Bill Text: CA AB2072 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: State Water Resources Control Board: constituents of emerging concern.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-05-25 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2072 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB2072-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 13, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2072

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Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk

February 07, 2018

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An act to add Section 13162.5 to the Water Code, relating to water quality.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2072, as amended, Quirk. State Water Resources Control Board: contaminants constituents of emerging concern.

Existing law, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, requires the state policy for water quality control to consist of water quality principles and guidelines for long-range resource planning, water quality objectives, and other principles and guidelines deemed essential by the State Water Resources Control Board for water quality control. The act requires the state board to annually determine state needs for water quality research and to recommend projects to be conducted.

This bill would require the state board, to the extent that the state board determines funds are available, to establish and maintain a dedicated program to research contaminants the potential effects of constituents of emerging concern to understand the contaminants entering drinking water supplies. The bill would require the program to research the impacts of contaminants of emerging concern on human health and the environment, in water sources on human and ecosystem health, as prescribed.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)There are hundreds of thousands of chemicals in commerce today, and many have the potential to be released into the environment, but only a handful of them have numeric water quality standards. Most are not monitored in California’s waters, and the state has information on very few chemicals compared to the amount that are in commerce and have the potential to enter our water supplies.

(b)Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are unregulated chemicals that originate from a variety of point and nonpoint source waste discharges. The presence of CECs in waterways presents potential hazards to human health and aquatic life. Public concerns, newly adopted policies, and regulations prompted the State Water Resources Control Board and the California regional water quality control boards to monitor for the occurrence of CECs and to investigate their potential to cause toxicity to both aquatic life and humans.

(c)The state board’s 2009 Recycled Water Policy directed the staff of the board to convene a scientific advisory panel to provide recommendations on future actions related to CECs and to reconvene a science advisory panel to update its recommendations every five years.

(d)In 2010, the science advisory panel submitted a report titled “Monitoring Strategies for Chemicals of Emerging Concern in Recycled Water - Recommendations of a Science Advisory Panel,” which presented recommendations for monitoring CECs in municipal recycled water used for groundwater recharge.

(e)The Recycled Water Policy was amended in 2013 by State Water Resources Control Board Resolution 2013-0003 to specify requirements for the monitoring of CECs in recycled water.

(f)In August 2016, an expert panel convened pursuant to Section 13565 of the Water Code provided research recommendations related to the feasibility of developing uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse in a report titled “Evaluation of the Feasibility of Developing Uniform Water Recycling Criteria for Direct Potable Reuse.” The expert panel stated that no additional research was needed to establish uniform water recycling criteria for direct portable reuse but recommended several areas of research on potential health risks of specific CECs likely to be present in recycled water, improving source control, improving monitoring of pathogens in raw wastewater and advanced treated water, improving treatment processes, and developing comprehensive analytical methods to identify unknown compounds.

(g)There is a continued need for research to enhance the understanding and acceptability of all types of water reuse in California, and this research can and should be extended to understanding the growing emergence of CECs. Research topics include, but are not limited to, developing bioanalytical tools, developing methods to analyze a range of unknown contaminants (nontargeted analytical tools), improving monitoring and treatment of pathogens, improving monitoring and treatment of CECs, and evaluating CECs for their impact on human health and the aquatic environment.

(h)On December 6, 2016, the state board adopted a resolution directing its staff to convene a scientific advisory panel as specified in the Recycled Water Policy to update the 2010 science advisory panel report and to guide future actions relating to CECs. The resolution also directed the staff of the state board to evaluate the requirements and frequency of monitoring for priority pollutants and CECs, considering recommendations from the science advisory panel, and to consider updating the Recycled Water Policy consistent with the findings of that evaluation.

SEC. 2.SECTION 1.

 Section 13162.5 is added to the Water Code, to read:

13162.5.

 To the extent that the board determines funds are available, available for the purpose of this section, the board shall establish and maintain a dedicated program to research contaminants the potential effects of constituents of emerging concern to understand the contaminants entering drinking water supplies. in water sources on human and ecosystem health. The program shall research the impacts of contaminants of emerging concern on human health and the environment and include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(a)Monitoring drinking water sources to identify the appropriate indicator and surrogate contaminants.

(a) Measuring occurrences of constituents of emerging concern and monitoring for the appropriate indicators and surrogate contaminants in drinking water sources and recycled water as identified by the Science Advisory Panel for Chemicals of Emerging Concern in Recycled Water.

(b) Measuring occurrences of contaminants constituents of emerging concern and monitoring for the appropriate indicators and surrogate contaminants in water types types, sediments, and organisms, as identified by the Science Advisory Panel for Chemicals of Emerging Concern in California’s Aquatic Ecosystems.

(c) Evaluating alternative monitoring methods, including, but and implementing new monitoring approaches for constituents of emerging concern, particularly screening methods that may improve detection ability or reduce the cost of monitoring. The approaches may include, but are not limited to, nontargeted analytical methods, bioanalytical screening tools tools, and whole organism toxicity tests that better target biological responses associated with contaminants constituents of emerging concern.

(d) Developing and maintaining a list of target compound contaminants constituents of emerging concern to monitor. concern, indicators, and surrogate constituents to monitor, that may include grouping constituents of emerging concern into chemical families for efficiency in identification, and establishing ranking protocols for constituents of emerging concern for their half-life in the environment and their bioaccumulation factors.

(e)Evaluating the utility of new monitoring approaches for contaminants of emerging concern.

(f)

(e) Applying monitoring to drinking water sources in source or ambient receiving waters and contaminants constituents of emerging concern discharge scenarios and geographical regions.

(g)Incorporating chemical and bioanalytical screening for contaminants of emerging concern to inform and reduce the scope of more costly whole animal toxicity and field monitoring efforts.

(h)Investigating

(f) Performing any other scientific or technical issues tasks that may be necessary, including, but not limited to, identifying the need for additional research. research, such as developing techniques to identify relevant degradation products of constituents of emerging concern, and convening science advisory panels.

(g) Providing opportunities for public participation. The board may use models used by other panels or programs administered by the board for community outreach pursuant to this subdivision. Public participation shall include, but need not be limited to, conducting stakeholder meetings and workshops to solicit relevant information, data, suggestions, and feedback for the development and implementation of the program.