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SB-1307 Public water systems.(1995-1996)

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SB1307:v91#DOCUMENT

Senate Bill No. 1307
CHAPTER 755

An act to amend Sections 116300, 116355, and 116370 of, to repeal Section 116560 of, and to repeal and add Sections 116360, 116365, and 116470 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to drinking water.

[ Filed with Secretary of State  September 23, 1996. Approved by Governor  September 21, 1996. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1307, Calderon. Public water systems.
Existing law requires the State Department of Health Services to adopt regulations covering water testing, the monitoring of contaminants, the frequency and method of sampling and testing, the reporting of results, and other matters as may be necessary to determine and assure the quality of domestic water supplies. Existing law in part defines “public water system,” for this purpose, to mean a system for the provision of piped water to the public for human consumption which has 5 or more service connections.
Existing law requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to establish recommended public health goals for contaminants in drinking water pursuant to prescribed criteria.
This bill would repeal this provision and would make related conforming changes.
Existing law requires the department to adopt additional primary drinking water standards for contaminants found in drinking water, to review the standards at least every 5 years, and to amend if prescribed conditions occur. Existing law authorizes the department to require a specific treatment in lieu of establishing the maximum contaminant level.
This bill would repeal those provisions, recast them, and reenact them as modified.
Existing law requires the department to develop and publish a list of all existing or proposed maximum contaminant levels that are set at a level substantially less stringent than their corresponding recommended public health goals.
This bill would repeal this provision.
Existing law requires certain public water systems that exceed the contaminant goals to comply with certain requirements related to a water improvement plan, including review and approval of the plan by the department.
This bill would repeal this provision.
Existing law sets forth the various components of the July 1, 1991, California Safe Drinking Water Plan.
This bill would, instead, require the submission of a plan once every 5 years.
This bill would require the department to take all reasonable measures to reduce the risk to public health from waterborne illnesses in drinking water caused by certain micro-organisms, to conduct or order comprehensive sanitary surveys to identify related risks, to ensure that its related action plan is comprehensively implemented, and to report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 1998.
This bill would require the department to adopt standards that are not less stringent than the federal Safe Drinking Water Act drinking water standards, and would require related hearings.
This bill would require the office to adopt a public health goal for contaminants in drinking water based exclusively on public health considerations, and would require public water systems to use the federal national maximum contaminant level pending adoption of a public health goal by the office.
This bill would require every public water system to annually prepare a consumer confidence report and to mail or deliver a copy to every consumer as a condition of its operating permit, except as provided.
This bill would require certain public water systems that detect one or more contaminants that exceed a public health goal to prepare a brief written report.
By adding new duties to local agencies operating public water systems, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed $1,000,000.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known as, and may be cited as, the Calderon-Sher Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares that the primary purpose of this act is to clarify that the public health goals adopted pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 116365 are not primary drinking water standards and that compliance with a public health goal shall not be required by the state as a condition of receiving a domestic water supply permit or otherwise.

SEC. 3.

 Section 116300 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

116300.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)  Every citizen of California has the right to pure and safe drinking water.
(b)  Feasible and affordable technologies are available and shall be used to remove toxic contaminants from public water supplies.
(c)  According to the State Department of Health Services, over 95 percent of all large public water systems in California are in compliance with health-based action levels established by the state department for various contaminants.
(d)  It is the policy of the state to reduce to the lowest level feasible all concentrations of toxic chemicals that when present in drinking water may cause cancer, birth defects, and other chronic diseases.
(e)  This chapter is intended to ensure that the water delivered by public water systems of this state shall at all times be pure, wholesome, and potable. This chapter provides the means to accomplish this objective.
(f)  It is the intent of the Legislature to improve laws governing drinking water quality, to improve upon the minimum requirements of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996, to establish primary drinking water standards that are at least as stringent as those established under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and to establish a program under this chapter that is more protective of public health than the minimum federal requirements.
(g)  It is the further intent of the Legislature to establish a drinking water regulatory program within the State Department of Health Services in order to provide for the orderly and efficient delivery of safe drinking water within the state and to give the establishment of drinking water standards and public health goals greater emphasis and visibility within the state department.

SEC. 4.

