BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1398| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- UNFINISHED BUSINESS Bill No: SB 1398 Author: Leyva (D) Amended: 8/18/16 Vote: 21 SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 6-1, 4/20/16 AYES: Wieckowski, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley NOES: Gaines SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-1, 5/27/16 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza NOES: Nielsen SENATE FLOOR: 36-0, 6/2/16 AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Cannella, De León, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk NO VOTE RECORDED: Fuller, Gaines, Nielsen, Runner ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-7, 8/29/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Public water systems: lead user service lines SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill requires, by July 1, 2018, a public water system (PWS) to identify and replace known lead service lines. Assembly Amendments (1) add intent language stating the risk to public health from exposure to lead in water service lines; (2) SB 1398 Page 2 clarify that the service lines, not just the pipes, should be evaluated for lead and replaced as-needed; and (3) give the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) authority to approve and/or revise a PWS's timeline for service line replacement. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Requires PWSs to take specified actions to test for and remediate certain contaminants in drinking water, including lead and copper. 2)Prohibits the use of any pipe, pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture, solder, or flux that is not "lead free" in the installation or repair of any PWS or any plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption, except as specified. 3)Prohibits any person engaged in the business of selling plumbing supplies, except manufacturers, from selling solder or flux that is not "lead free" as defined in statute. 4)Prohibits the introduction into commerce of any solder or flux that is not "lead free" unless the solder or flux bears a label stating that it is illegal to use the solder or flux in the installation or repair of any plumbing providing water for human consumption. 5)Prohibits the introduction into commerce of any pipe, pipe or plumbing fitting, or fixture intended to convey or dispense water for human consumption that is not "lead free" as defined in statute. SB 1398 Page 3 This bill requires, by July 1, 2018, a PWS to identify and replace known lead service lines. Specifically, this bill: 1)States the intent of the Legislature to ensure that lead water pipes are identified and replaced as promptly as possible; that PWSs evaluate water service lines of unidentified composition and take appropriate action to ascertain whether they contain lead; and, that PWSs manage the replacement of service lines on a schedule that is commensurate with the risks and costs involved. 2)Requires, by July 1, 2018, a PWS to compile an inventory of known lead user service lines in use in its system, and identify areas that may have lead user service lines in use in its distribution system. Requires a PWS to provide a timeline for replacement of known lead user service lines in its distribution system to the State Water Board. 3)Requires, by July 1, 2020, a PWS with areas that may have lead user service lines in its systems to do either of the following: a) Determine the existence or absence of lead user service lines in use in their distribution systems and provide that information to the State Water Board; or, b) Provide a timeline for replacement of user service lines connecting a water main to an individual water meter or service connection whose content cannot be determined to the State Water Board. 4)Authorizes the State Water Board to approve the timelines for lead user service line replacement and establishes a timeframe for approving, denying and revising the PWS's proposed timelines. Requires an approved timeline to be a public record and available on the State Water Board's Internet Web site. SB 1398 Page 4 5)Prohibits the State Water Board, where a portion of a PWS's distribution system is located within in a Superfund site under an active federal cleanup order, from proposing a timeline for lead user service line replacement that does not conform to any applicable federal regulatory requirements or timelines. Background Lead in water. The most prevalent sources of lead in drinking water are from pipes, fixtures, and associated hardware from which the lead can leach. Lead can enter a building's drinking water by leaching from lead service connections, from lead solder used in copper piping, and from brass fixtures. The amount of lead in tap water can depend on several factors, including the age and material of the pipes, concentration of lead in water delivered by the public utility (or, for private domestic wells, the concentration of lead in raw groundwater), and corrosivity (acidity, temperature, and the concentration of other mineral components) of the water. More corrosive water can cause greater leaching from pipes. As pipes age, mineral deposits will form a coating on the inside of the pipes that protect against further corrosion. To address the issue of lead in drinking water, this bill requires a PWS to compile an inventory of all known lead user service lines in use in its distribution system, and identify areas that may have lead service lines in use in its system. The PWS would then have to establish a timeline for replacing those known lead pipes and a separate timeline for investigating and replacing the unknown pipes. Flint, Michigan. Flint is located along the Flint River northwest of Detroit, Michigan. In April 2014, Flint switched its