Public water systems: point-of-use treatment.

Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, provides for the operation of public water systems, and requires the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations for these purposes, as prescribed. Under existing law, regulations adopted by the department are required to include requirements governing the use of point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment by public water systems in lieu of centralized treatment, where feasible. This bill would make findings and declarations relating to groundwater contamination in the Coachella Valley, and would authorize the department to develop emergency regulations governing the permitted use of point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment by public water systems in lieu of centralized treatment, as specified, and would require that these emergency regulations remain in effect until the earlier of January 1, 2014, or the effective date of the required nonemergency regulations. This bill would, until January 1, 2014, authorize the department to award a grant for point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment, in lieu of centralized treatment, by a public water system that serves a severely disadvantaged community, as defined. Existing law establishes the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, administered by the State Department of Public Health, and continuously appropriates the money in the fund to that department to provide grants or revolving fund loans for the design and construction of projects for public water systems that will enable suppliers to meet safe drinking water standards. This bill would, until January 1, 2014, permit the State Department of Public Health to provide a grant for point-of-entry and point-of-use treatment under those provisions, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.