 Section 116355 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

116355.
 (a)  Once every five years the department shall submit to the Legislature a comprehensive Safe Drinking Water Plan for California.
(b)  The Safe Drinking Water Plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
(1)  An analysis of the overall quality of California’s drinking water and the identification of specific water quality problems.
(2)  Types and levels of contaminants found in public drinking water systems that have less than 10,000 service connections. The discussion of these water systems shall include the following:
(A)  Estimated costs of requiring these systems to meet primary drinking water standards and public health goals.
(B)  Recommendations for actions that could be taken by the Legislature, the department, and these systems to improve water quality.
(3)  A discussion and analysis of the known and potential health risks that may be associated with drinking water contamination in California.
(4)  An evaluation of how existing water quality information systems currently maintained by local or state agencies can be more effectively used to protect drinking water.
(5)  An evaluation of the research needed to develop inexpensive methods and instruments to ensure better screening and detection of waterborne chemicals, and inexpensive detection methods that could be used by small utilities and consumers to detect harmful microbial agents in drinking water.
(6)  An analysis of the technical and economic viability and the health benefits of various treatment techniques that can be used to reduce levels of trihalomethanes, lead, nitrates, synthetic organic chemicals, micro-organisms, and other contaminants in drinking water.
(7)  A discussion of alternative methods of financing the construction, installation, and operation of new treatment technologies, including, but not limited to user charges, state or local taxes, state planning and construction grants, loans, and loan guarantees.
(8)  A discussion of sources of revenue presently available, and projected to be available, to public water systems to meet current and future expenses.
(9)  An analysis of the current cost of drinking water paid by residential, business, and industrial consumers based on a statewide survey of large, medium, and small public water systems.
(10)  Specific recommendations, including recommendations developed pursuant to paragraph (6), to improve the quality of drinking water in California and a detailed five-year implementation program.

SEC. 5.

 Section 116360 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.

SEC. 6.

 The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a)  Cryptosporidium, a microscopic, disease-causing parasite, has been responsible for serious waterborne disease outbreaks throughout the country. In the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, alone, more than 400,000 people became ill from an outbreak of cryptosporidosis in 1993, and more than 100 people with compromised immune systems died from the illness.
(b)  Symptoms of the disease include abdominal cramps, headaches, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and low-grade fever, leading in some cases to weight loss and dehydration. For people in good health the disease runs its course in 10 to 12 days, but for immune-compromised individuals the disease can last for months and can be fatal.
(c)  On June 15, 1995, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued an advisory to those people with “severely weakened immune systems” to reduce the risk of infection with cryptosporidium from drinking water by boiling their drinking water, employing certain drinking water filters, or using bottled water. Similar warnings have recently been issued in California by the State Department of Health Services. The warnings have pertained to people with HIV/AIDS, cancer, or transplant patients taking immunosuppressive drugs and persons with genetically weakened immune systems.
(d)  Cryptosporidium has been found in sources of drinking water in California and conventional water treatment facilities in California may not be able to effectively remove cryptosporidium. There is therefore a potential serious risk to public health in this state from cryptosporidium in drinking water, despite the otherwise general high quality of this state’s drinking water. That threat should be immediately reduced.
(e)  The State Department of Health Services has recently circulated a cryptosporidium action plan for large water systems to reduce the exposure to individuals in this state from drinking water contaminated with cryptosporidium.
(f)  Potential threats to public health are also present in California drinking water in the form of at least one other disease causing micro-organism; giardia.

SEC. 7.

 Section 116360 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

116360.
 (a)  The department shall take all reasonable measures it determines necessary to reduce the risk to public health from waterborne illnesses in drinking water caused by cryptosporidium and giardia, to the extent those micro-organisms are not yet able to be adequately controlled through existing drinking water treatment and other management practices.
(b)  The department shall directly conduct, or order the state’s public water systems to conduct, comprehensive sanitary surveys, as present resources permit, to identify risks to public health from cryptosporidium and giardia.
(c)  To thoroughly address the public health risks currently posed by cryptosporidium, in particular, the department shall ensure that its initial cryptosporidium action plan, that has been circulated to public water systems serving more than 1,000 service connections, is comprehensively implemented and shall devise and implement necessary strategies for protecting the health of individuals served by smaller public water systems from cryptosporidium exposure.
(d)  On or before January 1, 1998, the department shall submit a report to the Chairperson of the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and of the Senate Toxics and Public Safety Management Committee. The report shall do all of the following:
(1)  Describe the department’s action to reduce human exposure to cryptosporidium and giardia from California drinking water and the extent to which implementation of the cryptosporidium action plan for larger water systems, and alternative actions for smaller water systems, have reduced the threat to public health from cryptosporidium contamination.
(2)  Recommend additional actions necessary to adequately protect public health from waterborne diseases in California drinking water caused by micro-organisms, including any legislative changes necessary to ensure adequate protection of the public from exposure to cryptosporidium and other disease-causing micro-organisms in drinking water.
(3)  Describe the progress of the California public water systems in the implementation of the cryptosporidium-related requirements of the federal Information Collection Rule, as set forth in the Federal Register on February 10, 1994, and the department’s progress in implementing the cryptosporidium-related requirements of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (P.L. 104-182).

SEC. 8.

 Section 116365 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.

SEC. 9.

