BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 119
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 119 (Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee)
As Amended August 30, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 13, 2013) |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 9, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: E.S. & T. M.
SUMMARY : Modifies the Department of Public Health (DPH)
approval process for in-home water treatment devices. Requires
DPH to approve water treatment devices that make health claims,
provided that the manufacturer of the device submits independent
third party certification of the effectiveness of the water
treatment devise to the DPH.
The Senate amendments :
1)Establish an annual fee of up to $500 per certified device
submitted by the water treatment device manufacturer.
2)Requires that the DPH update information on water treatment
devises on their Web site biannually.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a water treatment device manufacturer who claims that
a drinking water treatment device will reduce contaminants or
makes other health related performance claims, to be certified
by the DPH as to the efficacy of the device.
2)Requires water treatment device manufacturers to pay a fee to
the DPH for each treatment device application for
certification.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY this bill required DPH to review and
approve water treatment devices for sale that make health
claims, provided that the manufacturer of the device submits
independent third party certification of the effectiveness of
the water treatment devise to the DPH.
Allowed DPH to charge an annual fee up to $500 per water
AB 119
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treatment device. Authorized DPH to set and adjust the fee on
the treatment device manufacturer by publishing the fee
announcement on its Internet Web site. The fee modification
would not be subject to the rulemaking procedure of the
Administrative Procedures Act.
Required DPH to establish and maintain a Web site of water
treatment devices and for the enforcement of the approval
requirements by state or local health officials.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, ongoing annual savings of $234,000 to the Water
Device Certification Special Account (special) as a result of
reducing administrative costs from $404,000 to $170,000 by
removing the requirement for DPH to certify water treatment
devices. An annual cost of approximately $34,000 to the Water
Device Certification Special Account as a result of reducing fee
revenues from approximately $200,000 to $166,000.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill . According to the author, "This bill is
intended to streamline DPH's existing water treatment device
certification program, as the current certification program
provides no additional value to California consumers and has
prevented many residents, particularly those living in areas
where centralized water treatment plants are cost-prohibitive,
from being able to purchase state-of-the-art at-home water
treatment devices."
California household water treatment devices . According to the
DPH, there are currently hundreds of California-certified
drinking water treatment devices. Certified devices include
"point of use" and "point of entry" systems, which range from
pour-through pitchers and faucet-mount, carbon-filter systems to
reverse osmosis, ultraviolet disinfection and household water
softeners.
Contaminants removed by certified devices include organic
chemicals such as methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE),
pesticides, herbicides and solvents; inorganics such as lead,
mercury, and perchlorate; and waterborne pathogens, such as
bacteria, virus and protozoan cysts, such as Giardia and
Cryptosporidium.
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According to Clean Water Action, a proponent of the bill, "The
current program requires CDPH to independently certify each
point-of-use water treatment device before it can be sold in
retail outlets in the state. While the purpose of this program
was laudable, in fact the certification program provides no
added value, as it simply duplicates testing already performed
by third party accrediting entities and serves to delay the
availability of new devices in the state. The list of certified
devices maintained by CDPH on its website is of value, but is
out of date almost as soon as it is posted."
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN:
0002683