Bill Text: CA SB1398 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Public water systems: lead user service lines.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 731, Statutes of 2016. [SB1398 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB1398-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1398 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 731
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 20, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Leyva
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Section 116885 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to drinking water.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1398, Leyva. Public water systems: lead user service lines.
Existing law requires public water systems to take specified
actions to test for and remediate certain contaminants in drinking
water, including lead and copper. Existing law prohibits the use of
any pipe, pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture, solder, or flux that
is not lead free in the installation or repair of any public water
system or any plumbing in a facility providing water for human
consumption, except as specified.
This bill would require a public water system to compile an
inventory of known lead user service lines in use in its distribution
system and identify areas that may have lead user service lines in
use in its distribution system by July 1, 2018. This bill would
require a public water system, after completing the inventory, to
provide a timeline for replacement of known lead user service lines
in the distribution system to the State Water Resources Control
Board. This bill would require, by July 1, 2020, a public water
system with areas that may have lead user service lines in use in its
distribution system to either determine the existence or absence of
lead user service lines in these areas and provide that information
to the board or provide a timeline for replacement of the user
service lines whose content cannot be determined. This bill would
require the board to approve a replacement timeline, as specified.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Lead in public water systems represents a threat to public
health, and any related risks should be assessed and mitigated by
public water systems.
(2) Public water systems in California may not have complete
knowledge and data concerning the existence of lead in their water
distribution systems due to the age of the system, inadequate
recordkeeping, or the addition of service areas for which
recordkeeping was not properly maintained.
(3) Public water systems in the state are required to comply with
a drinking water permit issued by the State Water Resources Control
Board, the United States Environmental Protection Agency's lead and
copper rule, and other state and federal requirements intended to
protect public health. Public water systems are required to regularly
test their water supplies both at the source and within their
distribution systems to ensure that water users are not exposed to
lead.
(b) All of the following is the intent of the Legislature:
(1) To ensure that lead water pipes are identified and replaced as
promptly as practicable.
(2) That public water systems evaluate water service lines of
unidentified composition and take appropriate actions to ascertain
whether they contain lead.
(3) That public water systems manage the replacement of service
lines on a schedule that is commensurate with the risks and costs
involved.
SEC. 2. Section 116885 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
116885. (a) By July 1, 2018, a public water system shall compile
an inventory of known lead user service lines in use in its
distribution system and identify areas that may have lead user
service lines in use in its distribution system.
(b) (1) After completing the inventory required pursuant to
subdivision (a), a public water system shall provide a timeline for
replacement of known lead user service lines in use in its
distribution system to the board.
(2) By July 1, 2020, a public water system with areas that may
have lead user service lines in use in its distribution system shall
do either of the following:
(A) Determine the existence or absence of lead user service lines
in use in its distribution system and provide that information to the
board.
(B) Provide a timeline to the board for replacement of user
service lines whose content cannot be determined.
(c) The board shall approve a timeline established pursuant to
subdivision (b) as follows:
(1) The board shall review a public water system's proposed
timeline for lead user service line replacement and, within 30 days
of submission of the timeline to the board, do either of the
following:
(A) Approve the proposed timeline.
(B) Deny the proposed timeline and propose a revised timeline to
the public water system. The board shall explain to the public water
system, in writing, why the public water system's timeline was not
approved, the factors that the board used to propose a revised
timeline, and why the board used those factors.
(2) If the board fails to act within 30 days of the submission of
the timeline, the timeline shall be deemed approved.
(3) If the public water system rejects the board's proposed
revised timeline, the public water system and the board shall develop
a compromise timeline within 30 days.
(4) An approved timeline or a compromise timeline shall be a
public record and available on the board's Internet Web site.
(5) In cases where a portion of a public water system's
distribution system is located within a Superfund site, as designated
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980, as amended (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9601 et seq.),
under an active cleanup order, the board shall not propose a timeline
for lead user service line replacement that does not conform to any
applicable federal regulatory requirements or timelines.
(d) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(2) "Public water system" has the same meaning as in Section
116275.
(3) "User service line" has the same meaning as in Section
64551.60 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.
