Requires school districts and boards of cooperative educational services to conduct periodic testing of school potable water sources and systems to monitor for lead contamination in certain school buildings; provides additional aid to such districts and boards for the costs incurred due to the testing of such potable water sources and systems containing an unacceptable amount of lead.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9687--C
IN ASSEMBLY
March 29, 2016
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LUPARDO, GOTTFRIED, ROSENTHAL, GALEF, CAHILL,
DINOWITZ, LAVINE, JAFFEE, SANTABARBARA, SOLAGES, HOOPER, MOSLEY,
BLAKE, JOYNER, MAYER, LINARES, JEAN-PIERRE, FAHY, PALMESANO, ROZIC,
BARRON, BARRETT, CANCEL, ARROYO, HAWLEY, ZEBROWSKI, RUSSELL, CASTORI-
NA, WALKER, SKOUFIS, ORTIZ, LIFTON, McDONALD, OTIS, BUCHWALD,
PEOPLES-STOKES, MURRAY, McLAUGHLIN, RAIA, GIGLIO, KAVANAGH, MAGNAREL-
LI, SEAWRIGHT, WOERNER -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ABBATE, COOK,
CROUCH, ENGLEBRIGHT, GLICK, McDONOUGH, McKEVITT, PICHARDO, SIMON,
THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee
with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the education law, in relation
to potable water testing and standards in schools
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 1110 to read as follows:
3 § 1110. School potable water testing and standards. 1. In addition to
4 school districts already classified as a public water system under parts
5 141 and 142 of title 40 of the code of federal regulations, as such
6 regulations may, from time to time, be amended, every school district
7 and board of cooperative educational services shall conduct periodic
8 first-drawn tap testing of potable water systems to monitor for lead
9 contamination in each occupied school building under its jurisdiction as
10 required by regulations promulgated pursuant to this section. The test-
11 ing shall be conducted and the results analyzed by an entity or entities
12 approved by the commissioner.
13 2. Where periodic first-draw tap testing results in findings of no
14 contamination for a period to be determined by the commissioner, first-
15 drawn tap water testing shall be conducted periodically at a frequency
16 to be determined by the commissioner.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14805-11-6
A. 9687--C 2
1 3. Where a finding of lead contamination is made, the affected school
2 district shall: (a) continue first-drawn tap water testing pursuant to
3 regulations promulgated pursuant to this section; (b) provide school
4 occupants with an adequate supply of safe, potable water for drinking as
5 required by rules and regulations of the department until future tests
6 indicate lead levels pursuant to regulations promulgated pursuant to
7 this section; and (c) provide parents or persons in parental relation to
8 a child attending said school with written notification of test results
9 as well as posting such test results on the school district's website.
10 4. Potable tap water testing shall not be required for school build-
11 ings built after two thousand fourteen.
12 5. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of educa-
13 tion, shall promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of this
14 section. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
15 the regulations promulgated with regard to lead levels shall be consist-
16 ent with the requirements for those school districts classified as a
17 public water system under parts 141 and 142 of title 40 of the code of
18 federal regulations as such regulations may, from time to time, be
19 amended.
20 6. The commissioner may grant a waiver from the testing requirements
21 of this section for certain school buildings, provided that, the school
22 district has substantially complied with the testing requirements and
23 has been found to be below lead levels as determined by regulations
24 promulgated pursuant to this section for such buildings.
25 7. Each school district and board of cooperative educational services
26 conducting testing pursuant to subdivision one of this section and each
27 school district classified as a public water system under parts 141 and
28 142 of title 40 of the code of federal regulations, as such regulations
29 may, from time to time, be amended, shall make a copy of the results of
30 all such testing and any lead remediation plans available to the public
31 on its website and any additional means as chosen by such district. A
32 copy of the results of all testing shall also be immediately transmitted
33 to the department and state education department in a format to be
34 determined by the commissioner and to the county department of health in
35 the local jurisdiction of the school building. The commissioner, in
36 conjunction with the commissioner of education, shall publish a report
37 bi-annually based on the findings from the tap water testing conducted
38 according to the provisions of this section. Such report shall be sent
39 to the commissioner of education, the governor, the temporary president
40 of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly and shall be made avail-
41 able on the department's and state education department's websites.
