Relates to adding additional chemicals to the list of emerging contaminants; directs the commissioner of health to establish the first list within 30 days.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7839
SPONSOR: Gottfried (MS) 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
containments 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
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7839
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 24, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GOTTFRIED, ENGLEBRIGHT -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a
list of emerging contaminants
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section 1112 of the public
2 health law, as added by section 1 of part M of chapter 57 of the laws of
3 2017, is amended and a new subdivision 13 is added to read as follows:
4 c. The commissioner shall, at a minimum, include the following chemi-
5 cals identified as emerging contaminants in the first list of emerging
6 contaminants: 1,2,3-trichloropropane; 1,3-butadiene; chloromethane
7 (methyl chloride); 1,1-dichloroethane; bromomethane (methyl bromide);
8 chlorodifluoromethene (HCFC-22); bromochloromethane (halon 1011);
9 1,4-dioxane; vanadium; molybdenum; cobalt; strontium; chromium; chromi-
10 um-6; chlorate; perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS); [and] perfluorooc-
11 tanoic acid (PFOA); perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA); perfluorohexanesulf-
12 onic acid (PFHxS); perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA); perfluorobutanesul-
13 fonic acid (PFBS); hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO); 2,3,3,3-tetraf-
14 luoro-2- (heptaflouropropoxy) propanoic acid; 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2-
15 (heptafluoropropoxy) propanoate; heptafluoropropyl 1,2,2,2-tetrafluoro-
16 ethyl ether; testosterone; and 4-androstene-3,17-dione.
17 13. The commissioner shall promulgate the first list of emerging
18 contaminants within thirty days of the effective date of this subdivi-
19 sion.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11758-02-9
