BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2282
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 14, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2282 (Gatto) - As Amended: May 8, 2014
Policy Committee: Housing and
Community Development Vote: 7 - 0
Business and Professions 14 -
0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) and the Building Standards Commission (CBSC),
in consultation with the Department of Water Resources and
others, to develop mandatory standards for recycled water
infrastructure. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires HCD and CBSC to conduct research to develop and adopt
mandatory building standards for the installation of recycled
water infrastructure for newly constructed single-family and
multifamily residential buildings and commercial and public
buildings, respectively.
2)Authorizes the HCD and the CBSC to expend funds from the
Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund to
research, develop, and propose these building standards.
3)Requires HCD to submit proposed building standards for
residential buildings to CBSC for consideration in the 2017
triennial building standards cycle.
4)Requires the CBSC to develop and adopt mandatory building
standards for commercial and public buildings in the 2017
triennial building standards code cycle.
5)Limits the application of the standards to areas that have, or
will have, feasible and cost effective access to a water
recycling facility.
AB 2282
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor and absorbable costs to HCD to develop the standards if
the standards involve existing technologies and are developed
during the normal standards adoption cycle.
2)Unknown, but potentially significant costs to HCD if
developing the standards requires research and technical work
with new technologies with which HCD is not familiar.
3)Significant costs to CBSC in the range of $350,000 for an
additional PY at the Associate Construction Analyst level for
two years. Developing standards for inclusion in both the
California Green Buildings Standards Code and the California
Plumbing Code is outside the CBSC's normal scope of rulemaking
authority and activity.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, "Though recycled water plays
a crucial role in the water plans of most California cities,
there has been little effort in preparing the commercial and
residential building stock for recycled-water use. Buildings
can only use recycled water if they have a second set of
plumbing, called 'purple pipes,' dedicated to recycled water.
It is difficult for local water agencies to finance large
recycled-water projects when buildings must undergo expensive
retrofits in order to use the water. Conversely, the cost of
installing dual plumbing during construction is minimal."
This bill requires standards be adopted for installing
recycled water infrastructure in newly constructed buildings
to cost-effectively prepare buildings to use recycled water.
2)Background . Current water distribution systems utilize three
pipelines: one for drinking water delivery, one for wastewater
collection, and one for distribution of recycled water, which
keeps recycled water completely separate from drinking water.
Existing law requires pipes designed to carry recycled water
to be colored purple, and the California Plumbing Code, which
is part of the California Building Standards Code, requires
buildings to install an additional set of plumbing ("purple
pipes") in order to use recycled water.
Building standards for residential and non-residential buildings
AB 2282
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do not require the installation of recycled water
infrastructure. However, any builder or developer may design
a residential or nonresidential building to include the
installation of recycled water plumbing, as long as a local
jurisdiction permits and inspects the installation to meet the
California Plumbing Code.
In several cities, recycled water has already been approved
for irrigation and other non-potable uses. In 2009, 669,000
acre-feet of treated municipal wastewater was beneficially
rescued in California, and 51 out of 58 counties have
identified recycled water projects in their water plan updates
(CA Water Plan 2013 Update, Chapter 12).
3)Support . Supporters, including builders, labor, and
environmental groups, believe this bill will help California
communities plan for and cost effectively use recycled water.
4)There is no opposition to the bill .
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081