Bill Text: CA AB2671 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Family daycare homes: filtered water.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-24 - From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [AB2671 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2671-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 18, 2024 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 16, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2671
| Introduced by Assembly Member Weber |
February 14, 2024 |
An act to add Section 1597.623 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to care facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2671, as amended, Weber.
Family daycare homes: filtered water.
Under existing law, the California Child Day Care Facilities Act, the State Department of Social Services licenses and regulates various types of child care facilities, including, but not limited to, family daycare homes. Existing law authorizes a small family daycare home to provide care for up to 8 children, and a large family daycare home to provide care for up to 14 children, as specified. Existing law makes a willful or repeated violation of the act a misdemeanor, and also authorizes the department to levy civil penalties against a family daycare home for failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations, as specified. Existing law requires a family daycare home to comply with specified safety requirements, including, but not limited to, requiring the facility to contain a fire extinguisher or smoke detector device, or both, as specified, that meet standards established by
the State Fire Marshal, and a carbon monoxide detector.
This bill would require a licensed family daycare home to only serve water to children in the care of the family daycare home or use water in food preparation for children in the care of the family daycare home that has been filtered with a point-of-use water filtration device certified to meet specified standards for water safety, as specified. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2026, the department to adopt regulations to implement the above requirements, including requiring the family daycare home to maintain records and receipts demonstrating that the water filtration device has been maintained, and its filters replaced, as specified, and requiring the department to take specified action if a family daycare home does not comply with the regulations. The bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature that includes specified information related to compliance with the
regulations and test results from family daycare homes with lead in drinking water above specified levels. The bill would authorize funds from a specified grant program to be used to provide lead-removing water filters to family daycare homes. Because a violation of this requirement by a family daycare home would be a crime, 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.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 1597.623 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:1597.623.
(a) Commencing January 1, 2027, a family daycare home licensed under this chapter that operates in a building constructed before January 1, 2010, shall only serve water to children in the care of the family daycare home or use water in food preparation for children in the care of the family daycare home that has been filtered with a point-of-use water filtration device certified to meet National Sanitation Foundation of the American National Standards Institute (NSF/ANSI) standards for lead and particulate reduction, as required by the department pursuant to subdivision (b).(b) On or before January 1, 2026, the department shall develop, in
consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board, and adopt regulations to implement this section. The regulations shall do all of the following:
(1) (A) Specify required NSF/ANSI standards for lead and particulate reduction for point-of-use filtration devices to be used by family daycare homes, and provide information on how to verify a point-of-use water filtration device was tested and certified to meet those standards.
(B) If the NSF/ANSI standards required under this paragraph are replaced with newer NSF/ANSI standards, or if the standards undergo updates that have implications, as determined by the department, for the installation, use, or maintenance of point-of-use water filtration devices by a family daycare home, the department shall update
the regulations required pursuant to this paragraph to ensure that they reflect the most up-to-date standards.
(2) Establish parameters for the proper installation, use, and maintenance of point-of-use water filtration devices, including the proper use of flushing after installation of a new filter, replacement of a filter cartridge, and periods of stagnation, in order to reduce human exposure to bacteria and lead.
(3) Include a statement in communications to family daycare homes that point-of-use water filtration devices may be a short-term control measure for lead in drinking water, and encourage family daycare homes to consider other options for long-term or permanent control measures, including, but not limited to, fixture or pipe replacement.
(4) (A) (i) Require family daycare homes to maintain records and receipts, to be provided to the department during scheduled inspections, demonstrating that all point-of-use water filtration devices have been installed, used, and maintained, including that filter cartridges have been replaced, pursuant to the regulations adopted under this section.
(ii) The maintenance records required to be maintained pursuant to clause (i) shall include a document, posted and clearly visible near the front door of the facility, that displays the dates that filter cartridges were replaced.
(B) The department shall develop form templates to facilitate the compliance of family daycare homes with
the requirements of this paragraph.
(5) Require that the department take one or more of the following actions if a family daycare home does not comply with the regulations established pursuant to this section:
(A) (i) If, during any inspection, the department determines that the family daycare home’s records and receipts do not show installation, use, or maintenance in accordance with the regulations adopted pursuant to this section, the department shall issue a letter of violation to the family daycare home.
