BILL NUMBER: SB 482 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Sections 115875, 115880, 115885, 115890, 115895,
and 115915 of, to add Section 115917 to, and to repeal Sections
115900 and 115905 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to public
health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 482, as introduced, Kehoe. Public beach contamination:
standards: testing: closing.
Existing law requires local health officers to submit to the State
Water Resources Control Board prescribed information regarding beach
postings and closures and requires the board to make that
information available to the public and to post the information on
its Internet Web site.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
adopt regulations to establish minimum standards for the sanitation
of public beaches, as defined, and to require the testing of the
waters adjacent to beaches for microbiological contaminants and to
require posting and closure of beaches that are in violation of the
standards. A violation of these regulations is a crime.
This bill would, commencing January 1, 2012, give primary
responsibility for adopting, amending, and enforcing the regulations
to the board, in consultation with the department. The bill would
delete related findings, and would require the board to report to the
Legislature regarding funding these state and local duties and
options for modifying wastewater discharge monitoring requirements as
an alternative method to meet those requirements.
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. Section 115875 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
115875. "Public beach," as used in this article,
For the purposes of this article, the following terms
have the following meanings:
(a) "Public beach" means any
beach area used by the public for recreational purposes that is
owned, operated, or controlled by the state, any state agency, any
local agency, or any private person in this state, and is located in
the coastal zone, as defined in Section 30103 of the Public Resources
Code, or within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay
Conservation and Development Commission, as set forth in Section
66610 of the Government Code. "Public beach" also includes any
beach of ocean waters and bays of the state where water-contact
sports are engaged in by the public.
(b) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(c) "Health officer" means the legally appointed local health
officer or director of environmental health of the county or city
having jurisdiction of the area in which a public saltwater beach is
located.
SEC. 2. Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115880. (a) The department board
shall by regulation, in consultation with the department,
local health officers , and the public, establish ,
maintain, and amend as necessary, minimum standards for the
sanitation of public beaches, including, but not limited to, the
removal of refuse, as it determines are reasonably necessary for the
protection of the public health and safety.
(b) Prior to final adoption or amendment by the
department board , the regulations and
standards required by this section shall undergo an external
comprehensive review process similar to the process set forth in
Section 57004 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) The regulations shall, at a minimum, do all of the following
, by December 31, 1998 :
(1) Require the testing of the waters adjacent to all public
beaches for microbiological contaminants, including, but not limited
to, total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria. The
department board may require the
testing of waters adjacent to all public beaches for microbiological
indicators other than those set forth in this paragraph, or a subset
of those set forth in this paragraph, if the department
board affirmatively establishes, based on the
best available scientific studies and the weight of the evidence,
that the alternative indicators are as protective of the public
health.
(2) Establish protective minimum standards for total coliform,
fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for other
microbiological indicators that the department
board determines are appropriate for testing pursuant to
paragraph (1).
(3) Establish protocols for all of the following:
(A) Determining monitoring site locations and monitoring frequency
based on risks to public health.
(B) Making decisions regarding public notification of health
hazards, including, but not limited to the posting, closing, and
reopening of public beaches.
(4) Require that the waters adjacent to public beaches be tested
for total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for
other microbiological indicators that the department
board determines are appropriate for testing
pursuant to paragraph (1). Except as set forth in paragraph (5),
testing shall be conducted on at least a weekly basis, from April 1
to October 31, inclusive, of each year, beginning in 1999, if all of
the following apply:
(A) The beach is visited by more than 50,000 people annually.
(B) The beach is located on an area adjacent to a storm drain that
flows in the summer.
(5) The monitoring frequency and locations established pursuant to
this subdivision and related regulations may only be reduced or
altered after the testing required pursuant to paragraph (4) reveals
levels of microbiological contaminants that do not exceed for a
period of two years the minimum protective standards established
pursuant to paragraph (2).
(d) The local health officer shall be responsible for testing the
waters adjacent to, and coordinating the testing of, all public
beaches within his or her jurisdiction.
(e) The local health officer may meet the testing requirements of
this section by utilizing test results from other agencies conducting
microbiological contamination testing of the waters under his or her
jurisdiction.
(f) Any city or county may adopt standards for the sanitation of
public beaches within its jurisdiction that are stricter than the
standards adopted by the state department
board pursuant to this section.
(g) Any duty imposed upon a local public officer or agency
pursuant to this section article shall
be mandatory only during a fiscal year in which the Legislature has
appropriated sufficient funds, as determined by the State
Director of Health Services board , in the
annual Budget Act or otherwise for local agencies to cover the costs
to those agencies associated with the performance of these duties.
The State Director of Health Services board
shall annually, within 15 days after enactment of the Budget
Act, file a written statement with the Secretary of the Senate and
with the Chief Clerk of the Assembly memorializing whether sufficient
funds have been appropriated.
(h) Commencing January 1, 2012, primary jurisdiction over state
administration of this article is transferred from the department to
the board. Regulations of the department implementing this article in
effect immediately preceding January 1, 2012, shall remain in effect
and shall, thereafter, be administered, enforced, and amended as
necessary, by the board.
SEC. 3. Section 115885 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115885. The health officer having jurisdiction over the area in
which a public beach is created shall:
(a) Inspect the public beach to determine whether the standards
established pursuant to Section 115880 are being complied with. If
the health officer finds any violation of the standards, he or she
may restrict the use of, or close, the public beach or portion
thereof in which the violation occurs until the standard is complied
with.
(b) Investigate any complaint of a person of a violation of any
standard established by the department board
pursuant to Section 115880. If the health officer finds any
violation of the standards prescribed by the department
board , he or she may restrict the use of, or
close, the public beach or portion thereof until the standard is
complied with. If the person who made the complaint is not satisfied
with the action taken by the health officer, he or she may report the
violation to the department board .
