SB0088: SUMMARY OF INTRODUCED BILL IN COMMITTEE (Date Completed: 3-16-23)

MCL 722.111 (S.B. 88) Legislative Analyst: Tyler P. VanHuyse

Fiscal Analyst: Ellyn Ackerman

Jonah Houtz

Cory Savino, PhD

Chris Semrinec

CONTENT

Senate Bill 89 would enact the "Clean Drinking Water Access Act", which would do the following:

-- Require each school, within 15 months of the Act's effective date, to develop a drinking water safety plan and to make that plan available to EGLE, school staff, parents, and the general public upon request.

-- Require a drinking water safety plan to specify the location of water outlets and to establish a schedule for annual water sampling and testing and regular replacement of water filter cartridges.

-- Require a school to review and update its plan once every five years and to make changes as directed by EGLE or as needed to comply with the proposed Act.

-- Prescribe procedures for a school to follow if water sampling indicated the presence of lead at a concentration of one to five parts per billion, or higher.

-- Require each school, by the end of the 2024-2025 school year, to install all filtered bottle-filling stations and faucets in the school's plan, shut off any water outlet that provided unfiltered drinking water, and post specified signage.

-- Require the Legislature to appropriate annually to EGLE an amount sufficient to administer and comply with the Act and specify that schools would not have to comply with the Act until the Legislature did so.

-- Require EGLE to assist schools in maintaining compliance with the Act and to provide a template for drinking water safety plans.

-- Require EGLE to provide annual training for school staff and school official regarding water sampling protocol, reporting sampling results, and other relevant activities, and to provide guidance related to selecting equipment, shutting off water outlets, and sampling and testing water.

-- Prohibit a school from installing a drinking fountain that was not a filtered bottle-filling stations beginning 15 months after the Act's effective date.

-- Create the "School and Child Care Center Clean Drinking Water Fund" and provide for the disposition of money from the Fund.

Senate Bill 88 would amend the child care licensing Act to do the following:

-- Require a child care center to develop a drinking water management plan within one year of the bill's effective date and to make that plan available to EGLE, center staff, and parents upon request.

-- Require a drinking water management plan to specify the location of water outlets and to establish a schedule for annual water sampling and testing and regular replacement of water filter cartridges.

-- Require a child care center to review and update its plan every five years and to make changes as directed by EGLE or as needed to comply with the bill.

-- Require a local health department or LARA would have to conduct a water inspection at each child care center at least once every two years.

-- Prescribe procedures for a child care center to follow if water sampling indicated the presence of lead at a concentration of one to five parts per billion, or higher, that are substantially similar to those proposed in Senate Bill 184.

-- Require a child care center to retain specified records related to water sampling and testing for at least two years and make those documents available to LARA.

-- Require each child care center, within two years of the bill's effective date, to convert all faucets for drinking water to filtered faucets, place certain signage, and ensure that any water given to children at a child care center was from a filtered source that met the bill's requirements.

-- Specify that if a child care center were located in a school building that complied with the Clean Drinking Water Access Act, the child care center would be considered compliant with the bill's provisions.

Senate Bill 89

Drinking Water Safety Plan; Schools

The Clean Drinking Water Access Act would require each school, within 15 months of the Act's effective date, to develop a drinking water management plan. The school would have to make that plan available to EGLE, school staff, parents and guardians, and the general public upon request. The plan would have to specify the location of each water outlet using one of the following categories:

-- The location where a water outlet would be maintained to deliver water for human consumption, whether as drinking water or a component of a food or beverage, using either a) the location where filtered bottle-filling station would be maintained (the plan would have to provide for the maintenance of at least one filtered bottle-filling station for every 100 occupants of the school); or b) the location where a filtered faucet would be maintained (filtered faucets could be used only when the installation of a bottle-filling station was not feasible but a water outlet was necessary).

-- The location where a water outlet would be maintained for purposes other than for human consumption.

-- The location where a water outlet would be shut off or rendered permanently inoperable.

"Filtered bottle-filling station" would mean an apparatus that meets all the following requirements:

-- Is connected to building plumbing.

-- Filters water.

-- Is certified to meet NSF/ANSI standard 53 for lead reduction and NSF/ANSI standard 42 for particulate removal.

