BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1194
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1194
AUTHOR: Block
AMENDED: June 27, 2011
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: July 6, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:
Rachel Machi Wagoner
SUBJECT : DRINKING WATER
SUMMARY :
Existing federal law :
1) Establishes the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (federal
SDWA) to regulate the nation's public drinking water
supply.
2) Requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)
to establish mandatory nationwide drinking water standards.
3) Requires state drinking water programs to set drinking
water standards that are at least as stringent as the US
EPA standards.
Existing state law:
4) Establishes the California Safe Drinking Water Act (Act) to
govern the state's Drinking Water Program and to be the
delegated authority by the US EPA for enforcement of the
federal SDWA.
5) Establishes the Drinking Water Program (DWP) within the
California Department of Public Health (DPH) to regulate
public drinking water systems and enforce federal and state
drinking water acts.
6) Under the Act, defines "human consumption" to mean the use
of water for drinking, bathing or showering, handwashing,
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or oral hygiene.
7) Under the Act, exempts public water systems that meet
specified conditions, including systems that sell water to
users through a submetered service system if the water
supply is obtained from a regulated public water system.
8) Requires DPH to exempt from water quality requirements any
noncommunity water system serving a transient population
that provides restrooms for employees or the public,
provided that the water system meets all of the following
criteria:
a) No water is served by the water system for any public
human consumption other than for handwashing.
b) If water is served for public human consumption other
than for handwashing, bottled water from a source
approved by DPH is provided.
c) The water for handwashing is bacteriologically safe,
as specified.
d) The noncommunity water system is not a business
regulated as a food facility.
9) Authorizes DPH to levy penalties against public water
systems of up to $1,000 per day for violation of a primary
drinking water standard and certain health-based secondary
standards; and authorizes a penalty of $200 per day for
other violations, as specified.
This bill :
1) Adds the use of water for cooking, preparing food, and
washing dishes to the definition of human consumption under
the Act.
2) Narrows an exemption from regulation for public water
systems that sell water to users through a submetered
distribution system, by also requiring that users not be
charged higher rates than users would otherwise be charged
by the public water system.
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3) Repeals the exemption for noncommunity water systems
serving transient populations from water quality
requirements in the Act.
4) Revises penalty provisions, including authorizing DPH to
levy penalties per day, per violation, beginning from the
date the violation occurred, rather than from the date
specified for correction in the citation or order.
5) Makes other technical and clarifying changes.
COMMENTS :
Purpose of Bill . DPH, the sponsor of AB 1194, argues that AB
1194 is necessary to amend the California SDWA to ensure
conformance with federal law from time to time. DPH claims
that in meetings and correspondence with the US EPA regarding
federal SDWA, US EPA claims that:
"Existing state law, which defines 'human
consumption,' is not broad enough to conform to the
federal provision because it omits cooking, food
preparation, and other such forms of human ingestion
of water.
Existing state law exempts apartments and other
multi-unit dwellings from regulation as public water
systems. US EPA contends that specified sections of
California's drinking water statutes referring to the
exemption criteria lack clarity and are inconsistent
with federal policy. US EPA believes it is more
appropriate to explicitly describe the criteria for
exemption.
Existing state law authorizes DPH to exempt from most
water quality requirements any system that does not
serve residents, provided that certain requirements
are met, including that the system either only serves
water for hand-washing, or, if it serves water for
other purposes, makes bottled water available for
those purposes. Federal law provides no similar
exemption; therefore, California law in this area is
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less stringent than federal law.
Existing state law authorizes penalties against public
water systems of up to $1,000 per day for a violation
of a primary drinking water standard and certain
health-based secondary standards, but authorizes a
penalty of only $200 per day for other violations. In
some instances, California's SDWA does not authorize
such penalties until DPH first issues a citation with
a deadline by which the system must come into
compliance, and DPH finds that the system fails to
meet that deadline. Consequently, a public water
system may avoid paying a penalty for the days on
which it violated applicable laws or regulations by
coming into compliance. Federal law, however,
authorizes a penalty of up to $1,000 per day per
violation that cannot be avoided by coming into
compliance, as allowed under state law. California
law in this area is less stringent than the applicable
federal requirements."
AB 1194 responds to these concerns by updating the provisions
of the California SDWA to conform with the federal SDWA.
SOURCE : California Department of Public Health
SUPPORT : None on file
OPPOSITION : None on file