 Section 116365 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

116365.
 (a)  The department shall adopt primary drinking water standards for contaminants in drinking water that are based upon the criteria set forth in subdivision (b) and shall not be less stringent than the national primary drinking water standards adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Each primary drinking water standard adopted by the department shall be set at a level that is as close as feasible to the corresponding public health goal placing primary emphasis on the protection of public health, and that, to the extent technologically and economically feasible meets all of the following:
(1)  With respect to acutely toxic substances, avoids any known or anticipated adverse effects on public health with an adequate margin of safety, and
(2)  With respect to carcinogens, or any substances that may cause chronic disease, avoids any significant risk to public health.
(b)  The department shall consider all of the following criteria when it adopts a primary drinking water standard:
(1)  The public health goal for the contaminant adopted by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment pursuant to subdivision (c).
(2)  The national primary drinking water standard for the contaminant, if any, adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(3)  The technological and economic feasibility of compliance with the proposed primary drinking water standard. For the purposes of determining economic feasibility pursuant to this paragraph, the department shall consider the costs of compliance to public water systems, customers, and other affected parties with the proposed primary drinking water standard, including the cost per customer and aggregate cost of compliance, using best available technology.
(c)  The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment shall perform a risk assessment and, based upon that risk assessment, shall adopt a public health goal based exclusively on public health considerations, for each drinking water contaminant regulated, or proposed to be regulated, by the department pursuant to a primary drinking water standard. The risk assessment shall be performed using the most current principles, practices, and methods used by public health professionals who are experienced practitioners in the field of epidemiology, risk assessment, and toxicology. The office and the department are prohibited from imposing any mandate that requires a public water system to comply with a public health goal. Each public health goal shall be set in accordance with all of the following criteria:
(1)  Each public health goal shall be set for acutely toxic substances, at a level at which no known or anticipated adverse effects on health will occur, with an adequate margin of safety.
(2)  Each public health goal shall be set for a carcinogen or other substance that may cause chronic disease at a level that, based upon currently available data, does not pose any significant risk to health.
(3)  To the extent the information is available, the office shall consider possible synergistic effects resulting from exposure to, or interaction with, two or more contaminants.
(4)  The office shall consider the effect of the contaminants upon subgroups that comprise a meaningful portion of the general population, including, but not limited to, infants, children, pregnant women, the elderly, individuals with a history of serious illness, or other subpopulations, that are identifiable as being at greater risk of adverse health effects due to exposure to contaminants in drinking water than the general population.
(5)  The office shall consider the contaminant exposure and body burden levels that alter physiological function or structure in a manner that may significantly increase the risk of illness.
(6)  If the office finds that the currently available scientific data is insufficient to determine the amount of a contaminant that creates no significant risk to public health, the public health goal shall be set at a level that is protective of public health with an adequate margin of safety, based exclusively on health considerations and factoring in the considerations set forth in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, and paragraph (7), and using the most current principles, practices, and methods used by public health professionals who are experienced practitioners in the fields of epidemiology, risk assessment, and toxicology. However, if adequate scientific evidence demonstrates that a safe dose response threshold for a contaminant exists, then the public health goal should be set at that threshold. The department may set the public health goal at zero if necessary to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph.
(7)  The office shall consider exposure to contaminants in media other than drinking water, including, but not limited to, exposures in food, in the ambient and indoor air, and the resulting body burden.
(d)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any maximum contaminant level in effect on August 22, 1995, may be amended by the department to make the level more stringent pursuant to this section. However, the department may only amend a maximum contaminant level to make it less stringent if the department shows clear and convincing evidence that the maximum contaminant level should be made less stringent and the amendment is made consistent with this section.
(e)  (1)  Public health goals established by the office shall be reviewed at least once every five years and revised, pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (c), as necessary based upon the availability of new scientific data.
(2)  On or before January 1, 1998, the office shall adopt a public health goal for at least 25 drinking water contaminants for which a primary drinking water standard has been adopted by the department. The office shall adopt a public health goal for 25 additional drinking water contaminants by January 1, 1999, and for all remaining drinking water contaminants for which a primary drinking water standard has been adopted by the department by no later than December 31, 1999. A public health goal shall be concurrently adopted by the office with the adoption of a primary drinking water standard by the department for any newly regulated contaminant.
(f)  The department or office may review, and adopt by reference, any information prepared by, or on behalf of, the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the purpose of adopting a national primary drinking water standard or maximum contaminant level goal when it establishes a California maximum contaminant level or public health goal.
(g)  At least once every five years after adoption of a primary drinking water standard, the department shall review the primary drinking water standard and shall, consistent with the criteria set forth in subdivisions (a) and (b), amend any standard if any of the following occur:
(1)  Changes in technology or treatment techniques that permit a materially greater protection of public health or attainment of the public health goal.
(2)  New scientific evidence that indicates that the substance may present a materially different risk to public health than was previously determined.
(h)  Not later than March 1 of every year, the department shall provide public notice of each primary drinking water standard it proposes to review in that year pursuant to this section. Thereafter, the department shall solicit and consider public comment and hold one or more public hearings regarding its proposal to either amend or maintain an existing standard. With adequate public notice, the department may review additional contaminants not covered by the March 1 notice.
(i)  This section shall operate prospectively to govern the adoption of new or revised primary drinking water standards and does not require the repeal or readoption of primary drinking water standards in effect immediately preceding January 1, 1997.
(j)  The department may, by regulation, require the use of a specified treatment technique in lieu of establishing a maximum contaminant level for a contaminant if the department determines that it is not economically or technologically feasible to ascertain the level of the contaminant.