-- Has a light or other device to indicate filter cartridge performance.

-- Is designed to fill drinking bottles or other containers used for personal water consumption.

-- Has a bubbler fixture that allows the user to drink directly from a stream of flowing water without the use of any accessory.

"Bubbler fixture" would mean a fixture on a drinking water fountain through which water is forced up in a small arc from a nozzle that allows an individual to drink from the arc directly.

"Filtered faucet" would mean a faucet that includes at the point of use a filter that is certified to meet NSF/ANSI standard 53 for lead reduction and NSF/ANSI standard 42 for particulate removal.

The plan also would have to establish a schedule for when each of the following would occur:

-- Annual water sampling and testing of the filtered water at each bottle-filling station and filtered faucet in the school to ensure that the filters were properly installed and provided water with a lead concentration for up to five parts per billion.

-- Regular replacement of the filter cartridge for each bottle-filling station and filtered faucet in compliance with the manufacturer instructions or EGLE recommendations.

Each school would have to review and update its plan at least once every five years and would have to make changes as directed by EGLE or as needed to comply with the Act. A school also would have to comply with the schedules described above.

By the end of the 2024-2025 school year, each school would have to do the following:

-- Install all filtered bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets as indicated in the plan and not already in existence.

-- Shut off or render permanently inoperable any water outlet that provided water for human consumption that was not a filtered bottle-filling station or filtered faucet.

-- Post a conspicuous sign near each water outlet that indicated whether the outlet was intended to provide water for human consumption.

By the end of the 2024-2025 school year, and annually thereafter, each school would have to submit to EGLE documentation, on a form and in a manner prescribed by EGLE, that certified that the school had complied with the Act's requirement.

A school could not install a drinking fountain beginning 15 months after the Act's effective date, unless it was a filtered bottle-filling station. "Drinking fountain" would mean a plumbing fixture that is connected to the potable water distribution system and drainage system that allows a user to obtain a drink directly from a stream of flowing water without the use of any accessory.

Water Sampling and Testing; Procedures

Filtered water collected for sampling and resampling under the bill would have to be drawn from the bubbler of a filtered bottle-filling station or the outlet of a filtered faucet. The filtered water would have to be collected in a 250-milliliter wide-mouth bottle after at least an eight-hour stagnation period and before any water use occurred at the school.

If the water sampling and testing indicated the presence of lead at a concentration of one part per billion or more but not more than five parts per billion, the school would have to do all the following:

-- Immediately check the status of the filter or filters at the bottle-filling station or filtered faucet and replace the filter cartridge if the status light indicated that replacement was or would soon be required.

-- Ensure that the bottle-filling station or filtered faucet was properly installed.

-- Resample and retest the filtered water.

If the retest indicated the presence of lead at concentration of one part per billion or more but no more than five parts per billion, the school would have to do both the following:

-- Send a copy of the test results and document that listed the make and model of the bottle-filling station or filtered faucet and filter cartridge to EGLE.

-- Consult with EGLE and the bottle-filling or filtered faucet manufacturer.

If a test performed on a sample of filtered water from a bottle-filling station or filtered faucet indicated the presence of lead at a concentration of more than five parts per billion, the school would have to do all the following:

-- Immediately shut off or otherwise render inoperable the water outlet.

-- Post a conspicuous sign near the water outlet that stated the water outlet was inoperable because of high lead concentration and maintain the sign until it was returned to service.

-- Replace the filter cartridge in the bottle-filling station or filtered faucet.

-- Resample and retest the filtered water.

-- Return the water outlet to service if the testing indicated the presence of lead at a concentration of no more than five parts per billion.

-- If the testing indicated the presence of leading at a concentration of one part per billion or more but less than five parts per billion, then check the status of the filters, ensure the bottle-filling station, or filtered faucet was properly installed, then retest the water.

If the retesting indicated the presence of lead at a concentration of more than five parts per billion, the school would have to do both of the following:

-- Within 30 days after receiving the test results, send a copy of the results to EGLE and the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in the school (the copy would have to contain a notice that included information provided by EGLE and the health effects of lead exposure and ways to reduce childhood lead exposure).

