Enacts the lead pipe right to know act requiring public water systems to take service line inventories and make such information available to the public.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6115
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the lead
pipe right to know act
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this legislation is to make information about the number
and location of lead pipes easily accessible to the public and deci-
sion-makers, so that state and federal resources can be secured and
efficiently targeted to support local efforts to get the lead out of New
York's drinking water by removing all lead pipes.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 establishes that this act shall be known as the "Lead Pipe
Right to Know Act."
Section 2 amends the public health law by adding a new section 1114-b
including:
Defining the terms "service line," "gooseneck, pigtail, or connector,
"galvanized service line," and "covered public water system."
Directing covered public water systems to develop and regularly update a
service line inventory and summary form to identify the location, mate-
rial composition, and other information of all service lines connected
to its distribution system.
Requiring electronic submission of all inventories and summary forms to
the Department of Health (DOH), which would publish them on the Depart-
ment's website.
Directing covered public water systems that operate their own websites
to make its most recent service line inventory and summary form avail-
able on its website.
Directing DOH to establish an interactive map or maps of service line
inventories from covered public water systems serving more than 10,000
people that would be searchable by address, color coded where applica-
ble, and updated at least annually.
Section 3 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Lead service, lines pose one of the greatest threats to drinking water
in New York. These water pipes, which connect water mains to the inter-
nal plumbing in homes and other buildings, can expose New Yorkers to a
dangerous neurotoxin when they turn on-the tap. There is no safe level
of lead in drinking water. Infants and fetuses are especially at risk.
However, few water utilities across the state have shared publicly how
many lead service lines are present in their distribution system and
where those lead service lines are located. Policymakers need this
information to understand the full scale and extent of the lead service
line problem. Accessing and visualizing this data will also ensure that
existing state and incoming federal funds earmarked for getting lead
service lines out of the ground are spent efficiently and equitably. New
York cannot fix what it cannot measure.
This bill codifies requirements by the US Environmental Protection Agen-
cy and guidance from the NYS Department of Health for each water utility
to develop a comprehensive inventory of all of the service lines in its
system by October 2024, and to regularly update those inventories with
new information. It also requires the NYS Department of Health to make
those inventories available on the department's website and to create
interactive maps allowing New Yorkers to easily learn their risk of lead
exposure.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A10582 (Gottfried), of 2022, referred to health. Same as S9291, of 2022,
referred to health.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6115
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 3, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to enacting the lead
pipe right to know act
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "lead pipe right to know act".
3 § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 1114-b
4 to read as follows:
5 § 1114-b. Service line inventories and mapping. 1. Definitions. For
6 the purposes of this section:
7 (a) "Service line" means any piping connecting a water main to a
8 building inlet.
9 (b) "Gooseneck, pigtail, or connector" means a short section of
10 piping, typically not exceeding two feet, which can be bent and used for
11 connections between rigid portions of a service line.
12 (c) "Galvanized service line" means iron or steel piping that has been
13 dipped in zinc to prevent corrosion and rusting.
14 (d) "Covered public water system" means (i) a public water system that
15 serves at least five service connections used by year-round residents or
16 regularly serves at least twenty-five year-round residents; or (ii) a
17 public water system that regularly serves at least twenty-five of the
18 same people, four hours or more per day, for four or more days per week,
19 for twenty-six or more weeks per year.
20 2. Each covered public water system shall submit a service line inven-
21 tory, in a format to be developed by the department, that identifies the
22 location, material composition, and other details of all service lines
23 connected to its distribution system. Each covered public water system
24 shall also submit an inventory summary form, in a format to be developed
25 by the department, summarizing the data identified in the service line
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08102-02-3
A. 6115 2
1 inventory. The development of service line inventories and inventory
2 summary forms shall comply with requirements promulgated by the United
3 States environmental protection agency as well as comply with the
4 provisions of this section.
