BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 334
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 1, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
SB
334 (Leyva) - As Amended June 3, 2015
[Note: This bill is doubled referred to the Assembly
Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee and will be
heard by that Committee as it relates to issues under its
jurisdiction.]
SENATE VOTE: 40-0
SUBJECT: Pupil health: drinking water.
SUMMARY: Requires the State Department of Public Health (DPH)
to test drinking water sources at a sample of schoolsites for
lead in the drinking water, prohibits drinking water that does
not meet the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA) drinking water standards for lead from being provided at
a school facility, and deletes the authority of a governing
board of a school district to adopt a resolution stating that it
is unable to comply with the requirement to provide access to
free, fresh drinking water during meal times in the food service
areas. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to work
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with the DPH to develop guidelines and best practices to
ensure that lead hazards are minimized in the course of school
repair and maintenance and abatement procedures. Requires the
data gathered pursuant to the testing of water sources
required by this bill to be considered in the development of
the guidelines and best practices.
2) Prohibits drinking water that does not meet the USEPA
drinking water standards for lead from being provided at a
school facility.
3)Requires the DPH to test drinking water sources at a sample of
schoolsites for lead in the drinking water. Requires the
sample to include schools that are representative of the state
by geographical region, size of enrollment, and areas
identified as disadvantaged communities by the California
Environmental Protection Agency.
4)Requires the data collected by the DPH to include drinking
water lead testing information, including, but not limited to,
dates of testing, number and type of drinking water sources
tested and test results.
5)Requires the DPH and the CDE to do both of the following:
a) Establish a process for receiving, recording, and making
public the data received from testing water at schoolsites;
and,
b) Post the data collected during drinking water lead
testing on the departments' respective Internet Web sites.
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6)Specifies that the DPH shall not test drinking water sources
that are located at schoolsites constructed after January 1,
2010, or have been tested by DPH or a certified professional
employed or hired by a school district and meets the USEPA and
state drinking water standards for lead.
7)Requires a school district that has drinking water sources
with drinking water that does not meet the USEPA drinking
water standards for lead work with the DPH and the local
department of public health to identify the most urgent
mitigation needs and develop a protocol or plan for
mitigation.
8)Requires the protocol or plan for mitigation to identify
timelines and funding sources for mitigation, and be presented
to and adopted by the governing board of the school district
at a regularly scheduled public meeting within six months of
the school district's receipt of the drinking water test
results.
9)Requires a school that has lead-containing plumbing components
to flush all drinking water sources for a minimum of 30
seconds at the beginning of each schoolday, consistent with
protocols recommended by the USEPA. Specifies that a school
is not required to flush drinking water sources that have been
shut off or have been certified as free of lead.
10)Strikes the authority of a governing board of a school
district to adopt a resolution stating that it is unable to
comply with the requirement to provide access to free, fresh
drinking water during meal times in the food service areas due
to fiscal constraints or health and safety concerns, and
instead requires a school district to comply with the
requirement through the use of drinking water access points.
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11)Defines "drinking water access point" as a station, plumbed
or unplumbed, where pupils can access free, fresh, and clean
drinking water. Specifies that an unplumbed access point may
include water bottles and portable water dispensers.
12)Requires a school district that has drinking water sources
with drinking water that does not meet the USEPA drinking
water standards for lead or any other contaminant to close
access to those drinking water sources immediately upon
receipt of test results or notification from the public water
system.
13)Specifies that if, as a result of closing access to a
drinking water source, a schoolsite within a school district
no longer has the minimum number of drinking fountains
required pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 401.0)
of the California Plumbing Code (Part 5 of Title 24 of the
California Code of Regulations), the school district shall
provide alternative drinking water sources at that schoolsite.
14)Specifies that an alternative drinking water source provided
while the source of contamination is being mitigated may be
from plumbed or unplumbed sources. Unplumbed sources may
include, but are not limited to, portable water sources and
bottled water.
