Amended in Senate May 27, 2014

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 for the minimum public health standards of public beaches, including requiring the testing of waters adjacent to all public beaches for specified microbial contaminants. 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.

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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.

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This bill would authorize the department to allow a local health officer to use begin delete an approved end delete begin insert specified end insert polymerase chain reaction testing begin delete method end delete begin insert methods published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency end insert 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. begin insert The bill would authorize the department, in making the determination of whether to authorize the use of those testing methods by a local health officer , to take into account whether the alternative indicators and related test method can provide results more quickly. end insert

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 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, begin delete including end delete begin insert including,
but not limited to, end insert total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci
bacteria. The begin delete regulations end delete begin insert department end insert may require begin delete or authorize end delete the
testing of waters adjacent to all public beaches for microbiological
indicators other than those set forth in this paragraph, or begin delete for end delete a
subset of begin delete the indicators end delete begin insert those 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
begin delete indicators, in combination with a related test method and protective
standard, end delete begin insert indicators end insert are as protective of the public begin delete health 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 delete begin insert health. end insert

(2) Establish protective minimum standards for total coliform,
fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for other
microbiological indicators begin delete or subset of indicators end delete 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 delete or subset of those indicators end delete that
the department determines are appropriate for testing pursuant to
paragraph (1). Except as set forth in subdivision (e), testing shall
be conducted on at least a weekly basis from April 1 to October
31, inclusive, of each year beginning in 2012, if begin delete all end delete begin insert both end insert 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.

(d)  begin delete If end delete begin insert Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if end insert a local health officer
demonstrates or has demonstrated through side-by-side testing
over a beach season that the use of begin delete an approved polymerase chain
reaction testing method end delete begin insert United States Environmental Protection
Agency method 1609 or 1611, or any equivalent or improved rapid
detection method published by the United States Environmental
Protection Agency for use in beach water quality assessment, end insert 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. begin insert In
making that determination, the department shall 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

(e) 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 (c) reveals levels of microbiological contaminants that
do not exceed, for a period of two years, the minimum protective
standards established pursuant to this section.

(f) 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.

(g) 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.

(h) 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.