Bill Text: CA AB2599 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2599

Bill Title: Water: public beaches: discontinuation of residential water service.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-08-08 - Read second time. Ordered to third reading. [AB2599 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2599-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate August 07, 2024

Amended IN Senate May 21, 2024

Amended IN Assembly March 06, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2599

Introduced by Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials (Assembly Members Garcia (Chair), Hoover (Vice Chair), Connolly, McKinnor, Papan, Reyes, and Ta)

February 14, 2024

An act to amend Sections 115880, 115885, and 116920 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to water.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2599, as amended, Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. Water: public beaches: discontinuation of residential water service.

Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health, by regulation, to establish, maintain, and amend as necessary minimum standards for the sanitation of public beaches, as provided. Existing law requires the regulations to do certain things, including requiring the testing of the waters adjacent to all public beaches for microbiological contaminants, as provided. Existing law authorizes a local health officer to meet the testing requirements by utilizing test results from other parties conducting microbiological contamination testing of the waters under their jurisdiction.

This bill would provide that the local health officer may only rely on data from test results from other parties if that data meets the same quality requirements that apply to local agencies pursuant to specified regulations and standards. The bill would also require that test results ~~from other parties~~ used by the local health officer be made available to the public.

Existing law requires a health officer having jurisdiction over an area in which a public beach is created to do certain things, including, in the event of a known untreated sewage release, immediately test the waters adjacent to the public beach and take certain actions and, in the event 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 specified standards.

This bill would authorize the health officer to meet the requirements described above by using test results from other parties that have conducted microbiological contamination testing of the waters under the health officer’s jurisdiction, as provided. The bill would provide that the local health officer may only rely on data from test results from other parties if that data meets the same quality requirements that apply to local agencies pursuant to specified regulations and standards. The bill would also require that test results ~~from other parties~~ used by the local health officer be made available to the public.

Existing law, the Water Shutoff Protection Act, authorizes the Attorney General, at the request of the State Water Resources Control Board or upon the Attorney General’s own motion, to bring an action in state court to, among other things, restore to any person in interest any money or property, real or personal, that may have been acquired by any method, act, or practice prohibited by the act.

This bill would instead authorize the Attorney General, at the request of the board or upon the Attorney General’s own motion, to bring an action in state court to restore to any person in interest any money or real property acquired by any method, act, or practice prohibited by the act. The bill would also state that these provisions do not provide public water systems with authorities not otherwise provided by law.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

115880.

(a) The department shall, by regulation and 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.

(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).

(3) Require 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 (e), testing shall be conducted on at least a weekly basis from April 1 to October 31, inclusive, of each year beginning in 2012, if both 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.

(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if a local health officer demonstrates or has demonstrated through side-by-side testing over a beach season that the use of United States Environmental Protection Agency method 1609 or 1611, or any equivalent or improved rapid detection method published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for use in beach water quality assessment or approved as an alternative test procedure pursuant to Part 136 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, to determine the level of enterococci bacteria as a single indicator provides a reliable indication of overall microbiological contamination conditions at one or more beach locations within that health officer’s jurisdiction, the department may authorize the use of that testing method at those beach locations instead of other testing methods. In making that determination, the department shall take into account whether an alternative indicator or subset of indicators, with the associated test method, can provide results more quickly, thereby reducing the period of time the public is at risk while waiting for contamination to be confirmed.

(e) The monitoring frequency and locations established pursuant to this section and related regulations may be reduced or altered only after the testing required pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) reveals levels of microbiological contaminants that do not exceed, for a period of two years, the minimum protective standards established pursuant to this section.

(f) The local health officer is responsible for testing the waters adjacent to, and coordinating the testing of, all public beaches within their jurisdiction.

(g) (1) The local health officer may meet the testing requirements of this section by utilizing test results from other parties conducting microbiological contamination testing of the waters under their jurisdiction.

(2) Test results ~~from other parties~~ used by the local health officer shall be made available to the public.

(3) A local health officer may only rely on data from test results from other parties if that data meets the same quality requirements that apply to local agencies pursuant to regulations and standards established pursuant to this section and Section 115881.

(h) This section does not require a wastewater treatment agency or other party conducting microbiological contamination testing of the waters under the local health officer’s jurisdiction, who provides those test results to a local health officer pursuant to this section, to use United States Environmental Protection Agency method 1609 or 1611, or any equivalent or improved rapid detection method published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for use in beach water quality assessment or approved as an alternative test procedure pursuant to Part 136 of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, for total maximum daily load implementation, waste discharge requirements, or other monitoring programs required to be implemented pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code.

(i) 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 department pursuant to this section.

SEC. 2.

Section 115885 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

115885.

(a) (1) A health officer having jurisdiction over an area in which a public beach is created shall do all of the following:

(A) Inspect the public beach to determine whether the public beach is in compliance with the standards established pursuant to Section 115880. If the health officer finds a violation of the standards, the health officer may restrict the use of, or close, the public beach or portion of the public beach in which the violation occurs until the public beach is in compliance with the standards.

(B) Investigate a complaint of a violation of a standard established by the department pursuant to Section 115880. If the health officer finds a violation of the standards prescribed by the department, the health officer may restrict the use of, or close, the public beach or portion of the public beach until the public beach is in compliance with the standard. If the person who made the complaint is not satisfied with the action taken by the health officer, the person 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 of the public beach until the public beach is in compliance with the violated standard.

(C) If 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.

(D) 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.

(E) Report a 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.

(F) 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.

(G) Notwithstanding any other 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.

(2) (A) The health officer may meet the requirements of subparagraphs (F) and (G) of paragraph (1) by using test results from other parties that have conducted microbiological contamination testing of the waters under the health officer’s jurisdiction. The sharing of data between these parties pursuant to this paragraph shall be voluntary. The development of data-sharing protocols shall be at the discretion of these parties.

(B) Test results ~~from other parties~~ used by the local health officer shall be made available to the public.

(C) A local health officer may only rely on data from test results from other parties if that data meets the same quality requirements that apply to local agencies pursuant to regulations and standards established pursuant to Sections 115880 and 115881.

(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.

(c) Any duty imposed upon a local public officer or agency pursuant to this section shall be mandatory only during a fiscal year in which the Legislature has appropriated sufficient funds, as determined by the State Public Health Officer, 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 State Public Health Officer 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. 3.

Section 116920 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:

116920.

(a) The Attorney General, at the request of the board or upon the Attorney General’s own motion, may bring an action in state court to do either of the following:

(1) Restrain by temporary or permanent injunction the use of any method, act, or practice declared in this chapter to be unlawful.

(2) Restore to any person in interest any money or real property acquired by any method, act, or practice declared by this chapter to be unlawful.

(b) For a covered water system regulated by the Public Utilities Commission, the commission may bring an action in state court to restrain by temporary or permanent injunction the use by a covered water system regulated by the commission of any method, act, or practice declared in this chapter to be unlawful.

(c) Nothing in this section provides public water systems with authorities not otherwise provided to those systems by law.