BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2398
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Date of Hearing: May 25, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2398 (Hueso) - As Amended: May 21, 2012
Policy Committee: Water, Parks and
Wildlife Vote: 9-1
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials8-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill, the Recycled Water Act of 2012, makes major changes
to the state's regulation of the use of recycled water, and
establishes a statewide goal to recycle 1.5 million acre-feet of
water by 2020 and 2.5 million acre-feet of water by 2030.
Generally, this bill defines highly treated recycled water as
Advanced Treated Purified Water (ATPF) and subjects its use to
regulation by the Department of Public Health (DPH), and defines
less-treated, but still relatively clean recycled water, known
as tertiary treated recycled water, as not waste water and
subjects its use to regulation by the State Water Resources
Control Board (SWRCB).
The bill also provides permitting fee authority to DPH and
SWRCB to cover their permitting costs and related
responsibilities required by this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual special fund costs to DPH to develop and implement a
program to issue permits for raw water augmentation projects,
including (a) conducting engineering evaluations, (b)
establishing uniform water recycling criteria, (c) reporting
on the feasibility of developing drinking water criteria for
potable reuse involving treated water augmentation, (d)
convening and administering an expert panel on public health
issues and scientific and technical matter, (e) appointing an
advisory group, and (f) conducting studies and investigations.
(Augmentation Permit Fund, created by this bill.)
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2)Annual permitting fee revenue of an unknown amount sufficient
to cover DPH's annual costs (Augmentation Permit Fund).
3)Annual special fund costs to SWRCB, in the range of $450,000
to $900,000 (approximately equivalent to three to seven staff
members), to develop and implement a program for permitting
tertiary treated recycled water projects, including (a)
reviewing monitoring reports, (b) prescribing terms of permits
and monitoring requirements, (c) enforcing and evaluating
compliance, (d) analyzing laboratory samples, (e) conducting
water monitoring and modeling, (f) reviewing documents, and
(g) other administrative activities. (Water Recycling Permit
Fund, created by this bill.)
4)Annual savings to SWRCB, in the range of $165,000 to $325,000
(equivalent to one to three staff members) resulting from
transfer of certain recycled water projects permitting to DPH
that, absent this bill, would be permitted by SWRCB (Waste
Discharge Permit Fund.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends water recycling projects can
be difficult to instigate because of the complicated and
fragmented permitting processes. The author intends this bill
to expand use of recycled water by improving and streamlining
the existing regulatory and permitting process to reflect
current scientific study and advances in treatment technology.
2)Background. Numerous sources have concluded there is
potential to greatly increase California's water supply
through the increased use of recycled water. For example, as
noted in previous analyses of this bill, the 2009 update of
the California Water Plan, projected that 0.9 million to 1.4
million acre-feet of "new water" could be achieved by 2030
through the recycling of municipal wastewater that is
currently discharged into sea.
3)Support. This bill is supported by numerous water agencies,
including the Metropolitan Water District and the San Diego
County Water Agency, and others who expect to rely
increasingly on recycled water.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
AB 2398
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