Plain English Breakdown
The official text does not specify what happens if a facility chooses none of the listed options or provides no reason.
AB-1096: Lead Testing Outreach in Schools and Childcare Facilities
This law requires water systems to ask elementary schools and childcare facilities for their reasons if they decline lead testing, share that data with the state board, and include a link to this public information in annual reports.
What This Bill Does
- Requires community water systems to offer declining elementary schools and childcare facilities a list of options to explain why they are not getting tested for lead.
- Allows the State Water Resources Control Board to add new reasons to that list over time.
- Mandates water systems to send all collected information about outreach efforts and declines to the state board.
- Requires the state board to publish this data in a searchable format on its website by June 30, 2028.
- Replaces specific details in annual consumer confidence reports with a statement and link to the online database starting December 31, 2028.
Who It Names or Affects
- Community water systems that serve schools and childcare facilities
- Elementary schools and childcare facilities receiving outreach for lead testing
- The State Water Resources Control Board
Terms To Know
- Community water system
- A public supply of drinking water that serves a specific area or group of people.
- Lead sampling
- The process of testing water to check for the presence of lead, a harmful metal.
- Consumer confidence report
- An annual document that water systems send to customers with information about their drinking water quality.
Limits and Unknowns
- The law does not apply if a school or facility has already received an exemption from federal lead testing rules.
- The specific list of reasons for declining testing is set by the bill but can be changed later by the state board.