Relates to adding additional chemicals to the list of emerging contaminants; directs the commissioner of health to establish the first list within 90 days and to update the list every three years.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A126A
SPONSOR: Gottfried TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a
list of emerging contaminants
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Directs the commissioner to promulgate the first list of emerging
containments within 30 days of enactment of this legislation.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends section 1112 of the public health law to
expand the list of chemicals to be included on the list of emerging
contaminants; requires the commissioner to publish draft regulations
containing the first list within 90 days and make regulations implement-
ing such list within 90 days thereafter; and requires updating of the
list at least every three years.
Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York's "emerging contaminant monitoring act," enacted in 2017, was
created with the intent to address a federal loophole in emerging
contaminant monitoring. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), under the Safe Drinking Water Act, requires periodic testing for
30 unregulated contaminants suspected to be present in drinking water
supplies, known as the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR).
However, this testing is only required for public water systems serving
10,000 or more residents, and occasionally a limited sample of smaller
systems.
Because of this loophole, 2.5 million New Yorkers on smaller water
systems do not benefit from this testing. By amending the emerging
contaminant monitoring act to require the inclusion of chemicals listed
on EPA's third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR-3) that
have already been detected in water systems in the state, New York will
gain a better understanding of occurrence and exposure in the state,
including in these smaller communities.
There are also chemicals showing up in drinking water supplies in other
parts of the country that are being used to replace PFOA, known as GenX
chemicals. New York needs to be ahead of the curve to ensure these
replacement chemicals, which are suspected to be equally as dangerous as
PFOA, are not polluting New York's drinking water supplies.
The creation of New York's first emerging contaminant list, which would
include most UCMR-3 chemicals and some of the most recent emerging
contaminants, would provide the public with critical water quality
information, protect public health, and inform the Department of Health
on what chemicals need drinking water standards. This testing is a
crucial means to begin a proactive approach to regulating drinking water
contaminants in New York.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2019: A7839 Reported to Rules / Senate Rules
2020: A7839 Reported to 3rd Reading / Senate Health
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
126--A
Cal. No. 30
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GOTTFRIED, ENGLEBRIGHT, THIELE, REYES, COLTON,
L. ROSENTHAL, CARROLL, DINOWITZ, GRIFFIN, STECK, JACOBSON, McMAHON,
CRUZ, GALEF, ASHBY, EPSTEIN, McDONALD, ABINANTI, BARRON, SAYEGH, HEVE-
SI, FAHY, ZEBROWSKI, CLARK, LEMONDES, LAWLER, ZINERMAN, OTIS, DeSTEFA-
NO, FORREST, KELLES, SIMON, SEAWRIGHT, STERN, LUPARDO, PERRY -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Health -- reported from commit-
tee, advanced to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted,
retaining its place on the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a
list of emerging contaminants
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section 1112 of the public
2 health law, as added by section 1 of part M of chapter 57 of the laws of
3 2017, is amended and two new subdivisions 13 and 14 are added to read as
4 follows:
5 c. The commissioner shall, at a minimum, include the following chemi-
6 cals identified as emerging contaminants in the first list of emerging
7 contaminants: [1,4-dioxane; perfluorooctanesulfonic acid; and perfluo-
8 rooctanoic acid] 1,2,3-trichloropropane; chloromethane (methyl chlo-
9 ride); 1,1-dichloroethane; bromomethane (methyl bromide); chlorodifluo-
10 romethene (HCFC-22); vanadium; molybdenum; cobalt; strontium;
11 chromium-6; chlorate; perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA); perfluorohexanesul-
12 fonic acid (PFHxS); perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA); perfluorobutanesul-
13 fonic acid (PFBS); hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA);
14 N-ethyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetic acid (NEtFOSAA); N-methyl
15 perfluorooctanesulfonamidoacetic acid (NMeFOSAA); Perfluorodecanoic acid
16 (PFDA); Perfluorododecanoic acid (PFDoA); Perfluorohexanoic acid
17 (PFHxA); Perfluorotetradecanoic acid (PFTA); Perfluorotridecanoic acid
18 (PFTrDA); Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA); 11-chloroeicosafluoro-3-ox-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00397-03-1
A. 126--A 2
1 aundecane-1-sulfonic acid (11Cl-PF3OUdS); 9-chlorohexadecafluoro-3-oxa-
2 nonane-1-sulfonic acid (9Cl-PF3ONS); 4,8-dioxa-3H-perfluorononanoic acid
3 (ADONA); Nonafluoro-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid (NFDHA); Perfluorobutanoic
4 acid (PFBA); 1H, 1H, 2H, 2HPerfluorodecane sulfonic acid (8:2FTS);
5 Perfluoro(2-ethoxyethane)sulfonic acid (PFEESA); Perfluoroheptanesulfon-
6 ic acid (PFHpS); 1H,1H, 2H, 2H-Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (4:2FTS);
7 Perfluoro-3-methoxypropanoic acid (PFMPA); Perfluoro-4-methoxybutanoic
8 acid (PFMBA); 1H,1H, 2H, 2H-Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (6:2FTS);
9 Perfluoropentanoic acid (PFPeA); Perfluoropentanesulfonic acid (PFPeS);
10 testosterone; and 4-androstene-3, 17-dione.
11 13. The commissioner shall publish draft regulations containing the
12 first list of emerging contaminants within ninety days of the effective
13 date of this subdivision and shall make regulations implementing this
14 subdivision within ninety days thereafter.
15 14. The commissioner shall make regulations updating the list of
16 emerging contaminants and their associated notification levels to
17 reflect the latest available scientific information at least once every
18 three years. The commissioner shall add new emerging contaminants under
19 subdivision three of this section at least once every three years.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