water supply from Lake Huron (via Detroit) to the Flint River. The Flint River water is corrosive (high pH and low salinity levels), which, absent an added corrosion inhibitor chemical like orthophosphate, can erode the pipes or solder exposing lead. As a cost-saving measure, water officials opted not to add the corrosion inhibitor SB 1398 Page 5 chemicals. The corrosive Flint River water caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the water supply, causing extremely elevated levels of lead. As a result, between 6,000 and 12,000 children in Flint have been exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead and they potentially will experience a range of serious health problems. Who is falling through the cracks in California. According to the State Water Board, 98% of Californians are served by PWSs drinking water that meets federal and state drinking water standards, which leaves 2% of California's drinking water failing to meet federal and state safe drinking water standards. While the contaminated water serving that 2% is likely contaminated at the drinking water source, lead contamination from corroded plumbing could be a contributing factor. On July 9, the Fresno Bee reported that lead has been found at various residences with galvanized pipes in Northern Fresno, possibly a result of corrosion from the City of Fresno's (Fresno) water supplies from the Surface Water Treatment Facility. Much is unknown about what is causing the problem and how large the problem is. Fresno is testing homes in an effort to pinpoint the factors causing the problem, from water chemistry to corrosion control to the types of pipes and fixtures in affected homes. Potential solutions could be incremental adjustments of pH levels, corrosion-control chemicals in the water, running faucets to flush water from the fixtures, and/or to replacing plumbing fixtures or service lines coming off Fresno's water meters. As of last month, a total of 69 faucets in 39 homes tested positive for lead contamination at levels in exceedance of 15 parts per billion, the threshold set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) at which corrective action must be taken. Federal lead testing requirements. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the US EPA is mandated to set enforceable drinking water standards, or maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for contaminants. SB 1398 Page 6 While there is no MCL for lead, in 1991, the US EPA adopted the Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), which established action levels for lead of 15 g/L (0.015 mg/L). The LCR requires a PWS to test water at the tap at a sample of their customers served for lead levels. If more than 10% of the samples collected are at or above the action level for lead, it can trigger 'actions' that include lead user service line replacement. The LCR requires lead samples to be collected every six months. The LCR, however, is not an exhaustive requirement for identifying the real potential for lead pipes (or user service lines) in a PWSs territory. Given recent events in Flint, Michigan, the US EPA is increasing oversight of state programs to identify and address any deficiencies in current implementation of the LCR. The US EPA is meeting with every state drinking water program across the country to ensure states are taking appropriate actions to address lead action level exceedances, including optimizing corrosion control, providing effective public health communication and outreach to residents to reduce lead exposure, and removing lead service lines where required by the LCR. This bill is getting in front of the problem by necessitating the replacement of all known lead-containing service lines before they potentially leach lead into the drinking water they convey. Comments Need for the bill. According to the author, "Given the age of many of the underground pipes utilized within PWSs, it is not commonly known where lead pipes disproportionately threaten the public health of local communities. In fact, current federal or state law does not require water districts to report locations of lead service pipes. While lead pipes may be less common in California, it is vital that we know where these pipes are and eliminate them? SB 1398 enhances public knowledge of remaining lead pipes in use and implements a plan for their complete removal from water for human consumption. By setting in motion a plan to remove all lead from public water system pipes, SB 1398 helps to reduce public SB 1398 Page 7 health risks and the costs of corrosion control treatment from lead in public water system pipes." FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal:No According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, any additional costs to the State Water Board would not be significant, and likely absorbable. SUPPORT: (Verified8/29/16) California Association of Environmental Health Administrators California Environmental Justice Alliance California League of Conservation Voters California Public Interest Group Center for Food Safety Community Water Center Consumer Attorneys of California East Bay Municipal Water District Environment California Environmental Justice Coalition for Water Environmental Working Group Food and Water Watch Natural Resources Defense Council Pacific Water Quality Association Rural Community Assistance Corporation Sierra Club California Water Program Manager OPPOSITION: (Verified8/29/16) None received SB 1398 Page 8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-7, 8/29/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NOES: Bigelow, Beth Gaines, Gray, Grove, Harper, Mayes, Obernolte NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooper Prepared by:Rachel Machi Wagoner / E.Q. / (916) 651-4108 8/30/16 20:24:28 **** END ****