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.