42 § 2. Section 3602 of the education law is amended by adding a new
43 subdivision 6-h to read as follows:
44 6-h. Building aid for testing and remediation of potable water
45 systems. In addition to the apportionments payable to a school district
46 pursuant to subdivision six of this section, the commissioner is hereby
47 authorized to apportion to any school district additional building aid
48 pursuant to this subdivision for its approved expenditures in the base
49 year for the testing and remediation of potable water systems required
50 pursuant to section eleven hundred ten of the public health law. Such
51 aid shall equal the product of the building aid ratio defined pursuant
52 to paragraph c of subdivision six of this section and the actual
53 approved expenditures incurred in the base year pursuant to this subdi-
54 vision, provided that the limitations on cost allowances prescribed by
55 paragraph a of subdivision six of this section shall not apply. The
56 commissioner shall prescribe a special cost allowance for the testing of
A. 9687--C 3
1 potable water systems and the approved expenditures shall not exceed
2 such cost allowance. The commissioner shall determine what qualifies as
3 an approved expense for the remediation of potable water systems
4 required as a result of water testing conducted pursuant to section
5 eleven hundred ten of the public health law.
6 § 3. Paragraph b of subdivision 5 of section 1950 of the education
7 law, as amended by section 80-a of part A of chapter 58 of the laws of
8 2011, is amended to read as follows:
9 b. The cost of services herein referred to shall be the amount allo-
10 cated to each component school district by the board of cooperative
11 educational services to defray expenses of such board, including
12 approved expenses from the testing of potable water systems required
13 pursuant to section eleven hundred ten of the public health law, except
14 that that part of the salary paid any teacher, supervisor or other
15 employee of the board of cooperative educational services which is in
16 excess of thirty thousand dollars shall not be such an approved expense,
17 and except also that administrative and clerical expenses shall not
18 exceed ten percent of the total expenses for purposes of this computa-
19 tion. Any gifts, donations or interest earned by the board of cooper-
20 ative educational services or on behalf of the board of cooperative
21 educational services by the dormitory authority or any other source
22 shall not be deducted in determining the cost of services allocated to
23 each component school district. Any payments made to a component school
24 district by the board of cooperative educational services pursuant to
25 subdivision eleven of section six-p of the general municipal law attrib-
26 utable to an approved cost of service computed pursuant to this subdivi-
27 sion shall be deducted from the cost of services allocated to such
28 component school district. The expense of transportation provided by
29 the board of cooperative educational services pursuant to paragraph q of
30 subdivision four of this section shall be eligible for aid apportioned
31 pursuant to subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this
32 chapter and no board of cooperative educational services transportation
33 expense shall be an approved cost of services for the computation of aid
34 under this subdivision. Transportation expense pursuant to paragraph q
35 of subdivision four of this section shall be included in the computation
36 of the ten percent limitation on administrative and clerical expenses.
37 § 4. Subdivision 6-f of section 3602 of the education law, as added by
38 section 19 of part H of chapter 83 of the laws of 2002, is amended to
39 read as follows:
40 6-f. Additional apportionment of building aid for certain projects. a.
41 In addition to the apportionment payable to a school district pursuant
42 to subdivision six of this section, the commissioner is hereby author-
43 ized to apportion to any school district additional building aid in the
44 amount equal to the product of its approved expenditures in the base
45 year for capital outlays from the district's general fund, capital fund
46 or reserved funds that are incurred on or after July first, two thousand
47 two for an eligible school construction project as defined in paragraph
48 b of this subdivision, and the district's applicable building aid ratio
49 as defined pursuant to paragraph c of subdivision six of this section.
50 Approved expenditures for capital outlays for eligible school
51 construction projects that are eligible for an apportionment pursuant to
52 this subdivision shall not be eligible for aid pursuant to subdivision
53 six of this section.
54 b. For the purposes of this subdivision, an "eligible school
55 construction project" shall mean a school construction project that is
56 entirely funded from capital outlays and:
A. 9687--C 4
1 (1) has a total project cost of one hundred thousand dollars or less;
2 provided however, that for any district, no more than one project shall
3 be eligible pursuant to this subparagraph for an apportionment within
4 the same school year; and/or
5 (2) is a construction emergency project to remediate emergency situ-
6 ations which arise in public school buildings and threaten the health
7 and/or safety of building occupants, as a result of the unanticipated
8 discovery of asbestos or other hazardous substances during construction
9 work on a school or significant damage caused by a fire, snow storm, ice
10 storm, excessive rain, high winds, flood or a similar catastrophic event
11 which results in the necessity for immediate repair. Approved expendi-
12 tures pursuant to this section shall include expenditures the commis-
13 sioner approves for the immediate remediation of potable water systems
14 due to lead contamination, required as a result of water testing
15 conducted pursuant to section eleven hundred ten of the public health
16 law; and/or
17 (3) if bonded pursuant to paragraph j of subdivision six of this
18 section, would cause a city school district in a city having a popu-
19 lation of less than one hundred twenty-five thousand inhabitants to
20 exceed ninety-five percent of its constitutional debt limit provided,
21 however, that any debt issued pursuant to paragraph c of section 104.00
22 of the local finance law shall not be included in such calculation.
23 § 5. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
24 have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the
25 commissioner of health shall be authorized to promulgate any and all
26 rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act
27 on its effective date.
