BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 737|
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                                    CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 737
          Author:   Assm. Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials  
          Committee
          Amended:  6/30/09 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 7/6/09
          AYES:  Simitian, Runner, Ashburn, Corbett, Hancock,  
            Lowenthal, Pavley

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 4/20/09 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Public water systems:  public notification

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill 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.

           ANALYSIS  :    

           Existing Law

           1.Under the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires  
            every public water system to notify users when certain  
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            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 site, as specified.

          2.Corrects a spelling error and makes other grammatical and  
            technical changes.
           
          Comments

           This bill 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 (Feuer), Chapter 559, Statutes  
          of 2008, and SB 509 (Simitian), Chapter 560, Statutes of  
          2008.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No    
          Local:  No

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill  
            Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Brownley,  
            Caballero, Carter, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La  







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          3

            Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng, Evans,  
            Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,  
            Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi,  
            Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,  
            Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,  
            Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A.  
            Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas,  
            Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra  
            Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,  
            Villines, Yamada, Bass
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Blakeslee, Buchanan, Charles Calderon,  
            Chesbro, Hall


          TSM:cm  7/8/09   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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