BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                             SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
                          Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair

          BILL NO:       SB 1395
          AUTHOR:        Block
          AMENDED:       March 25, 2014
          HEARING DATE:  April 24, 2014
          CONSULTANT:    Moreno

           SUBJECT  :  Public beaches: inspection for contaminants.
           
          SUMMARY  :  Permits the Department of Public Health (DPH), in  
          determining whether to require or authorize the testing of  
          public beach waters for indicators other than coliform and  
          enterococci bacteria, to take into account whether an  
          alternative indicator can provide results more quickly, as  
          specified. Permits DPH, if a local health officer demonstrates  
          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  
          his/her jurisdiction, to authorize the use of that testing  
          method in that jurisdiction.

          Existing law:
          1.Makes the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB)  
            responsible for directing the state's beach water quality  
            program and for establishing and reviewing monitoring  
            protocols, site locations and monitoring frequency based on  
            risks to public health.

          2.Requires DPH, by regulation in consultation with SWRCB, local  
            health officers (LHOs), and the public, to 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.

          3.Requires the regulations and standards, prior to final  
            adoption or amendment, to undergo an external comprehensive  
            review process, as specified. 

          4.Requires the regulations to, at a minimum:

             a.   Require the testing of the waters adjacent to all public  
               beaches for microbiological contaminants, including, but  
                                                         Continued---



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               not limited to, total coliform, fecal coliform, and  
               enterococci bacteria. Permits DPH to require the testing of  
               waters adjacent to all public beaches for microbiological  
               indicators other than those, or a subset of those, if it  
               affirmatively establishes, based on the best available  
               scientific studies and the weight of the evidence, that the  
               alternative indicators are as protective of the public  
               health; 
             b.   Establish protective minimum standards for total  
               coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for  
               other microbiological indicators or subset of indicators  
               that DPH determines are appropriate for testing; and,
             c.   Require that the waters adjacent to public beaches are  
               tested for total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci  
               bacteria, or for other microbiological indicators that DPH  
               determines are appropriate for testing. Requires testing to  
               be conducted on at least a weekly basis from April 1 to  
               October 31, inclusive, of each year, if the beach is  
               visited by more than 50,000 people annually or it is  
               located on an area adjacent to a storm drain that flows in  
               the summer.

          This bill:
          1.Permits DPH, in determining whether to require or authorize  
            the testing of public beach waters for indicators other than  
            coliform and enterococci bacteria, to 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. 

          2.Permits DPH, if a LHO 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 his/her  
            jurisdiction, to authorize the use of that testing method in  
            that jurisdiction instead of other testing methods.

          3.Makes a number of technical, clarifying changes to public  
            beach sanitation regulation requirements under existing law.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal  
          committee.





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           COMMENTS  :  
           1.Author's statement.  According to the author, current statute  
            requires beach water quality sampling and signage warning of  
            contaminated water when monitoring indicates bacteria levels  
            exceed state standards, or during other events that may pose a  
            threat to public health. To meet this requirement, local  
            agencies perform culture-based tests, which utilize a multiple  
            sample standard and include three indicators: total coliform,  
            fecal coliform, and enterococcus. The current culture-based  
            tests typically require at least 24-48 hours for results. 

            The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) in  
            an attempt to address the slow response time for culture-based  
            testing methods certified qualitative polymerase chain  
            reaction (qPCR) as a rapid measurement method. This  
            alternative method can return results in about four hours.  
            However, the current state statute does not authorize the use  
            of a single indicator test. Utilizing rapid test methods  
            shortens the amount of time that California's 238 million  
            beachgoers may unknowingly be at risk. It also allows  
            jurisdictions to more rapidly reopen closed beaches when the  
            threat of contamination is no longer present. Instead of  
            waiting one to two days for test results, they can be received  
            in four hours and acted upon quickly. During the summer  
            months, quick results are critical. This is good for  
            beachgoers, tourists and the economy. 
            
          2.Beach pollution.  Ocean waters near beaches may become  
            contaminated by both point and non-point sources of pollution.  
             Point source pollution is defined by the US EPA as discrete  
            conveyances, such as pipes or manmade ditches that discharge  
            pollutants directly into waters of the United States. This  
            includes discharges from municipal sewage plants and  
            industrial facilities and storm drainage from larger urban  
            areas.  Non-point source pollution is caused by rainfall or  
            snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff  
            moves, it picks up and carries away natural and manmade  
            pollutants, depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, and  
            coastal waters. 
            
