BILL NUMBER: S226

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to information
contained in the annual water supply statement

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Requires water works corporations to include in their annual water
supply statement to customers information regarding the existence and
location of lead pipes in their water system and requires the department
of health to include such information in the annual New York state
public water supply report.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends section 1151 of the public health law by
adding a new subdivision 9.

              

Section two amends section 1152-a of the public health law, as added by
chapter 72 of the laws of 1997.

Section three sets forth the effective date of the bill.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Lead is a known toxic that presents grave public health concerns,
particularly in relation to drinking water. Although the 1986 amendments
to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) significantly limited the
use of lead pipes, it did so primarily for new and not existing infras-
tructure. While the SDWA requires water systems to treat water in order
to decrease the chance of potential corrosion, such measures do not
indefinitely prevent the leaching of lead from pipes into the water
supply.

Much of the water infrastructure in New York State is aging and in
desperate need of repair. Some pipes have not been replaced since they
were first installed over a hundred years ago. Consequently, many lead
pipes still exist in local water systems and present a very significant
potential threat to human health. The ability to effectively and effi-
ciently address these risks across the state is forestalled by a lack of
centralized data collection. Although localities keep records of lead
pipes in their drinking water infrastructure, such information is not
compiled at the state level.

Water corporations in New York already provide an annual water supply
statement to all of their customers. In addition, the department of
health publishes an annual public water supply report. This bill would
require that both the statement provided by water corporations and
report published by the department include information on the number and
location of lead pipes of the water system(s) they pertain to. It would
further require the department to produce a database and map of the
existing lead pipe infrastructure in New York that would be publically
accessible.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.0125 of 2017-2018 (Hoylman): Died in Health
A.575 of 2017-2018 (Jaffee): Died in Health
S.8187 of 2016 (Hoylman): Died in Rules

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

180th day.