BILL NUMBER: SB 482 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 20, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 30, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Sections 115875, 115880, 115885, 115890, 115895,
and 115915 of, to add Section 115881 to, and to repeal Sections
115900 and 115905 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to public
health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 482, as amended, Kehoe. Public beach contamination: standards:
testing: closing.
Existing law requires local health officers to submit to the State
Water Resources Control Board prescribed information regarding beach
postings and closures and requires the board to make that
information available to the public and to post the information on
its Internet Web site.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
adopt regulations to establish minimum standards for the sanitation
of public beaches, as defined, and to require the testing of the
waters adjacent to beaches for microbiological contaminants and to
require posting and closure of beaches that are in violation of the
standards. A violation of these regulations is a crime.
This bill would, commencing January 1, 2012, give primary
responsibility for administration of the provisions relating to
monitoring protocols, site locations, monitoring
frequency, and prescribed testing to the board and would
leave in place the regulations existing as of January 1, 2012, to be
administered, enforced, and amended as necessary by the board
. The bill would also make related changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 115875 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
115875. For the purposes of this article, the following terms
have the following meanings:
(a) "Public beach" means any beach area used by the public for
recreational purposes that is owned, operated, or controlled by the
state, any state agency, any local agency, or any private person in
this state, and is located in the coastal zone, as defined in Section
30103 of the Public Resources Code, or within the jurisdiction of
the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, as set
forth in Section 66610 of the Government Code. "Public
beach" also includes any beach of ocean waters and bays of the state
where water-contact sports are engaged in by the public.
Code.
(b) "Board" means the State Water Resources Control Board.
(c) "Department" means the State Department of Public Health.
(d) "Health officer" means the legally appointed local health
officer or director of environmental health of the county or city
having jurisdiction of the area in which a public saltwater beach is
located.
SEC. 2. Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115880. (a) The department shall by regulation, in consultation
with the board, local health officers, and the public, establish,
maintain, and amend as necessary, minimum standards for the
sanitation of public beaches, including, but not limited to, the
removal of refuse, as it determines are reasonably necessary for the
protection of the public health and safety.
(b) Prior to final adoption or amendment by the department, the
regulations and standards required by this section shall undergo an
external comprehensive review process similar to the process set
forth in Section 57004 of the Health and Safety Code.
(c) The regulations shall, at a minimum, do all of the following:
(1) Require the testing of the waters adjacent to all public
beaches for microbiological contaminants, including, but not limited
to, total coliform, fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria. The
department may require the testing of waters adjacent to all public
beaches for microbiological indicators other than those set forth in
this paragraph, or a subset of those set forth in this paragraph, if
the department affirmatively establishes, based on the best available
scientific studies and the weight of the evidence, that the
alternative indicators are as protective of the public health.
(2) Establish protective minimum standards for total coliform,
fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for other
microbiological indicators that the department determines are
appropriate for testing pursuant to paragraph (1).
SEC. 3. Section 115881 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
115881. (a) Commencing January 1, 2012, primary jurisdiction
shall be transferred from the department to the board for state
administration of both of the following:
(1) Determining monitoring protocols, site locations
, and monitoring frequency based on risks to public
health and options for modifying wastewater and stormwater
discharge monitoring requirements of local agencies as a method of
meeting the requirements set forth in Section 115880.
health.
(2) Identification of options for funding the monitoring needed to
fulfill the requirements of Section 115880, including options for
integrating and streamlining existing monitoring programs or
requirements associated with waste discharge requirements, Total
Maximum Daily Load implementation, or other monitoring programs. If a
regional board or state board issues waste discharge requirements
that require monitoring to meet the requirements set forth in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 115880, the monitoring
shall only be required to the extent that the discharge has the
potential to cause or contribute to exceedances of the standards
established pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section
115880. Nothing in this section shall preclude any discharger from
voluntarily participating in monitoring necessary to meet the
requirements of Section 115880.
(2)
(3) Requiring that the waters adjacent to public
beaches are tested for total coliform, fecal coliform, and
enterococci bacteria, or for other microbiological indicators that
the department determines are appropriate for testing pursuant to
paragraph (1). Except as set forth in subdivision (b), testing shall
be conducted on at least a weekly basis from April 1 to October 31,
inclusive, of each year beginning in 2012, if all of the following
apply:
(A) The beach is visited by more than 50,000 people annually.
(B) The beach is located on an area adjacent to a storm drain that
flows in the summer.
