Drinking water: pipes and fittings: lead content.

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. The act prohibits, with certain exceptions, the use of any pipe, pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture, solder, or flux that is not lead free in the installation or repair of any public water system or any plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption. The act defines "lead free" for purposes of conveying or dispensing water for human consumption to mean not more than 0.2% lead when used with respect to solder and flux and not more than a weighted average of 0.25% lead when used with respect to the wetted surfaces of pipes and pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures. This bill would, commencing January 1, 2024, additionally define "lead free," for purposes of conveying or dispensing water for human consumption, to mean does not leach more than one microgram of lead under certain tests and meeting a specified certification when used with respect to certain endpoint devices, as defined. The bill would, notwithstanding that commencement date, impose a progressively increasing minimum percentage for a manufacturer that sells or offers for sale in the state products subject to that definition of "lead free" to comply with that definition, commencing January 1, 2021, with 100% compliance on January 1, 2024, as compared to the total number of those product models sold or offered for sale in the state by that manufacturer on July 1, 2019. The bill would require such a manufacturer to inform the state board, in writing, of the percentage of those product models that complies with that definition. The bill would authorize the state board to make information about those endpoint device product models publicly available, as provided. The bill would require the consumer-facing product packaging or labeling of products that comply with that definition to indicate that compliance by including specified lettering. Existing law requires the Department of Toxic Substances Control, based on its available resources and staffing, to annually select no more than 75 drinking water faucets or other drinking water plumbing fittings and fixtures for testing and evaluation, including the locations from which to select the faucets, fittings, and fixtures, to determine compliance with the above-specified lead plumbing standards. This bill would authorize the department, when evaluating an endpoint device's compliance with the above-specified definition of "lead free" that the bill would establish, to base its evaluation upon specified documentation that demonstrates certification that the endpoint device does not leach more than one microgram of lead under certain tests.