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AB-2933 Multiunit residential structures and mixed-use residential and commercial structures: water conservation.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 04/18/2024 09:00 PM
AB2933:v97#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2933

Introduced by Assembly Member Low

February 15, 2024

An act to add Section 17921.12 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2933, as amended, Low. Multiunit residential structures and mixed-use residential and commercial structures: water conservation.
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, which includes the California Green Building Standards Code. Existing law requires the commission 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.
Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to propose the adoption, amendment, or repeal of building standards to the California Building Standards Commission, and the department to adopt, amend, and repeal other rules and regulations for the protection of the public health, safety, and general welfare of the occupant and the public governing the erection, construction, enlargement, conversion, alteration, repair, moving, removal, demolition, occupancy, use, height, court, area, sanitation, ventilation, and maintenance of all hotels, motels, lodging houses, apartment houses, and dwellings, and buildings and structures accessory thereto, as specified. Existing law authorizes those standards to include voluntary best practice and mandatory requirements related to environmentally preferable water using devices and measures. Existing law requires the department and the commission to research, develop, and propose building standards to reduce potable water use in new residential and nonresidential buildings, including consideration of requiring installation of water reuse systems and consideration of requiring preplumbing of buildings to allow future use of recycled water, onsite treated graywater, or other alternative water sources.
This bill would enact the California Multiunit Residential Structure and Mixed-Use Residential and Commercial Structure Water Conservation Act. The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to wasted water due to plumbing leaks. The bill would require the commission to research, develop, and propose building standards, including voluntary standards of the California Green Building Standards Code, to reduce water waste in existing and new multiunit residential structures and mixed-use residential and commercial structures, including requiring installation of department to investigate whether additional water conservation and efficiency measures are warranted for existing and new multifamily residential construction and mixed use commercial structures, including, but not limited to, point-of-use systems, as defined. The bill would authorize the department, if it determines that changes to the California Green Building Standards are warranted, to develop voluntary or mandatory proposals to be submitted to the commission for consideration.
This bill would require the commission to perform a review of water efficiency standards in the California Buildings Standards Code every 3 years and update the standards as needed. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the commission department to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund in developing and proposing these building standards.
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 may be cited, as the California Multiunit Residential Structure and Mixed-Use Residential and Commercial Structure Water Conservation 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 waste, unreasonable use, or unreasonable methods of water use 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 the year 2040.
(d) California water utilities distribute more than 1.2 trillion gallons of water a year. At least 7 percent of residential water—or 84 billion gallons—is lost to known leaks. That amounts to 2,140 gallons per person (84 billion gallons/39,240,000 California residents). Malfunctioning water devices and plumbing leaks generate significant water losses throughout California, and finding leaks in multifamily properties is difficult because of the high number of toilet devices and a nearly constant flow of water, which makes flow metering at the point-of-entry unreliable for determining the presence of malfunctions and leaks.
(e) Toilets are the most significant generator of wasted water because they malfunction on a frequent basis and result in 300 gallons per day for slow leaks, to 2,016 gallons per day for stuck valves, per toilet. Data confirms that every day 3.8 percent of toilets experience a stuck valve condition and 0.8 percent of toilets experience a slow toilet leak.
(f) Plumbing leaks result in significant damage to property and frequently result in displaced occupants until the resulting water intrusion damage may be mitigated.
(g) Multifamily housing in California that is 10 units or larger account for 17.1 percent of the total residential inventory and an estimated 5,100,000 toilets.
(h) If all these toilets were monitored and property managers resolved malfunctions and leaks within nine hours of detection, the annual water savings would amount to 275,261 acre-feet of water. This saves enough water to supply all the household water needs for 1,890,000 Californians. This represents 14 percent of the potential reductions in waste of urban water.
(i) Point-of-use systems will provide significant water savings, reducing water bills and the cost of maintaining multiunit housing. This positive fiscal impact will be particularly significant in low-income housing.
(j) These point-of-use systems will also save the state energy costs associated with moving water from water sources to population centers.

(k)Updating the California Building Standards Code will reduce the designed potable water demand of existing and new buildings and minimize the use of potable water, taking into consideration the availability of existing technology to reduce water waste.

SEC. 3.

 Section 17921.12 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

17921.12.
 (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Point-of-use system” means a smart technology that uses remote data gathering and real-time analytics to detect water waste and to identify the point of failure. Its purpose is to quickly and precisely locate faulty fixture and plumbing leaks and alert the landlord so that repairs can be made quickly.
(2) “Multiunit residential structure” and “mixed-use residential and commercial structure” mean real property containing two three or more dwelling units.
(b) The California Building Standards Commission Department of Housing and Community Development shall, commencing with the next triennial edition of the California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations), research, develop, and propose building standards, including voluntary Tier 1 or Tier 2 standards of the California Green Building Standards Code (Part 11 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations), to reduce water waste in existing and new multiunit residential structures and mixed-use residential and commercial structures, including requiring installation of point-of-use systems combined with real-time communication technology that can alert property managers to malfunctioning toilets and plumbing leaks and provide pinpoint location data so that maintenance teams can respond rapidly to resolve water waste events in existing and new structures. investigate whether additional water conservation and efficiency measures are warranted for existing and new multifamily residential construction and mixed-use residential and commercial structures, including, but not limited to, point of use systems.
If the department determines that changes to the California Green Building Standards Code (Part 11 of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) are warranted, the department may develop appropriate voluntary or mandatory proposals to be submitted to the California Building Standards Commission for consideration.

(c)The commission shall perform a review of water efficiency standards in the California Building Standards Code every three years after developing and proposing the standards described in subdivision (b) and update the standards as needed.

(d)

(c) In developing and proposing building standards pursuant to this section, the commission department may, upon appropriation pursuant to Section 18931.7, expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund.