Bill Text: CA SB385 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Primary drinking water standards: hexavalent chromium: compliance plan.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2015-09-04 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 272, Statutes of 2015. [SB385 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB385-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 385 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 272
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 18, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 19, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hueso
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo and Eduardo Garcia)
(Coauthors: Senators Cannella and Stone)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Dodd and Mayes)
FEBRUARY 24, 2015
An act to add and repeal Section 116431 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to drinking water, and declaring the urgency thereof,
to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 385, Hueso. Primary drinking water standards: hexavalent
chromium: compliance plan.
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, and
required a primary drinking water standard to be established for
hexavalent chromium by January 1, 2004. Existing law authorizes the
state board to grant a variance from primary drinking water standards
to a public water system. Existing law makes certain violations of
the act a crime.
This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2020, the state board,
at the request of a public water system that prepares and submits a
compliance plan to the state board, to grant a period of time to
achieve compliance with the primary drinking water standard for
hexavalent chromium by approving the compliance plan, as prescribed.
This bill would require a public water system to provide specified
notice regarding the compliance plan to the persons served by the
public water system and the public water system to send written
status reports to the state board. This bill would prohibit a public
water system from being deemed in violation of the primary drinking
water standard for hexavalent chromium while implementing an approved
compliance plan or while state board action on its proposed and
submitted compliance plan is pending.
The bill would authorize the state board to direct revisions to a
compliance plan if the board makes certain determinations and would
prohibit a public water system from being granted a period of time to
achieve compliance under certain circumstances, including if the
public water system does not submit a revised compliance plan or the
revised compliance plan is disapproved. The bill would authorize the
state board to implement, interpret, or make specific these
provisions by means of criteria, published on its Internet Web site.
To the extent that a public water system, when requesting approval of
a compliance plan or submitting a report 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.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 116431 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
116431. (a) At the request of any public water system that
prepares and submits a compliance plan to the state board, the state
board may grant a period of time to achieve compliance with the
primary drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium by the state
board's written approval of the compliance plan.
(b) (1) A compliance plan shall include all of the following:
(A) A compelling reason why it is not feasible for the system to
presently comply with the primary drinking water standard for
hexavalent chromium.
(B) A summary of the public water system's review of available
funding sources, the best available technology or technologies for
treatment, and other options to achieve and maintain compliance with
the primary drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium by the
earliest feasible date.
(C) A description of the actions the public water system is taking
and will take by milestone dates to comply with the primary drinking
water standard for hexavalent chromium by the earliest feasible
date. The actions may include, but are not limited to, planning,
designing, permitting, financing, constructing, testing, and
activating treatment facilities or other capital improvements. The
compliance plan shall include the public water system's best estimate
of the funding required for compliance and the actions that the
public water system will take to secure the funding. In no event
shall the earliest feasible date extend beyond January 1, 2020.
(2) The state board may do either of the following:
(A) Approve a compliance plan.
(B) Provide written comments on the compliance plan to the public
water system. The comments may include requiring the public water
system's compliance, prior to January 1, 2020, with the primary
drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium if the earliest
feasible date, based on review of the compliance plan and based on
the public water system's specific circumstances identified in the
plan, is prior to January 1, 2020. If the state board provides
written comments, the public water system may submit a revised
compliance plan that the state board may approve if the plan timely
and adequately addresses any and all written comments provided by the
state board.
(c) The public water system shall provide written notice regarding
the compliance plan to the persons served by the public water system
at least two times per year. The written notice shall meet the
translation requirements provided in subdivision (h) of Section
116450 and shall include notice of all of the following:
(1) That the public water system is implementing the compliance
plan that has been approved by the state board and that demonstrates
the public water system is taking the needed feasible actions to
comply with the primary drinking water standard for hexavalent
chromium. The notice shall summarize those actions in a form and
manner determined by the state board. For notices after the initial
notice, the public water system shall update information
demonstrating progress implementing the compliance plan.
(2) That the persons served by the public water system have access
to alternative drinking water and that the public water system shall
provide information on that drinking water. The notice shall
identify where that information may be obtained.
(3) Basic information describing hexavalent chromium, including
the level found in drinking water provided by the public water
system, the maximum contaminant level for hexavalent chromium, and
the possible effects of hexavalent chromium on human health as
specified in Appendix 64465-D of Section 64465 of Title 22 of the
California Code of Regulations.
(d) Following the state board's approval of the compliance plan,
the public water system shall submit a written status report to the
state board, at a frequency and by a deadline or deadlines set by the
state board, for the state board's approval, that updates the status
of actions specified in the state board-approved compliance plan and
that specifies any changes to the compliance plan that are needed to
achieve compliance with the primary drinking water standard for
hexavalent chromium by the earliest feasible date. State board
approval of a written status report that includes proposed changes to
the compliance plan shall be deemed approval of the proposed changes
to the compliance plan and the resulting revised plan.
(e) A public water system shall not be deemed in violation of the
primary drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium while
implementing an approved compliance plan. A public water system that
has submitted a compliance plan for approval shall not be deemed in
violation of the primary drinking water standard for hexavalent
chromium while state board action on the proposed and submitted
compliance plan is pending.
(f) (1) At any time, the state board may direct revisions to a
compliance plan or disapprove a compliance plan if the state board
determines that the actions and timelines addressed in the compliance
plan are inadequate to achieve compliance by the earliest feasible
date. At any time, the state board may disapprove a written status
report if the state board determines that the written status report
fails to demonstrate that the public water system is complying with
the approved compliance plan by the milestone dates. In these
instances, the state board shall provide the public water system with
written notice specifying the reason for the required revisions or
disapproval and the deficiencies that shall be addressed in a
resubmitted compliance plan or written status report.
(2) A previously approved compliance plan that the state board
requires to be revised, or a written status report that is
disapproved by the state board, may be revised and resubmitted by the
public water system for state board approval within 60 days of
receipt of the notice required by paragraph (1). During the 60 days,
a public water system shall not be deemed in violation of the primary
drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium. A public water
system shall not be granted a period of time to achieve compliance
with the primary drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium if
the public water system fails to submit a revised compliance plan or
revised written status report within 60 days of receiving the notice,
or submits a revised compliance plan or revised written status
report that is subsequently disapproved.
(3) A compliance plan approved by the state board pursuant to this
section shall continue in effect until the earliest feasible
compliance date, as specified by the compliance plan, or until the
water system fails to retain state board approval of the compliance
plan.
(g) The state board may implement, interpret, or make specific the
provisions of this section by means of criteria, published on its
Internet Web site. This action by the state board shall not be
subject to the rulemaking requirements of the Administrative
Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1
of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(h) This section does not affect the state's requirements for
establishing drinking water standards for contaminants in drinking
water. This section does not apply to any contaminants other than
hexavalent chromium. This section is intended to address the specific
circumstance that, for some public water systems, compliance with
the state's hexavalent chromium drinking water standard requires the
design, financing, and construction of capital improvements. These
major compliance actions necessitate a period of time for compliance.
(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. 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.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
The state's regulation setting the new maximum contaminant level
for hexavalent chromium VI went into effect on July 1, 2014. The
regulation required that the initial compliance monitoring under the
regulation be performed by January 1, 2015. Some public water systems
need to take major compliance actions, such as designing, financing,
and constructing water treatment facilities, to comply with the new
regulation. To avoid the systems being deemed in violation of the
regulation in 2015, and for a limited time period thereafter, it is
necessary for this act, which authorizes a period of time to achieve
compliance, to take effect immediately.
