Bill Text: CA AB2454 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Drinking water: rental property: domestic well testing.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-24 - From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [AB2454 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2454-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  April 15, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2454

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Introduced by Assembly Member Lee

February 13, 2024

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An act to amend Section 25197.2 of 116681 of, and to add Section 116688 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to hazardous waste. drinking water.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2454, as amended, Lee. Hazardous Waste Strike Force. Drinking water: rental property: domestic well testing.

The California Safe Drinking Water Act provides for the operation of public water systems and imposes on the State Water Resources Control Board various duties and responsibilities for the regulation and control of drinking water in the State of California. The act requires the state board to adopt primary drinking water standards for contaminants in drinking water based upon specified criteria. Existing law makes certain violations of the act a crime.

This bill would require an owner of a domestic well that serves a rental property who is provided written notice of a free domestic well testing program, as defined, to participate in the program and its related requirements, as specified. The bill would require an owner of the rental property to provide testing results to all current residents of the rental property, as specified. The bill would require, if the testing demonstrates a violation of any primary drinking water standards, the domestic well owner to ensure that, within 14 days of receiving test results, tenants of rental properties served solely by that domestic well have access to an adequate supply of safe drinking water. The bill would prohibit an owner of a domestic well from imposing any charge, or increasing any fee, rent, or other charge imposed, on any tenant solely as a result of the requirements of these provisions.

To the extent that an owner of the rental property, when providing notice of the results of domestic well testing to tenants pursuant to these provisions, would make any false statement or representation, this bill would expand the scope of a crime and 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.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to establish a statewide Hazardous Waste Strike Force, which consists of a representative from each of specified agencies and which is required to make recommendations regarding programs to uniformly enforce state hazardous waste statutes and regulations, to publicize and improve the statewide telephone number, and to report information concerning violations of those statues and regulations.

This bill would add to the task force a representative from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and a representative from each of 3 different certified unified program agencies selected by the Secretary for Environmental Protection.

To the extent this bill would impose new duties on a certified unified program agency, this bill would create 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.

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 the statutory provisions noted above.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Section 116681 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

116681.

 The following definitions shall apply to this section and Sections 116682, 116684, and 116686: 116686, and 116688:

(a) “Adequate supply” means sufficient water to meet residents’ health and safety needs at all times.

(b) “Affected residence” means a residence within a disadvantaged community that is reliant on a water supply that is either inadequate or unsafe and that is not served by a public water system or state small water system.

(c) “At-risk domestic well” means a domestic well that serves a disadvantaged community and is at risk of consistently failing to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water as determined by the state board pursuant to the methodology established in the 2021 Drinking Water Needs Assessment referenced in subdivision (b) of Section 116769, or a substantially similar methodology adopted by the state board in an update to the Drinking Water Needs Assessment.

(d) “At-risk water system” means a water system that meets all the following conditions:

(1) The water system is either a public water system with 3,300 or fewer connections or a state small water system.

(2) The system serves a disadvantaged community.

(3) The system is at risk of consistently failing to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water, as determined by the state board pursuant to the methodology established in the 2021 Drinking Water Needs Assessment referenced in subdivision (b) of Section 116769, or a substantially similar methodology adopted by the state board in an update to the Drinking Water Needs Assessment.

(e) “Consistently fails” means a failure to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water.

(f) “Consolidated water system” means the public water system resulting from the consolidation of a public water system with another public water system, state small water system, or affected residences.

(g) “Consolidation” means joining two or more public water systems, state small water systems, or affected residences into a single public water system.

(h) “Disadvantaged community” means a disadvantaged community, as defined in Section 79505.5 of the Water Code.

(i) “Domestic well” means a groundwater well used to supply water for the domestic needs of an individual residence or a water system that is not a public water system and that has no more than four service connections.

(j) “Extension of service” means the provision of service through any physical or operational infrastructure arrangement other than consolidation.

(k) “Groundwater sustainability agency” has the same meaning as provided in Section 10721 of the Water Code.

(l) “Infill site” means a site within the area served by a subsumed water system that, as of the date of consolidation, is adjacent to a parcel that is developed for a qualified urban use.

(m) “Operation period” means the period during which an administrator provides services to a designated water system, as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (r) of Section 116686.

