BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1395
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Date of Hearing: August 6, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 1395 (Block) - As Amended: June 26, 2014
Policy Committee: Environmental
Safety and Toxic Materials Vote: 7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
allow local health officers to use specified alternative beach
water quality tests under certain conditions. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Allows local health officers to use specified polymerase chain
reaction testing methods published by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) or approved pursuant
to federal law, to determine the level of enterococci
bacteria.
2)Requires local health officers to demonstrate, as a single
test based on a single indicator at one or more beaches within
the local jurisdiction, through side-by-side testing over a
beach season, that the alternative test provides a reliable
indication of overall microbiological contamination.
3)Authorizes DPH to consider whether the alternative indicators
and related test method can provide results more quickly when
determining whether to authorize the testing methods.
4)Specifies that this bill does not require the use of
alternative testing methods.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Increased staffing costs (GF) to DPH of approximately $235,000
annually for five years to implement the bill.
2)Increased one-time laboratory and equipment costs (GF) of
SB 1395
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approximately $250,000.
3)Potential unknown cost savings for local health agencies.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. Local health agencies are responsible for issuing
beach advisories (postings) and closures. An advisory is
issued when the results of testing indicate that one or more
bacterial levels exceed the Ocean Water Contact Sport
Standards issued by DPH.
According to the State Water Resources Control Board, 17
California counties annually sample at 656 monitoring stations
at 291 beaches. There are 515 miles of beaches monitored and
28,000 samples collected annually. Water quality samples are
currently tested for three indicators: enterococcus, total
coliform (TC), and fecal coliform (FC) bacteria.
According to the author, this bill allows counties to use
rapid tests to determine beach water quality, if they comply
with federal guidance.
2)Rapid monitoring . According to the sponsor, San Diego County,
current beach monitoring methods are too slow to keep pace
with changes in the environment. According to recent studies,
most sources of contamination are intermittent and last less
than one day. Thus, contaminated beaches may stay open to
swimmers while samples are being processed, and return to safe
conditions by the time warnings are issued the next day.
Samples collected each morning could allow beach managers to
assess the microbiological safety of the beach before most
beachgoers are exposed. Incorporation of rapid measurements,
such as those approved by the federal government, into a
regulatory framework has the potential to improve beach
management decisions and protect public health.
3)DPH standard setting . Current law requires DPH to establish
regulations for alternative beach testing protocols. This bill
prescribes a process that may more efficient and timely than
the current DPH regulatory development process.
SB 1395
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Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081