BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 482| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: SB 482 Author: Kehoe (D) Amended: 5/31/11 Vote: 21 SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 6-3, 4/6/11 AYES: Hernandez, Alquist, De León, DeSaulnier, Rubio, Wolk NOES: Strickland, Anderson, Blakeslee SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-1, 5/2/11 AYES: Simitian, Hancock, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley NOES: Blakeslee NO VOTE RECORDED: Strickland SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-2, 5/26/11 AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg NOES: Walters, Runner NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson SUBJECT : Public beach contamination: standards: testing: closing SOURCE : California Association of Environmental Health Administrators DIGEST : This bill transfers authority over water quality monitoring at beaches from the Department of Public Health to the State Water Resources Control Board. CONTINUED SB 482 Page 2 ANALYSIS : Existing federal law, under the Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act) administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), requires that all municipal, industrial, and commercial facilities that discharge wastewater or stormwater directly from a point source into water of the United States (such as a lake, river or ocean) must obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. Existing state law: 1. Defines "public beach" as any beach owned, operated or controlled by the state, any state agency, any local agency, any local agency or any private person and is located in the coastal zone or within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission that is used by the public for recreational use. 2. Requires Department of Public Health (DPH) to create regulations establishing minimum standards for the sanitation of public beaches for the protection of the public's health and safety. Requires DPH to consult with local health officers and the public on these regulations. The regulations must undergo an external comprehensive review process. 3. Requires the regulations to do the following by December 31, 1998: Require testing waters adjacent to public beaches for microbiological contaminants, and establish protocols for testing. DPH may require testing of other microbiological indicators based on the best available scientific evidence. Establish protective minimum standards for microbiological indicators that the department determines are appropriate for testing. Establish protocols for determining monitoring site locations and monitoring frequency of public beaches. CONTINUED SB 482 Page 3 Establish protocols for making decisions about public notification of health hazards, including posting, closing and reopening public beaches. 4. Requires, beginning in 1999, that testing be conducted on at least a weekly basis from April 1 to October 31 if the beach is visited by more than 50,000 people annually and the beach is adjacent to a storm drain that flows in the summer. This requirement may be reduced or altered if levels of microbiological contaminants do not exceed minimum protective standards for two years. 5. Defines, for the purposes of this section of law, "health officer" to refer to the appointed local health officer or director of environmental health of the city or county having jurisdiction over the area where a public saltwater beach is located. 6. Makes the local health officer responsible for testing and coordinating the testing of the waters adjacent to public beaches within his/her jurisdiction. 7. Allows the local health officer to use test results from other agencies conducting microbiological contamination testing with in his/her jurisdiction. 8. Requires the health officer to: A. Inspect public beaches to determine if protective minimum standards are being met. B. Close or restrict use of portions or all of public beaches where protective minimum standards have not been met. C. Investigate complaints alleging violations of minimum standards. D. Notify the agency responsible for the operation and maintenance of the beach within 24 hours of the posting, closure, or restriction. CONTINUED SB 482 Page 4 E. Establish a hotline to inform the public about beach closures, postings, or other restrictions. F. Report violations of the standards to the district or city attorney. G. Immediately test waters adjacent to a public beach where an untreated sewage release occurs. If untreated sewage reaches recreational waters adjacent to the public beach, the officer is required to close the public beach until minimum standards have been met. H. Post conspicuous warning signs visible from primary beach access points informing the public of the nature of the problem and the possible risk to public health. I. Perform these duties during fiscal years when the Legislature appropriates sufficient funds. J. Submit a survey to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) containing specified information documenting all beach postings and closures that occurred in the preceding month. 9. Requires DPH to investigate violations of minimum standards when a local health officer's response to a complaint is deemed insufficient by the person issuing the complaint. 10.Allows DPH to close or restrict use of a portion or all of the public beach until the standards are met, and requires DPH to give reasonable notice to the owner or agency in charge of the beach. 11.Requires the Director of Health Services to file a written statement annually with the Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk of the Assembly stating whether CONTINUED SB 482 Page 5 sufficient funds have been appropriated for the purposes of these provisions. 12.Allows any city or county to adopt stricter standards for sanitation of public beaches within their jurisdiction. 