BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1395
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1395 (Block)
As Amended June 26, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :35-0
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Alejo, Dahle, Bloom, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Donnelly, Gomez, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Lowenthal, Ting | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : 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 (U.S. 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 methods 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 by a wastewater treatment agency
SB 1395
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or other party conducting microbiological contamination
testing.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires DPH, by regulation and in consultation with local
health officers and the public, to establish minimum standards
for the sanitation of public beaches.
2)Requires the regulations to require testing of the waters
adjacent to all public beaches for microbiological
contaminants, establish protective minimum standards for
microbiological indicators, and establish protocols for beach
monitoring and testing and for public notification of health
hazards at public beaches.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would increase staffing costs (General
Fund) by DPH of approximately $235,000 annually for five years
to implement the bill and increase one-time laboratory and
equipment costs of approximately $250,000. Additionally, the
bill would provide potential, but unknown, cost savings for
local health agencies.
COMMENTS :
Need for the bill: According to the author, "SB 1395 authorizes
counties to use rapid tests to determine beach water quality, if
they comply with federal Environmental Protection Agency
guidance. Specifically the bill authorizes the California
Department of Public Health to allow local health officers to
measure beach water quality using a specific single rapid test,
if it proves to be a reliable indicator of public health
standards."
Beach water testing in California: Counties conduct the public
health beach monitoring and regulatory program within their
jurisdictions. 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 analyzed for three indicators:
enterococcus, total coliform, and fecal coliform bacteria.
SB 1395
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Local health agencies are responsible for issuing 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 the DPH. Posted
advisories usually are placed as signs at the beach and often
along access points to the beach saying that swimming may cause
illness. Beach closures are the result of sewage spills that
will or have the potential to reach coastal waters. Closures
are issued immediately upon notification by the agency
responsible for the spill and closure signs are posted along the
beach. For beach closures, the water remains off limits for
wading, swimming, and surfing until bacterial standards are met.
Information about current posting (advisory) and closure events
are also available for most counties on their Web sites and
telephone hotlines.
Rapid monitoring: The Southern California Coastal Water
Research Project has shown the ability of rapid indicator
methods to predict health effects. 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 these,
into a regulatory framework has the potential to improve beach
management decisions and protect swimmers' health.
Analysis Prepared by : Bob Fredenburg / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
FN: 0004715