Bill Text: CA SB1395 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Public beaches: inspection for contaminants.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-30 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 928, Statutes of 2014. [SB1395 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB1395-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1395	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 25, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Block

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to amend Section 115880 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to public beaches.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1395, as amended, Block. Public beaches: inspection for
contaminants.
   Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to
adopt regulations  , as specified,  for the minimum
 public health  standards of public beaches, including
requiring the testing of waters adjacent to all public beaches for
specified microbial contaminants.    Existing law
authorizes the department to require testing of the waters adjacent
to all public beaches for additional microbial indicators if the
department establishes that those indicators are as protective of the
public health.  
   This bill would authorize the department to test the of waters
adjacent to all public beaches for microbial indicators or a subset
of those indicators if the department establishes that the
alternative indicators, in combination with a related test method and
protective standard, are as protective of the public health as the
indicators. The bill would authorize the department, in making that
determination, to take into account whether the alternative
indicators and related test method can provide results more quickly.
 
   This bill would authorize the department to allow a local health
officer to use an approved polymerase chain reaction testing method
to determine the level of enterococci bacteria as a single test based
on a single indicator in that jurisdiction if the local health
officer demonstrates through side-by-side testing over a beach season
that the use of the test method provides a reliable indication of
overall microbiological contamination conditions.  
   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those
provisions. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated 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 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  
regulations  may require  or authorize  the testing of
waters adjacent to all public beaches for microbiological indicators
other than those set forth in this paragraph, or  for  a
subset of  those   the indicators  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  , in combination with
a related test method and protective standard,  are as
protective of the public health  as the indicators set forth in
this paragraph. In making that determination, the department may 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
 .
   (2) Establish protective minimum standards for total coliform,
fecal coliform, and enterococci bacteria, or for other
microbiological indicators  or subset of 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  or subset of those indicators
 that the department determines are appropriate for testing
pursuant to paragraph (1). Except as set forth in subdivision
 (d)   (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 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. 
   (d) If a local health officer demonstrates or has demonstrated
through side-by-side testing over a beach season that the use of an
approved polymerase chain reaction testing method to determine the
level of enterococci bacteria as a single indicator provides a
reliable indication of overall microbiological contamination
conditions in all or part of that health officer's jurisdiction, the
department may authorize the use of that testing method in that
jurisdiction instead of other testing methods.  
   (d) 
    (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  (a)   (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. 
   (e) 
    (f)  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. 
   (f) 
    (g)  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 his or her jurisdiction. 
   (g) 
    (h)  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.