15)Requires a school district to notify parents, pupils,
teachers, and other school personnel of drinking water test
results, immediately upon receipt of those test results, if
the school district is required to provide alternative
drinking water sources.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Requires a school district to provide access to free, fresh
drinking water during meal times in the food service areas of
the schools under its jurisdiction, including, but not
necessarily limited to, areas where reimbursable meals under
the National School Lunch Program or the federal School
Breakfast Program are served or consumed. Authorizes a school
district to comply with this requirement by, among other
means, providing cups and containers of water or soliciting or
receiving donated bottled water. (EC Section 38086)
2)Authorizes the governing board of a school district to adopt a
resolution stating that it is unable to comply with the
requirement to provide access to free, fresh drinking water
during meal times and demonstrating the reasons why it is
unable to comply due to fiscal constraints or health and
safety concerns. Requires the resolution to be publicly
noticed on at least two consecutive meeting agendas, first as
an information item and second as an action item, and approved
by at least a majority of the governing board. (EC Section
38086)
3)Establishes the Lead-Safe Schools Protection Act, enacted in
1992, as follows:
a) Requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to
conduct a sampling survey of schools throughout the state
for the purpose of developing risk factors to predict lead
contamination in public schools;
b) Requires the survey to determine the likely extent and
distribution of lead exposure to children from paint on the
school, soil in play areas, drinking water at the tap, and
other potential sources identified by DHS;
c) Requires DHS to notify principals of schools or director
of schoolsites of the survey results. Upon receipt of the
results, requires principals or directors to notify
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teachers and other school personnel and parents of the
survey results;
d) Requires DHS to make recommendations to the Legislature
and the CDE on the feasibility and necessity of conducting
statewide lead testing and any additional action needed
relating to lead contamination in the schools;
e) As deemed necessary and appropriate in view of the
survey results, requires DHS to develop environmental lead
testing methods and standards to ensure the scientific
integrity of results, for use by schools and contractors
designated by schools for that purpose;
f) Requires DHS to evaluate the most current cost-effective
lead abatement technologies; and,
g) Requires DHS to work with CDE to develop voluntary
guidelines for distribution to requesting schools to ensure
that lead hazards are minimized in the course of school
repair and maintenance programs and abatement procedures.
(Education Code (EC) Sections 32240-32243)
4)Prohibits the use of lead-based paint, lead plumbing and
solders, or other potential sources of lead contamination in
the construction of any new school facility or the
modernization or renovation of any existing school facility.
(EC Section 32244)
5)Requires the governing board of a school district to adopt a
local control and accountability plan (LCAP) and specifies
state priorities, including the priority for school facilities
to be maintained in good repair. (EC Section 52060)
6)Defines "good repair" as a facility that is maintained in a
manner that assures that it is clean, safe, and functional as
determined by school facility inspection and evaluation
instrument approved by the State Allocation Board or a local
evaluation instrument. Requires the school facility
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inspection and evaluation instrument and local evaluation
instruments to include criteria as specified, including: 1)
interior and exterior drinking fountains that are functional,
accessible, and free of leaks; 2) drinking fountain water
pressure is adequate; and 3) foundation water is clear and
without unusual taste or odor, and moss, mold, or excessive
staining is not evident. (EC Section 17002)
7)Specifies that whenever a school or school system, the owner
or operator of residential rental property, or the owner or
operator of a business property receives a notification from a
person operating a public water system under any provision of
this section, the school or school system shall notify school
employees, students and parents if the students are minors,
the owner or operator of a residential rental property shall
notify tenants, and the owner or operator of business property
shall notify employees of businesses located on the property.
(Health and Safety Code Section 116450)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, unknown, but likely significant costs to the DPH to
test drinking water at a sample of schools; CDE reports one-time
workload costs of $20,000 and ongoing workload of $5,000 related
to data requirements, and $15,000 to $25,000 related to the
bill's requirements to develop guidelines and best practices;
and unknown but major costs for the remaining provisions of the
bill.
COMMENTS: What does this bill do? This bill requires the DPH
to test a sample of schools for lead in the drinking water. The
bill requires the schools tested to represent geographic
diversity, various enrollment sizes, and disadvantaged
communities. Schools that were constructed after January 1,
2010, or were determined to meet drinking water standards by the
DPH or a certified professional employee are excluded. If the
level of lead in the drinking water at a school does not meet
the federal USEPA standards, school districts must do the
following:
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1)Work with the DPH and local public health department to
develop a protocol and plan for mitigation. The protocol and
plan must be adopted at a regularly scheduled public meeting
within six months from the district's receipt of the drinking
water test results.
2)Close access to drinking water sources immediately upon
receipt of test results and provide alternative drinking water
sources if closing access to drinking water sources violates
the minimum number of drinking fountains required under the
California Plumbing Code.
3)Notify parents, pupils, teachers, and other school personnel
of drinking water test results.
