BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 434
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
434 (Eduardo Garcia) - As Amended April 6, 2015
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|Policy |Environmental Safety and Toxic |Vote:|7 - 0 |
|Committee: |Materials | | |
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Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable:
SUMMARY:
This bill repeals the sunset date on emergency regulations
governing the permitted use of point-of-entry (POE) and
point-of-use (POU) treatment by public water systems (PWS) in
lieu of centralized treatment. Specifically, this bill:
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1)Deletes the requirement that a PWS pre-apply for funding to
correct the violations for which the POE and POU treatment is
provided as a condition of using a POE or POU treatment
device.
2)Makes the emergency regulations adopted by the Department of
Public Health (DPH) before January 1, 2014, operative, and
requires that they remain in effect until repealed or amended
by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).
3)Strikes the requirement that a POE or POU permit be limited to
not more than three years or until funding for centralized
treatment is available.
4)Deletes references to regulations as "emergency" that would be
obsolete if aforementioned policy changes are enacted.
5)Establishes this as an urgency act based on the necessity to
provide quality drinking water as soon as possible. Exempts
the regulations from the Administrative Procedures Act.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Potential minor costs savings for SWRCB to adopt regulations
without following the APA.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill attempts to
remediate the issue of arsenic contamination in drinking
water. In the Coachella Valley, arsenic is a naturally
occurring element found in many drinking water wells at levels
ranging from 12 to 91 parts per billion (ppb). The
Environmental Protection Agency established a level of 10 ppb
as the Maximum Contaminant Level for arsenic. It has been
proven that consuming unsafe levels of arsenic increases the
probability of cancer, skin problems, and circulatory system
issues.
In 1992, the Farm Labor Housing Protection Act enabled farm
owners to house up to 12 farmworkers without many local
permits or licenses. Consequently, this allowed for the
establishment of many small mobilehome parks throughout the
eastern Coachella Valley, an area that lacks access to
centralized infrastructure, such as water and sewer. Because
of this, when arsenic was identified as an issue, point-of-use
systems were identified as a solution to help people access
clean water immediately, despite a lack of infrastructure.
This bill authorizes the State Water Resources Control Board
(SWRCB) to adopt regulations governing point-of-use (POU) and
point-of-entry (POE) filtration treatment by public water
systems, in lieu of centralized treatment, where it can be
demonstrated that centralized treatment is not immediately
economically feasible. The regulations will apply to water
systems with 200 connections or less.
2)Background. POU treatment is a treatment device applied to a
single tap for the purpose of reducing contaminants in
drinking water at that tap. When used, a PWS is required to
install a POU device that will treat only the water intended
for direct consumption, typically installed at a single tap
such as the kitchen sink. Faucets without POU devices can be
used for cleaning or washing, but cannot be used to provide
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drinking and cooking water.
POE treatment is applied to the drinking water entering a
house or building for the purpose of reducing contaminants in
the drinking water distributed throughout the house or
building. Centralized treatment treats all of the water
produced by the PWS.
3)Safe Drinking Water Program Transfer. On July 1, 2014, the
Safe Drinking Water Program (SDWP) was transferred from DPH
to SWRCB. SWRCB now has the primary enforcement authority to
enforce federal and state safe drinking water acts, and is
responsible for the regulatory oversight of about 8,000 PWS
throughout the state.
Upon the transfer, all SDWP regulations and administrative
actions were vested with SWRCB and are fully effective and
enforceable unless and until readopted, amended, or repealed
by the Water Board.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 434
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