BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                AB 737
                                                                       

                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
                        Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
                              2009-2010 Regular Session
                                           
           BILL NO:    AB 737
           AUTHOR:     Environmental Safety & Toxic Materials Committee
           AMENDED:    June 30, 2009
           FISCAL:     No                HEARING DATE:     July 6, 2009
           URGENCY:    No                CONSULTANT:       Rachel Machi
                                                           Wagoner
            
           SUBJECT  :    PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS: PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

            SUMMARY  :    
           
            Existing law  : 

           1)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.

           2)Requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control, in the  
             California Environmental Protection Agency, to establish a  
             Toxics Information Clearinghouse for the collection,  
             maintenance, and distribution of specific chemical hazard  
             traits and environmental and toxicological endpoint data.   
             Existing law defines various terms for the purposes of those  
             provisions, including "consumer product."

            This bill  

           1)Requires public water systems, when they are otherwise  
             required to notify users, to also post those notices and  
             reports on their Internet Web sites as specified.










                                                                AB 737
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           2)Corrects a spelling error and makes other grammatical and  
             technical changes.

            COMMENTS  :

            Purpose of Bill  .  AB 737 augments efforts to notify and inform  
           the public about potential contaminants or other factors that  
           may pose a health risk in their public water systems and  
           corrects drafting errors in AB 1879 and SB 509 from the 2008  
           legislative session.

            SOURCE  :        Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic  
                          Materials Committee  

           SUPPORT  :       None on file  

           OPPOSITION  :    None on file