BILL NUMBER: S6625

SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
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
contaminants 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; and requires the commissioner to promulgate such list
within 30 days of the effective date.

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:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate