BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Sheila J. Kuehl, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1395
S
AUTHOR: Corbett
B
AMENDED: March 24, 2008
HEARING DATE: April 2, 2008
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REFERRAL: Health and Environmental Quality
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FISCAL: Appropriations
9
CONSULTANT:
5
Moreno/cjt
SUBJECT
Lead plumbing: compliance program
SUMMARY
Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
to, each year, randomly select drinking water faucets,
plumbing fittings and fixtures to determine compliance with
existing law requiring faucets, fittings, and fixtures to
be lead free.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Existing law prohibits, commencing January 1, 2010, the
introduction into commerce of any pipe, pipe or plumbing
fitting, or fixture that is not lead free, except for a
pipe that is used in manufacturing or industrial
processing. Existing law requires the Department of Public
Health (DPH) to adopt building standards to implement the
above prohibitions. Appropriate state and local building
and health officials are required to enforce these
standards.
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 1395 (Corbett) Page
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Existing law defines "lead free," as of January 1, 2010,
for the purpose of manufacturing, industrial processing,
and conveying or dispensing water for human consumption, to
refer to a weighted average lead content of the wetted
surface area of the pipes, fittings, and fixtures of not
more than 0.25 percent, to be determined pursuant to a
prescribed formula.
This bill:
SB 1395 would require the DTSC, as part of its ongoing
program for reducing toxic substances in the environment,
to randomly select, each year, drinking water faucets,
plumbing fittings, and fixtures to test and evaluate in
order to determine compliance with existing law requiring
faucets, fittings, and fixtures to be lead free. This bill
would require the DTSC, using available resources and
staffing, to determine the appropriate number of faucets,
fittings, and fixtures to be tested and evaluated, as well
as the locations from which to select the faucets,
fittings, and fixtures. This bill would require DTSC to
post the testing and evaluation results on its website and
to transmit the results in an annual report to the DPH.
FISCAL IMPACT
Unknown.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
The author cites findings of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), indicating that
drinking water plumbing remains a significant source of
lead exposure, accounting for 10 to 20 percent of ingested
lead. The U.S. EPA states that lead is rarely found in
source water, and that the most common sources of lead are
brass or chrome-plated brass faucets, fixtures, and
fittings which can leach significant amounts of lead into
the water, especially hot water. The author states that an
industry newsletter (Plumbing & Mechanical) reported that,
with the increasing number of imported products, and
recalls of contaminated and defective products from
overseas, the US EPA has started to focus on lead in
imported faucets. The author states tha, until the early
1990s, most faucets sold in the United States were
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 1395 (Corbett) Page
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manufactured in the U.S. However, as reported by the Daily
News (Los Angeles), after the enactment of the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, U.S.
manufacturers, including plumbing fixture manufacturers,
began moving their plants out of the country. Although the
initial destination of many manufacturers was Mexico, the
Black & Decker Corporation has reported to stockholders
that the recent trend has been for a relocation of
manufacturing to China and other low-cost areas of the
world. The author states that, in 2005, most, if not all,
of Black & Decker's (which owns Price Pfister) faucets
originated in low-cost areas of the world. As reported by
an industry market report (China Sourcing Report), since
1996, Kohler has established five manufacturing facilities
in China, and American Standard has established seven
factories there since 1994. The author contends that the
random collection and testing of faucets under this bill
will help ensure compliance with California's lead content
standard for plumbing.
Background
Lead is a highly toxic substance, and exposure to it can
produce a wide range of adverse health effects. There are
many ways in which humans are exposed to lead, including
through deteriorating paint, household dust, bare soil,
air, drinking water, food, ceramics, home remedies, hair
dyes and other cosmetics. Young children under the age of
six are especially vulnerable to lead's harmful health
effects, because their brains and central nervous system
are still being formed. Even very low levels of exposure
can result in reduced IQ, learning disabilities, attention
deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth,
impaired hearing, and kidney damage in children. According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
there is no level of lead in a child's blood that can be
specified as safe, and the CDC emphasizes the need to make
primary prevention of lead poisoning, through interventions
that control or eliminate lead hazards before children are
exposed, a high priority for health, housing, and
environmental agencies. It is estimated that 14 to 20
percent of total childhood lead exposure is from drinking
water. It takes a significantly greater level of exposure
to lead for adults, than it does for kids, to sustain
adverse health effects. However, in adults, lead can
increase blood pressure and cause fertility problems, nerve
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 1395 (Corbett) Page
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disorders, muscle and joint pain, irritability, and memory
or concentration problems.