SEC. 10.

 Section 116370 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

116370.
 On or before January 1, 1998, the department shall propose, hold a public hearing, and adopt a finding of the best available technology for each contaminant for which a primary drinking water standard has been adopted. Thereafter, the department shall adopt a finding of the best available technology for each contaminant for which a primary drinking water standard has been adopted at the time the standard is adopted. The finding of the department shall take into consideration the costs and benefits of best available treatment technology that has been proven effective under full-scale field applications.

SEC. 11.

 Section 116470 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.

SEC. 12.

 Section 116470 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

116470.
 (a)  As a condition of its operating permit, every public water system shall annually prepare a consumer confidence report and mail or deliver a copy of that report to each customer, other than an occupant, as defined in Section 799.28 of the Civil Code, of a recreational vehicle park. A public water system in a recreational vehicle park with occupants as defined in Section 799.28 of the Civil Code shall prominently display on a bulletin board at the entrance to or in the office of the park, and make available upon request, a copy of the report. The report shall include all of the following information:
(1)  The source of the water purveyed by the public water system.
(2)  A brief and plainly worded definition of the terms “maximum contaminant level,” “primary drinking water standard,” and “public health goal.”
(3)  If any regulated contaminant is detected in public drinking water supplied by the system during the past year, the report shall include all of the following information:
(A)  The level of the contaminant found in the drinking water, and the corresponding public health goal and primary drinking water standard for that contaminant.
(B)  Any violations of the primary drinking water standard that have occurred as a result of the presence of the contaminant in the drinking water and a brief and plainly worded statement of health concerns that resulted in the regulation of that contaminant.
(C)  The public water system’s address and phone number to enable customers to obtain further information concerning contaminants and potential health effects.
(4)  Information on the levels of unregulated contaminants, if any, for which monitoring is required pursuant to state or federal law or regulation.
(5)  Disclosure of any variances or exemptions from primary drinking water standards granted to the system and the basis therefor.
(b)  On or before July 1, 1998, and every three years thereafter, public water systems serving more than 10,000 service connections that detect one or more contaminants in drinking water that exceed the applicable public health goal, shall prepare a brief written report in plain language that does all of the following:
(1)  Identifies each contaminant detected in drinking water that exceeds the applicable public health goal.
(2)  Discloses the numerical public health risk, determined by the office, associated with the maximum contaminant level for each contaminant identified in paragraph (1) and the numerical public health risk determined by the office associated with the public health goal for that contaminant.
(3)  Identifies the category of risk to public health, including, but not limited to, carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and acute toxicity, associated with exposure to the contaminant in drinking water, and includes a brief plainly worded description of these terms.
(4)  Describes the best available technology, if any is then available on a commercial basis, to remove the contaminant or reduce the concentration of the contaminant. The public water system may, solely at its own discretion, briefly describe actions that have been taken on its own, or by other entities, to prevent the introduction of the contaminant into drinking water supplies.
(5)  Estimates the aggregate cost and the cost per customer of utilizing the technology described in paragraph (4), if any, to reduce the concentration of that contaminant in drinking water to a level at or below the public health goal.
(6)  Briefly describes what action, if any, the local water purveyor intends to take to reduce the concentration of the contaminant in public drinking water supplies and the basis for that decision.
(c)  Public water systems required to prepare a report pursuant to subdivision (b) shall hold a public hearing for the purpose of accepting and responding to public comment on the report. Public water systems may hold the public hearing as part of any regularly scheduled meeting.
(d)  The department shall not require a public water system to take any action to reduce or eliminate any exceedance of a public health goal.
(e)  Enforcement of this section does not require the department to amend a public water system’s operating permit.
(f)  Pending adoption of a public health goal by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 116365, and in lieu thereof, public water systems shall use the national maximum contaminant level goal adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the corresponding contaminant for purposes of complying with the notice and hearing requirements of this section.
(g)  This section is intended to provide an alternative form for the federally required consumer confidence report as authorized by 42 U.S.C. Section 300g-3(c).

SEC. 13.

 Section 116560 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.

SEC. 14.

 Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000), reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.
Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless otherwise specified, the provisions of this act shall become operative on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the California Constitution.