Requires school districts and boards of cooperative educational services to conduct periodic testing of school potable water sources and systems to monitor for lead contamination in certain school buildings; provides additional aid to such districts and boards for the costs incurred due to the testing of such potable water sources and systems containing an unacceptable amount of lead.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8158
IN SENATE
June 17, 2016
___________
Introduced by Sens. O'MARA, MARCELLINO, AKSHAR, AMEDORE, BONACIC, BOYLE,
DeFRANCISCO, FARLEY, FELDER, FLANAGAN, FUNKE, GALLIVAN, GOLDEN, GRIF-
FO, HANNON, LANZA, LARKIN, LAVALLE, LITTLE, MARCHIONE, MARTINS,
MURPHY, NOZZOLIO, ORTT, RANZENHOFER, RITCHIE, ROBACH, SERINO, SEWARD,
VENDITTO, YOUNG -- (at request of the Governor) -- read twice and
ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the education law, in relation
to potable water testing and standards in schools
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 1110 to read as follows:
3 § 1110. School potable water testing and standards. 1. In addition to
4 school districts already classified as a public water system under parts
5 141 and 142 of title 40 of the code of federal regulations, as such
6 regulations may, from time to time, be amended, every school district
7 and board of cooperative educational services shall conduct periodic
8 first-drawn tap testing of potable water systems to monitor for lead
9 contamination in each occupied school building under its jurisdiction as
10 required by regulations promulgated pursuant to this section. The test-
11 ing shall be conducted and the results analyzed by an entity or entities
12 approved by the commissioner.
13 2. Where a finding of lead contamination is made, the affected school
14 district shall: (a) continue first-drawn tap water testing pursuant to
15 regulations promulgated pursuant to this section; (b) provide school
16 occupants with an adequate supply of safe, potable water for drinking as
17 required by rules and regulations of the department until future tests
18 indicate lead levels pursuant to regulations promulgated pursuant to
19 this section; and (c) provide parents or persons in parental relation to
20 a child attending said school with written notification of test results
21 as well as posting such test results on the school district's website.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD12093-02-6
S. 8158 2
1 3. First-drawn tap testing shall not be required for school buildings
2 that have been deemed "lead-free" as defined by section 1417 of the
3 federal safe drinking water act.
4 4. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of educa-
5 tion, shall promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of this
6 section. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
7 the regulations promulgated with regard to lead levels shall be consist-
8 ent with the requirements for those school districts classified as a
9 public water system under parts 141 and 142 of title 40 of the code of
10 federal regulations as such regulations may, from time to time, be
11 amended.
12 5. The commissioner may grant a waiver from the testing requirements
13 of this section for certain school buildings, provided that, the school
14 district has substantially complied with the testing requirements and
15 has been found to be below lead levels as determined by regulations
16 promulgated pursuant to this section for such buildings.
17 6. Each school district and board of cooperative educational services
18 conducting testing pursuant to subdivision one of this section and each
19 school district classified as a public water system under parts 141 and
20 142 of title 40 of the code of federal regulations, as such regulations
21 may, from time to time, be amended, shall make a copy of the results of
22 all such testing and any lead remediation plans available to the public
23 on its website and any additional means as chosen by such district. A
24 copy of the results of all testing shall also be immediately transmitted
25 to the department and state education department in a format to be
26 determined by the commissioner and to the county department of health in
27 the local jurisdiction of the school building. The commissioner of
28 education, in conjunction with the commissioner, shall publish a report
29 biennially based on the findings from the tap water testing conducted
30 according to the provisions of this section. Such report shall be sent
31 to the commissioner, the governor, the temporary president of the
32 senate, and the speaker of the assembly and shall be made available on
33 the department's and state education department's websites.
34 § 2. Section 3602 of the education law is amended by adding a new
35 subdivision 6-h to read as follows:
36 6-h. Building aid for testing and filtering of potable water systems
37 for lead contamination. In addition to the apportionments payable to a
38 school district pursuant to subdivision six of this section, the commis-
39 sioner is hereby authorized to apportion to any school district addi-
40 tional building aid pursuant to this subdivision for its approved
41 expenditures, otherwise ineligible for building aid, in the base year
42 for the testing of potable water systems required pursuant to section
43 eleven hundred ten of the public health law and for the installation of
44 filters and/or other effective remedial measures for immediate remedi-
45 ation in cases where a finding of lead contamination is made pursuant to
46 such section and verified by confirmatory sampling, provided that the
47 cost of installation of such filters and/or other effective remedial
48 measures shall be deemed an approved expenditure only if (i) such
49 installation and/or other effective remedial measures have been approved
50 or reviewed by a professional with expertise in the field of water qual-
51 ity and remediation and (ii) such cost is incurred prior to July first,
52 two thousand nineteen. Such aid shall equal the product of the building
53 aid ratio defined pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision six of this
54 section and the actual approved expenditures incurred in the base year
55 pursuant to this subdivision.
