Amended  IN  Assembly  March 20, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 841


Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

February 20, 2019


An act to add Section 116365.3 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to drinking water.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 841, as amended, Ting. Drinking water: contaminants: perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health, including, but not limited to, conducting research, studies, and demonstration programs relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, adopting implementing regulations, and conducting studies and investigations to assess the quality of water in private domestic water supplies. The act requires the board to adopt primary drinking water standards for contaminants in drinking water and requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to prepare and publish an assessment of the risks to public health posed by each contaminant for which the board proposes a primary drinking water standard.
The act requires a public water system to provide prescribed notices within 30 days after it is first informed of a confirmed detection of a contaminant found in drinking water delivered by the public water system for human consumption that is in excess of a maximum contaminant level, a notification level, or a response level established by the state board.
This bill would require the office to adopt and complete a work plan within prescribed timeframes to assess which substances in the class of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances should be tested as a identified as a potential risk to human health. health, as provided. The bill would require the office, as part of those assessments, to determine which of the substances are appropriate candidates for notification levels to be adopted by the state board. The bill would require the office, by January 1, 2022, to provide to the Legislature an update on the assessment. The bill would require the office to assess annually those substances as new information, scientific research, and detection methodologies become available.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 116365.3 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

116365.3.
 (a) On or before January 1, 2021, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment shall adopt a work plan to assess which substances in the class of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances should be tested as a identified as a potential risk to human health. health, taking into account which substances have the potential to be detected in California waters based on prevalence of manufacturing of, manufacturing products with, or use of, a perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance in California and which substances are technically feasible to detect based on current detection methodologies.
(b) (1) On or before January 1, 2022, the office shall complete the assessments included in the work plan. provide an update to the Legislature, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, on its preliminary assessments included in the work plan.
(2) The office shall continue to assess annually perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances pursuant to subdivision (a) as information, scientific research, and detection methodologies become available.
(c) As part of the assessments, the office shall determine which of the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances are appropriate candidates for notification levels to be adopted by the state board in accordance with paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 116455.
(d) The office may use scientific data and research from other state or federal agencies and authoritative bodies that have scientific literature on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
(e) The office shall coordinate with the State Water Resources Control Board to collect water monitoring data on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, as provided by the federal Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 300f et seq.) or the state board’s investigative order authority pursuant to Section 13267 of the Water Code.