BILL NUMBER: SB 482	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 25, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 30, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Kehoe

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to amend Sections 115875, 115880, 115885, 115890, 115895,
and 115915 of, to add Section 115881 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 amended, 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 administration of the provisions relating to
monitoring site locations, monitoring frequency, and public
notification to the board and would leave in place the regulations
existing as of January 1, 2012, to be administered, enforced, and
amended as necessary by the board. The bill would delete related
findings.
   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.  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) "Department" means the State Department of Public Health.
   (d) "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 shall by regulation, in consultation
with the board, 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, 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:
   (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 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 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 determines are
appropriate for testing pursuant to paragraph (1).
  SEC. 3.  Section 115881 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
   115881.  (a) Commencing January 1, 2012, primary jurisdiction
shall be transferred from the department to the board for state
administration of all of the following:
   (1) Determining monitoring site locations and monitoring frequency
based on risks to public health and options for modifying wastewater
and stormwater discharge monitoring requirements of local agencies
as a method of meeting the requirements set forth in Section 115880.
   (2) Making decisions regarding public notification of health
hazards, including, but not limited to, the posting, closing, and
reopening of public beaches.
   (3) Requiring that the waters adjacent to public beaches are
tested for total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria,
or for other microbiological indicators that the department
determines are appropriate for testing pursuant to paragraph (1).
Except as set forth in subdivision (b), testing shall be conducted on
at least a weekly basis year round 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.
   (b) The monitoring frequency and locations established pursuant to
this section and related regulations may only be reduced or altered
after the testing required pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision
(a) reveals levels of microbiological contaminants that do not exceed
 ,  for a period of two years  ,  the minimum
protective standards established pursuant to Section 115880.
   (c) Regulations adopted by the department for the implementation
of this article that are in effect as of January 1, 2012, shall
remain in effect and shall, thereafter, be administered, enforced,
and amended as necessary by the board.
    (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 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  Public
Health Officer   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  Public
Health Officer   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.
  SEC. 4.  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 violation of any standard
established by the department pursuant to Section 115880. If the
health officer finds any violation of the standards prescribed by the
department, 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. The department 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 Sections 115880 and 115881.
   (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.

  SEC. 5.  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 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. 6.  Section 115895 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
   115895.  Any private person who violates any regulation adopted by
the department pursuant to Section 115880 is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
  SEC. 7.  Section 115900 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
  SEC. 8.  Section 115905 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
  SEC. 9.  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.