S. 8158 3
1 § 3. Subdivision 6-e of section 3602 of the education law, as amended
2 by section 10 of part A-1 of chapter 58 of the laws of 2006, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 6-e. Additional apportionment of building aid for building condition
5 surveys of school buildings. In addition to the apportionments payable
6 to a school district pursuant to subdivision six of this section, the
7 commissioner is hereby authorized to apportion to any school district
8 additional building aid in accordance with this subdivision for its
9 approved expenses in the base year for building condition surveys of
10 school buildings that are conducted pursuant to this subdivision and
11 subdivision four of section thirty-six hundred forty-one of this arti-
12 cle. The amount of such apportionment shall equal the product of the
13 building aid ratio defined pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision six of
14 this section and the actual approved expenses incurred by the district
15 in the base year for each school building so inspected, provided that
16 the amount of such apportionment shall not exceed the building condition
17 survey aid ceiling, and provided further that such approved expenses
18 shall include approved expenses for testing of potable water systems for
19 lead contamination pursuant to section eleven hundred ten of the public
20 health law. For surveys conducted in the nineteen hundred ninety-eight-
21 -ninety-nine school year, the building condition aid ceiling shall be
22 twenty cents gross per square foot of floor area. For surveys conducted
23 in the nineteen hundred ninety-nine--two thousand school year and there-
24 after, the inspection aid ceiling shall be twenty cents gross per square
25 foot of floor area, plus an amount computed by the commissioner in
26 accordance with regulations adopted for such purpose, on the basis of an
27 index number reflecting changes in the costs of labor and materials from
28 July first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight.
29 § 4. The commissioner of health and the commissioner of education
30 shall by December 1, 2016, submit to the governor, the temporary presi-
31 dent of the senate and the speaker of the assembly a joint report on the
32 initial results of the tap water testing of public school buildings
33 conducted pursuant to section 1110 of the public health law. Such report
34 shall identify the most common sources of lead contamination of the
35 potable water systems of such buildings and shall recommend specific
36 appropriate short- and long-term remediation measures to address such
37 contamination.
38 § 5. Paragraph b of subdivision 5 of section 1950 of the education
39 law, as amended by section 80-a of part A of chapter 58 of the laws of
40 2011, is amended to read as follows:
41 b. The cost of services herein referred to shall be the amount allo-
42 cated to each component school district by the board of cooperative
43 educational services to defray expenses of such board, including
44 approved expenses from the testing of potable water systems of occupied
45 school buildings under the board's jurisdiction as required pursuant to
46 section eleven hundred ten of the public health law, except that that
47 part of the salary paid any teacher, supervisor or other employee of the
48 board of cooperative educational services which is in excess of thirty
49 thousand dollars shall not be such an approved expense, and except also
50 that administrative and clerical expenses shall not exceed ten percent
51 of the total expenses for purposes of this computation. Any gifts,
52 donations or interest earned by the board of cooperative educational
53 services or on behalf of the board of cooperative educational services
54 by the dormitory authority or any other source shall not be deducted in
55 determining the cost of services allocated to each component school
56 district. Any payments made to a component school district by the board
S. 8158 4
1 of cooperative educational services pursuant to subdivision eleven of
2 section six-p of the general municipal law attributable to an approved
3 cost of service computed pursuant to this subdivision shall be deducted
4 from the cost of services allocated to such component school district.
5 The expense of transportation provided by the board of cooperative
6 educational services pursuant to paragraph q of subdivision four of this
7 section shall be eligible for aid apportioned pursuant to subdivision
8 seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this chapter and no board of
9 cooperative educational services transportation expense shall be an
10 approved cost of services for the computation of aid under this subdivi-
11 sion. Transportation expense pursuant to paragraph q of subdivision four
12 of this section shall be included in the computation of the ten percent
13 limitation on administrative and clerical expenses.
14 § 6. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
15 have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the
16 commissioner of health shall be authorized to promulgate any and all
17 rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act
18 on its effective date.
