AB 574: Potable reuse.

Existing law establishes the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards as the principal state agencies with authority over matters relating to water quality. Existing law required the State Department of Public Health to, on or before December 31, 2013, adopt uniform water recycling criteria for indirect potable reuse for groundwater recharge. Existing law also required the department to develop and adopt uniform water recycling criteria for surface water augmentation, as defined, by December 31, 2016, if a specified expert panel found that the criteria would adequately protect public health, and required the department to investigate the feasibility of developing uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse and to provide a final report on that investigation to the Legislature by December 31, 2016. Existing law defined the terms direct potable reuse and surface water augmentation for these purposes. Existing law transferred these powers and responsibilities to the State Water Resources Control Board on July 1, 2014.

This bill would specify that direct potable reuse includes raw water augmentation and treated drinking water augmentation. The bill would change the term surface water augmentation to reservoir water augmentation and would redefine that term to mean the planned placement of recycled water into a raw surface water reservoir used as a source of domestic drinking water supply for a public water system or into a constructed system conveying water to such a reservoir.

This bill would require the state board, on or before December 31, 2023, to adopt uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse through raw water augmentation, as specified. The bill would require the state board to establish and administer an expert review panel, as specified, and would require the state board, before adopting the uniform water recycling criteria, to submit the proposed criteria to the expert review panel. The bill would prohibit the state board from adopting the uniform water recycling criteria until the expert review panel adopts a finding that the proposed criteria would adequately protect public health. The bill would allow the state board to extend the date by which the uniform water recycling criteria is to be adopted if certain criteria is met. The bill would authorize the state board, after it has adopted the initial uniform water recycling criteria, to reconvene or reestablish the expert review panel.

This bill would make certain findings and declarations relating to potable reuse, including a finding that the state board, on or before June 1, 2018, should establish a framework for the regulation of potable reuse projects.