HB2619 - 552R - Senate Fact Sheet

Purpose

Establishes the Rainwater Harvesting Grant Program (Program) and outlines Program requirements. Appropriates $1,000,000 from the state General Fund (state GF) to the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) to administer the Program.

Background

A rainwater harvesting system (system) captures, diverts and stores rainwater for landscape irrigation and other uses. Systems are generally divided into simple systems and complex systems. A simple system: 1) immediately distributes rainwater to planted areas; and 2) consists of a catchment, a distribution system and a landscape holding area. A complex system: 1) stores some or all of the rainwater in a container for later use; and 2) consists of a catchment, conveyance systems, storage and a distribution system (City of Tucson). Passive rainwater harvesting includes directing and retaining water in the landscape by using site-appropriate practices such as basins, berms, terraces, swales and infiltration trenches. Active rainwater harvesting includes a storage tank to store water for later use with overflow directed towards a passive retention feature or a passive rain garden (City of Tucson).

The City of Tucson administers the Rainwater Harvesting Incentives Program for single-family residential and small commercial Tucson water customers. Applicants may apply for rebates for both passive and active projects, not exceeding $2,000 per property. Applicants must, in order to qualify for the Rainwater Harvesting Incentives Program: 1) attend an approved Rainwater Harvesting Incentives Program three-hour workshop; and 2) submit a project plan (City of Tucson).

Statute grants the Director of ADWR general control and supervision of surface water and groundwater distribution and appropriation. The Director of ADWR may formulate plans and develop programs for the practical and economic development, management, conservation and use of surface water, groundwater and watersheds in Arizona, including the management of water quantity and quality (A.R.S. §§ 45-103 and 45-105).

The strike-everything amendment to H.B. 2619 appropriates $1,000,000 from the state GF to ADWR in FY 2023.

Provisions

1. Establishes the Program in ADWR to assist persons in installing passive or active systems to collect and retain rainwater on site.

2. Appropriates $1,000,000 from the state GF in FY 2023 to ADWR for Program administration and exempts the appropriation from lapsing.

3. Requires ADWR to:

a) make grant monies available as reimbursements for projects based on the submittal date and suitability of a project plan; and

b) establish an application form and project plan requirements.

4. Requires, before receiving any grant monies for reimbursement, an applicant to submit project plans for approval by ADWR.

5. Requires a project to comply with all applicable zoning, permitting, backflow prevention and use requirements at the project location to receive approval and grant monies.

6. Requires the Program to provide for:

a) a level 1 grant project that:

i. is a simple and passive system; and

ii. uses grant monies to reimburse up to 50 percent or $500 of eligible materials and labor; and

b) a level 2 grant project that:

i. is an active and more complex system than a level 1 system; and

ii. uses grant monies to reimburse the full cost of the system based on the capacity of the rain storage tank, up to $2,000.

7. Stipulates that eligible reimbursement costs for a level 1 grant project include those of:

a) surface, subsurface and conveyance features;

b) mulch, soil amendments, rocks and boulders for reinforcement;

c) equipment rental such as tillers, jackhammers and trenchers;

d) permit costs and costs for curb cuts and coring; and

e) labor from persons licensed by the registrar of contractors in the specific trade or field appropriate to the work performed.

8. Allows level 2 grant monies to be used at a rate of:

a) $0.25 for each gallon of tank capacity, if the tank's capacity is between 50 and 799 gallons; or

b) $1 for each gallon of tank capacity, if the tank's capacity is 800 gallons or more.

9. Stipulates that the costs eligible for a level 2 grant reimbursement include those of the:

a) tank;

b) gutter;

c) tank foundation;

d) overflow; and

e) other materials that make up the system.

10. Prohibits Program grant monies from reimbursing the costs of:

a) conveyance features that direct rainwater off-site without entering an appropriately sized landscape retention feature or storage tank;

b) overflow features such as a rock or mulch basin;

c) removing and replacing old gutters;

d) importing soil to create passive rain garden practices;

e) purchasing or delivering gravel or decomposed granite as a surface cover;

f) purchasing or installing pressurizing pumps or associated controls;

g) purchasing or installing irrigation systems or backflow prevention devices that are otherwise required for a site with a pump system for distributing nonmunicipal potable water;

h) purchasing or installing landscaping materials such as plants, edging or decorative gravel;

i) labor provided by the owner, a handyman or any other person who is not a registered contractor in Arizona;

j) purchasing tools, such as shovels, rakes, drill bits and garden hoses; and

k) used or reconditioned tanks and cisterns, unless approved by ADWR.

11. Allows ADWR to inspect and audit a project that receives grant monies.

12. Becomes effective on the general effective date.