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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6615
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4548
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING SA FE DRINKING WATER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Bottled water" has the same meaning as defined in section 21a-2
150 of the general statutes; 3
(2) "Drinking water" means water, treated or untreated, intended for 4
human use and consumption, including, but not limited to, drinking, 5
bathing, showering, cooking, dishwashing and maintaining oral 6
hygiene; 7
(3) "Fill station" means a location at which customers of a water 8
company may obtain drinking water from a water company that is not 9
affected by an event impacting the quality or quantity of drinking water 10
being provided to consumers; 11
(4) "Consumer" has the same meaning as provided in section 25a-32a 12
of the general statutes; and 13 Raised Bill No. 6615
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(5) "Water company" has the same meaning as provided in section 25-14
32a of the general statutes. 15
(b) A water company shall provide to its consumers an alternative 16
source of drinking water as a temporary measure when there is a water 17
main break, loss of system pressure or other event that the water 18
company determines may last more than eight consecutive hours and 19
that the Department of Public Health determines may affect the quality 20
or quantity of water being provided to such consumers. Alternative 21
sources of water include bulk water provided by a bulk water hauler 22
licensed pursuant to section 20-278h of the general statutes, bottled 23
water or a fill station. A water company shall update its emergency 24
response plan prepared pursuant to section 25-32d of the general 25
statutes or pursuant to section 19-13-B102 of the regulations of 26
Connecticut state agencies, as applicable, to include information 27
regarding how such water company will comply with this section. 28
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) A water company shall 29
provide tier 1 notices to its consumers in the languages predominantly 30
spoken by the consumers in the water company's service area. A water 31
company shall update its emergency response plan prepared pursuant 32
to section 25-32d of the general statutes or pursuant to section 19-13-33
B102 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies to include 34
information regarding the provision of such multilingual 35
communications. For purposes of this section, "water company" has the 36
same meaning as provided in section 25-32a of the general statutes and 37
"tier 1 notices" has the same meaning as provided in section 19-13-B102 38
of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies. 39
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) If the Governor proclaims that 40
a state of civil preparedness emergency, pursuant to section 28-9 of the 41
general statutes, or a public health emergency, pursuant to section 19a-42
131 of the general statutes, exists, each community water system shall 43
report the community water system's operational status to WebEOC as 44
soon as practicable, but not later than eight hours after the time of such 45
proclamation, and at any time thereafter that the status of such system 46 Raised Bill No. 6615
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changes. For purposes of this section, "community water system" means 47
a public water system that serves at least twenty-five residents, and 48
"WebEOC" means a web-based emergency management information 49
system used by the state to document routine and emergency events or 50
incidents and provide a real-time common operating picture and 51
resource request management tool for emergency managers at the local 52
and state levels during exercises, drills, local or regional emergencies or 53
state-wide emergencies. 54
Sec. 4. Section 19a-37f of the general statutes is repealed and the 55
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 56
(a) As used in this section: 57
(1) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Public Health, or the 58
commissioner's designee; 59
(2) "Community water system" means a public water system that 60
regularly serves at least twenty-five residents; 61
(3) "Consumer" has the same meaning as provided in section 25-32a; 62
(4) "Customer" means any (A) person, (B) firm, (C) corporation, (D) 63
company, (E) association, (F) governmental unit, except a state agency, 64
(G) lessee that, by the terms of a written lease or agreement, is 65
responsible for the water bill, or (H) owner of property, that receives 66
water service furnished by a water company; 67
(5) "Department" means the Department of Public Health; 68
(6) "Noncommunity water system" means a public water system that 69
serves at least twenty-five persons at least sixty days of the year and is 70
not a community water system; 71
(7) "Nontransient noncommunity water system " means a 72
noncommunity water system that regularly serves at least twenty-five 73
of the same persons over six months per year; 74 Raised Bill No. 6615
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(8) "Public water system" means a water company that supplies 75
drinking water to fifteen or more consumers or twenty-five or more 76
persons daily at least sixty days of the year; 77
(9) "Sanitary survey" means the review of a public water system by 78
