Bill Text: CA SB334 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Pupil health: drinking water.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2016-04-25 - Last day to consider Governors veto pursuant to Joint Rule 58.5. [SB334 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB334-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 334	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 20, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Leyva

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2015

   An act to amend Section 38086 of,  to add Sections 32241.5,
32246, 32247, 32248, and 32249 to,  and to add Article 13
(commencing with Section 49580) to Chapter 9 of Part 27 of Division 4
of Title 2 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil 
nutrition.   health. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 334, as amended, Leyva. Pupil  nutrition: 
 health:  drinking water.
    (1)    Existing law requires a school district
to provide access to free, fresh drinking water during meal times in
school food service areas, unless the governing board of a school
district adopts a resolution stating that it is unable to comply with
this requirement and demonstrating the reasons why it is unable to
comply due to fiscal constraints or health and safety concerns.
Existing law requires the resolution to be publicly noticed on at
least 2 consecutive meeting agendas and approved by at least a
majority of the governing board of the school district.
   This bill would delete the provision authorizing a school district
to adopt a resolution stating that it is unable to provide access to
free, fresh drinking water during meal times. The bill would instead
specify that a school district shall provide access to free, fresh,
 clean,  and  cold   clean
 drinking water during meal times through the use of drinking
water access points, as defined. The bill also would require a school
district to provide access to free, fresh,  clean, 
and  cold   clean  drinking water
throughout the schoolday, including, but not limited to, during
recreation times, as specified. By imposing additional duties on
school districts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local
program.
   This bill would require a school district  to, before the
beginning of each school year, test, or provide for the testing of,
drinking water for contaminants to ensure the drinking water meets
specified drinking water quality standards, as provided. If the
drinking water does not meet the specified drinking water quality
standards, the bill would require a school district to provide
alternative sources of free, fresh, clean, and cold drinking water to
pupils. The bill also would require schools to provide public
notices of the drinking water quality test results, as specified.
  that has drinking water sources with  
drinking water that does not meet the United States Environmental
Protection Agency drinking water standards for lead or any other
contaminant to close access to those drinking water sources, to
provide alternative drinking water sources, as specified, and to
notify specified persons if the school district is required to
provide those alternative drinking water sources.  By imposing
additional duties on schools and school districts, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program. 
   (2) Under existing law, known as the Lead-Safe Schools Protection
Act, the State Department of Public Health is required to perform
various activities related to reducing the risk of exposure to lead
hazards in public schools.  
   This bill would require the State Department of Education to work
with the State Department of Public Health to develop guidelines and
best practices to ensure that lead hazards are minimized in the
course of school repair and maintenance and abatement procedures. The
bill would prohibit drinking water that does not meet the United
States Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards for
lead from being provided at a school facility and would require a
school district that has such drinking water to identify the most
urgent mitigation needs and develop a protocol or plan for
mitigation. The bill would require the State Department of Public
Health to test drinking water sources at all schoolsites for lead in
the drinking water and would require a school district to report
information related to this testing to the State Department of
Education and the State Department of Public Health. The bill would
require a school that has lead-containing plumbing components to
flush all drinking water sources at the beginning of each schoolday,
as provided. By imposing additional duties on schools and school
districts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

    (3)    The California Constitution requires the
state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain
costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish
procedures for making that reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 32241.5 is added to the 
 Education Code   , to read:  
   32241.5.  The department shall work with the State Department of
Public Health to develop guidelines and best practices to ensure that
lead hazards are minimized in the course of school repair and
maintenance and abatement procedures. The data sent by school
districts to the department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
33247 shall be considered in the development of the guidelines and
best practices. 
   SEC. 2.    Section 32246 is added to the  
Education Code   , to read:  
   32246.  Drinking water that does not meet the United States
Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards for lead
shall not be provided at a school facility. 
   SEC. 3.    Section 32247 is added to the  
Education Code   , to read:  
   32247.  (a) The State Department of Public Health shall test
drinking water sources at all schoolsites for lead in the drinking
water.
   (b) A school district shall report drinking water lead testing
information, including, but not limited to, dates of testing, number
and type of drinking water sources tested, test results, and adopted
protocols or plans for mitigation, to the State Department of Public
Health and the department.
   (c) The State Department of Public Health and the department shall
do both of the following:
   (1) Establish a process for receiving, recording, and making
public the data received from school districts.
   (2) Post the data received from school districts on the
departments' respective Internet Web sites. 
   SEC. 4.    Section 32248 is added to the  
Education Code   , to read:  
   32248.  (a) A school district that has drinking water sources with
drinking water that does not meet the United States Environmental
Protection Agency drinking water standards for lead shall work with
the State Department of Public Health and the local department of
public health to identify the most urgent mitigation needs and
develop a protocol or plan for mitigation.
   (b) The protocol or plan shall identify timelines and funding
sources for mitigation.
   (c) The protocol or plan shall be presented to and adopted by the
governing board of the school district at a regularly scheduled
public meeting within six months of the school district's receipt of
the drinking water test results. 
   SEC. 5.    Section 32249 is added to the  
Education Code   , to read:  
   32249.  A school that has lead-containing plumbing components
shall flush all drinking water sources for a minimum of 30 seconds at
the beginning of each schoolday, consistent with protocols
recommended by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

