BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.H.B. 2395 |
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By: Collier |
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Public Education |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties note the serious health risks associated with the presence of lead in drinking water and contend that it is necessary for the state to provide for standards for testing the water in public schools. The goal of C.S.H.B. 2395 is to set such standards to ensure that students are less exposed to harmful contaminants.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in SECTION 1 of this bill.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2395 amends the Health and Safety Code to require each independent school district and open-enrollment charter school, in addition to any water test required by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, to conduct a first-draw tap test, defined as a water sample collected and tested in the manner prescribed by the federal monitoring requirements for lead and copper in tap water, of potable water outlets every five years, before the start of the school year, to monitor the amount of lead in the water in each occupied school building under the district's or charter school's jurisdiction. The bill requires the district or charter school to perform the required first-draw tap test by using existing qualified personnel or through a third party. The bill requires a district or charter school at which a person conducting a first-draw tap test determines that the amount of lead in a potable water outlet of a school building exceeds the level of lead considered safe for human consumption as established by rules adopted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to continue weekly first-draw tap tests of the building's potable water outlet until three consecutive weekly tests confirm the water is safe for human consumption and to provide the building occupants with an adequate supply of safe, potable drinking water until future tests indicate lead levels in the water are safe for human consumption. The bill expressly does not require a district or charter school to conduct a first-draw tap test on a water outlet if the outlet is located in a school building that is lead free, as defined by the federal act, or if the district or charter school has fewer than 1,000 students and the district or charter school is unable to secure funding for the tests from grants or donations. The bill requires TCEQ, in consultation with the commissioner of education, to adopt rules to implement the bill's provisions, including rules to establish the level of lead in drinking water that is considered safe for human consumption. The bill requires the rules to be consistent with the requirements for districts or charter schools that are classified as a public water system under the federal act.
C.S.H.B. 2395 requires each district and charter school that conducts lead testing under the bill's provisions to make the test results and any lead remediation plan available to the public by posting the information on the district's or charter school's website or by any other method the district or charter school considers appropriate. The bill requires each district and charter school to submit that information in a format approved by TCEQ to TCEQ and each local health authority with jurisdiction in the municipality or county in which the district or charter school is located. The bill requires TCEQ to submit, not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and each member of the legislature a report that includes the findings from the first-draw tap tests conducted under the bill's provisions. The bill applies beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, except that the bill requires a district or charter school that has completed first-draw tap tests of potable water outlets during the 36-month period preceding the bill's effective date to comply with the bill's provisions beginning with the 2020-2021 school year.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2395 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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