BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1194
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 5, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
William W. Monning, Chair
AB 1194 (Block) - As Introduced: February 18, 2011
SUBJECT : Drinking water.
SUMMARY : Makes a number of changes to the Calderon-Sher Safe
Drinking Water Act to conform it to federal law. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Adds "cooking, including, but not limited to, preparing food
and washing dishes" to the definition of "human consumption"
in existing law that describes which uses of water constitute
human consumption.
2)Exempts, from regulation, public water systems that sell water
to users through a submetered distribution system if the water
supply is obtained from a public water system only if each
user of the submetered system is not charged a higher rate
than the user would be charged by the public water system.
3)Repeals existing law that requires the Department of Public
Health (DPH) to exempt noncommunity water systems that meet
specified criteria from water quality requirements.
4)Makes other technical, clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Drinking Water Program (DWP) within DPH to
regulate public drinking water systems.
2)Defines "human consumption" as the use of water for drinking,
bathing or showering, hand washing, or oral hygiene.
3)Exempts public water systems that meet specified conditions,
including systems that sell water to users through a
submetered service system if the water supply is obtained from
a regulated public water system.
4)Requires DPH to exempt from water quality requirements any
noncommunity water system serving a transient population that
provides restrooms for employees or the public provided that
AB 1194
Page 2
the water system demonstrates that it meets all of the
following criteria:
a) The water system is in compliance with either of the
following:
i) No water is served by the water system for any
public human consumption other than for handwashing; or,
i) If water is served for public human consumption
other than for handwashing, bottled water from a source
approved by DPH is provided for the consumption other
than handwashing.
a) The water for handwashing is bacteriologically safe, as
specified; and,
b) The noncommunity water system is not a business
regulated as a food facility.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, as a state
with federally delegated authority (referred to as a primacy
state), California's laws and regulations must conform to the
federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and be no less
stringent than federal safe drinking water regulations.
Should California's laws or regulations fail to conform with
the federal laws and regulations, California could lose state
primacy, which would result in the loss of up to $132 million
annually from the federal Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). The author states that EPA could reduce or withhold
DPH's funding for implementing a drinking water primacy
program and for public water system infrastructure
improvements, which would hinder systems' ability to provide
safe drinking water. The author further states that a loss of
funding would hinder DPH's ability to carry out its regulatory
activities through the DWP.
2)BACKGROUND . The EPA delegates its authority to California to
implement a drinking water program, which is administered by
DPH. To retain this authority, California's statute and
regulations related to drinking water must conform to and be
no less stringent than the federal SDWA and federal
regulations.
According to the DWP, two Field Operations Branches (FOBs) are
AB 1194
Page 3
responsible for the enforcement of the federal and California
SDWAs and the regulatory oversight of approximately 7,500
public water systems to assure the delivery of safe drinking
water to all Californians. The FOBs perform field
inspections, issue operating permits, review plans and
specifications for new facilities, take enforcement actions
for non-compliance with laws and regulations, review water
quality monitoring results, and support and promote water
system security. In addition, FOB staff are involved in
funding infrastructure improvements, conducting source water
assessments, evaluating projects utilizing recycled treated
wastewater, and promoting and assisting public water systems
in drought preparation and water conservation. FOB staff work
with the federal EPA, the State Water Resources Control Board,
Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and other parties
interested in the protection of drinking water supplies. On
the local level, FOB staff work with county health
departments, planning departments, and boards of supervisors.
Primacy has been delegated by DPH to certain county health
departments for regulatory oversight of small water systems,
and FOB staff provide oversight, technical assistance, and
training for the local primacy agency personnel.
3)CONFORMITY TO FEDERAL LAW . DPH, the sponsor of this bill,
states that the changes in this bill are necessary for the
following reasons:
a) The EPA contends that Health and Safety Code (HSC)
Section 116275, which defines "human consumption," is not
broad enough to conform to the federal provision, in
particular whether it includes cooking and food
preparation, and other such forms of human ingestion of
water.
b) HSC Section 116280(c) currently covers apartments and
other multi-unit dwellings, and exempts them from
regulation as public water systems. The EPA contends that
the coverage of that section lacks clarity, may be
inconsistent with federal policy, and that it is more
appropriate to describe the criteria for the exemption
rather than citing the Public Utilities Code.
c) HSC Section 116282 authorizes DPH to exempt from most
water quality requirements any system that does not serve
residents provided that certain requirements are met. One
AB 1194
Page 4
requirement is that the system either only serves water for
hand washing, or, if it serves water for other purposes,
makes bottled water available for those purposes. Federal
law provides no similar exemption; therefore, California
law is less stringent than federal law.
d) HSC Section 116650 currently authorizes penalties
against public water systems of up to $1,000 per day for
violation of a primary drinking water standard and certain
health-based secondary standards, but authorizes a penalty
of only $200 per day for other violations. Further, in
some instances, California's SDWA does not authorize such
penalties until DPH first issues a citation with a deadline
by which the system must come into compliance and DPH finds
that the system fails to meet that deadline. Consequently,
a system can avoid paying a penalty for the days on which
it violated applicable laws or regulations by coming into
compliance. Federal law, however, authorizes a penalty of
up to $1,000 per day per violation. There is no ability to
avoid penalty payments such as that in state law, making it
less stringent than the applicable federal requirements.
4)DOUBLE REFERRAL . This bill is double referred. Should it
pass out of this committee, it will be referred to the
Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic
Materials.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Department of Public Health (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Melanie Moreno / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097