-- Develop a remediation plan in consultation with EGLE and the water supplier.

Department Responsibilities

The Legislature would have to appropriate to EGLE an amount sufficient to administer and comply with the Act's requirements each year. Schools would not have to comply with the Act unless the Legislature had appropriated sufficient funds.

The Department would have to assist each school in maintaining compliance with the Act and, within six months of the Act's effective date, would have to do all the following:

-- Provide a template for the plan.

-- Make available annual training for school staff and school officials regarding the sampling and testing protocol, reporting process for sampling and testing results, and other activities relevant to compliance with the bill.

The Department also would have to provide guidance on all the following:

-- Factors that a school should consider when selecting bottle-filling stations, filtered faucets, and filter cartridges.

-- How to shut off or render permanently inoperable a water outlet.

-- How to sample and test water from a bottle-filling station or filtered faucet for lead.

The School and Child Care Center Clean Drinking Water Fund

The School and Child Care Center Clean Drinking Water Fund would be created within the State Treasury. The State Treasurer could receive money or other assets from any source for deposit into the Fund. The Treasurer would have to credit to the Fund interest and earning from Fund investments. Money in the Fund at the close of the fiscal year would remain in the Fund and would not lapse into the General Fund.

The Department would be the administrator of the School and Child Care Center Clean Drinking Water Fund for auditing purposes. The Department would have to spend money from the Fund, upon appropriation, only to create and operate a program to assist child care centers and schools with all the following:

-- The one-time acquisition and installation of bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets, in compliance with the plan.

-- Maintenance of bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets and replacements of filter cartridges.

-- Costs associated with water sampling and testing.

The Department could award grants to operate the program and could require matching contributions for the program. If it would achieve cost savings over independent purchases, EGLE could purchase and provide to program beneficiaries bottle-filling stations, filtered faucets, point-of-use filters, or filter cartridges.

"Child care center" would mean that term as defined in Section 1 of the child care licensing Act: a facility, other than a private residence, receiving one or more children under 13 years of age for care for periods of less than 24 hours a day, where the parents or guardians are not immediately available to the child.

Senate Bill 88

Drinking Water Safety Plan; Child Care Centers

The bill would amend the child care licensing Act to require each child care center to develop a drinking water management plan within one year of the bill's effective date. The child care center would have to make the plan available upon request to LARA, a staff member, or a parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the child care center on request. The plan would have to specify the locations water outlets would be maintained to deliver water for human consumption, whether as drinking water or a component of a food or beverage, using the following categories, if applicable:

-- Locations where filtered bottle-filling stations would be maintained.

-- Locations where filtered faucets would be maintained.

-- Locations where filtered pitchers would be maintained.

-- Locations where unfiltered drinking fountains or unfiltered faucets would be maintained.

The plan would have to specify, by category, locations where water outlets would be maintained for purposes other than to deliver water for human consumption and where water outlets would be shut off or rendered permanently inoperable, if applicable. The plan also would have to specify the regular replacement of the filter cartridge for each filtered bottle-filling station, filtered faucet, and filtered pitcher in compliance with the manufacturer instructions or EGLE recommendations.

"Filtered pitcher" would mean a container used for holding and pouring liquids that at the point of use includes a filter that is certified to meet NSF/ANSI standard 53 for lead reduction and NSF/ANSI standard 42 for particulate removal.

The bill would require each child care center to review and update the drinking water management plan every five years and make changes as needed or as directed by LARA. A child care center that installed a filtered bottle-filling station, filtered faucet, filtered pitcher, or other filtered source would have to install, operate, and maintain them in accordance with manufacturer instructions or EGLE's recommendations.

Inspection Requirements and Remediation

Under the bill, a local health department or LARA would have to conduct a water inspection at each child care center at least once every two years. As part of the inspection, the local health department or LARA would have to test water collected from all filtered bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets. If the water inspection indicated the presence of lead at a concentration five parts per billion or more, the local health department or LARA would have to alert the EGLE.

Within 30 days after providing notice, the child care center would have to develop a remediation plan and incorporate it into the drinking water management plan. The child care center would have to collect the water for the water inspection. Water collected for the water inspection would have to be drawn from all of the bubblers of the filtered bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets and collected in 250-milliliter bottles after at least an eight-hour stagnation period and before any water use occurred at the child care center.

