BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 744
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Date of Hearing: June 21, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
SB 744 (Wyland) - As Amended: May 3, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 28-8
SUBJECT : Water submeters: testing.
SUMMARY : Exempts water submeters from testing and approval by
the county sealer prior to installation if tested, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Deems any water submeter tested by a test bench and regularly
calibrated by a cross-check measure to be tested, sealed, and
approved for commercial use, if all of the following
conditions are met:
a) The submeter complies with the accuracy tolerance for
submeters as published in the National Institute of
Technology Standards Handbook 44 (NIST Handbook);
b) The submeter is a type approved by the Division of
Measurement Standards (DMS); and,
c) The test results are attached to the submeter.
2)Deems that no water submeter shall be considered to have been
put unlawfully into service prior to its installation if the
water submeter is to be used in a multiunit residential
structure.
3)Sunsets these provisions on January 1, 2015.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes DMS within the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (DFA) to establish tolerances, specifications, and
other technical requirements for commercial weighing and
measuring.
2)Provides for the licensure and regulation of county sealers by
DFA.
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3)Requires DFA to adopt the latest standards recommended by the
National Conference on Weights and Measures published in the
NIST Handbook, unless otherwise amended or rejected by
regulation by DFA.
4)Authorizes DFA to issue rules and regulations that provide for
the submission of types or designs of weights and measures, or
weighing, measuring, or counting instruments or devices used
for commercial purposes. Requires DFA to issue certificates
of approval for types or designs meeting those tolerances and
specifications.
5)Requires every person who uses, or intends to use, any weight
or measure, or weighing or measuring instrument for commercial
purposes, to have those instruments sealed by a sealer, unless
they are sealed prior to sale and used as specified.
6)Requires that any weighing or measuring instrument that
requires assembly or setup after sale and before use, may be
sold without first being tested and sealed, but shall be
tested and sealed before use.
7)Makes it unlawful for any person to violate DFA's regulations,
tolerances, specifications, and standards.
8)Makes it unlawful to commercially sell or use any weight,
measure, or weighing, measuring, or counting instrument or
device not first approved by DFA, unless otherwise exempted.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office, "This
bill is designed to ensure an adequate supply of submeters in
California for installation and use in rental housing,
particularly newly constructed rental housing. Submeters have
been found to be the most effective means of measuring water use
in rental housing and thereby promoting increased water
conservation. Specifically, the bill attempts to address
obstacles and impediments faced by submeter manufacturers
attempting to get their products approved for use in California.
Inconsistencies in the state's testing and approval process,
coupled with possible attendant criminal liability have caused
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manufacturers to cease shipping their products to the state. SB
744 addresses those inconsistency and liability issues."
Background . Water submeters are commercially utilized by
landlords in rental units, including apartment complexes, mobile
home parks, and marinas to allow each tenant to receive a
separate utility reading and be billed separately for water
consumption. While residential and commercial water, electric,
and gas meters are regulated by the Public Utilities Commission,
water submeters are regulated by DMS under DFA in collaboration
with the local sealer of weights and measures. There are
approximately 200,000 to 400,000 water submeters in the state.
Generally, a landlord of a rental property has a master water
meter, pays for the entire water bill for the property, and
bills the tenant by including water charges as part of the rent.
The proponents of this bill contend that a water submeter and
direct billing of water consumption incentivizes the tenant to
conserve water. There is no state law requiring the
installation of water submeters, although some counties, such as
San Diego, have adopted ordinances to that effect.
In order for a manufacturer to sell and install a water submeter
in California, current law requires DMS to test a type or design
of a water submeter for approval, then subsequently requires a
local sealer to test a sample of DMS-approved water submeters
prior to installation in counties. DMS follows the NIST
standards to test water submeters and utilizes both a volumetric
and grammametric test to measure water volume and weight, since
volume changes with temperature and not weight. Once DMS
approves a prototype, the water submeter manufacturer is allowed
to produce water meters for installation for counties.
