(a) (1) A community water system that serves a schoolsite of a local educational agency with a building constructed before January 1, 2010, on that schoolsite shall test for lead in the potable water system of the schoolsite on or before July 1, 2019.
(2) The community water system shall report its findings to the schoolsite within 10 business days after the community water system receives the results from the testing laboratory or within two business days if it is found that the schoolsite’s lead level exceeds 15 parts per billion.
(3) If the lead level exceeds 15 parts per billion, the community water system shall also test a water sample from the point in which the schoolsite connects to the community water system’s supply network to determine the lead level of the water entering the schoolsite from the community water system’s water supply network.
(b) (1) A local educational agency shall allow the community water system access to each of the local educational agency’s schoolsites that are subject to subdivision (a) to conduct testing.
(2) If the lead level exceeds 15 parts per billion, the local educational agency shall notify the parents and guardians of the pupils who attend the schoolsite or preschool where the elevated lead levels are found.
(c) (1) If lead levels exceed 15 parts per billion, the local educational agency shall take immediate steps to make inoperable and shut down from use all fountains and faucets where the excess lead levels may exist. Additional testing may be required to determine if all or just some of the school’s fountains and faucets are required to be shut down.
(2) Each local educational agency shall work with the schoolsites within its service area to ensure that a potable source of drinking water is provided for students at each schoolsite where fountains or faucets have been shut down due to elevated lead levels. Providing a potable source of drinking water may include, but is not limited to, replacing any pipes or fixtures that are contributing to the elevated lead levels, providing onsite water filtration, or providing bottled water as a short-term remedy.
(d) Each community water system, in cooperation with the appropriate corresponding local educational agency, shall prepare a sampling plan for each schoolsite where lead sampling is required under subdivision (a). The community water system and the local educational agency may request assistance from the state board or any local health agency responsible for regulating community water systems in developing the plan.
(e) This section shall not apply to a schoolsite that is subject to any of the following:
(1) The schoolsite was constructed or modernized after January 1, 2010.
(2) The local educational agency of the schoolsite is currently permitted as a public water system and is currently required to test for lead in the potable water system.
(3) The local educational agency completed lead testing of the potable water system after January 1, 2009, and posts information about the lead testing on the local educational agency’s public Internet Web site, including, at a minimum, identifying any schoolsite where the level of lead in drinking water exceeds 15 parts per billion.
(4) The local educational agency has requested testing from its community water system consistent with the requirements of this section.
(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school located in a public facility.
(2) “Potable water system” means water fountains and faucets used for drinking or preparing food.
(g) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2019, and, as of January 1, 2020, is repealed.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 746, Sec. 1. (AB 746) Effective January 1, 2018. Inoperative July 1, 2019, by its own provisions. Repealed as of January 1, 2020, by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018