   SECTION 1.   SEC. 6.   Section 38086 of
the Education Code is amended to read:
   38086.  (a) A school district shall provide access to free, fresh,
 clean,  and  cold   clean
 drinking water during meal times in the food service areas of
the schools under its jurisdiction, including, but not necessarily
limited to, areas where reimbursable meals under the  federal
 National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast
Program are served or consumed. A school district may comply with
this section by, among other means, providing cups and containers of
water or soliciting or receiving donated bottled water.
   (b) A school district shall comply with this section through the
use of drinking water access points, as prescribed by Section 49580.
   SEC. 2.   SEC. 7.   Article 13
(commencing with Section 49580) is added to Chapter 9 of Part 27 of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

      Article 13.  Drinking Water


   49580.  (a) A school district shall provide access to free, fresh,
 clean,  and  cold   clean
 drinking water throughout the schoolday, including, but not
limited to, during both of the following:
   (1) Meal times, as provided for in Section 38086.
   (2) Recreation times, including, but not limited to, while pupils
are engaged in physical activity, in the recreation areas of the
schools under its jurisdiction. Recreation areas are any areas in
which pupils participate in recreation, including, but not limited
to, playgrounds, gymnasiums, cafeterias, and recreation centers.
   (b) A school district shall comply with this section by providing
one or more drinking water access  points for every 100
pupils enrolled in the school.   points. 
   (c) For purposes of this section, "drinking water access point" is
defined as a station, plumbed or unplumbed, where pupils can access
free, fresh,  clean,  and  cold 
 clean  drinking water. An unplumbed access point may
include water bottles and portable water dispensers. 
   49581.  (a) Before the beginning of each school year, a school
district shall test, or provide for the testing of, drinking water
for contaminants, including, but not limited to, lead and
perchlorates, that the school district receives from municipal water
systems or other water systems that the school district is going to
provide in school facilities, at the schoolsite at which the drinking
water will be provided, to ensure the drinking water meets drinking
water quality standards prescribed by the California Safe Drinking
Water Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 116270) of Part 12 of
Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code) and any implementing
regulations and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 (42
U.S.C. Sec. 300f et seq.) and any implementing regulations.
   (b) If the drinking water the school district receives from a
municipal water system or other water system does not meet the
standards specified in subdivision (a), the school district shall
provide alternative sources of free, fresh, clean, and cold drinking
water to pupils.
   (c) Each school shall provide a public notice of the drinking
water quality test results obtained pursuant to subdivision (a) to
pupils, parents, and teachers. The notice shall clearly specify
whether the drinking water provided at the school is potable water,
as defined in Section 113869 of the Health and Safety Code. 

   49581.  (a) A school district that has drinking water sources with
drinking water that does not meet the United States Environmental
Protection Agency drinking water standards for lead or any other
contaminant shall close access to those drinking water sources
immediately upon receipt of test results or notification from the
public water system.
   (b) (1) If, as a result of closing access to a drinking water
source pursuant to subdivision (a), a schoolsite within a school
district no longer has the minimum number of drinking fountains
required pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 401.0) of the
California Plumbing Code (Part 5 of Title 24 of the California Code
of Regulations), the school district shall provide alternative
drinking water sources at that schoolsite.
   (2) An alternative drinking water source provided pursuant to this
subdivision while the source of contamination is being mitigated may
be from plumbed or unplumbed sources. Unplumbed sources may include,
but are not limited to, portable water sources and bottled water.
   (c) A school district shall notify parents, pupils, teachers, and
other school personnel of drinking water test results, immediately
upon receipt of those test results, if the school district is
required to provide alternative drinking water sources. 
   SEC. 3.   SEC. 8.   If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.