The county sealer is the local weights and measures official who
checks all weighing, measuring, and timing devices used in sales
made to the public, and tests for accuracy to protect both the
buyer and seller. The county sealer seals, or locks the
adjusting mechanism of a device after the item has been
inspected and found accurate. Sealing prevents an individual
from changing the instrument's calibration and notates when the
accuracy check was performed. Before the meters are installed
in counties, a county sealer will test a 20% sample of the water
submeters (unless there less than a hundred, in which case all
submeters are tested) by using a volumetric bench test affixed
with a dial. The test bench is a water submeter testing device
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in which gallons of water are poured into the containers as the
affixed dial measures the water reading as the water passes
through and accounts for gear lash and water slippage. A flow
rate of 15 gallons per minute is then poured into a 5/8"
diameter opening. An acceptable rate of tolerance would fall
within a 1.5% margin of the indicated water amount. If the
water submeter manufacturer fails the county sealer's test of
the sample, the manufacturer can repair and retest the water
submeters for approval within DFA tolerance levels.
Once water submeters are installed, property owners and tenants
can contact the county sealer if they suspect that a water
submeter's reading is inaccurate. If the water submeter needs
to be replaced, the property owner is responsible any costs.
Water submeters are retested every ten years, and at that time,
most likely to be replaced. The current requirement that county
sealers test a sample of water submeters may reduce the number
of substandard or faulty submeters that are installed.
Support . According to the sponsor, the Utility Conservation
Coalition, 'These changes in law are necessary to resolve
concerns of submetering manufacturers and suppliers who face
possible criminal sanctions and excessive costs for attempting
to make their products available for use in California. In
light of the state's ambitious water-conservation policies and
objectives, UCC strongly recommends these minor changes to state
law and the corresponding encouragement to submeter
manufacturers such as Master Meter to resume shipping in
California."
According to the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles,
the San Diego County Apartment Association, and the Santa
Barbara Rental Property Association, "All over California,
particularly in Southern California, property owners are working
with local governments and water agencies to help increase water
savings in rental housing? Among the most effect �conservation
strategy] is the establishment of water-use measurement, which
means residents pay for the amount of water they use? This bill
would permit submeter manufacturers to utilize alternative
facilities to test the accuracy and reliability of submeters, as
long as those facilities are recognized by California as meeting
the minimum standards of accuracy. In addition, SB 744 would
revise the definition of 'placed in service' to ensure submeter
manufacturers aren't held criminally liable if submeters they've
submitted for testing fail."
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Opposition . According to the California Agricultural
Commissioners and Sealers Association, "This bill would remove
current consumer protections that provide crucial independent,
third-party verification of the accuracy of a commercial
weighing and measuring device that will be used �by] California
residents. SB 744 would allow manufacturers of water submeters
to certify that their own product meets the accuracy and
performance tolerances for submeters, �despite] state law
requiring commercial weighing, measuring, or counting devices be
tested and sealed by a licensed sealer? This �bill] would
remove the impartiality of the sealer?as sealers are prohibited
from having any direct or indirect interest in the sale,
adjusting, or repairing of any weighing, measuring, or counting
device. Furthermore, this bill would not require �manufacturers
to notify] the county sealer of water submeters �placed into
service], an existing requirement of all licensed service
agents, which enables sealers to subsequently test the device
and inspect its installation to monitor the quality and accuracy
of such field work to ensure that consumers are protected from
faulty installations."
Previous Legislation . AB 2121 (Kehoe) of 2002, would have
exempted submeters for multifamily residential and multitenant
commercial property from county requirements specifying that
water submeters must be tested and sealed by a licensed county
sealer before installation. This bill was held in the Assembly
Rules Committee.
SB 1368 (Kuehl) of 2002, would have provided that DFA adopt
regulations by January 1, 2004, to establish tolerances and
specifications for water submetering devices used to determine
water usage in multifamily units that are served by a single
water meter of a regulated or municipally owned utility. This
bill was held in the Assembly Rules Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Utility Conservation Coalition (sponsor)
American Utility Management
Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles
Apartment Investment and Management Company
Association of California Water Agencies
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Badger Meter, Inc.
California Apartment Association
California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
Essex Property Trust
Inovonics Corp.
Master Meter
Pinnacle Family of Companies
R&V Management Corporation
San Diego County Apartment Association
Santa Barbara Rental Property Association
Wasatch Property Management
Opposition
California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association
California State Association of Counties
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
County of Fresno
County of Merced Board of Supervisors
County of Sacramento
County of San Diego
County of San Mateo
County of Santa Cruz
County of Ventura
Del Norte County
Kings County Board of Supervisors
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
Mendocino County Sealer of Weights and Measures
San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors
Service Employees International Union
Shasta County Board of Supervisors
Solano County Board of Supervisors
Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Stanislaus County
Sutter County Board of Supervisors
Tulare County Board of Supervisors
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Analysis Prepared by : Joanna Gin / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
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