Drinking water: cross-connection or backflow prevention device inspectors: certification.

Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health, including, but not limited to, conducting research, studies, and demonstration projects relating to the provision of a dependable, safe supply of drinking water, enforcing the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, adopting regulations, and conducting studies and investigations to assess the quality of private domestic water wells. Existing law requires any person who owns a public water system to ensure that the system does certain things, including, but not limited to, that it will not be subject to backflow under normal operating conditions. Existing law, to ensure that testing and maintenance of backflow prevention devices are performed by persons qualified to do testing and maintenance, authorizes local health officers to maintain programs for certification of backflow prevention device testers and requires the certification program to be consistent with backflow protection regulations adopted by the state board. A violation of these provisions, or of an order by a local health officer pursuant to these provisions, is a misdemeanor. Existing law requires the state board, on or before January 1, 2020, to adopt standards for backflow protection and cross-connection control. This bill would require valid and current certifications for cross-connection inspection and testing or backflow prevention device inspection, testing, and maintenance that meet specified requirements for competency to be accepted certification tests either until the state board promulgates standards for certified backflow prevention device testers and cross-connection control specialists, or until January 1, 2020, whichever comes first. The bill would, under certain conditions, prohibit a water supplier from refusing to recognize statewide certifications that meet standards set by the state board. Because a violation of that prohibition would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.