Bill Text: TX HB997 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to testing for lead contamination in public school drinking water.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-29 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB997 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HB997-Comm_Sub.html
| 86R19865 MP-F | |||
| By: Collier | H.B. No. 997 | ||
| Substitute the following for H.B. No. 997: | |||
| By: Allen | C.S.H.B. No. 997 | ||
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| relating to testing for lead contamination in public school | ||
| drinking water. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 38, Education Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Section 38.039 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 38.039. REQUIRED TESTING FOR LEAD CONTAMINATION IN | ||
| PUBLIC SCHOOL DRINKING WATER. (a) In this section: | ||
| (1) "First-draw tap test" means a water sample | ||
| collected and tested in the manner prescribed by the federal | ||
| monitoring requirements for lead and copper in tap water under 40 | ||
| C.F.R. Section 141.86(b). | ||
| (2) "Safe Drinking Water Act" means the federal Safe | ||
| Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Section 300f et seq.). | ||
| (b) In addition to any water test required by the Safe | ||
| Drinking Water Act, each school district and open-enrollment | ||
| charter school shall conduct first-draw tap tests of potable water | ||
| outlets every five years, before the start of the school year, to | ||
| monitor the amount of lead in the water in each occupied school | ||
| building under the jurisdiction of the district or school. The | ||
| district or school shall perform the first-draw tap test as | ||
| required by this section by using existing qualified personnel or | ||
| through a third party. | ||
| (c) If a person conducting a first-draw tap test determines | ||
| that the amount of lead in a potable water outlet of a school | ||
| building exceeds the level of lead considered safe for human | ||
| consumption as established by rules adopted under Subsection (h), | ||
| the affected school district or open-enrollment charter school | ||
| shall prevent the use of the potable water outlet until: | ||
| (1) the district or school implements a lead | ||
| remediation plan designed to lower the level of lead in the potable | ||
| water outlet; and | ||
| (2) tests confirm the water in the potable water | ||
| outlet is safe for human consumption. | ||
| (d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school is | ||
| not required to conduct a first-draw tap test on a water outlet | ||
| under this section if the outlet is located in a school building | ||
| that is lead free, as defined by the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 | ||
| U.S.C. Section 300g-6). | ||
| (e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school is | ||
| not required to conduct the first-draw tap tests under this section | ||
| if the district or school has fewer than 1,000 students and is | ||
| unable to secure funding for the tests from grants or donations. | ||
| (f) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school | ||
| that conducts lead testing under this section shall make the test | ||
| results and any lead remediation plan available to the public by: | ||
| (1) posting the information on the district's or | ||
| school's Internet website; or | ||
| (2) any other method the district or school considers | ||
| appropriate. | ||
| (g) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school | ||
| shall: | ||
| (1) submit the information described by Subsection | ||
| (f), in a format approved by the agency, to each local health | ||
| authority with jurisdiction in the municipality or county in which | ||
| the district or school is located; and | ||
| (2) maintain a record of the information submitted | ||
| under Subdivision (1) for a period not less than 12 years from the | ||
| date the information was submitted. | ||
| (h) The commissioner, in consultation with the Texas | ||
| Commission on Environmental Quality, shall adopt rules to implement | ||
| this section, including rules to establish the level of lead in | ||
| drinking water that is considered safe for human consumption. The | ||
| rules adopted under this section must be consistent with the | ||
| requirements for school districts or open-enrollment charter | ||
| schools that are classified as a public water system under the Safe | ||
| Drinking Water Act. | ||
| SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of | ||
| this section, this Act applies beginning with the 2020-2021 school | ||
| year. | ||
| (b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school | ||
| that has completed first-draw tap tests of potable water outlets | ||
| during the 36-month period preceding the effective date of this Act | ||
| shall comply with this Act beginning with the 2022-2023 school | ||
| year. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. | ||