(b) The monitoring frequency and locations established pursuant to
this section and related regulations may only be reduced or altered
after the testing required pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision
(a) reveals levels of microbiological contaminants that do not
exceed, for a period of two years, the minimum protective standards
established pursuant to Section 115880.
(c) Regulations adopted by the department for the implementation
of this article that are in effect as of January 1, 2012, shall
remain in effect and shall, thereafter, be administered, enforced,
and amended as necessary by the board.
(d)
(c) The local health officer shall be responsible for
testing the waters adjacent to, and coordinating the testing of, all
public beaches within his or her jurisdiction.
(e)
(d) The local health officer may meet the testing
requirements of this section by utilizing test results from other
agencies parties conducting
microbiological contamination testing of the waters under his or her
jurisdiction.
(f)
(e) Any city or county may adopt standards for the
sanitation of public beaches within its jurisdiction that are
stricter than the standards adopted by the board pursuant to this
section.
(g)
(f) Any duty imposed upon a local public officer or
agency pursuant to this article shall be mandatory only during a
fiscal year in which the Legislature has appropriated sufficient
funds, as determined by the board, in the annual Budget Act or
otherwise for local agencies to cover the costs to those agencies
associated with the performance of these duties. The board shall
annually, within 15 days after enactment of the Budget Act, file a
written statement with the Secretary of the Senate and with the Chief
Clerk of the Assembly memorializing whether sufficient funds have
been appropriated.
SEC. 4. Section 115885 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115885. (a) The health officer having jurisdiction over the area
in which a public beach is created shall:
(1) Inspect the public beach to determine whether the standards
established pursuant to Section 115880 are being complied with. If
the health officer finds any violation of the standards, he or she
may restrict the use of, or close, the public beach or portion
thereof in which the violation occurs until the standard is complied
with.
(2) Investigate any complaint of a violation of any standard
established by the department pursuant to Section 115880. If the
health officer finds any violation of the standards prescribed by the
department, he or she may restrict the use of, or close, the public
beach or portion thereof until the standard is complied with. If the
person who made the complaint is not satisfied with the action taken
by the health officer, he or she may report the violation to the
department. The department shall investigate the reported violation,
and, if it finds that the violation exists, it may restrict the use
of or close the public beach or portion thereof until the standard
violated is complied with.
(3) Whenever a beach is posted, closed, or otherwise restricted in
accordance with Section 115915, inform the agency responsible for
the operation and maintenance of the public beach within 24 hours of
the posting, closure, or restriction.
(4) Establish a telephone hotline to inform the public of all
beaches currently closed, posted, or otherwise restricted. The
hotline shall be updated as needed in order to convey changes in
public health risks.
(5) Report any violation of the standards established pursuant to
Section 115880 to the district attorney, or if the violation occurred
in a city and, pursuant to Section 41803.5 of the Government Code,
the city attorney is authorized to prosecute misdemeanors, to the
city attorney.
(6) In the event of a known untreated sewage release, immediately
test the waters adjacent to the public beach and to take action
pursuant to regulations established under Sections 115880 and 115881.
(7) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the event of an
untreated sewage release that is known to have reached recreational
waters adjacent to a public beach, immediately close those waters
until it has been determined by the local health officer that the
waters are in compliance with the standards established pursuant to
Section 115880.
(b) If the department is aware of an untreated sewage release that
has reached recreational waters adjacent to a public beach, and that
the local health officer has not taken action to close the beach, it
may take action to close those waters until the waters are in
compliance.
SEC. 5. Section 115890 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115890. Prior to restricting the use of or closing a public beach
or portion thereof alleged to be in violation of standards, the
health officer or the department as the case may be, shall give
reasonable notice of the violation to the owner of, or person or
agency in charge of, the beach.
SEC. 6. Section 115895 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115895. Any private person who violates any regulation adopted by
the department pursuant to Section 115880 is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
SEC. 7. Section 115900 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
SEC. 8. Section 115905 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
SEC. 9. Section 115915 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
115915. (a) Whenever any beach fails to meet the bacteriological
standards established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 115880,
the health officer shall, at a minimum, post the beach with
conspicuous warning signs to inform the public of the nature of the
problem and the possibility of risk to public health.
(b) A warning sign shall be visible from each legal primary beach
access point, as identified in the coastal access inventory prepared
and updated pursuant to Section 30531 of the Public Resources Code,
and any additional access points identified by the health officer.