(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 toilet and urinal flushing in structures, except a mental hospital or other facility operated by a public agency for the treatment of persons with mental disorders, if all of the following requirements are met:

(1) Recycled water, for these uses, 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 public agency has prepared an engineering report pursuant to Section 60323 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations that includes plumbing design, cross-connection control, and monitoring requirements for the use site, which are in compliance with criteria established pursuant to Section 13521.

(b) This section applies only to either of the following:

(1) New structures for which the building permit is issued on or after March 15, 1992, or, if a building permit is not required, new structures for which construction begins on or after March 15, 1992.

(2) Any construction pursuant to subdivision (a) for which the State Department of Public Health has, prior to January 1, 1992, approved the use of recycled water.

(c) Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code does not apply to any project which only involves the repiping, redesign, or use of recycled water by a structure necessary to comply with a requirement issued by a public agency under subdivision (a). This exemption 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. 2014, Ch. 544, Sec. 17. (SB 1458) Effective January 1, 2015.)