BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1395
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2007-2008 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1395
AUTHOR: Corbett
AMENDED: April 8, 2008
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: April 14, 2008
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Bruce Jennings
SUBJECT : LEAD PLUMBING: COMPLIANCE PROGRAM
SUMMARY :
Existing law , pursuant to AB 1953, (Chan) (Chapter 853,
Statutes of 2006):
1) Prohibits, commencing January 1, 2010, the introduction
into commerce 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.
2) Revises the term "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%, to be determined pursuant to a prescribed
formula (referred to hereafter as the California lead
standard or AB 1953 standards).
This bill :
1) Makes various findings relative the need to protect the
public against threats of lead in drinking water, including
the absence of an existing quality control program in state
or federal law to ensure that drinking water plumbing,
including faucets, conforms to existing state and federal
standards.
2) Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control to
conduct a lead plumbing monitoring and compliance testing
program as a part of the Department's existing program for
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reducing toxic substances from the environment.
3) Requires the department to annually select drinking water
faucets or other drinking water plumbing fittings and
fixtures for testing and evaluation to determine compliance
with the California lead standard (AB 1953).
4) Requires the department to determine a sampling methodology
for evaluating faucets, fittings, and fixtures, based on
available resources and staffing.
5) Requires the department to establish test methods,
protocols, and sample preparation procedures necessary to
determine total lead concentration in a drinking water
plumbing fitting or fixture to evaluate compliance with the
standards for maximum allowable lead pursuant to the
California lead standard (AB 1953).
6) Requires the department to exercise its judgment regarding
the sampling and evaluation of plumbing fittings or
fixtures as required by this act.
a) Stipulates that the act does not require the
department to evaluate or sample based on either a
random or representative sample of plumbing fixtures or
fittings.
b) Requires the department to acquire its samples of
fittings and fixtures from locations that are readily
accessible to the public from retail and wholesale
sources.
7) Requires the department to annually post the results of
testing and evaluation on its Internet web site and to
transmit these results in an annual report to the State
Department of Public Health.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . In 2006, the Legislature passed and the
Governor signed into law a bill that required the phase
out, starting in 2010, of lead in faucets, pipes, pipe
fittings and plumbing fittings that are used to convey
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water for human consumption. AB 1953 was signed into law
by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2006 to reduce the
amount of lead that can be present in pipes and pipe
fittings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures that are used to
convey water for human consumption. Although AB 1953, as
enacted, did not include an explicitly defined enforcement
program, the provisions are enforceable under the unfair
business practices (see Section 17200 of the Business &
Professions Code).
SB 1395 requires a testing program through the Department of
Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to ensure that faucets and
fittings sold in California do not contain lead. SB 1395
requires DTSC to select faucets or other drinking water
plumbing fittings to determine compliance with the
requirement that takes effect in 2010. DTSC is also
required to annually prepare a report on the result of
their testing and post information on their website and
provide a report to the Department of Public Health.
2) Background . According the US EPA, drinking water plumbing
remains a significant source of lead exposure, accounting
for some 15 to 20 % of ingested lead. Drinking water
plumbing represents the most common source of lead
exposures. Exposure to low concentrations of lead in
drinking water can result in many damaging health effects,
including kidney disease, hypertension, hearing loss, and
fetal damage to the brain. Over the past several decades
lead regulatory levels considered at the time to be "safe"
have been readjusted to more restrictive levels as mounting
evidence has indicated more subtle levels of damage to
public health.
Since 1997, state and federal law has provided that pipes and
pipe fittings used to convey drinking water can contain no
more than 8% lead, while faucets and faucet fittings can
contain no more than 4% lead. Starting in 2010, only
pipes, faucets, and fittings meeting the AB 1953 0.25% lead
standard can be sold in California.
With the increased number of imported products, and recalls of
contaminated and defective products from overseas, the US
EPA has started to focus on lead in faucets.
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Until the early 1990s, most faucets sold in the United States
were manufactured in the US. After the enactment of the
North American Free Trade Agreement, American
manufacturers, including plumbing fixture manufacturers,
began moving their manufacturing processes out of the
country. In 2005, China exported more than $220 million
worth of faucets to the United States.
The author's office notes that the US EPA has recently stated
they have reason to believe some imported faucets may
contain lead in excess of levels that violate the existing
federal standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act. This,
combined with numerous documented studies of lead in toys,
illustrates the fact that standards alone do not guarantee
they will be met. On-going regulatory monitoring and
compliance programs are needed to verify compliance with
regulatory standards.
3) Related and Prior Legislation . SB 1334 (Calderon) was
introduced this year to require that plumbing material be
certified for compliance with the existing law requirements
for reducing lead in fixtures by an independent, third
party. As introduced, SB 1334 was essentially a
reintroduction of the author's SB 651 of 2007, a measure
that was held in this committee without recommendation. A
significant and unresolved issue of that measure, like SB
1334, revolves around the question of whether the use of
third party certification is a proper procedure for
ensuring compliance with the requirements of AB 1953 (see
the discussion section of SB 1334 for a fuller elaboration
of this issue).
Both SB 1334 and SB 1395 were heard by the Senate Health
Committee prior to their referral to this committee and
extensive amendments taken which appear to have resulted in
an agreement among proponents and opponents of measures
introduced on this topic earlier this year.
4) Proposed Amendment - Contingent Enactment . In order to
provide a parallel construction in both bills for
contingent enactment, the authors have proposed that the
contingent enactment provision in SB 1334 be added to SB
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1395 as well. The amendment would read as follows: "This
act shall only become operative if Senate Bill 1334 of the
2007-08 Regular Session is enacted and becomes operative on
or before January 1, 2009."
SOURCE : East Bay Municipal Utility District
SUPPORT : None on file
OPPOSITION : None on file