California House Bill HR11 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: HR 11AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 20, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Ruskin MARCH 4, 2009 Relative to drinking water treated with  chlorine and  chloramine. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST HOUSE OR SENATE RESOLUTIONS DO NOT CONTAIN A DIGEST WHEREAS, Disinfection of public water supplies has been considered by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of the most significant public health accomplishments of all time; and WHEREAS, Water agencies have used chlorine or chloramine as a residual disinfectant for over 90 years; and WHEREAS, All disinfectants can react with natural organic matter to form potentially harmful disinfection byproducts; and WHEREAS, Chloramine forms lower levels of the regulated disinfection byproducts than chlorine; and WHEREAS, The   In 2005, the  California Conference of Local Health Officers has reviewed current information and evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of chloramine and concluded that chloramine adequately protects the public health by controlling exposure to waterborne organisms; and WHEREAS, Some people are extremely concerned about the use of chloramine as a drinking water disinfectant and the unregulated disinfection byproducts that the use may produce; and WHEREAS, Drinking water treated with chloramine is not known to cause significant adverse human health effects; and WHEREAS, Human health studies that focus on the symptoms that some people attribute to chloramine exposure have not been undertaken; and  WHEREAS, There have not been epidemiological studies on the dermal, respiratory, and digestive effects of human exposure to chlorinated and chloraminated drinking water, even as the use of chlorine and chloramine for secondary disinfection is increasing in the United States; and  WHEREAS, Some disinfection byproducts of  chlorine and  chloramine are not regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly requests the State Department of Public Health to  : (1)  review these public health concerns relating to the use of  chlorine and  chloramine as a drinking water disinfectant  and to conduct studies, particularly human health studies, as appropriate, to provide necessary public health information to further clarify the human health effects of chloramine; and be it further   ; (2) formally request the United States Environmental Protection Agency   (USEPA) to conduct scientific testing of the immediate, acute, and long-term health effects of chlorine, chloramine, and other practical alternati   ves, when used as a secondary water disinfectant; (3) submit a copy of this request to the Chief Clerk of the Assembly for proper distribution; and (4) participate with the USEPA in the conduct of the study; and be it further  Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.