BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 19
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Date of Hearing: March 22, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared Huffman, Chair
AB 19 (Fong) - As Amended: March 17, 2011
SUBJECT : Water meters: multiunit structures
SUMMARY : Requires water submetering on multiunit structures.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Mandates that water purveyors adopt policies requiring that
multiunit residential structures or mixed use residential and
commercial structures that apply for water connections after
January 1, 2014, have, as a condition of new water service,
submeters that measure the water supplied to each individual
dwelling unit.
2)Prohibits water purveyors from charging a fee for the
installation of a submeter that is installed by the owner or
his or her agent.
3)Requires that meters or submeters be of types or designs which
have been approved in
accordance with state rules and regulations governing devices
that weigh and measure.
4)Requires that meters or submeters be installed and operated in
compliance with state regulations governing the tolerances and
specifications for measuring devices.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires urban water suppliers that do not get water from the
federal Central Valley Project to install water meters on all
municipal and industrial service connections and to charge
each customer based on actual volume of water delivered.
2)Each water corporation with 500 or more service connections
that is not already subject to water metering requirements
under the existing Water Measurement Law must currently
install a water meter on each new service connection and must
retrofit each unmetered service connection by January 1, 2025.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS : As the Pacific Institute highlighted in the report
Waste Not, Want Not: The Potential for Urban Water Conservation
in California, water conservation is the largest, least
expensive, and most environmentally sound source of water to
meet California's future needs. The installation of water
meters on multiunit residential and mixed use commercial
buildings has been shown to encourage increased conservation by
making homeowners, business owners, or renters aware of the
amount of water they are utilizing. Conceptually, this
legislation is similar to a draft ordinance requiring
submetering that was adopted by the City of San Diego on April
5, 2010. San Diego adopted its ordinance after a report from
the City of San Diego Office of the Independent Budget Analyst
found that multifamily units comprised 44% of the total housing
in San Diego, the trend was increasing, and multifamily
properties achieved a 15% to 39% water savings when submetered.
Supporters of the bill state that it is an important step
towards ensuring that water conservation measures are
universally applied. They point out that in San Francisco, for
example, 70% of the residents live in multi-unit buildings.
They state that as California moves away from urban sprawl and
promotes increasing density, this legislation will play an
essential role in ensuring water use efficiency.
Opponents are concerned that since this bill states it applies
to new water service and not specifically new construction, it
could be interpreted in some circumstances to require expensive
retrofits of submeters onto existing properties. Opponents are
also concerned that in mixed-use developments the terms of this
bill could extend to commercial as well as residential tenants
and that for legal and practical reasons those two groups should
be treated differently. Finally, they are concerned that water
purveyors could adopt more stringent standards and requirements
than the state's building codes.
Two previous attempts to introduce submetering, AB 1975 (Fong)
and AB 1173 (Keene), failed because of concerns regarding
potential impacts to low income tenants. This bill exempts low
income housing from its provisions as well as student
dormitories, long-term health care facilities and time-share
properties. This bill does not address billing.
The author indicates that the intent of the bill is for
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submetering to be required on new construction. However, there
is an ambiguity, identified by opponents, created by referring
only to new water connections. In addition, this bill separates
common interest developments from other multiunit properties.
This does two things: eliminates the choice to submeter by
requiring individual meters on each unit; and, inadvertently,
does not include common interest developments among the
structures which may be eligible to receive an exemption if they
are over four stories in height and can demonstrate that it is
infeasible to submeter, as specified.
Suggested Amendments : If the committee choses to approve this
bill, staff recommends that provisions be added to clarify that
this bill only applies to new construction. In addition, staff
recommends that the distinction between common interest
developments and other multiunit structures be eliminated. This
would allow newly-constructed common interest developments to
choose between metering and submetering and also allow such
developments over four stories high a potential exemption for
infeasibility, if qualified. (See attached.)
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Clean Water Action
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water
Friends of the River
Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club
Opposition
Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles
Apartment Association of Orange County
Apartment Association, California Southern Cities
San Diego County Apartment Association
San Francisco Association of Realtors
Santa Barbara Rental Property Association
Utility Conservation Coalition
Analysis Prepared by : Tina Cannon Leahy / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
AB 19
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