mean 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. Also includes
wastewater from bathtubs, showers, bathroom washbasins,
clothes washing machines, and laundry tubs, but does not
include wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers.
2. Requires the HCD, at the next triennial building
standards rulemaking cycle that commences on or after
January 1, 2009, to adopt and submit to the Commission,
for approval, building standards for the construction,
installation, and alteration of graywater systems for
indoor and outdoor use.
3. Requires HCD, in adopting the graywater building
standards, to do all the following:
A. Convene a stakeholder's group including persons
with expertise in public health, water quality,
geology or soil, residential plumbing, home building
and environmental stewardship.
B. Ensure protection of water quality in accordance
with applicable provisions of state and federal water
quality law.
C. Consider existing research on the environmental
consequences to soil and groundwater of graywater use
for irrigation, including, but not limited to,
research by the Water Environment Research
Foundation.
D. Consider graywater use impacts on human health.
E. Consider circumstances under which the use of
in-home graywater treatment systems are recommended.
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F. Consider the use and regulation of graywater in
other jurisdictions both nationally and
internationally.
4. Authorizes HCD to revise and update these standards at
any time, and requires HCD to reconsider them at the
next triennial building standards rulemaking following
their adoption.
5. Provides that, when the Commission approves the
standards, the existing authority of the Department of
Water Resources (DWR) to adopt and update graywater
systems standards is terminated.
6. Authorizes 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 HCD and published in
the California Building Standards Code.
7. Makes technical and conforming changes.
Comments
In 1992, AB 3581 (Sher), Chapter 226, required DWR to adopt
standards for graywater systems in residential buildings.
The adopted standards limited use to subsurface irrigation
at residences. AB 313 (McDonald), Chapter 961, Statutes of
1995, required DWR to adopt standards for graywater use in
subsurface irrigation. The current adopted standards (in
the Plumbing Code) permit the use of graywater for
subsurface irrigation in residential, commercial, and
industrial settings. These irrigation systems must be
installed at least nine inches below the surface.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee
analysis:
1. Minor General Fund costs, likely less than $50,000 in
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2009-10, to HCD and the Commission to respectively
develop and approve graywater system building
standards for residential buildings.
2. Minor General Fund savings, if any, to the DWR in a
future fiscal year resulting from the responsibility
to update graywater system standards being shifted
from DWR to HCD.
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/26/08)
California Association of Sanitation Agencies
California Building Industry Association
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Water Association
City of Camarillo
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
GreenPlumbers USA
Natural Resources Defense Council
Perpetual Water
Planning and Conservation League
Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of California
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/26/08)
Department of Finance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
"Graywater is the waste water that comes from showers,
washing machines, bathtubs, and bathroom sinks. This
water is mostly clean, but contains some bacteria and
some soap. Many of us know of instances, usually during
water rationing, in which people have used this water for
plants in their yards.
"Under existing provisions of the state plumbing code
that date from the early 1990s, however, graywater can
only be used for irrigation through a system that is
entirely buried 9 inches below the surface of the ground.
As you can imagine, this severely limits the use of
graywater in California and makes it ineffective as a
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water conservation measure.
"This bill in effect will provide for greater water
conservation by facilitating the use of graywater in
California. As water shortages grow more frequent and
severe, it is crucial that the state re-examine its
opportunities for the use of graywater. This bill is
intended to promote water conservation by making
graywater more readily available in situations where its
use is safe."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance
"opposes this bill as it is unnecessary. Existing statute
allows the DWR to revise the standards as needed. The
current graywater standards, adopted by the Building
Standards Commission as Appendix G, are found in the
California Code of Regulations, Title 24, Part 5, and state
that the Appendix shall apply to the construction,
installation, alteration and repair of graywater systems
for subsurface landscape irrigation. Since the existing
graywater standards include not only installation but
construction, alteration, and repair of graywater systems,
and since the standards can be revised as needed, this bill
is unnecessary."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Beall,
Benoit, Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero,
Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Dymally, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garcia, Garrick, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Horton, Houston, Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Karnette, Keene, Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno,
Levine, Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Maze, Mendoza, Mullin,
Nakanishi, Nava, Niello, Parra, Plescia, Price, Sharon
Runner, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio,
Spitzer, Strickland, Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Walters, Wolk, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Nunez, Portantino,
Soto
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TSM:mw 6/27/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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