5 3. Each service line connected to a covered public water system's
6 distribution system shall be listed in service line inventories. Each
7 covered public water system shall include for each service line the
8 information listed in this subdivision. For some categories, the covered
9 public water system may mark "unknown" where documented evidence is not
10 currently available:
11 (a) street address;
12 (b) town;
13 (c) zip code;
14 (d) whether a gooseneck, pigtail, or connector made of lead is pres-
15 ent;
16 (e) the material composition of both the public portion and customer
17 portion of the service line;
18 (f) whether the public portion or customer portion of the service line
19 was ever made of lead;
20 (g) the verification method used to determine the material composition
21 of both the public portion and customer portion of the service line;
22 (h) the installation or replacement date of both the public portion
23 and customer portion of the service line;
24 (i) the diameter of both the public portion and customer portion of
25 the service line;
26 (j) whether lead solder is present;
27 (k) the building type; and
28 (l) whether a point of use or point of entry treatment system is pres-
29 ent.
30 4. Inventory summary forms shall include, but not be limited to, the
31 following information about each covered water system:
32 (a) water system name and identification number;
33 (b) contact information for the owner or licensed operator of record
34 completing the form;
35 (c) the total number of service lines in the distribution system;
36 (d) the total number of lead service lines, including the total number
37 of lead public service line portions and the total number of lead
38 customer service line portions;
39 (e) the total number of galvanized service lines requiring replace-
40 ment, including the total number of galvanized public service line
41 portions and the total number of galvanized customer service line
42 portions;
43 (f) the total number of non-lead service lines, including the total
44 number of non-lead public service line portions and the total number of
45 non-lead customer service line portions;
46 (g) the total number of service lines of unknown material, including
47 the total number of unknown public service line portions and the total
48 number of unknown customer service line portions;
49 (h) the total number of public service line portions identified by
50 historical records, field inspections, customer identification with
51 photo or other verification, excavation, sequential sampling, and
52 statistical analysis/predictive modeling;
53 (i) the total number of customer service portions identified by
54 historical records, field inspections, customer identification with
55 photo or other verification, excavation, sequential sampling, and
56 statistical analysis/predictive modeling;
A. 6115 3
1 (j) a description of how the service line inventory will be accessible
2 to the public; and
3 (k) a certification verifying the accuracy of the information.
4 5. Each covered public water system shall electronically submit to the
5 department an initial service line inventory and an initial inventory
6 summary form no later than October sixteenth, two thousand twenty-four.
7 The department may prescribe data management means and methods for elec-
8 tronic submissions by covered public water systems for uniformity
9 purposes.
10 6. Covered public water systems whose inventories contain any service
11 lines classified as lead, galvanized, or unknown shall electronically
12 submit updated service line inventories and inventory summary forms to
13 the department at least annually. Updated service line inventories and
14 inventory summary forms shall reflect information gathered during any
15 service line replacements or service line material inspections that may
16 have been conducted. Updated inventory summary forms shall additionally
17 include:
18 (a) a description detailing the steps being taken to determine the
19 material composition of unknown service lines;
20 (b) the total number of service lines classified as lead, galvanized,
21 or unknown that were replaced over the course of the previous year; and
22 (c) the total number of service lines classified as unknown that were
23 determined to be lead, galvanized, or other material over the course of
24 the previous year.
25 7. Each covered public water system which operates its own website
26 shall make its most recent service line inventory and inventory summary
27 form available to the public on its website.
28 8. No later than thirty days after receiving initial and updated
29 service line inventories and inventory summary forms, the department
30 shall make such inventories and inventory summary forms available to the
31 public on the department's website. Each local health department shall
32 include a link on its website to the website operated by the department
33 for hosting service line inventories and inventory summary forms.
34 9. No later than three hundred sixty days after October sixteenth, two
35 thousand twenty-four, the department shall make the information from the
36 service line inventories of covered public water systems serving more
37 than ten thousand people available to the public on the department's
38 website in the form of an interactive map or maps. Such interactive map
39 or maps shall include, for each service line:
40 (a) material classification, including the material classification of
41 both the public and customer portions of a service line;
42 (b) street address; and
43 (c) the verification method for the service line classification.
44 10. The department's interactive map or maps shall be searchable by
45 address, and color-coded where applicable to designate material classi-
46 fication. The department's interactive map or maps shall be updated at
47 least annually, in conjunction with the submission of updated service
48 line inventories by covered public water systems. The department may
49 choose not to create an interactive map when a covered public water
50 system certifies that it maintains and updates its own interactive map.
51 11. The department shall adopt such rules and regulations as it deems
52 necessary and proper to implement the provisions of this section.
53 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
