AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2018

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 9, 2018

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 2018

AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 2018

AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 2, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

92

CHAPTER 902

Statutes of 2018

[ Approved by Governor September 28, 2018. Filed with Secretary of State September 28, 2018. ]

Introduced by Senator Portantino

February 16, 2018

An act to add Section 116376 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to drinking water.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

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. Under the act, the implementing regulations are required to include, but are not limited to, monitoring of contaminants and requirements for notifying the public of the quality of the water delivered to customers.

This bill would require the state board, on or before July 1, 2020, to adopt a definition of microplastics in drinking water, and on or before July 1, 2021, to adopt a standard methodology to be used in the testing of drinking water for microplastics and requirements for 4 years of testing and reporting of microplastics in drinking water, including public disclosure of those results.

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

SECTION 1.

Section 116376 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

116376.

(a) The state board, on or before July 1, 2020, shall adopt a definition of microplastics in drinking water.

(b) The state board, on or before July 1, 2021, shall do all of the following:

(1) Adopt a standard methodology to be used in the testing of drinking water for microplastics.

(2) Adopt requirements for four years of testing and reporting of microplastics in drinking water, including public disclosure of those results.

(3) If appropriate, consider issuing a notification level or other guidance to aid consumer interpretations of the results of the testing required pursuant to this section.

(4) Accredit qualified laboratories in California to analyze microplastics.

(c) The state board may implement this section through the adoption of a policy handbook that is not subject to the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.