CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : SEN
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 06/12/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 07/07/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 8. Noes 5.) .
FILE : SEN SECOND READING
FILE DATE : 07/10/2008
ITEM : 33
COMM. LOCATION : SEN APPROPRIATIONS
COMM. ACTION DATE : 07/07/2008
COMM. ACTION : Do pass.
COMM. VOTE SUMMARY : Ayes: 08 Noes: 05 PASS
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : SEN
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 06/12/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 06/24/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR.
Re-referred. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) .
COMM. LOCATION : SEN APPROPRIATIONS
HEARING DATE : 07/07/2008
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : SEN
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 06/12/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 06/24/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR.
Re-referred. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) .
COMM. LOCATION : SEN APPROPRIATIONS
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : SEN
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 06/12/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 06/17/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on N.R.
& W. Re-referred. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) .
COMM. LOCATION : SEN NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
HEARING DATE : 06/24/2008
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : SEN
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 06/12/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 06/12/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend,
and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended,
and re-referred to Com. on E.Q.
COMM. LOCATION : SEN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
COMM. ACTION DATE : 06/16/2008
COMM. ACTION : Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Natural
Resources and Water.
COMM. VOTE SUMMARY : Ayes: 05 Noes: 02 PASS
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : SEN
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 06/12/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 06/12/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend,
and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended,
and re-referred to Com. on E.Q.
COMM. LOCATION : SEN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HEARING DATE : 06/16/2008
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : SEN
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 05/28/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 06/02/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for
assignment.
COMM. LOCATION : ASM WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : ASM
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 05/28/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 05/29/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 9. Noes 3.) (May
29). Read second time. To third reading. Read third
time, passed, and to Senate.
COMM. LOCATION : ASM WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2270
AUTHOR(S) : Laird and Feuer (Coauthor: Strickland).
TOPIC : Recycled water: water quality.
HOUSE LOCATION : ASM
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 05/23/2008
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 05/27/2008
LAST HIST. ACTION : Read second time. To third reading.
FILE : ASM THIRD READING
FILE DATE : 05/28/2008
ITEM : 140
COMM. LOCATION : ASM APPROPRIATIONS
COMM. ACTION DATE : 05/22/2008
COMM. ACTION : Do pass as amended.
COMM. VOTE SUMMARY : Ayes: 12 Noes: 04 PASS
TITLE : An act to amend Sections 10004.6, 10633, 13523.1, 13576,
and 13577 of, and to add Sections 13148 and 13523.3 to,
the Water Code, relating to water.
UNOFFICIAL BALLOT
MEASURE: AB 2270
AUTHOR: Laird
TOPIC: Recycled water: water quality.
DATE: 04/15/2008
LOCATION: ASM. W.,P. & W.
MOTION: Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
(AYES 9. NOES 4.) (PASS)
AYES
****
Wolk Caballero Eng Furutani
Huffman Lieu Mullin Parra
Salas
NOES
****
Maze Anderson Berryhill La Malfa
ABSENT, ABSTAINING, OR NOT VOTING
*********************************
BILL ANALYSIS
Original Link: http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_2251-2300/ab_2270_cfa_20080414_130112_asm_comm.html
AB 2270
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 15, 2008
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Lois Wolk, Chair
AB 2270 (Laird) - As Amended: March 25, 2008
SUBJECT : Recycled water
SUMMARY : Requires additional reporting on recycled water and
allows local limitations on salinity inputs. Specifically, this
bill :
1) Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to
include the statewide water recycling targets in the study
of water needs, in conjunction with the California Water
Plan updates on a 5-year cycle.
2) Requires urban water management plans to specify the
quantity of recycled water available for use currently and
into the future 20 years.
3) Allows any local agency that operates a sewer system to
control residential salinity inputs, including inputs from
water softeners, after a finding by the State Water
Resources Control Board (SWRCB) or a regional water quality
board, in certain proceedings, that residential salinity
control would help meet water quality standards.
4) Changes certain recycled water reports from a quarterly
to an annual requirement.
5) Requires submission of annual recycled water reports to
regional water quality boards and the National WateReuse
Foundation database.
6) Makes legislative findings regarding recycled water.
EXISTING LAW authorizes use of recycled water under certain
conditions and imposes conditions on local agency limitations on
use of water softeners.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The Water Recycling Act of 1991 set a 2010 target
for California to use
AB 2270
Page 2
1 million acre-feet of recycled water. While there is no
definitive calculation of the amount of recycled water use,
recent estimates suggest 600-700,000 acre-feet of current use.
The most recent California Water Plan estimates future recycled
water use at between 900,000 and
1.4 million acre-feet - in 2030. This likely failure to meet
the 2010 target has been attributed to several factors,
including inconsistent regional water quality board regulation.
Last year, the Legislature passed a bill authorizing a statewide
recycled water use permit system
(AB 1481/De La Torre, Chap. 535).
