BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1366
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1366 (Feuer) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
Policy Committee: WPW Vote:11-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes certain local agencies that maintain a
community sewer system to control salinity inputs from
residential self-regenerating water softeners, to protect the
quality of the waters of the state. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes only specified hydrologic regions-Central Coast,
South Coast, San Joaquin River, Tulare Lake-and
counties-Butte, Glenn, Placer, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter and
Yolo-to regulate water softeners, as described in this bill.
2)Authorizes any local agency that maintains a community sewer
system affected by a regional board's finding regarding
salinity to control salinity inputs from water softeners,
provided a regional board with jurisdiction in one of the
specified regions makes certain findings.
3)Specifies, but does not limit, actions that a local agency can
take to control water softener salinity inputs, including
voluntary "buy back" programs for removal of existing water
softeners and mandatory removal, with compensation, of
previously installed water softeners.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor state agency costs, if any.
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
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increased. 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 many communities that makes
development and use of recycled water considerably more
difficult and expensive.
1)Background . 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 the 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.
After the state did not meet the 2000 target of 700,000
acre-feet of recycled water use, the Legislature created a
task force to examine, among other things, state and local
regulations that limit the use of recycled water. The 2003
Recycled Water Task Force report recommended that local
agencies be allowed to regulate the discharge of residential
water softeners.
2)Water Softener Devices . Heavy salt loads in local sewer
systems hinder water recycling and prevent local agencies from
meeting state wastewater standards. Salt is a byproduct of
self-regenerating water softener devices installed in many
homes in areas that depend on water supplies with high
concentrations of salts. A water softener device of this type
"softens water" by filtering salts suspended 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.
4)Related Legislation .
a) AB 1482 (Anderson) requires DWR, in consultation with
the Pacific Quality Water Association, to study whether the
Legislature should establish a rating system to measure the
efficiency levels of self-regenerating water softener
systems. The bill further requires DWR to report the
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results of its study to the Legislature by January 1, 2012.
AB 1482 is pending in this committee.
b) AB 2270 (Laird, 2008) contained provisions similar to,
but more expansive, and, therefore, more expensive, than
those included in AB 1366. AB 2270 passed the Assembly
53-19 but was vetoed. In his veto message, the governor
stated that current law already includes provisions that
allow local agencies to regulate water softeners. The
governor further stated that AB 2270 could unduly limit
choices for consumers and small water systems, given, in
his view, the relatively minor contribution that water
softeners make to the problem of water salinity.
c) 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081