the department to evaluate the adequacy of the public water system, its 79
sources of supply and operations and the distribution of safe drinking 80
water; 81
(10) "Service connection" means the service pipe from the water main 82
to the curb stop or adjacent to the street line or property line, but does 83
not include a service pipe used only for fire service or irrigation 84
purposes; and 85
(11) "Water company" has the same meaning as provided in section 86
25-32a. 87
(b) On or before [August 1, 2019] November 1, 2021, and [August 1, 88
2020] annually thereafter, the department shall issue a statement, in 89
such manner as the department determines, to each water company that 90
owns a community water system or systems showing the number of 91
service connections and the source of such number each community 92
water system or systems has listed in the department's records as of the 93
date of issuance of the statement. For purposes of this subsection, the 94
department shall combine the number of service connections of all 95
water systems owned and operated by the same water company for a 96
total count of service connections. If any water company disagrees with 97
the number of service connections listed in such statement, the water 98
company shall, not later than thirty days after the date of issuance of 99
such statement, report to the department, in a form and manner 100
prescribed by the department, the accurate number of services 101
connections the water company's community water system or systems 102
serve. 103
(c) On or before [October 1, 2019] November 1, 2021, and [October 1, 104
2020] annually thereafter, the department, in consultation with the 105
Office of Policy and Management, shall post on the department's 106 Raised Bill No. 6615
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Internet web site (1) the staff and costs to support the department's 107
ability to maintain primacy under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, 108
42 USC 300f, et seq., as amended from time to time, which costs, taking 109
into consideration funding received from state and federal sources, shall 110
constitute the safe drinking water primacy assessment for the [current] 111
previous fiscal year, and (2) the assessment amounts due, based on the 112
posted costs and in accordance with subsection (d) of this section. 113
(d) (1) For the fiscal [years ending June 30, 2019, June 30, 2020, and] 114
year ending June 30, 2021, and annually thereafter, each water company 115
that owns a community or nontransient noncommunity water system 116
or systems shall pay annually to the department a safe drinking water 117
primacy assessment amount in accordance with the following: (A) Each 118
community water system having less than fifty service connections and 119
nontransient noncommunity water system shall be assessed one 120
hundred twenty-five dollars; (B) each community water system having 121
at least fifty but less than one hundred service connections shall be 122
assessed one hundred fifty dollars; and (C) each community water 123
system having at least one hundred service connections shall be 124
assessed an amount established by the commissioner, not to exceed 125
three dollars per service connection. For purposes of this subdivision, a 126
community water system's service connections shall be determined in 127
accordance with subsection (b) of this section. 128
(2) On or before January 1, [2020] 2022, and [January 1, 2021] annually 129
thereafter, the department shall issue an invoice, in such manner as the 130
department determines, to each water company that owns a community 131
or nontransient noncommunity water system or systems for the amount 132
due pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. Each such water 133
company shall pay the amount invoiced, in the same year the 134
department issued in the invoice, in accordance with the following 135
schedule: 136
(A) A nontransient noncommunity water system shall pay one 137
hundred per cent of the amount invoiced on or before March first; 138 Raised Bill No. 6615
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(B) A community water system having less than one hundred service 139
connections shall pay one hundred per cent of the amount invoiced on 140
or before May first; and 141
(C) A community water system having one hundred or more service 142
connections shall pay fifty per cent of the invoiced amount by March 143
first and the remaining fifty per cent of the amount invoiced by May 144
first. 145
(e) If a water company is acquired by another water company for any 146
reason, the acquiring water company shall pay the amount due to the 147
department for the acquired water company's assessment under 148
subsection (d) of this section. 149
(f) (1) A water company that owns a community water system may 150
collect the assessment amount due for the community water system 151
from a customer of such community water system. The amount 152
collected by the water company from an individual customer may be a 153
pro rata share of such assessment amount and may be adjusted by the 154
water company to reflect the bad debt component and surplus or deficit 155
related to primacy assessment collections of the water company for the 156
prior billing period. Such amount may appear as a separate item on the 157
customer's bills. 158
(2) The assessment amount due for a community water system under 159