The bill requires the DPH and the CDE to establish a process for
receiving, recording and making public the data received from
the testing of water at schoolsites and post the data collected
on each department's Internet Web site.
The bill requires the CDE to work with the DPH to develop
guidelines and best practices to ensure that lead hazards are
minimized in the course of school repair and maintenance and
abatement procedures. Current law already contains this
requirement, but the guidelines and best practices were not
developed.
Current law requires school districts to provide free, fresh
drinking water during meal times in the food service areas. A
school district may provide cups and containers of water or
bottled water to comply with this requirement. Current law
allows a governing board to adopt a resolution stating that it
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is unable to comply with the requirement due to fiscal
constraints or health and safety concerns. This bill strikes
this authorization and instead requires a school district to
offer drinking water through drinking water access points,
defined as a station that is plumbed or unplumbed. An unplumbed
access point may include water bottles and portable water
dispensers.
The bill prohibits a school from providing water that does not
meet the USEPA drinking water standards, and requires a school
that has lead-containing plumbing components to flush all
drinking water sources for a minimum of 30 seconds at the
beginning of each schoolday. This latter requirement applies to
all schools, not just those that are tested. It is unclear how
school districts will know whether there are lead-containing
plumbing components at a schoolsite. Flushing for 30 seconds is
already a standard practice at the Los Angeles Unified School
District (LAUSD).
Maintenance requirements. School districts are required to
maintain school facilities specified in various parts of the
Education Code. School districts that receive state bond funds
are required to set aside three percent of their general funds
in a routine restricted account to be used for the maintenance
of schools. During the state's budget fiscal crisis, school
districts were allowed to lower the required percentage to one
percent or none if their schools are kept in "good repair". The
three percent requirement was set to be reinstated beginning
July 1, 2015; however, this year's budget trailer bill language
contains a mechanism to delay restoration of the three percent
until 2021.
School districts are required to adopt a LCAP to determine the
use of local control funding formula dollars. Under the LCAP,
school districts are required to meet eight state priorities,
including the priority for school facilities to be maintained in
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"good repair". The standard for "good repair" was developed as
a result of the Williams v. State of California settlement in
2004, in which the state agreed to allocate funds to provide
students in low performing schools equal access to instructional
materials, safe and decent school facilities, and qualified
teachers. As part of the $800 million allocation for school
facilities, county offices of education were required to inspect
deciles 1-3 schools using a "good repair" standard. The
standard developed includes a lengthy list of components at a
school to be evaluated, including whether drinking fountain
water is clear and without unusual taste of odor. Good repair
does not include whether drinking fountain water is free of lead
or other contaminants.
Dangers of lead. Children are especially susceptible to high
levels of exposure to lead and other toxic chemicals because
their bodies absorb these metals at higher rates than the
average adult. Research shows that long-term exposure to high
levels of lead can cause irreversible damage to the brain, red
blood cells, and kidneys. Exposure at low levels of lead can
cause low IQ, hearing impairment, reduced attention span, and
poor classroom performance.
Prior state efforts. The state has initiated several lead
identification and prevention efforts in schools. Enacted in
1992, the Lead-Safe Schools Protection Act required the DHS, now
called DPH, to conduct a study to determine the prevalence of
lead in paint, soil and water in public elementary school and
childcare facilities. The study began in 1994 and was completed
with a report to the Legislature in April, 1998. The study
reported that most elementary schools contain paint with a lead
content level above federal recommended level and that six
percent of public elementary schools have bare soils with lead
levels that exceed the USEPA recommended level for bare soil
areas where children play.
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Using weighted sample analysis, the study estimated that 18.1%
of schools may have water outlets with lead content that exceeds
federal recommended level. While lead content was highest in
schools built before 1940, schools in all ages had water samples
with lead content above the federal recommended levels. The
report recommended evaluating lead content of drinking water in
public schools using USEPA guidelines, including collecting
water using standard USEPA sampling technique that should be
analyzed only by laboratories certified by DHS.
According to the report, water can be contaminated with lead by
the source water system or by corrosion of lead plumbing or
fixtures. Plumbing installed prior to 1930 is considered most
likely to contain lead. However, lead could also leak from lead
plumbing solder, which was commonly used until banned in 1984.
This bill tests fixtures at schools, but does not address lead
as a result of source water systems.
