BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1194|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1194
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 8/18/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/22/11
AYES: Hernandez, Strickland, Alquist, Anderson, Blakeslee,
De León, DeSaulnier, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Rubio
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 7/6/11
AYES: Simitian, Strickland, Blakeslee, Hancock, Kehoe,
Lowenthal, Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/19/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Drinking water
SOURCE : California Department of Public Health
DIGEST : This bill makes changes to the California Safe
Drinking Water Act to conform to federal law.
ANALYSIS :
Existing federal law :
1. Establishes the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (federal
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SDWA) to regulate the nation's public drinking water
supply.
2. Requires the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (US EPA) to establish mandatory nationwide
drinking water standards.
3. Requires state drinking water programs to set drinking
water standards that are at least as stringent as the US
EPA standards.
Existing state law :
1. Establishes the California Safe Drinking Water Act (Act)
to govern the state's Drinking Water Program and to be
the delegated authority by the US EPA for enforcement of
the federal SDWA.
2. Establishes the Drinking Water Program within the
California Department of Public Health (DPH) to regulate
public drinking water systems and enforce federal and
state drinking water acts.
3. Under the Act, defines "human consumption" to mean the
use of water for drinking, bathing or showering,
handwashing, or oral hygiene.
4. Under the Act, 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.
5. 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 the water system meets all of the
following criteria:
A. No water is served by the water system for any
public human consumption other than for
handwashing.
B. If water is served for public human consumption
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other than for handwashing, bottled water from a
source approved by DPH is provided.
C. The water for handwashing is bacteriologically
safe, as specified.
D. The noncommunity water system is not a business
regulated as a food facility.
6. Authorizes DPH to levy 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; and authorizes a penalty of $200
per day for other violations, as specified.
This bill:
1. Adds the use of water for cooking, preparing food, and
washing dishes to the definition of human consumption
under the Act.
2. Narrows an exemption from regulation for public water
systems that sell water to users through a submetered
distribution system, by also requiring that users not be
charged higher rates than users would otherwise be
charged by the public water system.
3. Repeals the exemption for noncommunity water systems
serving transient populations from water quality
requirements in the Act.
4. Revises penalty provisions, including authorizing DPH to
levy penalties per day, per violation, beginning from
the date the violation occurred, rather than from the
date specified for correction in the citation or order.
5. States that no reimbursement is required by the state
because a local agency or school district has the
authority to levy services charge, fees, or assessments
sufficient to pay for the program.
6. Makes other technical and clarifying changes.
Comments
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DPH, the sponsor of this bill, argues that this bill is
necessary to amend the California SDWA to ensure
conformance with federal law from time to time. DPH claims
that in meetings and correspondence with the US EPA
regarding federal SDWA, US EPA writes, "Existing state law,
which defines 'human consumption,' is not broad enough to
conform to the federal provision because it omits cooking,
food preparation, and other such forms of human ingestion
of water.
"Existing state law exempts apartments and other multi-unit
dwellings from regulation as public water systems. US EPA
contends that specified sections of California's drinking
water statutes referring to the exemption criteria, lack
clarity and are inconsistent with federal policy. US EPA
believes it is more appropriate to explicitly describe the
criteria for exemption.
"Existing state law authorizes DPH to exempt from most
water quality requirements any system that does not serve
residents, provided that certain requirements are met,
including 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 in this area is less stringent than federal law.
"Existing state law authorizes penalties against public
water systems of up to $1,000 per day for a 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. 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 public
water system may 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 that cannot
be avoided by coming into compliance, as allowed under
state law. California law in this area is less stringent
than the applicable federal requirements."
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This bill responds to these concerns by updating the
provisions of the California SDWA to conform to the federal
SDWA.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/11)
California Department of Public Health (source)
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gorell
CTW:do 8/18/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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