            According to the EPA, polluted runoff and untreated sewage  
            released into recreational waters can expose swimmers to  
            bacteria, viruses, and protozoans. These pathogens can be  
            present at or near the site where polluted discharges enter  
            the water. When certain contaminants are present in sufficient  




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            concentrations, they can pose a health hazard for swimming and  
            cause gastroenteritis, upper respiratory and ear infections,  
            sore throats, nausea and fevers, among other conditions.  
            Children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems  
            are most likely to develop illnesses or infections after  
            swimming in polluted water.

            According to SWRCB, LHOs issue various types of warnings or  
            closures when indicator bacteria are found in the water at  
            levels that exceed standards set by DPH. These indicator  
            bacteria imply the potential presence of microscopic  
            disease-causing organisms originating from human and animal  
            wastes. The SWRCB displays the postings and closure data  
            submitted from the LHO on its web site monthly.  SWRCB also  
            compiles the information into an annual report, which provides  
            additional data on sources of pollution, testing methods, and  
            causes of beach postings and closures.

          3.Rapid indicator tests. According to the US EPA, beach water  
            quality monitoring typically tests for the presence of  
            "indicator bacteria" (usually enterococcus or E. coli  
            bacteria) whose presence has been correlated with the presence  
            of human pathogens. Currently, many approved methods for  
            measuring concentrations of enterococcus and E. coli in  
            recreational waters have been used for decades, but results  
            are typically not available for 24 hours. Therefore, the US  
            EPA indicates that decisions regarding safe beach usage are  
            made using one day old information at best, and may even be  
            made after a confirmation test which can take up to 72 hours  
            after the initial sample is collected. 

            According to the US EPA, qPCR is an emerging rapid indicator  
            testing technique that can be used to produce results in as  
            little as four hours. Since microbial water quality can change  
            rapidly, testing based on indicator organisms (that requires  
            24 hours to obtain results), may result in unnecessary beach  
            closings or exposure of swimmers to water of poor microbial  
            quality. The US EPA states that because qPCR methods provide a  
            faster assessment of water quality, they have the potential to  
            improve decision making for personnel involved in beach  
            management decisions.

          4.Double referral. This bill is double referred. Should it pass  
            out of this committee, it will be referred to Environmental  
            Quality Committee.





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          5.Prior legislation.  SB 482 (Kehoe) Chapter 592, Statutes of  
            2011, transferred primary jurisdiction of the Beach Water  
            Quality Monitoring Program to SWRCB.  

            AB 411 (Wayne), Chapter 765, Statutes of 1997, requires LHOs  
            to test waters adjacent to public beaches within their  
            jurisdiction and to take related action in the event of a  
            known sewage release.  AB 411 also requires LHOs to post  
            conspicuous warning signs and establish a telephone hotline to  
            inform the public about a beach that fails to meet standards  
            developed by the Department of Health Services (now DPH).
            
          6.Support.  California Coastkeeper Alliance writes that the  
            current lag of the testing period can result in swimmers,  
            surfers and others using areas polluted by sewage and runoff,  
            causing illness such as stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye,  
            respiratory infections, meningitis, and hepatitis.  The County  
            of San Diego writes that the goal of this bill is to provide  
            flexibility in statute to allow for new, quick test  
            methodology based off single samples to be used to determine  
            water quality for California beaches. The County of San Diego  
            further states that this bill does not mandate the use of the  
            qPRC method - it simply provides this test methodology as an  
            additional tool that can be used by a public health department  
            to more quickly provide information to the public related to  
            water quality. Surfrider Foundation states that this bill  
            complements the work they have been doing to prompt the  
            establishment of state and local government water quality  
            monitoring programs that improve the public's knowledge of the  
            safety of their beach water.  

           SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION  :
          Support:  County of San Diego (sponsor)
                    California Coastkeeper Alliance
                    Surfrider Foundation
                    WILDCOAST

          Oppose:   None received.


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