BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2738
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Date of Hearing: April 8, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Luis Alejo, Chair
AB 2738 (Environmental Safety Committee) - As Amended: April
22, 2014
SUBJECT : Hazardous materials and Safe Drinking Water Act.
SUMMARY : Contains technical or noncontroversial revisions to
hazardous materials and safe drinking water provisions of the
statutes. Specifically, this bill :
1)Modifies the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of
1986 (Proposition 65) as follows:
a) Clarifies the provisions of Proposition 65 that require
the noticing party to inform the alleged violator of his or
her right to cure the violation.
b) Specifies that the party alleging a Proposition 65
violation must send the notice of special compliance
informing an alleged violator of the right to correct the
violation, if any of the alleged violations in the 60-day
notice are subject to the right to cure.
2)Modifies the use of funds generated from the fees paid by
applications for loans from the Safe Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund (SDWSRF) as follows:
a) Authorizes the use of the administrative fee charged to
recipients of SDWSRF loans to reimburse the Department of
Public Health (DPH) for the costs of reviewing and
approving applications, and the loan disbursement fee to
reimburse the DPH for all other costs.
b) Authorizes the DPH to annually adjust the fee schedule.
3)Removes duplicate references to the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) for the DPH Point-of-Use Water
Treatment Device Certification.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Pursuant to Proposition 65, provides for the regulation of
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cancer causing chemical and reproductive toxicants,
specifically:
a) Provides that no person in the course of doing business
shall knowingly and intentionally expose any individual to
a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or
reproductive toxicity without first giving clear and
reasonable warning. It also provides that no person shall
knowingly discharge or release those same chemicals into
any source of drinking water.
b) Prohibits any person who serves a notice of alleged
violation from filing an action for exposure against the
alleged violator or recovering from the alleged violator in
a settlement any payment in lieu of penalties or any
reimbursement for costs and attorney's fees, under limited
conditions.
c) Requires, within 14 days after service of the notice,
the alleged violator to demonstrate that they have
corrected the alleged violation and have paid a civil
penalty in the amount of $500.
2)Pursuant to the state and federal Safe Drinking Water Act
(SDWA):
a) Authorizes, pursuant to the federal SDWA, the United
States Environmental Protection Agency to make funds
available to drinking water systems to finance
infrastructure improvements.
b) Establishes the Safe Drinking Water Small Community
Emergency Grant Fund and authorizes DPH to assess an annual
charge to applicants for SDWSRF loans to be deposited in
this fund in lieu of interest that would otherwise be
charged on SDWSRF loans.
3)Requires that home water treatment devices meet DPH standards
for those devices offered for sale which claims to reduce
contaminants or makes other health-related performance claims.
Current law allows the manufacturer to provide third party
certification to DPH of the efficacy of the device.
FISCAL EFFECT : Not Known.
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COMMENTS :
Need for the bill . This bill provides for a series of
technical, corrective, and non-substantive modifications to the
hazardous materials and drinking water laws. The issues
addressed in this bill were the result of legislation passed in
2013 that include AB 2227 (Gatto) related to Proposition 65, AB
21 (Alejo) related to emergency drinking water grants, and AB
119 (ESTM Committee) related to point-of-use water treatment
devices.
Proposition 65, AB 227 (Gatto), Chapter 581, Statutes of 2013 .
AB 227 changed the enforcement provisions of Proposition 65 by
limiting recovery by private citizen enforcement action for
specified types of exposure to chemicals causing cancer or birth
defects or other reproductive harm in those circumstances when
failure to provide clear and reasonable warning has been
remedied and a penalty has been paid.
The technical amendments in this bill were suggested based on an
initial implementation of
AB 227 by the California Department of Justice.
The proposed amendment clarifies that the noticing party must
immediately inform the alleged violator of the right to cure the
violation, and not wait until after sending the 60-day notice.
The second amendment to Proposition 65 makes it clear that the
noticing party must send the notice of special compliance
informing an alleged violator of the right to cure if any of the
alleged violations in the 60-day notice are the specific types
of exposures subject to AB 227. Leaving the current statutory
language in place creates a potential unintended loophole by
letting the noticing party allege at least one violation that is
not subject to AB 227 to avoid the entire process.
Safe Drinking Water Small Community Emergency Grant Fund, AB 21
(Alejo), Chapter 628, Statues of 2013 .
AB 21 established the Safe Drinking Water Small Community
Emergency Grant Fund which is financed from a fee charged to
loan recipients in lieu of a similar amount of interest. The
fees collected are provided to disadvantaged communities in the
form of grants to improve drinking water safety. AB 2738
provides that fees collected may be used for prescribed
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administrative costs of providing assistance under these
provisions, to the extent consistent with federal law.
Certification of water treatment devices, AB 119 (ESTM), Chapter
403, Statues of 2013 .
AB 119 provided that a device may be sold, provided it meets the
ANSI standard or it had previously been approved by the DPH.
The requirements of Health and Safety Code Section 116845
include the ANSI standards as well as alternative requirements
for previously approved devices.
The current inclusion of the ANSI requirement in addition to the
posting on the DPH web page duplicates the requirements that
must be met in order to be placed on the DPH website. The
provisions of, AB 2738 make it clear that previously approved
devices would be allowed to remain on the DPH website and
therefore be authorized for sale in California.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None received.
Opposition
None received.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965