Amended in Senate March 25, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1395

Introduced by Senator Block

February 21, 2014

An act to amend Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to public beaches.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1395, as amended, Block. Public beaches: inspection for contaminants.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations begin delete , as specified, end delete for the minimum begin insert public health end insert standards of public beaches, including requiring the testing of waters adjacent to all public beaches for specified microbial contaminants. begin insert end insert begin insert Existing law authorizes the department to require testing of the waters adjacent to all public beaches for additional microbial indicators if the department establishes that those indicators are as protective of the public health. end insert

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This bill would authorize the department to test the of waters adjacent to all public beaches for microbial indicators or a subset of those indicators if the department establishes that the alternative indicators, in combination with a related test method and protective standard, are as protective of the public health as the indicators. The bill would authorize the department, in making that determination, to take into account whether the alternative indicators and related test method can provide results more quickly.

end insert begin insert

This bill would authorize the department to allow a local health officer to use an approved polymerase chain reaction testing method to determine the level of enterococci bacteria as a single test based on a single indicator in that jurisdiction if the local health officer demonstrates through side-by-side testing over a beach season that the use of the test method provides a reliable indication of overall microbiological contamination conditions.

end insert begin delete

This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those provisions.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code
is amended to read:

115880.  

(a) The department shall, by regulation and 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 begin delete , but not
limited to, end delete total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria.
The begin delete department end delete begin insert regulations end insert may require begin insert or authorize end insert the testing
of waters adjacent to all public beaches for microbiological
indicators other than those set forth in this paragraph, or begin insert for end insert a
subset of begin delete those end delete begin insert the indicators end insert 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 begin insert , in combination with a related test method and protective
standard, end insert are as protective of the public health begin insert as the indicators
set forth in this paragraph. In making that determination, the
department may take into account whether an alternative indicator
or subset of indicators, with the associated test method, can provide
results more quickly, thereby reducing the period of time the public
is at risk while waiting for contamination to be confirmed end insert .

(2) Establish protective minimum standards for total coliform,
fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for other
microbiological indicators begin insert or subset of indicators end insert that the
department determines are appropriate for testing pursuant to
paragraph (1).

(3) Require that the waters adjacent to public beaches are tested
for total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for
other microbiological indicators begin insert or subset of those indicators end insert that
the department determines are appropriate for testing pursuant to
paragraph (1). Except as set forth in subdivision begin delete (d) end delete begin insert (e) end insert , testing
shall be conducted on at least a weekly basis from April 1 to
October 31, inclusive, of each year beginning in 2012, 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.

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(d) If a local health officer demonstrates or has demonstrated
through side-by-side testing over a beach season that the use of
an approved polymerase chain reaction testing method to
determine the level of enterococci bacteria as a single indicator
provides a reliable indication of overall microbiological
contamination conditions in all or part of that health officer’s
jurisdiction, the department may authorize the use of that testing
method in that jurisdiction instead of other testing methods.

end insert begin delete

(d)

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begin insert (e) end insert  The monitoring frequency and locations established pursuant
to this section and related regulations may be reduced or altered
only after the testing required pursuant to paragraph (3) of
subdivision begin delete (a) end delete begin insert (c) end insert reveals levels of microbiological contaminants
that do not exceed, for a period of two years, the minimum
protective standards established pursuant to this section.

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(e)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  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.

begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  The local health officer may meet the testing requirements
of this section by utilizing test results from other parties conducting
microbiological contamination testing of the waters under his or
her jurisdiction.

begin delete

(g)

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begin insert (h) end insert  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 department pursuant to this section.