NY State Senate Bill 2009-S7354

Senate Bill S7354

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Provides for annual school lead-copper tap water testing; publishing of reports of contamination and abatement of such contamination

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Health Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 31, 2010	referred to health

2009-S7354 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Health
Law Section:: Public Health Law
Laws Affected:: Add §1110, amd §1102, Pub Health L; add §409-j, Ed L

2009-S7354 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for annual school lead-copper tap water testing; requires the publishing of reports of contamination and abatement of such contamination; requires school districts to provide potable water to school children attending affected schools.

2009-S7354 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7354

 TITLE OF BILL :
An act to amend the public health law and the education law, in
relation to the water dispensed within public schools


 PURPOSE :
To protect children from the irreversible health effects caused by
lead contamination by ensuring that the water children drink in
schools is safe and free from lead by requiring school districts to
conduct annual school lead-copper tap water testing to monitor for
lead contamination.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :
Section 1: Amends the public health law by adding a new section 1110
that will require the commissioner of Health in conjunction with the
commissioner of Education to prepare and publish a report based on the
findings of the lead-copper tap water testing, and would require that
the report be sent to the commissioner of education and be available
to parents of children in the affected school.

Section 2: Amends 1102 of the public health law to include a finding
of contamination pursuant to section 409-j of the education law.

Section 3 amends the education law by adding a new section 409-J which

requires school lead-copper tap water testing to monitor for lead
contamination and sets forth levels that would exceed those that are
acceptable. It would also require the results to be transmitted to the
commissioner of education and the commissioner of health. If
contamination is found the school district shall;

- continue testing until test results are acceptable

- supply children with an adequate supply of potable water

- provide parents with written notification (which is explicitly
spelled out) of test results, and district's plan to eliminate the
source of lead exposure.

Section 4 is the effective date.

 JUSTIFICATION :
Research has clearly shown that lead in drinking water poses serious,
irreversible health effects to children. Currently school facilities
are required to provide "safe, potable water", but the regulations do
not call for testing where the school is not the water supplier. The
only way to ensure that the water is truly "safe and potable" is to
require testing for lead and to mandate that the results of those
tests be made public. It is also necessary to provide for the
mandatory abatement of the cause of the lead contamination. It has
been brought to my attention that a school district detected lead
levels well above those set forth as acceptable by the EPA and the NY8
Public Health Law. There was documentation found of these findings,
and it was revealed that these results were not reported to the EPA,
the NYS Department of Health or the County Health Department. In this
case the parents were not informed of the results and no attempt had
been made to correct the cause of the lead.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :
S.3580 of 2008

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :
None to the State.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.

2009-S7354 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  7354

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             March 31, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  ALESI  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Health

AN ACT to amend the public health law and the education law, in relation
  to the water dispensed within public schools

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  The  public health law is amended by adding a new section
1110 to read as follows:
  S 1110. REPORT. THE COMMISSIONER, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMMISSIONER
OF EDUCATION, SHALL CAUSE TO BE PREPARED  AND  SHALL  PUBLISH  A  REPORT
BASED  ON  ANY  FINDINGS  FROM  THE ANNUAL LEAD-COPPER TAP WATER TESTING
CONDUCTED AT THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION PURSUANT  TO
THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION FOUR HUNDRED NINE-J OF THE EDUCATION LAW. SUCH
REPORT  SHALL BE SENT TO THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION AND SHALL BE MADE
AVAILABLE TO THE PARENTS AND PERSONS IN PARENTAL RELATION OF  ANY  CHILD
ATTENDING  THE  AFFECTED  SCHOOL  DISTRICT PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF
SUCH SECTION FOUR HUNDRED NINE-J.
  S 2. Subdivision 1 of section  1102  of  the  public  health  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  655  of  the  laws  of 1978, is amended to read as
follows:
  1. If any inspection discloses a violation of any rule  or  regulation
promulgated pursuant to section one thousand one hundred of this chapter
relating  to a temporary or permanent source or act of contamination  OR
A FINDING OF CONTAMINATION PURSUANT TO SECTION FOUR  HUNDRED  NINE-J  OF
THE  EDUCATION LAW, the person, officer, board, or commission having the
management and control of the potable water supply of the  municipality,
state  or  United  States institution, park, reservation or post, and in
the city of New York, the commissioner of environmental protection,  and
the  board  of  water supply of the city of New York, or the corporation
furnishing such supply shall cause a copy  of  the  rule  or  regulation
violated  to be served upon the person violating the same, with a notice
of such violation. If the person served does not comply immediately with
the rule or regulation violated, such  person,  officer,  board,  corpo-
ration  or  commission,  except  in a case concerning the violation of a

