(a) For purposes of this section, “water reuse system” includes both of the following:

(1) A system approved for installation under the California Building Standards Code that uses recycled water, graywater, rainwater, or other nonpotable water sources for nonpotable indoor or outdoor building use, including landscaping, toilet and urinal flushing, floor trap priming, or cooling towers.

(2) A system approved for installation under the California Building Standards Code that captures graywater, rainwater, building foundation water drainage, or other onsite alternative water sources for nonpotable reuse onsite or as part of a multibuilding, district, or campuswide treatment system.

(b) The department 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 potable water use in new residential 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. In developing these standards, the department shall consider potential impacts on affordable housing, may limit requirements to hotel and motel, multifamily, and market-rate housing, and may limit or exempt the application of standards based on building size, development size, availability or planned availability of recycled water, or as otherwise determined appropriate.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 884, Sec. 3. (SB 745) Effective January 1, 2024.)