The department board shall investigate
the reported violation, and, if it finds that the violation exists,
it may restrict the use of or close the public beach or portion
thereof until the standard violated is complied with.
(c) (1) Whenever a beach is posted, closed, or otherwise
restricted in accordance with Section 115915, the health officer
shall inform the agency responsible for the operation and maintenance
of the public beach within 24 hours of the posting, closure, or
restriction.
(2) The health officer shall establish a telephone hotline to
inform the public of all beaches currently closed, posted, or
otherwise restricted. The hotline shall be updated as needed in order
to convey changes in public health risks.
(d) Report any violation of the standards established pursuant to
Section 115880 to the district attorney, or if the violation
occurred in a city and, pursuant to Section 41803.5 of the Government
Code, the city attorney is authorized to prosecute misdemeanors, to
the city attorney.
(e) In the event of a known untreated sewage release, the local
health officer shall immediately test the waters adjacent to the
public beach and to take action pursuant to regulations established
under Section 115880.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of
an untreated sewage release that is known to have reached
recreational waters adjacent to a public beach, the local health
officer shall immediately close those waters until it has been
determined by the local health officer that the waters are in
compliance with the standards established pursuant to Section 115880.
If the department is aware of an untreated sewage release that
has reached recreational waters adjacent to a public beach, and that
the local health officer has not taken action to close the beach, it
may take action to close those waters until the waters are in
compliance.
(g) Any duty imposed upon a local public officer or agency
pursuant to this section shall be mandatory only during a fiscal year
in which the Legislature has appropriated sufficient funds, as
determined by the State Director of Health Services, in the annual
Budget Act or otherwise for local agencies to cover the costs to
those agencies associated with the performance of these duties. The
State Director of Health Services shall annually, within 15 days
after enactment of the Budget Act, file a written statement with the
Secretary of the Senate and with the Chief Clerk of the Assembly
memorializing whether sufficient funds have been appropriated.
SEC. 4. Section 115890 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115890. Prior to restricting the use of or closing a public beach
or portion thereof alleged to be in violation of standards, the
health officer, the board, or the department as the case
may be, shall give reasonable notice of the violation to the owner
of, or person or agency in charge of, the beach.
SEC. 5. Section 115895 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115895. Any private person who violates any regulation adopted by
the state department board pursuant to
Section 115880 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
SEC. 6. Section 115900 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
115900. For the purposes of Sections 115900 to 115915, inclusive,
the following definitions apply:
(a) "Beach" means any public beach of the ocean waters and bays
of the state where water-contact sports are engaged in by the public.
(b) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(c) "Health officer" means the legally appointed health officer
or director of environmental health of the county or city having
jurisdiction of the area in which a public saltwater beach is
located.
SEC. 7. Section 115905 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
115905. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California's world-famous beaches are an invaluable economic,
environmental, and recreational resource that must be protected for
present and future generations. Millions of residents and visitors
alike visit the state's beaches annually.
(b) Pollution from toxic spills, untreated municipal sewage, and
agricultural and urban runoff threatens this critical resource.
(c) During 1989 through 1991 alone, at least 400 of the state's
beaches had to be posted "off-limits" due to dangerous levels of
bacterial and toxic contamination.
(d) Due to this pollution, local health officials were forced to
close one or more beaches between San Diego and Mendocino Counties
for all but 18 days in 1991.
(e) This contamination of our beaches poses serious threats to
the public's health, increasing the risk that persons who use the
beaches will suffer from hepatitis, gastroenteritis, and other
dangerous illnesses.
(f) Notwithstanding the importance and potential severity of this
problem, the state has never conducted a statewide survey to
document annual beach closings.
(g) The state does not have uniform testing protocols that must
be followed to ensure that the public is never exposed to dangerous
contamination at the state's beaches.
(h) The state does not have uniform standards requiring beach
postings when California Ocean Plan bathing water standards, as
adopted by the board pursuant to Section 13170.2 of the Water Code,
are exceeded.
(i) The state does not have uniform requirements mandating the
frequency with which beach waters must be tested to ensure public
safety. Beach water sampling currently varies greatly from county to
county. For example, Los Angeles County tests its beaches every week
of the year while other coastal counties test much less frequently.
(j) More accurate and centralized recordkeeping on the relative
contributions of pollutant sources to beach closures would enable
more effective targeting of corrective actions to keep our beaches
safe and our coastal areas economically strong.
SEC. 8. Section 115915 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115915. (a) Whenever any beach fails to meet the bacteriological
standards established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 115880,
the health officer shall, at a minimum, post the beach with
conspicuous warning signs to inform the public of the nature of the
problem and the possibility of risk to public health.
(b) A warning sign shall be visible from each legal primary beach
access point, as identified in the coastal access inventory prepared
and updated pursuant to Section 30531 of the Public Resources Code,
and any additional access points identified by the health officer.
(c) Any duty imposed upon a local public officer or agency
pursuant to this section shall be mandatory only during a fiscal year
in which the Legislature has appropriated sufficient funds, as
determined by the State Director of Health Services, in the annual
Budget Act or otherwise for local agencies to cover the costs to
those agencies associated with the performance of these duties. The
State Director of Health Services shall annually, within 15 days
after enactment of the Budget Act, file a written statement with the
Secretary of the Senate and with the Chief Clerk of the Assembly
memorializing whether sufficient funds have been appropriated.
SEC. 9. Section 115917 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
115917. By June 30, 2012, the board shall, in consultation with
the local health officers and other stakeholders, submit a plan to
the Legislature regarding options for sustainable funding for the
payment of costs associated with performance of state and local
duties under this article and options for modifying wastewater
discharge monitoring requirements of local agencies as an alternative
method of meeting the requirements set forth in Section 115880.