Bill Text: TX HB42 | 2023 | 88th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the adoption of a healthy and safe school water plan by public schools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-10-06 - Filed [HB42 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB42-Introduced.html
| 88S30099 BDP-D | ||
| By: Gervin-Hawkins | H.B. No. 42 | |
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| relating to the adoption of a healthy and safe school water plan by | ||
| public schools. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 38.041 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 38.041. HEALTHY AND SAFE SCHOOL WATER PLAN. (a) In | ||
| this section: | ||
| (1) "Actionable lead level" means a hazardous, | ||
| actionable concentration of lead in water, as determined by the | ||
| commission. | ||
| (2) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on | ||
| Environmental Quality. | ||
| (3) "Community water system" means a public water | ||
| system that supplies water to the same population year-round. | ||
| (4) "Water source" means any running water tap that is | ||
| used for drinking or food preparation. | ||
| (b) Each school district shall adopt a healthy and safe | ||
| school water plan in accordance with rules adopted by the agency | ||
| under Subsection (c) and with rules adopted by the commission under | ||
| Subsection (d). The plan must include provisions for: | ||
| (1) periodic testing for lead in school water sources | ||
| by a community water system; and | ||
| (2) reducing exposure to elevated levels of lead in | ||
| school water sources. | ||
| (c) The agency, in consultation with the commission, shall | ||
| adopt rules to provide guidance to school districts on the adoption | ||
| of a healthy and safe school water plan under this section. In | ||
| providing guidance to districts under this section, the agency must | ||
| provide procedures for: | ||
| (1) collaboration with community water systems to | ||
| conduct directed public education and lead monitoring at the school | ||
| district campuses the community water systems service; and | ||
| (2) the manner in which a school district: | ||
| (A) must comply with Subsection (f); and | ||
| (B) may be reimbursed under Subsection (i). | ||
| (d) The commission shall adopt rules in accordance with 40 | ||
| C.F.R. Part 141 to provide guidance to community water systems and | ||
| school districts regarding: | ||
| (1) sampling and testing for lead in school water | ||
| sources; | ||
| (2) the minimum lead concentration determined by the | ||
| commission to be an actionable lead level; | ||
| (3) the procedure for disabling a water source with an | ||
| actionable lead level, as determined by the commission; and | ||
| (4) the means by which a community water system or | ||
| school district may reduce lead in school water sources, including | ||
| by installing filters and replacing fixtures and water lines. | ||
| (e) Each community water system, in accordance with | ||
| commission rules adopted under Subsection (d), shall: | ||
| (1) designate an employee to act as the point of | ||
| contact between the commission and school districts served by the | ||
| community water system; | ||
| (2) contact school districts served by the community | ||
| water system, if applicable, to coordinate water source testing in | ||
| the district; | ||
| (3) test each water source in school districts served | ||
| by the community water system for the presence of lead; | ||
| (4) maintain records for each water source in each | ||
| school district served by the community water system, including: | ||
| (A) the location of the water source; and | ||
| (B) the date and results of each test conducted | ||
| under Subdivision (3) for lead in the water source; and | ||
| (5) submit a copy of the records described by | ||
| Subdivision (4): | ||
| (A) to the commission not less than once every | ||
| four years; and | ||
| (B) to the school district once the testing of a | ||
| district campus water source has been completed. | ||
| (f) In the manner prescribed by the rules adopted by the | ||
| agency under Subsection (c), each school district shall: | ||
| (1) designate an employee to act as the point of | ||
| contact for the commission, the community water system, and the | ||
| public regarding testing for lead in school water sources; | ||
| (2) publish the information described by Subsection | ||
| (e)(5) on each district campus's Internet website not later than | ||
| the fifth business day after the date the district receives the | ||
| information; | ||
| (3) notify the parent or legal guardian of each | ||
| student enrolled in the district and each district employee of the | ||
| results of each test conducted under Subsection (e)(3); and | ||
| (4) maintain a copy of the records submitted to the | ||
| district by the community water system under Subsection (e)(5). | ||
| (g) In the event that a school water source is determined by | ||
| the commission to have an actionable lead level, the school | ||
| district shall: | ||
| (1) restrict access to the water source not later than | ||
| 48 hours after learning the results under Subsection (e)(5); and | ||
| (2) continue to restrict access to the water source | ||
| until a subsequent test, conducted after appropriate lead abatement | ||
| efforts are made, indicates the lead concentration at the source to | ||
| be below the actionable lead level. | ||
| (h) A school district may elect to perform the duties | ||
| imposed on a community water system under Subsection (e) | ||
| independently of and without assistance from the community water | ||
| system. | ||
| (i) To the extent that state and federal funds, including | ||
| funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. | ||
| No. 117-58) and the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (Pub. L. | ||
| No. 114-322, Title I, 130 Stat. 1632), are available to the agency | ||
| for the purpose, the agency in coordination with the commission | ||
| shall develop a grant program under which the agency reimburses a | ||
| school district or a community water system for taking the | ||
| following actions related to water sources in the district or a | ||
| district served by the community water system, as applicable: | ||
| (1) testing lead concentrations; | ||
| (2) mitigating contamination through lead abatement | ||
| efforts, including: | ||
| (A) identifying the source of the contamination; | ||
| (B) installing filtration systems; and | ||
| (C) temporarily replacing the water source with | ||
| bottled water or water from another source; and | ||
| (3) replacing affected fixtures. | ||
| SECTION 2. Not later than September 1, 2024, each school | ||
| district and open-enrollment charter school shall adopt a healthy | ||
| and safe school water plan as required by Section 38.041, Education | ||
| Code, as added by this Act, and Section 12.104(b)(3)(K), Education | ||
| Code, as applicable. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the | ||
| legislative session. | ||
