BILL ANALYSIS
AB 629
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 15, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 629 (Krekorian) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
[Note: This bill has been double referred to the Assembly
Environmental Safety and Toxic Material Committee and will be
heard as it relates to issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : School facilities: water
SUMMARY : Requires a school district, by January 1, 2010, to
conduct a one-time analysis of the level of lead in water in
schools with plumbing that has not been updated since 1993.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that only water dispensed from drinking water
fountains and other fixtures that are intended to convey water
for human consumption shall be analyzed. Specifies that the
analysis to include, but not be limited to, a determination of
the presence and amount of lead in the water.
2)Requires the State Department of Public Health (DPH) to
establish testing protocols. Requires water samples to be
analyzed by a laboratory that is certified by the DPH or the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and
authorizes the school district to contract with a private
certified laboratory or the county health department
laboratory, whichever is more cost-effective.
3)Requires a school district that has conducted an analysis
pursuant to this bill to report the results of the analysis to
the California Department of Education (CDE), which shall make
the information available to the public.
4)Provides that if the analysis reveals the presence of lead in
water that is available from a drinking fountain or other
fixture intended to convey water for human consumption on a
schoolsite at a concentration that exceeds the lead action
level in the federal lead and copper rule of 15?g/L, the
school district maintaining the schoolsite is eligible to
compete for funds made available from the Safe Drinking Water,
Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal
Protection Bond Act of 2006, as set forth in Division 43
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(commencing with Section 75001) of the Public Resources Code
in order to mitigate the contamination.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Lead-Safe Schools Protection Act, enacted in
1992, which provides the following:
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
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.
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.
2)Prohibits the 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.
3)Establishes the California Safe Drinking Water Act, which
requires DPH to administer provisions relating to the
regulation of drinking water to protect public health.
Requires standards to be set for toxics in drinking water,
which includes lead.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee of a similar bill in 2008, General Fund/Proposition 98
state reimbursable mandated costs, of approximately $7.5
million, to conduct a one-time assessment of water toxicity
levels, as specified. CDE estimates that there are
approximately 5,000 schools built before 1993. These costs may
be lower depending on the number of these schools that have
already made plumbing repairs.
COMMENTS : According to the author, 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. Because children spend so
much time in school and their bodies are developing rapidly, it
is important to provide safe drinking water to avoid health
problems linked to lead.
State Efforts . The state has initiated a number of lead
identification and prevention efforts in schools. Enacted in
1992, the Lead-Safe Schools Protection Act required the DHS 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.
Lead in water . According to the report, water can be
contaminated with lead by the source water system or by
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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.
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.
Lead testing in schools . As part of the Budget Act, in 1998, 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.
This bill requires school districts to conduct a one-time
analysis of the level of lead in water in schools with plumbing
that has not been updated since 1993. Beginning 1993, all
construction of new school facilities and modernization of
existing facilities are prohibited from using lead-based
plumbing and solders.
The bill limits analyses to drinking water fountains or other
fixtures intended to convey water and requires school districts
to report the results to the CDE, which would be required to
make the information available to the public.
Mitigation Funds . The bill also authorizes a school district to
compete for funds from Proposition 84, the Water Quality, Safety
and Supply, Flood Control, Natural Resource Protection, Park
Improvements Bond, for mitigation purposes if the analysis
reveals the presence of lead in water at a concentration that
exceeds the lead action level in the federal lead and copper
rule of 15 micrograms per liter, or 15?g/L. According to the
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East Bay Municipal Utility District, the trigger level of 15?g/L
is the same action level water suppliers use to determine
whether corrective action is required when they test water at
consumers' taps. Proposition 84 was passed by voters in
November 2006 and authorizes a total of $5.388 billion in
general obligation bonds, of which $380 million is targeted for
various water quality/safe drinking water initiatives and
purposes.
Arguments in Support . The author states that even though the
1998 report by DHS and numerous other research highly recommend
that all schools test their drinking water taps for lead (and
other toxic substances), these provisions are purely voluntary.
The author believes that the state needs the data in order to
address any potential problems.
The California School Employees Association supports the bill
because it "promotes public awareness of lead in our schools;
but also provides access to funding for the necessary
infrastructure improvements to ensure safe drinking water for
our school communities."
Arguments in Opposition . The Small School Districts'
Association (SSDA) has an "oppose unless funded" position on the
bill and states, "School district funding has been cut by $8.6
billion in inflation adjusted revenues and may have additional
cuts in 2009-10. These cuts will be continuing through 2009-10
and there is no expectation they will be restored in 2010-11.
SSDA opposes AB 629 because it creates a new unfunded state
mandate and there is no expectation funding for this mandate
would occur for the next three years. School districts would
have to divert limited resources to comply with the mandate
while at the same time facing significant fiscal pressure to
maintain existing programs."
Previous Legislation . This bill is similar to AB 2965
(Krekorian), which was held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee's Suspense File in 2008. AB 629 limits testing to
just lead. AB 2965 required testing of lead as well as copper,
trihalomethanes and other chemicals.
Suggested Technical Amendments :
1)This bill requires a school district to conduct the analysis
by January 1, 2010. Staff recommends changing this date to
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January 1, 2012 and making clarifying changes as follows:
17577.5. By January 1, 2010 2012 , a school district shall
conduct a one-time analysis of the level of lead in water in
schools that were constructed prior to 1993 or where plumbing
was replaced prior to 1993 with plumbing that has not been
updated since 1993 .
2)Specify the threshold for funding eligibility in Section 2 of
the bill:
75020.5. If a school district completes an assessment of
water toxicity levels in its schools pursuant to Section
17577.5 of the Education Code and the assessment reveals the
presence of lead at a concentration that exceeds the lead
action level in the federal lead and copper rule of 15?g/L in
water that is available for human consumption on a schoolsite,
the school district maintaining the schoolsite is eligible to
compete for funds made available pursuant to this chapter.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Latino Issues Forum (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFL-CIO)
California School Employees Association
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Environmental Working Group
State Building and Construction Trades Council
Opposition
Small School Districts' Association
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087