subdivision (1) of this subsection may be adopted in rates through the 160
existing rate approval process for the water company or may appear as 161
a separate item identified as an assessment on each customer's bill 162
without requiring a revision to or approval of the schedule of authorized 163
rates and charges for the water company that is otherwise required 164
pursuant to section 7-239 or 16-19 or any special act or enabling 165
legislation establishing a water company. Such charges shall be subject 166
to the past due and collection procedures, including interest charges, of 167
the water company as are applicable to any other authorized customer 168
charge or fee. 169
(g) The requirement for a water company to pay the assessment shall 170 Raised Bill No. 6615
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terminate immediately if the department no longer has primacy under 171
the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 USC 300f, et seq., as amended 172
from time to time, whether removed by the federal Environmental 173
Protection Agency or through any other action by a state or federal 174
authority. If the assessment is terminated and not reinstated on or before 175
one hundred eighty days after such termination, the water company 176
shall credit its customers any amounts collected from such customers 177
for such assessment amount that the water company is no longer 178
required to pay to the department. 179
(h) If any assessment or part thereof is not paid on or before thirty 180
days after the date when such assessment is due, the commissioner may 181
impose a fee equal to one and one-half per cent on the balance due of 182
such assessment for each month of nonpayment beyond such initial 183
thirty-day period unless the water company that has not paid such 184
assessment or part thereof is a town, city or borough, in which case the 185
water company shall be subject to the provisions of section 12-38. 186
(i) On or before November 1, [2019] 2021, and [November 1, 2020] 187
annually thereafter, the department shall post on its Internet web site a 188
report that includes: (1) Resources, activities and costs that support the 189
department's ability to maintain primacy under the federal Safe 190
Drinking Water Act, 42 USC 300f, et seq., as amended from time to time, 191
in the previous fiscal year; (2) the number of full-time equivalent 192
positions that performed the required functions to maintain primacy in 193
the previous fiscal year; and (3) quality improvement strategies the 194
department has deployed to streamline operations to make efficient and 195
effective use of staff and resources. The commissioner shall provide for 196
a comment period of thirty days following the posting of such report. 197
At the conclusion of such public comment period, but not later than 198
January 1, [2020] 2022, and [not later than January 1, 2021] annually 199
thereafter, the commissioner shall submit such report and summary of 200
comments received to the Governor and the joint standing committee of 201
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 202
health, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a. 203 Raised Bill No. 6615
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(j) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the 204
provisions of chapter 54, to carry out the provisions of this section. 205
(k) State agencies shall be exempt from the requirements of 206
subsections (d) to (h), inclusive, of this section. 207
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) As used in this section: 208
(1) "Consumer" has the same meaning as provided in section 25-32a 209
of the general statutes; 210
(2) "Owner" means the person or entity that owns or controls the 211
small community water system; and 212
(3) "Small community water system" has the same meaning as 213
provided in section 19a-37e of the general statutes. 214
(b) Not later than January 1, 2025, each owner of a small community 215
water system shall complete a small community water system capacity 216
implementation plan on a form prescribed by the Department of Public 217
Health demonstrating that such owner has the managerial, technical 218
and financial capacity to continue to own and operate such system and 219
shall implement such plan. Following the completion of the initial small 220
community water system capacity implementation plan, each small 221
community water system shall update such small community water 222
system capacity implementation plan annually and make such small 223
community water system capacity implementation plan available to the 224
department upon request. Such plan shall include: 225
(1) A description of the small community water system, including the 226
number of consumers and persons served, and sources of drinking 227
water; 228
(2) Ownership and management information, including the type of 229
ownership structure and the current names, addresses and telephone 230
numbers of the owners, certified operators and emergency contact 231
persons for the small community water system; 232 Raised Bill No. 6615
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(3) Service area maps; 233
(4) Facilities maps, including the location of and specific information 234
regarding sources, storage facilities, treatment facilities, pressure zones, 235
booster pumps, hydrants, distribution lines, valves and sampling 236
