Bill Text: CA SB745 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Bill 745

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: The Drought-Resistant Buildings Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-10-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 884, Statutes of 2023. [SB745 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB745-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 745

Introduced by Senator Cortese

February 17, 2023

An act to add Sections 18940.7 and 18940.8 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 745, as introduced, Cortese. The Drought-Resistant Buildings Act.

Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, establishes the California Building Standards Commission within the Department of General Services and sets forth its powers and duties, including approval and adoption of building standards and codification of those standards into the California Building Standards Code. Existing law requires the commission to adopt specific building standards, including standards for graywater, and to publish, or cause to be published, editions of the California Building Standards Code in its entirety once every 3 years. Existing law establishes the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, and makes the moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation, to state entities to carry out various related provisions, as specified.

This bill would require the commission to develop and propose mandatory building standards to reduce the designed potable water demand of new buildings by 25% from current mandatory design requirements and to minimize the use of potable water for nonpotable uses. The bill would require the commission to adopt mandatory building standards that require new buildings to be designed to capture graywater and use alternative water sources for nonpotable building and landscaping water uses, as specified.

Existing law establishes, within the California Environmental Protection Agency, the State Water Resources Control Board for the purposes of orderly and efficient administration of the state’s water resources. Existing law requires the commission, in consultation with the board, to adopt regulations for risk-based water quality standards for the onsite treatment and reuse of nonpotable water in multifamily residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings, as specified. Existing law requires the installation of an onsite treated nonpotable water system to be permitted pursuant to a regulatory program established by a local jurisdiction that, among other requirements, is adopted through a local ordinance that includes the risk-based water quality standards adopted by the board.

This bill would require, no later than December 31, 2024, the commission, in consultation with the board, to develop a guidance document and a model local ordinance to help local jurisdictions adopt regulatory programs for onsite nonpotable water treatment systems, as specified.

The bill would authorize the California Building Standards Commission to expend moneys from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund for the above-described purposes, upon appropriation by the Legislature, as specified.

The bill would make related findings and declarations.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

This act shall be known, and maybe cited, as the Drought-Resistant Buildings Act.

SEC. 2.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The California Constitution requires that the water resources of the state be put to beneficial use to the fullest extent to which they are capable and that the waste, unreasonable use, or unreasonable method of use of water be prevented.

(b) Severe drought conditions have increased in frequency over the last decade, resulting in California’s water supplies falling to alarmingly low levels during multiple years.

(c) California’s climate is warming and becoming more variable. Rising temperatures are making droughts more intense, and dry years are occurring more frequently. Higher temperatures mean less snowpack, which is the state’s largest water reservoir. Scientists project that the average water supply from snowpack will decline to two-thirds of historical levels by 2050. Available water from the Colorado River Basin, which provides drinking water to southern California, is also projected to decline precipitously due to prolonged drought. Hotter and drier weather conditions from climate change are projected to reduce California’s overall water supply by up to 10 percent by the year 2040.

(d) Because buildings stay in use for 30 to 100 years before they are replaced, California needs to begin drought proofing its building stock now.

(e) The California Building Standards Code should be updated to reduce the designed potable water demand of new buildings by 25 percent from current mandatory design requirements and to minimize the use of potable water for nonpotable uses.

(f) Existing law requires an onsite treated nonpotable water system to be installed pursuant to a local jurisdiction’s program that meets the requirements of Section 13558 of the Water Code. This law has had the unintended impact of effectively prohibiting onsite treated nonpotable water systems in all but a few jurisdictions in the state since the vast majority of jurisdictions do not have the resources or sufficient demand to justify the cost of developing their own programs.

(g) To overcome this unintended barrier and facilitate the approval of onsite treated nonpotable graywater systems, the California State Building Standards Commission, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, should adopt model ordinance language and guidance documents that may be easily adopted and implemented by local agencies in order to allow them to approve onsite, nonpotable water treatment systems in compliance with the existing statutory and state agency requirements for approving those systems.

(h) A model ordinance would both reduce costs to local jurisdictions and, at the same time, create consistency among local programs that will help improve compliance and safety and increase installation of these systems by developers and contractors that operate in multiple jurisdictions.

SEC. 3.

Section 18940.7 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

18940.7.

(a) For purposes of this section, “drought proofed” means designed to capture graywater and use alternative water sources for nonpotable building and landscaping water uses, including toilet and urinal flushing, floor trap priming, cooling towers, and air-conditioning devices.

(b) The California Building Standards Commission shall develop and propose mandatory building standards to reduce the designed potable water demand of new buildings by 25 percent from current mandatory design requirements and to minimize the use of potable water for nonpotable uses.

(c) The commission shall, commencing with the next triennial edition of the California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations), research, develop, adopt, approve, codify, and publish mandatory building standards to require new buildings to be drought proofed. In complying with these standards, agencies shall take into consideration potential impacts on affordable housing and may limit specific standards to nonresidential, hotel and motel, and market-rate housing, or as otherwise determined appropriate.

(d) In developing and proposing mandatory building standards under this section, the commission is authorized to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon appropriation pursuant to Section 18931.7.

SEC. 4.

Section 18940.8 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

18940.8.

(a) No later than December 31, 2024, the California Building Standards Commission, in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, shall develop a guidance document and a model local ordinance to help local jurisdictions adopt regulatory programs for onsite nonpotable water treatment systems in compliance with Section 13558 of the Water Code.

(b) In developing and proposing mandatory building standards under this section, the commission is authorized to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, pursuant to Section 18931.7.