In response to concerns about the state's progress on recycled
water, SWRCB has developed a statewide policy, in order to
encourage greater use of recycled water. That proposed policy
includes a requirement that the regional water quality boards
(except Santa Ana, which already has a salt management plan)
adopt salt management plans, as increased salt loads in the
source water makes recycling more difficult. Urban salinity
discharges to the state's rivers and streams also have received
increased attention in recent years, particularly in the
burgeoning San Joaquin Valley, with a recent salinity conference
held in Sacramento a few weeks ago.
AB 2270 would expand availability of information as to recycled
water use and allow local agencies to control one of the most
significant impediments to expanding recycled water -
residential salinity discharges to sewer systems. Requiring DWR
to include recycled water in the California Water Plan study of
water needs would allow the state to adjust the targets as new
information on the progress of recycled water use emerges.
Submission of use data to the regional boards and the national
database would improve public access and monitoring of recycled
water use, which is limited currently. California would know
better when it achieves its statutory targets for recycled water
use.
The authorization of local regulation of water softeners is the
more controversial part of this bill, and arises out of a long
history of legislative debate over water softeners, dating back
25 years. The Health & Safety Code includes provisions for use
of residential water softeners and suggests that Californians
have a "right to a water supply that is effective and functional
for domestic requirements." The statutory connection to water
softeners seems to imply a right to use water softeners to
AB 2270
Page 3
achieve that "effective and functional" water supply. The
statute therefore limits local agency authority to regulate
softeners, requiring the agency to make certain findings as to
the necessity of such regulation. (Cal. Health & Safety Code
116786.) These findings must be substantiated by an
"independent study of discharges of all sources of salinity,"
and the agency must enforce limits on non-residential saline
discharges before limiting water softeners. Limits on softeners
may only be prospective, barring any requirement of removal of
existing water softeners and allowing owners of such softeners
to continue discharging salt into community sewers. Advocates
of this bill assert that these requirements are burdensome and
costly, discouraging local agencies from doing anything about
softeners' saline discharges, which can exceed a pound of salt
each day from each softener.
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 made the following
recommendation:
Local agencies should be empowered to regulate the
discharge of residential water softeners in the same manner
as other sources of discharge into sewers. Legislation
should be proposed to amend the Health and Safety Code
Sections 116775 through 116795 to reduce the restrictions
on the local ability to impose bans on or more stringent
standards for residential water softeners.
Opponents from the water softener industry point to the long
history of legislative debate over limitations on softeners, and
assert that local agencies have not justified the need for any
change. They argue that this bill is unnecessary because local
agencies that follow the statutory process ultimately may
regulate water softeners, noting two cities that now regulate
water softeners. Bill advocates respond that salinity discharge
standards have been increased, making it more difficult to
comply and requiring urgent action that cannot be delayed to
complete a multi-year, costly study of salinity inputs. The
City of Dixon notes that it has received an immediate cease &
desist order and a civil fine that threatens their entire city,
while citizens continue to dump salt into their sewer. Dixon
complains that the State penalizes cities while preventing local
AB 2270
Page 4
agencies from having direct control over salt from softeners.
Some opponents suggest that this bill is "outlawing an industry
and denying citizens the right to improve the quality of their
water." These opponents do not explain that there are
alternatives to the self-regenerating water softeners that
discharge significant amount of salts into public waste water.
No one has a "right" to discharge pollutants into the public.
AB 2270 allows local regulation of salinity inputs where the
community has a problem with salinity discharges or recycling,
but does not outlaw the water softener industry. By allowing
each agency to make the determination how to regulate salinity
inputs, the bill allows tailored responses to specific problems
facing each community, which may differ.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California Water Agencies
CA Alliance for Golf
CA Association of Sanitation Agencies
City of Dixon
City of Roseville
East Bay Municipal Utility District
(in concept)
Eastern Municipal Water District
Inland Empire Utilities Agency
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District
Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts
Metropolitan Water District of Southern CA
Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control
Sacramento. Reg. Wastewater Treatment
Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority
Southern California Water Committee
Vallecitos Water District
WateReuse Association
Opposition
Alfonzo Ugalde
American Home Solutions
AmeriTek Industries
AB 2270
Page 5
Aqua Blue
Aqua Kleen
B & D Quality Water, Inc.
Challenger Water International, Inc.
Clear Water Corp.
Crystal King
Culligan Water Solutions (& affiliates)
DuPure International
EcoWater Systems (& affiliates)
Environmental Aqua, Inc. (& affiliates)
Evans Plumbing Inc.
Good Water Warehouse, Inc.
Investment on Financial Capital
James Fischer & Son, Inc.
Kevin Shaw Plumbing, Inc.
Kinetico Quality Water
Life Ionizers
Morton Salt
Pacific Water Quality Association
Pat's Water, Inc.
Performance Water Products Inc.
Plumbing Concepts, Inc.
Precision Installation Products, Inc.
Puronics Water Systems, Inc.
QMP, Inc.
Quality Water, Inc.
Rain Soft
Randazzo's Water Conditioning
Rayne Water Conditioning, Inc.
TaylorMade Water Systems, Inc.
Water Conditioning & Purification Magazine
Water Quality Association
Water Resources International, Inc.
Water Techniques
Water Warehouse
Weeks Drilling & Pump Co.
West Coast Services
Analysis Prepared by : Alf W. Brandt / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096
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