points; 237
(5) A description of such system's cross-connection control program; 238
(6) A description of such system's source water protection program; 239
(7) A copy of such system's emergency response plan required 240
pursuant to section 19-13-B102 of the regulations of Connecticut state 241
agencies; 242
(8) A capital improvement program, including the schedule that 243
identifies all capital improvements scheduled for a five-year planning 244
period and capital improvements or major projects scheduled for a 245
twenty-year planning period; 246
(9) Water production and consumption information; 247
(10) Information regarding public water systems that are nearby, 248
including the distance from the small community water system and type 249
of public water system, if any. Such information shall be based on the 250
coordinated water system plan approved by the Commissioner of 251
Public Health pursuant to section 25-33h of the general statutes for the 252
water utility coordinating committee in which such small community 253
water system is located; and 254
(11) Financial capacity information, including: 255
(A) An evaluation of the small community water system's fiscal plan 256
prepared pursuant to section 19a-37e of the general statutes; 257
(B) A summary of the income and expenses for the five years 258
preceding the date of submission of the plan; 259
(C) A five-year balanced operation budget; 260 Raised Bill No. 6615
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(D) Water rate structure and fees charged, including information 261
regarding how such rates and fees are updated and whether such rates 262
and fees are sufficient to maintain cash flow stability and to fund the 263
capital improvement program, as well as any emergency 264
improvements; and 265
(E) An evaluation that has considered the affordability of water rates. 266
(c) On or before July 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the small 267
community water system shall provide a summary of its small 268
community water system capacity plan in the small community water 269
system's consumer confidence report required by section 19-13-B102 of 270
the regulations of Connecticut state agencies. 271
(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a small 272
community water system that is (1) regulated by the Public Utilities 273
Regulatory Authority, (2) subject to the requirements set forth in section 274
25-32d of the general statutes, or (3) a state agency. 275
(e) The provisions of this section shall be deemed to relate to the 276
purity and adequacy of water supplies for the purposes of the 277
imposition of a penalty under section 25-32e of the general statutes. 278
(f) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the 279
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to carry out the 280
provisions of this section. 281
Sec. 6. Section 21a-150b of the general statutes is repealed and the 282
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 283
(a) Qualified employees of a bottler shall collect samples of water 284
from each approved source used by such bottler not less than once 285
annually to test for contaminants for which allowable levels have been 286
established in accordance with 21 CFR 165.110 and regulations adopted 287
pursuant to sections 21a-150 to 21a-150j, inclusive, as amended by this 288
act, and not less than once every three years to test for contaminants for 289
which monitoring is required pursuant to sections 21a-150 to 21a-150j, 290 Raised Bill No. 6615
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inclusive, as amended by this act, but for which no allowable level has 291
been established. Qualified employees of an approved laboratory shall 292
analyze such samples to determine whether such source complies with 293
the provisions of sections 21a-150 to 21a-150j, inclusive, as amended by 294
this act, any regulation adopted pursuant to said sections and any 295
allowable contaminant level set forth in 21 CFR 165.110. Microbiological 296
analysis shall be conducted not less than once each calendar quarter if 297
the source of such water is other than a public water supply and shall 298
be in addition to any sampling and analysis conducted by any 299
government agency or laboratory. 300
(b) Qualified employees of a bottler shall collect samples of water 301
from any source used by such bottler when such bottler knows or has 302
reason to believe that water obtained from such source contains an 303
unregulated contaminant in an amount which may adversely affect the 304
health or welfare of the public. Qualified employees of an approved 305
laboratory shall analyze such samples periodically to determine 306
whether water obtained from any such source is safe for public 307
consumption or use. 308
(c) On or before January 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, qualified 309
employees of a bottler shall (1) collect samples of water from each 310
approved source that is located in the state, that has been inspected and 311
approved by the Department of Public Health pursuant to subdivision 312
(2) of subsection (a) of section 21a-150a and is used by such bottler, prior 313
to any treatment, to test for perfluoroalkyl substances and other 314
unregulated contaminants, and (2) have such samples analyzed by an 315
environmental laboratory registered by the Department of Public 316
Health pursuant to section 19a-29a that has the Environmental 317