(ii) If the letter of violation indicates that a family daycare home has not installed point-of-use water filtration devices, the family daycare home shall be required to submit to the department,
within five business days of receiving the letter of violation, documentation demonstrating that the filters have been installed as required by the regulations adopted pursuant to this section.
(iii) If the letter of violation indicates that a family daycare home has failed to use or maintain point-of-use water filtration devices, as required by the regulations adopted pursuant to this section, the family daycare home shall be required to submit to the department, within 185 210 days, documentation demonstrating six months of use and maintenance of the point-of-use water filtration devices as required by the regulations adopted pursuant to this section.
(B) (i) If the department determines that the family daycare home has not complied with clause (iii) of subparagraph (A), the department shall require the family daycare home to test, as soon as possible, for lead in drinking water at all point-of-use water filtration devices to determine if the point-of-use water filtration devices are reducing lead in drinking water to below five parts per billion.
(ii) The department shall develop requirements for the collection and submission of water samples by an external water sampler, certified according to procedures determined by the department, to a laboratory accredited pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 100825) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 101.
(iii) A laboratory receiving a drinking water sample submitted pursuant to this subparagraph shall, in a timely manner, electronically submit its test results to the State Water Resources Control Board using data submission methods that are acceptable to the board.
(C) The department shall require a licensed family daycare home to notify the parents or legal guardians of children in the care of a family daycare home of a requirement to conduct lead testing within five business days of being issued a requirement to test by the department, and to notify those parents or legal guardians of the test results within five business days of receipt of the results from the laboratory.
(D) The department shall require a licensed family daycare home with lead levels above five parts per
billion to immediately make inoperable and cease using any faucet where lead levels above five parts per billion exist and to make a potable source of water available to all children in the care of the family daycare home
ensure that the children in the care of the family daycare home are only being served an alternative source of potable water and that an alternative source of potable water is used to prepare all food served to children until the family daycare home can provide records and receipts that show filter cartridges have been replaced for all point-of-use water filtration devices. The alternative source of potable water shall contain a lead level below five parts per billion and may include bottled water.
(E) Pursuant to Section 1596.886, the department shall temporarily suspend the license for a licensed family daycare home that does not comply with one or more of the requirements established pursuant to subparagraph (B), (C), or (D).
(6) Exempt a licensed family daycare home from the requirements established by the regulations adopted pursuant to this section if the family daycare home provides two rounds of test results from a laboratory that has a current accreditation pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 100825) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 101 to the department showing that, within the one year prior to submission of the results to the department, the lead level in drinking water in the daycare home did not exceed one part per billion.
(c) The department shall provide to family daycare homes a list of point-of-use water filtration devices that meet the requirements established by the regulations adopted pursuant to this section.
(d) For lead test results submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board pursuant to this section, the board shall, in a timely manner, report lead test results for a family daycare home with
lead levels above five parts per billion to the department.
(e) In developing the regulations under this section, the department shall include a public stakeholder process.
(f) Notwithstanding the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), the department may implement and administer the changes made by this section through all-county letters or similar written instructions until regulations are adopted.
(g) On or before July 1, 2029, the department shall submit a report to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature that includes all of the following:
(1) The annual percentage and total number of licensed family daycare homes that were exempt from the requirements under this section pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (b).
(2) The annual percentage and total number of licensed family daycare homes that were issued only a letter of violation under this section.
(3) The annual percentage and total number of licensed family daycare homes that were issued a letter of violation followed by a temporary license suspension under this section, disaggregated by the reason for the temporary license suspension.
(4) The annual percentage and total number of licensed family daycare homes with test results collected pursuant to this section with lead levels in
drinking water above five parts per billion.
(h) Funds provided to the state from the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Voluntary School and Child Care Lead Testing and Reduction Grant Program in the 2024–25, 2025–26, and 2026–27 fiscal years may be used to provide point-of-use water filtration devices to family daycare homes.
(1) Funding priority for provision of water filters pursuant to this paragraph shall be given to family daycare home providers that primarily care for low-income children.
(2) Filters provided pursuant to this subdivision shall meet the requirements
established by the department in the regulations adopted pursuant to this section.
(i) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under subdivision (g) is inoperative on July 1, 2033, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (g) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
