Requires water assessments for state and school buildings

Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board (state board) to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. In this regard, existing law prohibits a person from using any pipe, pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture, solder, or flux that is not lead free in the installation or repair of any public water system or any plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption, except as provided.

This bill would require, no later than January 1, 2027, except as provided, an operating agency, as defined, to complete a water efficiency and quality assessment report, as specified, for each covered building. The bill would define a “covered building” to mean a building owned and occupied, or leased, maintained, and occupied, by a state agency, or a public school building, including a charter school building, as described. If the report identifies noncompliant plumbing fixtures and noncompliant appliances, the bill would require the operating agency to replace those fixtures and appliances that fail to meet water efficiency standards, as specified, at the earliest practical time, subject to dedicated funding for this purpose. The bill would also require various mitigation and remediation actions with respect to lead-contaminated potable water systems, lead pipes, and non-lead-free pipes, as determined in the report, dependent on funding expressly earmarked for those actions.

This bill would further require, no later than one year after the completion of the water efficiency and quality assessment report, an operating agency to implement a Legionella management program for any covered building that is over 10 stories in height and utilizes a cooling tower system, to retain a copy of the Legionella management program with sampling details and sampling results for at least 3 years, and to notify the local health department, as specified, and the public regarding a Legionella culture sampling analysis under a specified circumstance. These requirements would not apply to a school building if the cooling tower system was installed on or after January 1, 2013. The bill would also authorize the state board to periodically monitor operating agencies to ensure that a Legionella management program is in place and designed and administered in compliance with the requirements of the bill. The bill would also require, on or before January 1, 2024, the state board to adopt regulations necessary to implement the water efficiency and quality program for public schools and state buildings pursuant to the provisions of the bill. The bill would prohibit funds appropriated or made available for purposes of complying with the requirements of the bill from counting toward satisfying the minimum funding obligation to school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution. By imposing new duties on public schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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 the statutory provisions noted above.