Protection Agency approved certification to conduct such analysis. For 318
purposes of this subsection, "unregulated contaminant" means a 319
contaminant for which the Commissioner of Public Health, pursuant to 320
section 22a-471, has set a level at which such contaminant creates or can 321
reasonably be expected to create an unacceptable risk of injury to the 322
health or safety of persons drinking such source of water. 323 Raised Bill No. 6615
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Sec. 7. Section 21a-150d of the general statutes is repealed and the 324
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 325
(a) A laboratory which analyzes any water sample in accordance with 326
any provision of sections 21a-150 to 21a-150j, inclusive, as amended by 327
this act, shall report the results of such analysis to the bottler of such 328
water. 329
(b) Such results shall be available for inspection by the Department 330
of Consumer Protection. 331
(c) A bottler shall report any result which indicates that a water 332
sample contains contaminants in an amount exceeding any applicable 333
standard to the Department of Consumer Protection not later than 334
twenty-four hours after learning of such result. 335
(d) A bottler shall report the results of the analysis conducted 336
pursuant to subsection (c) of section 21a-150b, as amended by this act, 337
to the Department of Public Health and the Department of Consumer 338
Protection not later than nine calendar days after receipt of the results 339
from the environmental laboratory. If such results exceed the level set 340
by the Commissioner of Public Health pursuant to section 22a-471 for 341
such perfluoroalkyl substances and other unregulated contaminants, 342
the Department of Public Health may require such bottler to discontinue 343
use of its approved source until such source no longer creates an 344
unacceptable risk of injury to the health or safety of persons drinking 345
the bottled water that comes from such source. The Department of 346
Public Health shall notify the Department of Consumer Protection of 347
any source for which the Department of Public Health has discontinued 348
use until such source no longer creates an unacceptable risk of injury to 349
the health or safety of the persons drinking the bottled water that comes 350
from such source. For purposes of this section, "unregulated 351
contaminant" means a contaminant for which the Commissioner of 352
Public Health, pursuant to section 22a-471, has set a level at which such 353
contaminant creates or can reasonably be expected to create an 354
unacceptable risk of injury to the health or safety of the persons drinking 355 Raised Bill No. 6615
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such source of water. 356
[(d)] (e) All records of any sampling or analysis conducted in 357
accordance with the provisions of sections 21a-150 to 21a-150j, inclusive, 358
as amended by this act, shall be maintained on the premises of the 359
bottler for not less than five years. 360
Sec. 8. Section 25-40a of the general statutes is repealed and the 361
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021): 362
(a) Not later than twenty-four hours after obtaining a public water 363
system test result that shows a contaminant at a level that is in violation 364
of the federal Environmental Protection Agency national primary 365
drinking water standards, the environmental laboratory that performed 366
the test shall notify any persons who requested such test and the 367
Department of Public Health, in a form and manner prescribed by the 368
Commissioner of Public Health, of such test result. For purposes of this 369
subsection, "contaminant" means e. coli, lead, nitrate and nitrite. 370
(b) Not later than five business days after receiving notice that a 371
public water system is in violation of the federal Environmental 372
Protection Agency national primary drinking water standards, the 373
Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's designee, shall 374
give written or electronic notification of such violation to the chief 375
elected official of the municipality where such public water system is 376
located and of any municipality that is served by such public water 377
system. 378
Sec. 9. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) Each health care institution, 379
as defined in section 19a-490 of the general statutes, required to obtain 380
potable water as a temporary measure to alleviate a water supply 381
shortage shall obtain such potable water from (1) a bulk water hauler, 382
licensed pursuant to section 20-278h of the general statutes, or (2) a 383
bottler, as defined in section 21a-150 of the general statutes. 384 Raised Bill No. 6615
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2021 19a-37f
Sec. 5 October 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 6 October 1, 2021 21a-150b
Sec. 7 October 1, 2021 21a-150d
Sec. 8 October 1, 2021 25-40a
Sec. 9 October 1, 2021 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require (1) water companies to provide drinking water to consumers
in the event of a water main break or loss of system pressure; (2) small
community water systems to prepare capacity implementation plans;
and (3) bottlers to test approved water sources for unregulated
contaminants and report such results to the department.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]