AB 1953 (Chan) of 2006
Since 1997, state and federal law has prohibited pipes and
pipe fittings used to convey drinking water from containing
more than eight percent lead, and faucets and faucet
fittings from containing more than four percent lead. AB
1953 (Chan - Chapter 853, Statutes of 2006) reduces the
amount of lead that can be present in pipes and pipe
fittings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures intended to
convey water for human consumption to .25 percent beginning
in 2010. AB 1953 does not apply to pipes or fittings used
to convey water in manufacturing or industrial processing,
irrigation, or other uses where the water is not intended
for human consumption, such as toilet fixtures, hose bibs,
or showers and bathtub plumbing. AB 1953 did not contain
new enforcement or surveillance provisions.
According to the sponsor of this bill, East Bay Municipal
Utility District (EBMUD --which also sponsored AB 1953),
plumbing companies have complied with the existing
standards for lead content because a violation of these
standards would constitute an "unfair business practice,"
and could result in monetary civil penalties under the
Unfair Business Practices statute. The sponsor states
that, as reported in market & financial research
publications (China Sourcing Report and Asia Pacific Equity
Research), as well as mainstream media, a significant
portion of today's faucet manufacturing occurs overseas,
which presents difficulties in ensuring compliance with the
lead-free standard, given the need for small, overseas
companies to control costs. According to the sponsor,
copper makes up about 63 to 65 percent of a typical faucet
and sells for $4 per pound. Lead makes up 3 to 4 percent
of a typical faucet and sells for $.40 to $1.00 per pound.
The sponsor states that if small overseas manufacturers can
substitute lead for copper in their faucet, their
production costs decrease substantially and there is a
greater likelihood that faucets that are not "lead free"
could enter California's marketplace.
Department of Toxic Substances Control
The DTSC conducts a number of activities to protect
Californians from exposures to hazardous wastes, including
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 1395 (Corbett) Page
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overseeing toxic site cleanups, preventing the release of
hazardous waste, taking enforcement actions against those
who fail to manage hazardous wastes appropriately, and
practicing other environmental sciences, including
toxicology, risk assessment, and technology development.
Towards this end, the DTSC has begun a number of
initiatives to focus on toxics in consumer products. For
example, in December 2007, a DTSC investigation revealed
excessive lead in children's jewelry. The DTSC is also
participating in the implementation of a 2006 law to limit
cadmium, lead, mercury, and hexavalent chromium in product
packaging.
Related legislation
SB 1334 (Calderon) would require all pipe, pipe or plumbing
fittings or fixtures, solder, or flux to be certified as
lead-free (as defined under current law) by an independent
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited
third-party, including, but not limited to, NSF
International. SB 1334 is scheduled to be heard in the
Senate Committee on Health on April 2, 2008.
Arguments in support
According to EBMUD and the California Special Districts
Association, by requiring the random testing of faucets,
this bill would provide consumers with confidence that the
faucets purchased for their homes are not a source of
dangerous lead levels in their blood and would give faucet
manufacturers a way to demonstrate that their products
comply with California's safer lead standard. The
supporters state that this bill is an important public
health measure that would provide necessary regulatory
safeguards to ensure compliance with California's safer AB
1953 lead standard for faucets.
COMMENTS
This bill could benefit from more detailed language
relating to the compliance test for the implementation of
AB 1953's lead free standard. The author proposes a
technical amendment to delete all references to the term
"random" with regard to selection of product to be tested
and to add language as follows:
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 1395 (Corbett) Page
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On page 2, line 15 insert:
d) In implementing this article, DTSC shall establish
necessary laboratory test methods, protocols and sample
preparation procedures that are adequate to determine total
lead concentrations in drinking water plumbing fitting or
fixtures to determine compliance with the standards for
maximum allowable total lead content in Health and Safety
Code section 116875.
(e) In selecting drinking water faucets and other drinking
water plumbing fittings and fixtures to test and evaluate
pursuant to this article, the department shall exercise its
judgment regarding the specific drinking water plumbing
fittings or fixtures to test. Nothing in this article
shall be interpreted to require that the department's
selections be either random or representative of all
available plumbing fittings or fixtures. The department
shall acquire its samples of fittings and fixtures from
locations that are readily accessible to the public at
either retail or wholesale sources.
POSITIONS
Support: East Bay Municipal Utility District (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME)
California Association of Sanitation Agencies
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Special Districts Association
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Oppose: None received
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