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                           LBD00528-01-9

S. 7354                             2

rule or regulation relating to a temporary or permanent source or act of
contamination affecting the potable water supply  of  the  city  of  New
York, shall notify the department of the violation.
  S  3.  The  education  law is amended by adding a new section 409-j to
read as follows:
  S 409-J. SCHOOL LEAD-COPPER TAP WATER TESTING.   1. THE  COMMISSIONER,
IN  CONJUNCTION  WITH  THE  COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH, SHALL REQUIRE SCHOOL
DISTRICTS TO CONDUCT AN ANNUAL SCHOOL LEAD-COPPER TAP WATER  TESTING  TO
MONITOR  FOR LEAD CONTAMINATION.  EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL PROVIDE THE
RESULTS OF SUCH TESTING TO  THE  COMMISSIONER.  THE  COMMISSIONER  SHALL
TRANSMIT  A  COPY  OF  SUCH  RESULTS TO THE COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH.  FOR
PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, TAP WATER SHALL BE CONSIDERED CONTAMINATED  IF
SUCH  TAP  WATER  EXCEEDS  THE  LEAD  OR  COPPER  ACTION  LEVEL BASED ON
FIRST-DRAW TAP SAMPLES AS PROVIDED  IN  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  OF  THE
DEPARTMENT  OF  HEALTH  AUTHORIZED  UNDER SECTION TWO HUNDRED ONE OF THE
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.   WHERE A  FINDING  OF  CONTAMINATION  IS  MADE,  THE
AFFECTED SCHOOL DISTRICT SHALL:
  (A)  CONTINUE  TESTING  EVERY  SIX  MONTHS UNTIL TEST RESULTS INDICATE
ACCEPTABLE LEAD AND  COPPER  LEVELS  AS  AUTHORIZED  UNDER  SECTION  TWO
HUNDRED ONE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW;
  (B)  PROVIDE  CHILDREN  WITH AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF SAFE, POTABLE WATER
FOR DRINKING AS REQUIRED BY RULES  AND  REGULATIONS  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT
AUTHORIZED  UNDER SECTION TWO HUNDRED ONE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW UNTIL
FUTURE TESTS INDICATE ACCEPTABLE LEVELS AS AUTHORIZED UNDER SECTION  TWO
HUNDRED ONE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW;
  (C) PROVIDE PARENTS OF CHILDREN ATTENDING SAID SCHOOL WITH:
  (I) WRITTEN NOTIFICATION OF TEST RESULTS;
  (II)  CHILDREN'S  AVAILABILITY  TO AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF SAFE, POTABLE
WATER FOR DRINKING;
  (III) NOTIFICATION OF WHEN THE NEXT SCHEDULED TAP WATER  TESTING  WILL
OCCUR; AND
  (IV)  NOTIFICATION  OF  THE DISTRICT'S PLAN TO ELIMINATE THE SOURCE OF
LEAD EXPOSURE TO CHILDREN; AND
  (D) PROVIDE THE  COMMISSIONER  WITH  NOTIFICATION  OF  THE  DISTRICT'S
INVESTIGATION  AS  TO  THE  SOURCE OF LEAD EXPOSURE IN THE WATER AND THE
DISTRICT'S PLAN TO ELIMINATE THE SOURCE OF LEAD EXPOSURE TO CHILDREN.
  2. FOR PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION "WRITTEN NOTIFICATION" SHALL MEAN  AND
INCLUDE  NOTICE  IN  WRITING  THAT  IS  PROVIDED  DIRECTLY TO THE STAFF,
PARENTS OR PERSONS IN PARENTAL RELATION TO STUDENTS; OR DELIVERED  TO  A
RECEPTACLE  DESIGNATED  FOR  THAT  STUDENT  OR  STAFF;  OR MAILED TO THE
STUDENT'S OR STAFF'S LAST KNOWN  ADDRESS;  OR  DELIVERED  BY  ANY  OTHER
REASONABLE METHODS AUTHORIZED BY THE COMMISSIONER.
  S  4.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
have become a law.

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