Section 974 - [Operative 1/1/2025] Commercial, Industrial and Institutional water use best management practices for customers that exceed a recommended size, volume of water use, or other threshold(a) By June 30, 2024, or the effective date of this section, whichever comes later, each supplier shall identify the disclosable buildings in its service area. In identifying the disclosable buildings within its service area, a supplier shall use the list of disclosable buildings the California Energy Commission has made available on its public website pursuant to California Code of Regulations, title 20, section 1683.(b) For a building that meets the definition of a disclosable building in section 1681 of the California Code of Regulations at title 20, a supplier shall, upon the building owner or Owner's Agent request, complete the following: (1) For each meter, deliver the last four characters of the meter serial number serving the building.(2) For each meter, aggregate water use data, in monthly intervals, for at least the previous year, by one of the following methods: (A) A supplier not using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager's Data Exchange Services shall send the data to the building owner or Owner's Agent using the template provided by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager or in a format compatible with the template.(B) Suppliers using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager's Data Exchange Services shall provide the data by direct upload to the building owner's or Owner's Agent's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account, or, at the building owner's or Owner's Agent's request, send the data to the building owner or Owner's Agent using the template provided by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager or in a format compatible with the template.(c) Each supplier shall identify CII water users according to one of the following paragraphs (1), (2), or (3): (1) By June 30, 2025, identify: (A) Existing CII water users at or above the 97.5th percentile for CII water use; and(B) Existing CII water users at or above the supplier's 80th percentile for CII water use.(2) By June 30, 2027, identify:(A) Existing CII water users at or above the supplier's 97.5th percentile for CII water use; and(B) Existing CII water users at or above the supplier's 80th percentile for water use in each of the classification categories described in section 972.(3) By June 30, 2029, identify existing CII water users that appear to be inefficient according to key business activity indicators (KBAI) the supplier has developed for the classification categories described in section 972. A supplier may also develop KBAIs for the specific ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager property types.(d) For the water users identified pursuant to (c)(1)(A) or (c)(2)(A), a supplier shall design, and implement pursuant to subdivision (h), a conservation program that includes at least two of the best management practices from each of paragraphs (1) through (5) in subdivision (f).(e) For the water users identified pursuant to (c)(1)(B), (c)(2)(B), or (c)(3), a supplier shall design, and implement pursuant to subdivision (h), a conservation program that includes at least one of the best management practices from each of paragraphs (1) through (5) in subdivision (f).(f)(1) Outreach, Technical Assistance, and Education best management practices. (A) Direct contacts via site visits or phone calls(B) Informative or educational bill inserts(C) Conducting workshop or developing training videos(D) Webpage portals to access information, tools, and rebates(E) Cost-effectiveness analysis tools(F) Commercials or advertisements(G) Grass roots marketing(H) Community based social marketing(I) Other CII-best management practices derived from additional innovation and technology advancement that can be taken by suppliers, subject to Board approval(2) Incentive best management practices.(A) Rebates and cost-sharing for replacing inefficient fixtures, equipment, irrigation systems or landscapes with water efficient ones(B) Certification or branding programs that recognize customers as water efficient(C) Incentives for technologies that enable customers to identify, measure, and analyze indoor and outdoor water use(D) Other CII-best management practices derived from additional innovation and technology advancement that can be taken by suppliers, subject to Board approval(3) Landscape best management practices. (A) Landscape and irrigation management practices to promote improved water use efficiency(B) Irrigation system inspections, audits, or surveys(C) Training or guidance on irrigation scheduling and maintenance(D) New development landscape inspection, workshops, and training(E) Programs to remove turf and replace it with climate-ready vegetation(F) Programs to decrease urban heat and reduce turf water use by planting trees(G) Programs to install green infrastructure such as swales or rain gardens that offset irrigation needs(H) Other CII-best management practices derived from additional innovation and technology advancement that can be used by suppliers, subject to Board approval(4) Collaboration and coordination best management practices. (A) Coordination with "green" building certification or recognition programs to promote water use efficiency(B) Coordination with land use authorities to check new landscapes design and implementation(C) Collaboration with non-governmental organizations on outreach and education(D) Collaboration with municipal arborists and tree planting organizations to expand and maintain urban forests(E) Collaboration with stormwater agencies to install green infrastructure such as swales or rain gardens to also offset irrigation needs(F) Other CII-best management practices derived from additional innovation and technology advancement that can be taken by suppliers, subject to Board approval(5) Operational best management practices.(A) Infrastructure changes (for example, smart meter replacement programs)(B) Billing or data collection procedures (for example, data tracking, analysis, and reporting improvements)(C) Other operational best management practices to facilitate CII best management practices program implementation and evaluation(D) Other CII best management practices derived from additional innovation and technology advancement that can be taken by suppliers, subject to Board approval(g)(1) Notwithstanding subdivisions (d) and (e), a supplier for which annual CII water deliveries are 10 percent or less of total deliveries, as averaged over a five-year period, shall design and implement pursuant to subdivision (h) a conservation program that includes at least two of the best management practices from in subdivision (f)(1).(2) Notwithstanding subdivisions (d) and (e), a supplier need not offer BMPs from subdivision (f)(3) to customers that meet the criteria identified in this section but do not use water outdoors.(3) For purposes of subdivisions (d) and (e), a supplier may rely on a regional entity in lieu of designing its own conservation program.(h)(1) By June 30, 2039, a supplier shall implement a conservation program for existing CII customers meeting the criteria identified in this section. After June 30, 2040, the supplier shall maintain a conservation program for all CII customers meeting the criteria identified in this section.(2) For purposes of this section, a supplier may rely on implementation by a regional entity in lieu of implementing its own conservation program.(i) For systems that do not meet the criteria to be considered an urban retail water supplier until after the effective date of this section, and for a system that hydraulically consolidates with a supplier, this section applies beginning fifteen (15) years after the system meets the criteria to be considered a supplier or consolidates with a supplier.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 23, § 974
Note: Authority cited: Sections 1058 and 10609.10, Water Code. Reference: Article X, Section 2, California Constitution; Section 4185, Civil Code; and Sections 102, 104, 105, 350, 1122, 1123, 1124, 1846, 1846.5, 10608.12, 10609.2 and 10609.10, Water Code.
1. New section filed 9-30-2024; operative 1/1/2025 (Register 2024, No. 40).