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SPONSOR: |
McSorley |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
|
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Residential Gray Water Use |
SB |
113/aSJC |
||||
|
ANALYST: |
Valenzuela |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
|
$25.0 |
Non-recurring |
General
Fund |
|
|
|
|
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates House Bill 114
Responses
Received From
Department
of Environment
Commissioner
of Public Lands
Energy,
Minerals and Natural Resources Department
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of the SJC Amendment
The Senate Judiciary Committee Amendment to
Senate Bill 113 adopts the amendment proposed by the Department of Environment
to ensure proper use and management of gray water. Gray water contains residual
pathogens and can harm public health. The amendments also align terminology with
existing and related statutes.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
Senate Bill 113 amends
the Water Quality Act by adding a gray water definition and by adding a
subsection allowing gray water use of less than 250 gallons/day for private
residential gardening, composting or landscape irrigation. The bill establishes
the conditions by which homeowners will be able to conserve drinking water by
using gray water for gardening and landscaping activities.
Significant
Issues
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported that, nationally, lawn care accounts for about 32 percent of the total residential outdoor water use. Though a national figure, SB113 proposes to capitalize on this potential water conservation opportunity. The Office of the State Engineer points out that many communities use treated wastewater as return flow in their strategy to maximize consumptive use for its ratepayers and that residential gray water use could decrease these return flow volumes. On the other hand, the EPA argues that decreased inflows to wastewater facilities could improve efficiency and infrastructure reliability.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Senate Bill 113 does
not contain an appropriation. Enactment would have an administrative and fiscal
impact on the Department of Environment, who would be required to develop
regulations for action by the Water Quality Control Commission. The primary
costs would be for attorney fees and technical staff time in preparation for
rulemaking proceedings. The Groundwater Bureau with the NMED would have to
cover these costs, estimated at $25.0 of attorney fees and staff time. NMED
would likely use its general fund appropriation to cover this cost if not given
a specific appropriation.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
NMED identifies the following technical issues:
-
The phrase “sewage collection” should be
changes to “sewer system,” as defined in the Water Quality Act.
-
Because gray water contains
residual pathogens, language should be added to 74-6-4.L which states: “Gray
water is applied in a manner that minimizes the potential for contact with
people or domestic pets”.
-
The provision allowing
standing gray water to remain on the surface for up to 24 hours should be
deleted due to the potential for human or animal contact with pathogens.
-
Paragraph 74-6-4.L(7) should
be modified to state: “ponding
is prohibited, application of gray water is managed to minimize standing water
on the surface and to ensure that the hydraulic capacity of the soil is not
exceeded”.
-
A paragraph should be added
to 74-6-4.L which states: “Gray water is
applied within 24 hours of collection”.
-
A provision should be added to 74-6-4.L to prohibit discharge to a
watercourse. Note that “watercourse” is
a defined term in 20.6.2.7.AAA NMAC.