13.Establishes SWRCB as a department under the California EPA to protect water quality by setting statewide policy, allocating surface water rights, coordinating and supporting the Regional Water Board efforts, and reviewing petitions that contest Regional Board actions. SWRCB and the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste discharge requirements for the discharge of stormwater by municipalities and industries in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act. 14.Declares that California's beaches are an invaluable economic, environmental, and recreational source, and makes findings that contamination of beaches poses a serious threat to the public's health. This bill: 1. Transfers responsibility for the following provisions from DPH to SWRCB: A. Determining monitoring site locations of beach testing. B. Determining monitoring site frequency based on risks to public health. C. Making decisions about public notification of health hazards, including posting, closing and reopening public beaches. D. Require that waters adjacent to public beaches be tested for microbiological indicators that DPH deems appropriate. 2. Requires SWRCB to determine options for modifying wastewater and stormwater discharge monitoring CONTINUED SB 482 Page 6 requirements of local agencies. 3. Establishes that regulations adopted by DPH currently in effect shall remain in effect and be administered, enforced, and amended as necessary by SWRCB. 4. Requires testing of waters adjacent to public beaches on a weekly basis from April 1 to October 31, each year, beginning in 2012. 5. Expands the definition of a public beach to include any beach of ocean waters and bays of the state where the public engages in water-contact sports. 6. Deletes the requirement to establish regulations requiring testing by December 31, 1998. 7. Requires the Public Health Officer to file a written statement annually with the Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk of the Assembly stating whether sufficient funds have been appropriated for the performance of these duties. Background DPH's Recreational Health Program is responsible for: developing regulatory requirements and guidelines for beaches, fresh water bathing areas, public swimming pools and spas, and the operation of organized camps, developing and implementing initiatives to systemically attack the underlying causes of preventable disease and hazardous conditions associated with our coastal and other recreational waters, and allocating over $1.5 million in assistance funding to local government through contracts to test ocean and bay waters along public beaches to ensure that they are safe for recreational activities. DPH's regulations currently establish the physical standard for healthfulness and safety of ocean water-contact sports areas in California as the absence of visible sewage, CONTINUED SB 482 Page 7 sludge, grease, or other physical evidence of sewage discharge at all times on any public beaches or water-contact sports areas. Regulations also include minimum protective bacteriological standards for total coliform bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, and enterococcus bacteria waters adjacent to public beaches and public water-contact sports areas. Prior Legislation SB 771 (Simitian), Chapter 588, Statutes of 2006, extends restrictions on discharges that apply to cruise ships to include oceangoing ships in state marine waters and marine sanctuaries. AB 411 (Wayne), Chapter 765, Statutes of 1997, requires local health officers to test waters adjacent to public beaches within their jurisdiction and to take related action in the event of a known sewage release. AB 411 also requires the local health officer to post conspicuous warning signs and establish a telephone hotline to inform the public about a beach that fails to meet standards developed by the Department of Health Services as required in the bill. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund Additional testing $430 $860 $860Special* * Waste Discharge Permit Fund SUPPORT : (Verified 5/31/11) California Association of Environmental Health Administrators (source) Alameda County Department of Environmental Health CONTINUED SB 482 Page 8 California Coastal Coalition California Coastkeeper Alliance Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research and Education County of San Diego Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Marin County Environmental Health Services Natural Resources Defense Council San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper Save Our Shores Sierra Club OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/31/11) California Association of Sanitation Agencies Orange County Sanitation District ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Association of Environmental Health Administrators is sponsoring this bill and believes it provides a stable funding source for local environmental health programs throughout California to monitor beach water quality and to warn beach users where the water is not safe to swim. The Sierra Club of California, Save Our Shores, and the Alameda County Department of Environmental Health all claim that, consistent with the recommendations of the Ocean Protection Council, routine monitoring of our ocean waters helps to ensure that our coastal bathing areas are clean and safe. In doing so, we protect the public health, the environment, and California's coastal economy. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : California Association of Sanitation Agencies opposes this bill and writes, "SB 482 directs the State Water Board to look at 'options for modifying wastewater and stormwater discharge monitoring requirements of local agencies as a method of meeting the requirements set forth in Section 115880.' We believe this bill would simply have the effect of transferring the cost of a program of general interest onto water quality permittees, which goes beyond a reasonable nexus to the potential impacts of their discharges on water quality. Local wastewater and stormwater resources are stretched thin already, and this is an unfair burden to place solely on these entities, many of whom already contribute to these CONTINUED SB 482 Page 9 monitoring efforts." CTW:kc 5/31/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED