BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 737
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:   April 14, 2009

           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
                                Wesley Chesbro, Chair
            AB 737 (Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials Committee) - As  
                           Introduced:  February 26, 2009
           
           SUBJECT:   Public water systems:  public notification.

           SUMMARY :  Requires public water systems, when they are otherwise  
          required to notify or report to users about potential public  
          health risks related to the systems' drinking water, to also  
          post those notices and reports on their Internet Web sites.   
          Authorizes the public water system, upon rectifying the problem,  
          to remove or modify the notice or report.

           EXISTING LAW  :  Under the California Safe Drinking Water Act,  
          requires every public water system to notify users when certain  
          monitoring or other requirements have not been complied with; to  
          notify customers when failure to comply with a primary drinking  
          water standard represents an imminent danger; to notify  
          customers that they should avoid consumption of the water supply  
          due to a chemical contamination that may pose a health risk and  
          to instead use bottled water; to notify consumers of  
          confirmation of detected contaminants; and to annually deliver a  
          copy of the consumer confidence report to each customer.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None.

           COMMENTS :   

           Purpose  :  This bill is sponsored by the Assembly Environmental  
          Safety and Toxic Materials Committee to require public water  
          systems to post information about potential public health  
          threats related to the systems' drinking water on the systems'  
          Internet Web sites.  While public water systems may currently  
          notify customers via mail or through published reports about  
          potential health threats posed by consuming the water they  
          supply, posting this information on the Internet will provide  
          all potential water users with greater access to this  
          information.

           Prior legislation  :  AB 3076 (ESTM Committee) of 2008 was  
          identical to this bill and passed unanimously out of the ESTM  
          Committee and 76- 0 off the Assembly floor.








                                                                  AB 737
                                                                  Page 2


           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support
           
          American Federation of Federal, State and Municipal Employees  
          (AFSME)

           Opposition
           
          None on file.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)  
          319-3965