BILL NUMBER: SB 1395	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 27, 2014
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 25, 2014

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. 
   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.

   This bill would authorize the department to allow a local health
officer to use  an approved   specified 
polymerase chain reaction testing  method  
methods published by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency  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. 
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.

   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,  including
  including, but not limited to,  total coliform,
fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria. The  regulations
  department  may require  or authorize
 the testing of waters adjacent to all public beaches for
microbiological indicators other than those set forth in this
paragraph, or  for  a subset of  the
indicators   those  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, in combination with a related test
method and protective standard,   indicators  are
as protective of the public  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.  
health. 
   (2) Establish protective minimum standards for total coliform,
fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for other
microbiological indicators  or subset of indicators 
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  or subset of those
indicators  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  all   both  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)  If   Notwithstanding  
subdivision (a), 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   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,  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.  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. 
   (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.