Amended  IN  Assembly  June 23, 2022
Amended  IN  Assembly  June 21, 2022
Amended  IN  Senate  May 19, 2022
Amended  IN  Senate  March 29, 2022
Amended  IN  Senate  March 14, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1124

Introduced by Senator Archuleta

February 16, 2022

An act to add Section 116362 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to drinking water.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1124, as amended, Archuleta. Public health goal: primary drinking water standard: manganese.
The California Safe Drinking Water Act provides for the operation of public water systems and tasks the State Water Resources Control Board with various responsibilities and duties relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. The act requires the state board to adopt primary drinking water standards for contaminants in drinking water that are based upon specified criteria, as provided. The act requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to prepare and publish an assessment of the risks to public health posed by each contaminant for which the state board proposes a primary drinking water standard. The act requires the risk assessment to contain an estimate of the level of the contaminant in drinking water that is not anticipated to cause or contribute to adverse health effects, or that does not pose any significant risk to public health, also known as the public health goal for the contaminant. The act requires the state board to consider specified criteria when it adopts a primary drinking water standard, including the public health goal for the contaminant published by OEHHA.
This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2025, OEHHA to prepare a public health goal for manganese, as provided. The bill would require the state board, after OEHHA publishes a public health goal for manganese, to adopt a primary drinking water standard standard, as defined, for manganese and to establish for that standard, and for the period before adoption of that standard, monitoring requirements for manganese, as specified. The bill would require, on or before January 31, 2024, the state board to consider establishing a notification and response level for manganese that would remain in place until the state board adopts a primary drinking water standard for manganese. The bill would authorize the state board, before adopting a primary drinking water standard for manganese, to continue to provide funding for treatment, source protection, and alternative water supplies and to continue to require community water systems to monitor manganese in their source water and within their distribution systems, as provided.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 116362 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

116362.
 (a) On or before July 1, 2025, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment shall prepare and publish, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 116365, a public health goal for manganese.
(b) After the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment publishes a public health goal for manganese pursuant to subdivision (a), the state board shall do both of the following:
(1) Adopt, pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 116365, a primary drinking water standard for manganese.
(2) (A) Establish for the primary drinking water standard standard, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 116275, for manganese adopted pursuant to paragraph (1), and for the period before the primary drinking water standard for manganese is adopted, appropriate monitoring requirements for manganese that shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(i) Routine distribution system monitoring.
(ii) Distribution system monitoring after flushing activities.
(iii) Monitoring when water is discolored or after a customer complains of discolored water.
(B) The monitoring requirements described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall not be construed to limit the state board’s authority to order distribution system monitoring for contaminants, other than manganese, that have secondary drinking water standards.
(c) On or before January 31, 2024, the state board shall consider establishing, pursuant to Section 116456, a notification level and response level for manganese that would remain in place until the state board adopts a primary drinking water standard for manganese pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).
(d) Before the state board adopts a primary drinking water standard for manganese pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), the state board may continue to do both of the following:
(1) Require a community water system, through general or individual orders, to monitor manganese in its source water and within its distribution system.
(2) Provide funding for treatment, source protection, and alternative water supplies. To the extent authorized by the funding source, the state board may use exceedances of the secondary drinking water standard for manganese in the source water or within the distribution system of a community water system as a basis to prioritize funding.