(a)
In order to achieve the statewide goal for recycled water use established in Section 13577 and to implement the Governor’s Advisory Drought Planning Panel Critical Water Shortage Contingency Plan recommendations, Section F2, as submitted December 29, 2000, the department shall identify and report to the Legislature on opportunities for increasing the use of recycled water, as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 13575, and identify constraints and impediments, including the level of state financial assistance available for project construction, to increasing the use of recycled water.
(b)
The department shall convene a task force, to be known as the 2002
Recycled Water Task Force, to advise the department in implementation of subdivision (a), including making recommendations to the Legislature regarding the following:
(1)
How to further the use of recycled water in industrial and commercial applications, including, but not limited to, those applications set forth in Section 13552.8. The task force shall evaluate the current regulatory framework of state and local rules, regulations, ordinances, and permits to identify the obstacles and disincentives to industrial and commercial reuse. Issues to be investigated include, but are not limited to, applicability of visual inspections instead of pressure tests for cross-connections between potable and nonpotable water systems, dual piping trenching restrictions, fire suppression system design, and backflow protections.
(2)
Changes in the Uniform Plumbing Code, published by the
International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, that are appropriate to facilitate the use of recycled water in industrial and commercial settings. The department shall make recommendations to the California Building Standards Commission with regard to suggested revisions to the California Plumbing Code necessary to incorporate the changes identified by the task force.
(3)
Changes in state statutes or the current regulatory framework of state and local rules, regulations, ordinances, and permits appropriate to increase the use of recycled water for commercial laundries and toilet and urinal flushing in structures including, but not limited to, those defined in subdivision (c) of Section 13553. The department shall identify financial incentives to help offset the cost of retrofitting privately and publicly owned structures.
(4)
The need to reconvene the California
Potable Reuse Committee established by the department in 1993 or convene a successor committee to update the committee’s finding that planned indirect potable reuse of recycled water by augmentation of surface water supplies would not adversely affect drinking water quality if certain conditions were met.
(5)
The need to augment state water supplies using water use efficiency strategies identified in the CALFED Bay-Delta Program. In its report pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall identify ways to coordinate with CALFED to assist local communities in educating the public with regard to the statewide water supply benefits of local recycling projects and the level of public health protection ensured by compliance with the uniform statewide water recycling criteria developed by the State Department of Public Health in accordance with Section 13521.
(6)
Impediments or
constraints, other than water rights, related to increasing the use of recycled water in applications for agricultural, environmental, or irrigation uses, as determined by the department.
(c)
(1)The task force shall be convened by the department and be comprised of one representative from each of the following state agencies:
(A)
The department.
(B)
The State Department of Public Health.
(C)
The state board.
(D)
The California Environmental Protection Agency.
(E)
The CALFED Bay-Delta Program.
(F)
The Department of Food and Agriculture.
(G)
The California Building Standards Commission.
(H)
The University of California.
(I)
The Natural Resources Agency.
(2)
The task force shall also include one representative from a recognized environmental advocacy group and one representative from a consumer advocacy group, as determined by the department, and one representative of local agency health officers, one representative of urban water wholesalers, one representative from a groundwater management entity, one representative of water districts, one representative from a nonprofit association of public and private members created to further the use of recycled water, one representative of commercial real estate, one representative of land development, one representative of industrial interests, and
at least two representatives from each of the following as defined in Section 13575:
(A)
Recycled water producer.
(B)
Recycled water wholesaler.
(C)
Retail water supplier.
(d)
The department and the task force shall report to the Legislature not later than July 1, 2003.
(e)
The department shall carry out the duties of this section only to the extent that funds pursuant to Section 79145, enacted as part of the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Water, Watershed Protection, and Flood Protection Act (Division 26 (commencing with Section 79000)), are made available for the purposes of this section.