BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1953
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1953 (Chan)
As Amended May 1, 2006
Majority vote
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 5-2
APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
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|Ayes:|Ruskin, Chu, De La Torre, |Ayes:|Chu, Bass, Berg, |
| |Goldberg, | |Karnette, |
| |Pavley | |Klehs, Leno, Nation, |
| | | |Oropeza, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Saldana, |
| | | |Yee |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Tran, Strickland |Nays:|Sharon Runner, Emmerson, |
| | | |Haynes, Nakanishi, |
| | | |Walters |
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SUMMARY : Changes the meaning of term "lead free" in the Health
and Safety Code from 8% lead for pipes or pipe fittings, and 4%
lead for plumbing fittings and fixtures to .25% lead effective
July 1, 2008.
EXISTING LAW defines "lead free" to mean not more than 8% when
used with respect to pipes and pipe fittings [Health and Safety
Code Section 116875 (e)]. With respect to plumbing fittings and
fixtures, "lead free" means not more than 4% by dry weight after
August 6, 2002, unless the Department of Health Services has
adopted a standard, based on health effects, for the leaching of
lead.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor potential increased construction costs for
state, local and school district capital, maintenance, and
rehabilitation projects to the extent these ultra-low lead
content pipes, fittings and fixtures are more expensive than
higher content lead components (General Fund and bond proceeds).
COMMENTS :
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1)Lead: unsafe at any level: The dangers of lead are well
documented. Lead is a neurotoxin that is particularly
hazardous to children. Even very low levels in young children
can result in reduced IQ, learning disabilities, attention
deficit disorder, behavioral problems, stunted growth,
impaired hearing and kidney damage. In adults lead causes
high blood pressure, fertility problems, nerve disorders,
muscle and joint pain, irritability, memory and concentration
problems. Pregnant women pass on lead contained in their
bodies to their fetus. Although the incidence of lead
poisoning in children has been greatly reduced from the early
1980's, when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that
as many as 82% of America's children were suffering to some
degree from lead poisoning, today's level of slightly under
10% is still too high.
2)Challenges in getting lead free water to tap: Even when water
agencies treat water to levels meet the public health goal
(PHG), lead can leach into the water as it moves from the
treatment plant, through the water main, meters and valves,
into household plumbing and through faucets. This is
particularly so in areas where reverse osmosis (RO) is being
used to remove contaminants from water or for desalination and
where chloramines are used as a disinfectant as RO and
chloramines treated water is corrosive. Statewide the trend
is towards more intensive treatment and use of chloramines to
address the seemingly never ending barrage of emerging
contaminants and resulting state and federal water quality
regulations. Though corrosion control treatments are being
used by water systems throughout the state, it is not enough
to keep the lead out.
3)Getting the lead out: from 1991 to the present: The 1991
United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency Lead and
Copper Rule (LCR) established the most protective lead
standard for first draw drinking water in the world. LCR has
four main functions: a) require water suppliers to optimize
their treatment system to control corrosion in customers'
plumbing; b) determine tap water levels of lead and copper
for customers who have lead service lines or lead-based solder
in their plumbing system; c) rule out the source water as a
source of significant lead levels; and, d) if action levels
are exceeded, require the suppliers to educate their customers
about lead and suggest actions they can take to reduce their
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exposure to lead through public notices and public education
programs. If a water system, after installing and optimizing
corrosion control treatment, continues to fail to meet the
lead action level, it must begin replacing the lead service
lines under its ownership.
4)Numerous pipes and plumbing fixtures are labeled "NSF/ANSI
Standard 61", a lead performance standard set by the National
Sanitation Foundation (NSF), a non-profit organization. The
standard is not based on the percentage of lead in a product;
rather it is based on the amount of lead introduced by the
product into water when water passes through it. To receive
NSF certification, the product must introduce no more than 1.5
parts per billion per component. Proposition 65 (Health and
Safety Code Section 25249.5 et seq.) is enforced through
citizen suits. The terms of a 1996 litigation settlement
requires application of the NSF Standard 61 performance test
to measure compliance with Proposition 65. As useful as NSF
Standard 61 has been in driving the reduction of lead in
pipes, it may not account for the trend toward increasing
corrosivity of water in California resulting from intensive
treatment processes. Increased corrosivity means that more
lead will leach from a pipe than would otherwise be the case.
Moreover, it is not clear that the NSF testing adequately
accounts for what happens to pipes over time as they wear out.
Many manufacturers are using technologies to keep the lead
from coming into contact with the water while still using it
for the pipe or fixture. However, as the internal coating
wears off, there is a risk of lead leaching into the water.
5)Cast lead-containing brasses present the largest leaching
problem due to the lead segregated to the inside surfaces
during solidification of the casting. Although chemical
removal of this surface lead has shown promise in the
laboratory, and coating techniques have been tried, the direct
approach of using essentially lead-free alloys has proved, for
some manufacturers, to be an attractive approach to meeting
the lead leaching requirement of NSF Standard 61. The sponsor
of the bill, East Bay Municipal Utility District, believes
that an eventual phase-out of lead containing products within
the drinking water system will help to alleviate ongoing
public health risks and that lead free alternatives will
reduce in price as the market expands.
AB 1953
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6)If industry can get the lead out, shouldn't it? Lead is an
important alloying element. It provides the excellent
machinability required for high production rates and insures
pressure tightness. Bismuth has proved to be an effective
substitute for lead, although there were a number of
metallurgical problems to solve. Bismuth is nontoxic except
in immense dosage. It is a common ingredient in stomach
remedies. According to the Copper Development Association,
foundries are adopting, or considering adopting, the
bismuth-modified alloys for a variety of cast products
unrelated to drinking water, even including cast bronze
bearings. Use of lead-free alloys is one approach for a
foundry to employ to meet U.S. lead-in-air regulations and to
avoid the expense of disposal of lead-contaminated foundry
sands. Though bismuth-modified alloys are somewhat more
expensive than lead, they may prove to be a cost effective
solution for foundry environmental problems that are much
broader than drinking water quality. There are now more than
10 bismuth-modified alloys now available on the U.S. market.
These alloys are basically one-to-one replacements for the
lead-containing alloys. The mechanical properties are very
similar, although the tensile ductilities of all of the
bismuth brasses are somewhat lower than those of the leaded
equivalents. Machinability of these alloys is comparable to
their leaded counterparts.
7)A variety of domestically available lead-free products would
meet or exceed the requirements of this bill. Cambridge Brass
manufactures Lead Free Waterworks Brass, a product that
contains .10% lead. Cambridge manufactures main stops, curb
stops, meter valves and meter couplings and accessories. A.Y.
McDonald Manufacturing Co. manufactures main stops, curb
stops, meter valves and meter couplings and accessories and
numerous products that contain less than .01% lead. These
include various styles of connections, plug style corporation
stops, plug style curb stops, ball valve style corporation
stops, ball valve style curb stops, saddles, and check values.
Taracorp, a domestic manufacturer of solder and flux,
manufactures these products in lead free versions, sold as
Taramet Sterling. In addition, several U.S. manufactures of
fixtures are close to reaching the requirements of this bill,
though they would have to retool to meet the .25 standard.
There are European manufacturers who make fixtures that would
meet the requirements of this bill which demonstrates that it
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is possible.
Analysis Prepared by : Heather A Halsey / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN: 0014143