BILL NUMBER: AB 559 AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 2007 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ruskin ( Coauthor: Senator Migden ) FEBRUARY 21, 2007 An act to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 116900) to Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public water systems. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 559, as amended, Ruskin. Public water systems. Existing law, known as the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Department of Health Services to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health, including, but not limited to, conducting research, studies, and demonstration programs relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, adoption of enforcement regulations, and conducting studies and investigations to assess the quality of water in domestic water supplies. Existing law, the Calderon-Sher Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996, requires the State Department of Health Services to submit to the Legislature a Comprehensive Safe Drinking Water Plan for California once every 5 years, and to take all reasonable measures necessary to reduce the risk to the public health from waterborne illnesses in drinking water caused by cryptosporidium and giardia. Effective July 1, 2007, responsibility for the administration of the above-mentioned provisions will be transferred to the State Department of Public Health. This bill would require the department to identify treatment methods, technologies, and other management options that reduce or eliminate the need to add disinfectants or additives to drinking water, to report to the Legislature on its progress by July 1, 2009, and to post the report and data on its Internet Web site. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 116900) is added to Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, to read: CHAPTER 6. DRINKING WATER TREATMENT 116900. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that chemicals used to treat drinking water often produce disinfection byproducts which can have detrimental public health and safety and environmental effects. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage the development of safe, cost-effective options for the treatment of drinking water that eliminate or reduce potentially dangerous disinfection byproducts. 116902. (a) The department shall do all of the following:(1) Identify potentially dangerous drinking water disinfection byproducts and their persistence in the environment. Identify(1) Identify treatment methods, technologies, and other management options that reduce or eliminate the need to add chlorine, chloramines, or other additives to drinking water as a disinfectant. (2) In evaluating these options, the water quality and environmental benefits treatment options may have, including the removal of other contaminants, and the reduction in the need for chemical disinfectants. (3) Develop a strategy to encourage the development of these options including identifying research needs, preparing cost benefit analyses, implementing pilot projects, and other efforts to encourage the development of options. 116904. (a) The department shall work in collaboration with the Regents of the University of California, the Chancellor of the California State University, and appropriate state agencies to implement this chapter, and may work with other groups as appropriate. (b) The department shall report to the Legislature by July 1, 2009, on its progress in implementing this chapter. (c) The department shall make the report, and the data and information gathered as a result of implementing this chapter, available on its Internet Web site. (d) The department shall annually update and make available on its Internet Web site, information on new treatment options identified in implementing this chapter.