BILL NUMBER: SB 407 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 20, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Article 1.4 (commencing with Section 1101.1) to
Chapter 2 of Title 4 of Part 4 of Division 2 of the Civil Code,
relating to water conservation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 407, as amended, Padilla. Property transfers: plumbing fixtures
replacement.
Existing law authorizes public entities that supply water, by the
adoption of an ordinance or resolution pursuant to specified
procedures, to adopt and enforce a water conservation program.
Existing law requires certain disclosures to be made upon the
transfer of real estate. Existing law requires that all water closets
or urinals sold or installed in the state use no more than an
average of 1.6 gallons or one gallon per flush, respectively.
This bill would require that, on and after January 1, 2014, all
plumbing fixtures in any residential or commercial real property that
are not water-conserving plumbing fixtures be replaced prior to the
time of sale or transfer by the property owner with water-conserving
plumbing fixtures, as defined, with specified exceptions. The
bill would include within these exceptions, among others, a sale or a
transfer pursuant to nonjudicial foreclosure and a sale
or transfer in which the requirements of this article would impose a
significant, financial hardship on the seller or transferor.
The bill would require that compliance with this requirement be
included as a condition of escrow for any sale or transfer. The bill
would require a seller or transferor of real property to certify to
the prospective purchaser or transferee, in writing, that the
requirement has been satisfied. The bill would provide that
the certification is a material term of any sale or transfer.
The bill would except from its provisions registered
historical sites, certain transfers, including those between
specified family members, and transfers in which a licensed plumber
certifies that, due to the age or configuration of the property or
its plumbing, installation of water-conserving plumbing fixtures is
not technically feasible. The bill would require a real estate agent
to disclose the requirements described above and would provide that
an agent has no other liability in this connection. The bill would
also make a statement of findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 1.4 (commencing with Section 1101.1) is added
to Chapter 2 of Title 4 of Part 4 of Division 2 of the Civil Code, to
read:
Article 1.4. Water Use Efficiency Improvements Upon Transfer
1101.1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Adequate water supply reliability for all uses is essential to
the future economic and environmental health of California.
(b) Environmentally sound strategies to meet future water supply
and wastewater treatment needs are key to protecting and restoring
aquatic resources in California.
(c) There is a pressing need to address water supply reliability
issues raised by growing urban areas.
(d) Economic analysis by urban water agencies has identified urban
water conservation as a cost-effective approach to addressing water
supply needs.
(e) There are many water conservation practices that produce
significant energy and other resource savings that should be
encouraged as a matter of state policy.
(f) Since the 1991 signing of the "Memorandum of Understanding
Regarding Urban Water Conservation in California," many urban water
and wastewater treatment agencies have gained valuable experience
that can be applied to produce significant statewide savings of
water, energy, and associated infrastructure costs. This experience
indicates a need to regularly revise and update water conservation
methodologies and practices.
(g) To address these concerns, it is the intent of the Legislature
to require property owners to retrofit outdated, high water use
plumbing fixtures upon resale, and that sellers or transferors be
required to disclose these upgrades upon resale.
(h) It is further the intent of the Legislature that retail water
suppliers are encouraged to provide incentives, financing mechanisms,
and funding to assist property owners with these retrofit
obligations.
1101.2. (a) On and after January 1, 2014, all noncompliant
plumbing fixtures in any residential or commercial real property
shall be replaced prior to the time of sale or transfer by the
property owner with water-conserving plumbing fixtures.
(b) Compliance with this section shall be included as a condition
of escrow for any sale or transfer.
(c) A seller or transferor of real property shall certify to the
prospective purchaser or transferee, in writing, that the
requirements of this section have been satisfied. This certification
is a material term of any sale or transfer and may
be included in other transactional documents.
1101.3. For the purposes of this article:
(a) "Noncompliant plumbing fixture" means any of the following:
(1) Any toilet manufactured to use more than 1.6 gallons of water
per flush.
(2) Any urinal manufactured to use more than one gallon of water
per flush.
(3) Any showerhead manufactured to have a flow capacity of more
than 2.5 gallons of water per minute.
(4) Any interior faucet that emits more than 2.2 gallons of water
per minute.
(b) "Water-conserving plumbing fixture" means any fixture that is
in compliance with current building standards applicable to a newly
constructed residential or commercial real property of the same type.
(c) "Sale or transfer" means the sale or transfer of an entire
real property estate or the fee interest in that real property estate
and does not include the sale or transfer of a partial interest,
including a leasehold.
1101.4. This article shall not apply to any of the following:
(a) Registered historical sites.
(b) Transfers that are required to be preceded by the furnishing
to a prospective transferee of a copy of a public report pursuant to
Section 11018.1 of the Business and Professions Code and transfers
which can be made without a public report pursuant to Section 11010.4
of the Business and Professions Code.
(c) Transfers by a fiduciary in the course of the administration
of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust.
(d) Transfers from one coowner to one or more other coowners, or
from one or more coowners into or from a revocable trust, if the
trust is for the benefit of the grantor or grantors.
(e) Transfers made by a trustor to fund an inter vivos trust.
(f) Transfers made to a spouse, to a registered domestic partner
as defined in Section 297 of the Family Code, or to a person or
persons in the lineal line of consanguinity of one or more of the
transferors.
(g) Transfers between spouses or registered domestic partners
resulting from a decree of dissolution of marriage or domestic
partnership, or a decree of legal separation or from a property
settlement agreement incidental to a decree.
(h) Transfers in which a licensed plumber certifies that, due to
the age or configuration of the property or its plumbing,
installation of water-conserving plumbing fixtures is not technically
feasible.
(i) A sale or transfer in which the requirements of this article
would impose a significant, financial hardship on the seller or
transferor, and the seller or transferor has informed the prospective
purchaser or transferee that this article does not apply due to that
financial hardship.
(j) A sale or transfer of real property pursuant to a nonjudicial
foreclosure governed by Article 1 (commencing with Section 2920) of
Chapter 2 of Title 14 of Part 4.
(k) A sale or transfer in which the beneficiary agrees to release
its lien on a property in return for payment of an amount less than
the secured obligation.
() A sale or transfer of real property for which a notice of
default, filed pursuant to Section 2924, is pending.
1101.5. (a) Any real estate agent, real estate broker, or real
estate salesperson, whether representing a transferor or transferee,
or both, involved in the transfer of title to property subject to
this chapter, shall give written notice to the transferee and
transferor of the requirements of this article prior to the transfer
of title to the property.
(b) The duty described in subdivision (a) is the only
responsibility the real estate agent, real estate broker, or real
estate salesperson has with regard to this article and the real
estate agent, real estate broker, or real estate salesperson shall
have no liability for any transferor's failure to comply with any
other provision of this article.
(c) Once a transferring property owner has received notice of the
requirements of this article, he or she shall be solely responsible
for compliance with them.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter any
existing duty of the transferring property owner, real estate agent,
real estate broker, or real estate salesperson under any other
provision of law.
1101.6. This article does not preempt a city, county, or city and
county from adopting or enforcing any retrofit requirements relating
to noncompliant plumbing fixtures that result in an equivalent or
greater amount of water savings than those provided for in this
article.