Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 2661 amends the Health and Safety Code and the Water Code to revise the definition for graywater, which consists of wastewater from showers and bathtubs, clothes washing machines, handwashing lavatories, and sinks that are not used for disposal of hazardous or toxic ingredients, to exclude water from sinks used for food preparation or disposal and water contaminated by human excreta. The bill removes the joint rulemaking authority of the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners relating to use of graywater, leaving this authority solely to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). It excludes TCEQ permitting requirements for domestic uses of residential graywater, in amounts less than 400 gallons per day, for gardening, composting, or landscaping by occupants of a private residence if the graywater conforms to certain standards for generation, collection, storage, piping, and distribution. The bill encourages certain practices by builders of new housing. It requires the TCEQ, not later than June 1, 2004, to adopt new graywater standards and to address the separation of graywater in a residence served by an on-site sewage disposal system.