Funds for lead testing in schools. In 1998, as part of the
Budget Act, SB 1564 (Schiff), Chapter 330, Statutes of 1998, the
education trailer bill, provided $1.053 million to fund lead
testing in drinking water in public elementary and secondary
schools. The budget allocated $120 to each elementary
schoolsite and $230 to each junior high, middle and high school
for this purpose. A water collection guideline developed for
the test recommended prioritizing testing of school buildings
constructed prior to 1986, when lead plumbing solder was banned
for use in drinking water plumbing systems.
Funds for mitigation. Notwithstanding the benefits of testing
and eliminating lead in drinking water, school districts have
expressed concerns about the ability to fund mitigation.
Replacing drinking water fountains and/or pipes can result in
exorbitant costs. The LAUSD reports it has replaced drinking
fountains at 200 schoolsites at a cost of $15,000 - $20,000 per
drinking fountain. Under regulations adopted pursuant to the
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California Plumbing Code, schools are required to have one
drinking fountain for every 150 people on a school campus.
Districts can use available local bond funds if the projects
were identified in the bond initiative, but state bond funds for
modernization projects have been exhausted since 2012. Absent
state or local bond funds, school districts would be required to
use general funds for mitigation purposes. In addition, as a
result of the bill's requirement for school districts to close
access to drinking water sources identified by testing or from
notification by public water systems as exceeding federal
drinking water standards for lead or any other contaminant,
school districts that no longer meet the state's minimum number
of available drinking water fountains will be required to
provide alternative sources of water, such as bottled water, on
a daily basis. These costs will be also be borne by general
funds.
Testing only applies to an unspecified number of schools.
Earlier versions of this bill required testing at all schools.
Amendments adopted in the Senate Appropriations Committee
limited the bill to testing a sample of schoolsites. The
sample, an unspecified number, is required to represent
geographical regions, size of enrollment, and disadvantaged
communities identified by the California Environmental
Protection Agency. If only a limited number of schoolsites are
to be tested and required to conduct mitigation, should testing
prioritize schools where lead may be at higher levels? Staff
recommends an amendment to express the Legislature's intent to
prioritize testing.
Other Committee amendments:
1)Exclude testing of schools constructed after 1993, rather than
January 1, 2010. The Lead-Safe Schools Protection Act enacted
in 1992 prohibits use of lead-based paint, lead plumbing and
solders, or other potential sources of lead contamination in
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the construction of any new school facility or the
modernization or renovation of any existing school facility
beginning in 1993.
2)Define drinking water source as drinking water fountains and
other fixtures that are intended to convey water for human
consumption (such as kitchens).
3)Require DPH to notify school districts of the test results.
4)Strike EC Section 32242(g) to eliminate duplication of Section
1 of this bill.
Arguments in support. The author states, "Current law does not
require testing of water at schools in order to ensure that the
water is lead free. Furthermore, no department or agency has
adopted guidelines or regulations to ensure that schools test
the water provided to students or that schools provide clean
drinking water to students throughout the day. Current law only
goes as far as to require schools provide clean and free
drinking water to students during lunch time. However, there is
no testing to ensure that the water sources are actually safe
for consumption."
Arguments in opposition. The California School Boards
Association (CSBA) has an "oppose unless amended" position and
states, "CSBA is an advocate for safe and healthy schools,
including safe drinking water for our students. SB 334 may lead
to the identification of water quality problems at our aging
school sites, but it would not do anything to actually resolve
them. Plumbing is usually buried underground or inside walls,
as such, the costs of replacing plumbing in our aging school
sites would be very high. Our opposition to this bill stems
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solely from our desire for a solution to this problem, one that
would provide LEAs (local educational agencies) with resources
to perform the work that will be generated by the bill." CSBA
requests an amendments to make this bill contingent upon funds
available for this purpose in a future statewide school
facilities bond.
Related legislation. AB 496 (Rendon), pending in the Senate
Education Committee, requires the CDE to identify available
sources of funding to fund school water quality and
infrastructure.
Prior related legislation. AB 629 (Krekorian), held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file in 2009, would
have required a school district, by January 1, 2012, to conduct
a one-time analysis of the level of lead in water in schools
that were constructed before January 1, 1993.
AB 2965 (Krekorian), held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee suspense file in 2008, would have required a school
district to conduct a one-time assessment of water toxicity
levels at point of entry and delivery in schools 40 years of age
or older.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Association of Joint Powers Authority
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California Black Health Network
California School Employees Association
California State PTA
Children Now
Opposition
California Association of School Business Officials
California School Boards Association (unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by:Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916)
319-2087