The local health department or LARA would have to provide the child care center with a sufficient number of 250-milliliter bottles before the water was collected. After the child care center collected the water samples, the local health department or LARA would have to collect all of the 250-milliliter bottles and conduct the testing. The bill would allow LARA to complete the inspection instead of the local health department if on a continual basis, a water inspection delayed LARA from issuing or denying a license for a child care center under Act.

"Local health department" would mean that term as defined in Section 1105 of the Public Health Code: 1) a county health department of a single county and its board of health; 2) a district health department and its board of health; 3) a city health department and its board of health; 4) any other local agency approved by the Department of Health and Human Services. The bill would grant a local health department the powers and duties described under Part 24 (Local Health Departments) of the Public Health Code.

Documentation

Under the bill, a child care center would have to retain the following documents for three years or until after a water inspection occurred, whichever was sooner, and make the documents available to LARA upon request:

-- Original copies of the results of all water inspections conducted, if applicable.

-- Records of the dates when and locations where filters or filter cartridges were installed or replaced.

-- Installation instructions for each filter and filter cartridge installed by the child care center.

Additional Requirements

The bill would require each child care center to do all the following in a manner consistent with the drinking water management plan within two years of the bill's effective date:

-- Post a conspicuous sign near each water outlet and drinking fountain indicating whether the outlet was intended to provide water for human consumption, and if the water outlet or drinking fountain were intended to provide water for human consumption but was unfiltered, the sign also would have to state that the water was unfiltered and could contain lead.

-- Ensure that any water furnished to children for human consumption by the child care center was from a filtered faucet or other filtered source that was certified to meet NSF/ANSI standard 53 for lead reduction and NSF/ANSI standard 42 for particulate removal, or from a water delivery service.

-- Make available to the public and notify each parent or guardian of each child enrolled in the child care center of the availability of the results of all water inspections and all filter and filter cartridge replacement dates for each filtered bottle-filling station, filtered faucet, filtered pitcher, or other filtered source.

"Water delivery service" would mean a service that delivers drinking water to a child care center and provides drinking water that meets the standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Department Responsibilities

Under the bill, LARA, in coordination with EGLE, would have to assist each child care center in maintaining compliance with the bill by providing a template for the drinking water management plan and a template for tracking filter and filter cartridge replacement dates and the results of water inspections. In addition, LARA would have to provide guidance documents for the following:

-- Factors that a child care center should consider when selecting filtered bottle-filling stations, filtered faucets, and filters.

-- How to shut off a water outlet or render it permanently inoperable .

-- How to flush a building's cold water plumbing before installing new filtered bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets.

-- Common filtered bottle-filling station or filtered faucet installation and operation errors and how to avoid them.

The bill would require LARA to provide training for child care center staff on filter cartridge use, installation, and maintenance and water sampling protocol. Training could be provided as a webinar or incorporated into existing training programs. Within two years after the bill's effective date, and every five years after that, all child care center staff responsible for providing or overseeing children's access to drinking water would have to participate in training provided by LARA.

The bill would require LARA to provide and make available the guidance documents within six months after the bill's effective date. Before LARA provided the guidance documents, it would have to issue the guidance documents as proposed guidance documents on its website and allow for a 30-day public comment period.

FISCAL IMPACT

Senate Bill 88

This bill would have an indeterminate but negative fiscal impact on LARA and EGLE. The impact would depend on the cost to administer required training for all child care center staff, the labor required to review the drinking water management plans for each child care center, and the creation and maintenance of required guidance documents. Therefore, the bill likely would result in minor administrative costs for both departments. However, the extent of those costs is unknown.

This bill also would have a negative fiscal impact upon local health department or the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, which would be responsible for fulfilling the water testing requirements at least once every two years.

Costs for the installation of filtered water fillers and faucets and water testing for schools and child care centers are discussed below.

Senate Bill 89

The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on State and local government. Senate Bill 89 would require the Legislature to appropriate sufficient dollars to administer the program. This means that the Legislature would need to appropriate enough funding to install filtered