(n) “Qualified urban use” means any residential, commercial, public institutional, industrial, transit or transportation facility, or retail use, or any combination of those uses.

(o) “Receiving water system” means the public water system that provides service to a subsumed water system through consolidation or extension of service.

(p) “Safe drinking water” means water that meets all primary and secondary drinking water standards.

(q) “State small water system” has the same meaning as provided in Section 116275.

(r) “Subsumed water system” means a public water system, state small water system, or affected residences served by domestic wells consolidated into or receiving service from the receiving water system.

SEC. 2.

 Section 116688 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

116688.

 (a) For the purposes of this section, “free domestic well testing program” means a program that provides domestic well testing for one or more contaminants by a laboratory certified by the state to conduct drinking water sampling and analysis, that is offered free of charge to the owner of a domestic well, and that is funded by any of the following:

(1) Any fund or program to test domestic wells established by any California regional water quality control board pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 13200) of Division 7 of the Water Code.

(2) Any fund or program to test domestic wells established by the state board pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 13440) of Chapter 6 of Division 7 of the Water Code.

(3) Any well mitigation funds or programs established by a groundwater sustainability agency pursuant to Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code.

(4) Any funds or programs established by the fund expenditure plan developed by the state board pursuant to Section 116768.5.

(5) Any other fund or program created to provide domestic well testing at no cost to the owner of the domestic well, including, but not limited to, state funds, federal funds, bond funds, voluntary agreements, settlement agreements, and judgments.

(b) An owner of a domestic well that serves a rental property who is provided written notice of a free domestic well testing program shall participate in the program and its related requirements and shall do all of the following:

(1) Request testing for all primary and secondary drinking water contaminants, or contaminants of emerging concern, for which testing is provided by the program.

(2) Request followup testing annually, or if the program does not offer annual testing, request followup testing as frequently as the program permits.

(3) Provide all necessary consent for the testing, and for submission of testing results by the certified laboratory to the Division of Drinking Water and any public database maintained by the state board.

(c) Written notice to the owner of the domestic well pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be provided by mailing a description of the relevant domestic well testing program to the owner of the domestic well at their last known address and to a current resident of the rental property.

(d) An owner of the rental property shall provide testing results to all current residents of the rental property within 10 days of receiving those results. The test results shall describe any exceedance of primary or secondary drinking water standards, and shall be provided in English and the primary language spoken by the resident recipient.

(e) If the testing results collected pursuant to this section demonstrate a violation of any primary drinking water standards, the domestic well owner shall ensure that, within 14 days of receiving test results, tenants of rental properties served solely by that domestic well have access to an adequate supply of safe drinking water.

(f) An owner of a domestic well shall not impose any charge, or increase any fee, rent, or other charge imposed, on any tenant solely as a result of the requirements of this section.

(g) This section is exempt from the remedies set forth in this article.

SEC. 3.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

SECTION 1.Section 25197.2 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

25197.2.

(a)The department shall establish a statewide Hazardous Waste Strike Force that shall consist of a representative from each of the following agencies:

(1)The Department of Transportation.

(2)The Department of Industrial Relations.

(3)The Department of Food and Agriculture.

(4)The State Water Resources Control Board.

(5)The State Air Resources Board.

(6)The Department of the California Highway Patrol.

(7)The Office of the State Fire Marshal in the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

(8)The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.

(9)The Department of Fish and Wildlife.

(10)The Office of Emergency Services.

(11)The Department of Toxic Substances Control.

(12)The Attorney General.

(13)The Department of Pesticide Regulation.

(14)The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

(15)Three different certified unified program agencies, selected by the Secretary for Environmental Protection.

(b)The director, or the director’s designee, shall direct and coordinate the activities of the Hazardous Waste Strike Force.

(c)The Hazardous Waste Strike Force shall do all of the following:

(1)Recommend standardized programs among the agencies represented on the Hazardous Waste Strike Force for the purposes of uniformly enforcing state hazardous waste statutes and regulations and reporting violators of these statutes and regulations.

(2)Recommend programs to publicize and improve the statewide telephone number established pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 25197.1.

(3)Recommend local and regional programs to report information concerning violations of this chapter and any other hazardous waste statutes and regulations.

SEC. 2.

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.