(a) Any public agency, including a state agency, city, county, city and county, district, or any other political subdivision of the state, may require the use of recycled water for irrigation of residential landscaping, if all of the following requirements are met:

(1) Recycled water, for this use, is available to the user and meets the requirements set forth in Section 13550, as determined by the state board after notice and a hearing.

(2) The use of recycled water does not cause any loss or diminution of any existing water right.

(3) The irrigation systems are constructed in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 60301) of Division 4 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.

(b) This section applies to both of the following:

(1) New subdivisions for which the building permit is issued on or after March 15, 1994, or, if a building permit is not required, new structures for which construction begins on or after March 15, 1994, for which the State Department of Public Health has approved the use of recycled water.

(2) Any residence that is retrofitted to permit the use of recycled water for landscape irrigation and for which the State Department of Public Health has approved the use of recycled water.

(c) (1) Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code does not apply to any project that only involves the repiping, redesign, or use of recycled water for irrigation of residential landscaping necessary to comply with a requirement prescribed by a public agency under subdivision (a).

(2) The exemption in paragraph (1) does not apply to any project to develop recycled water, to construct conveyance facilities for recycled water, or any other project not specified in this subdivision.

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 288, Sec. 45. (SB 1169) Effective January 1, 2011.)