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SB1019 - 572R - S Ver
Senate Engrossed
public water systems;
fluoride; prohibition
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
SENATE BILL 1019
AN
ACT
Amending section 49-353, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to potable water systems.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 49-353, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
49-353.
Duties of director; rules; prohibited lead use
A. The director shall:
1. Exercise general supervision over all matters
related to water quality control of public water systems throughout this state.
2. Prescribe rules regarding the production,
treatment, distribution and testing of potable water by public water systems,
except that such rules shall not apply to irrigation, industrial or similar
systems where the water is used for nonpotable purposes. The rules
shall comply with at least the following:
(a) The requirements established by the United
States environmental protection agency for state primary enforcement
responsibility of the safe drinking water act, including the requirements of 40
Code of Federal Regulations parts 141 and 142.
(b) Require that the plans and specifications for
all public water systems, including water treatment plants, distribution
systems, distribution system extensions, water treatment methods and devices
and all appurtenances and devices for sale to be used in water supplies and
public water systems be submitted with a fee for review to the
department. The department, in establishing fees authorized by this
section, shall comply with title 41, chapter 6. The department shall
not set a fee at more than the department's cost of providing the service for
which the fee is charged.� State agencies are exempt from all fees imposed
pursuant to this section. Monies collected from the fees shall be
deposited in the water quality fee fund established by section 49-210.�
The director may require that plans and specifications for public water systems
include programs to meet future needs for drinking water and to supply
specified minimum quantities of drinking water. The director shall:
(i) Require that a new public water system
demonstrate that the system possesses adequate managerial and financial
capacity to operate in compliance with this article and the rules adopted
pursuant to this article.
(ii) Accept adequate findings of other public
authorities regarding the adequate managerial and financial capacity of a
public water system to operate in compliance with this article and the rules
adopted pursuant to this article.
(c) Provide that no public water system, including a
water treatment plant, distribution system, distribution system extension,
water treatment method or device, appurtenance and device used in water
supplies or public water systems be constructed, reconstructed, installed or
initiated before compliance with the standards and rules has been demonstrated
by approval of the plans and specifications by the department. The
rules shall prescribe minimum standards for the bacteriological, physical and
chemical quality of water distributed through public water
systems. The director of environmental quality may consult with the
director of the department of health services in developing these standards.
(d) Provide for a simplified administrative
procedure for approving structural revisions, additions, extensions or
modifications to existing small public water systems for potable water serving
a population of three thousand three hundred or fewer persons.
(e) Exempt from the plan review requirements of this
paragraph, including any requirements for approval to construct or approval of
construction, any structural revisions, additions, extensions or modifications
to public water systems which are in compliance with the department's rules
applicable to those systems or which are making satisfactory progress towards
compliance under a schedule approved by the department if either of the
following conditions is satisfied:
(i) The revision, addition, extension or
modification has a project cost of
twelve thousand five hundred
dollars
$12,500
or less.
(ii) The revision, addition, extension or
modification is made to a water line which is not for a subdivision requiring
plat approval by a city, town or county, and has a project cost of more than
twelve thousand five hundred dollars
$12,500
but less than
fifty thousand dollars
$50,000
,
the design of which is sealed by a professional engineer
who is
registered in this state and the construction of which is reviewed for
conformance with the design by a professional engineer.
(f) Require a notice of compliance with the
conditions for exemption on the completion of any revisions, additions,
extensions or modifications completed in accordance with subdivision (e) of
this paragraph.
(g) Provide for the submission of samples at stated
intervals.
(h) Provide for inspection and certification of such
water supplies.
(i) Provide for the abatement as public nuisances of
any premises, equipment, process or device, or public water system that does
not comply with the minimum standards and rules.
(j) Provide for records regarding water quality to
be kept by owners and operators of the public water systems and that reports
regarding water quality be filed with the department.
(k) Provide for appropriate actions to be taken if a
water supply does not meet the standards established by the department.
(l) Require a public water system to implement a
specified program to control contamination from backflow, backsiphonage or
cross connection.� All such programs shall be consistent with section 37-1388.
(m) Require that public water systems identify and
provide notice to persons that may be affected by lead contamination of their
drinking water where
such
the
contamination results from either or both of the following:
(i) The lead content in the construction materials
of the public water distribution system.
(ii) Corrosivity of the water supply sufficient to
cause leaching of lead.
(n) Provide for relief from water testing and
monitoring requirements for public water systems qualifying under the federal
safe drinking water act (P.L. 93-523; 88 Stat.
1661
1660
; P.L. 95-190; 91 Stat. 1393; P.L. 104-182; 110
Stat. 1613), as amended in 1996.
(
o
) Prohibit
any person, including a political subdivision of this state, from adding
fluoride into a public water system or any water that will be introduced into a
public water system.� For the purposes of this subdivision, "fluoride"
includes any chemical compound that contains the fluoride ion, including
fluorosilicic acid, sodium fluorosilicate and sodium fluoride.
3. Develop and implement strategies to assist public
water systems in acquiring and maintaining the technical, managerial and
financial capacity to operate in compliance with this article and the rules
adopted pursuant to this article. Assistance may be provided based
on the needs of the water system.
B. Pipes, pipe fittings and plumbing fittings and
fixtures having a lead content in excess of a weighted average of one-quarter
of one percent lead when used with respect to the wetted surfaces and solders
and flux having a lead content in excess of two-tenths of one percent
shall not be used in the installation or repair of public water systems or of
any plumbing in residential or nonresidential facilities providing water for
human consumption.� The weighted average lead content of a pipe, pipe fitting
or plumbing fitting or fixture shall be calculated as follows:
1. For each wetted component, the percentage of lead
in the component shall be multiplied by the ratio of the wetted surface area of
that component to the total wetted surface area of the entire product to arrive
at the weighted percentage of lead of the component.
2. The weighted percentage of lead of each wetted
component shall be added together, and the sum of these weighted percentages
shall constitute the weighted average lead content of the product.
3. The lead content of the material used to produce
a wetted component shall be used to determine compliance with this subsection.
4. For lead content of materials that are provided
as a range, the maximum content of that range shall be used.
C. Subsection B of this section does not apply to:
1. Leaded joints necessary for the repair of cast
iron pipes.
2. Pipes, pipe fittings and plumbing fittings and
fixtures, including backflow preventers, that are used exclusively for
nonpotable water services such as manufacturing, industrial processing,
irrigation, outdoor watering or any other uses where the water is not
anticipated to be used for human consumption.
3. Toilets, bidets, urinals, fill valves,
flushometer valves, tub fillers, shower valves or service saddles or water
distribution main gate valves that are two inches in diameter or larger.
D. Notwithstanding subsection A, paragraph 2,
subdivision (c) of this section, a public water system may construct,
reconstruct, install, extend or initiate a water supply system, water treatment
plant, distribution system, water treatment method or device, or appurtenance
that is used in water supply or in a public water system when the system is out
of compliance with
the
standards and rules adopted
pursuant to this article only if the construction is necessary to correct the
system's noncompliance.
E. This section and the rules adopted pursuant to
this section apply to public water systems as described by section 49-352,
subsection B.
END_STATUTE