DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part of the
legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute part of the law
or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 481 Original 2021 Regular Session Willard
Abstract: Provides relative to testing for certain contaminants in drinking water, for notices
concerning drinking water to be issued in certain instances, and for other functions pertaining
to drinking water safety.
Proposed law requires that for every public water system test at a high-risk Tier 1 site under the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water regulations known as the Lead and Copper Rule
(40 C.F.R. 141.80 et seq.), the public water system shall also perform an iron test at that site.
Proposed law stipulates that if a public water system's most recent source water test does not find
an exceedance of a secondary iron standard, and an iron test at a high-risk Tier 1 site finds an
exceedance of the maximum contaminant level for iron established by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Secondary Standards for drinking water (40 C.F.R. 143.1 et seq.), then the
public water system shall do all of the following:
(1)Within one month of identification of system non-compliance with secondary iron standard,
perform a follow-up public water supply test at the taps of the previously sampled high-risk
Tier 1 sites for residual chlorine, total coliform, and E. coli.
(2)Develop and submit a proposed corrosion control plan consistent with the standards of the
Lead and Copper Rule to the office of public health of the La. Department of Health for
approval within six months of the test performed pursuant to proposed law.
Proposed law requires that for each test performed in accordance with proposed law or the federal
Lead and Copper Rule, the public water system shall:
(1)Provide a written notice to homeowners who perform the sampling which features
instructions and information specified in proposed law.
(2)Abide by the following requirements:
(a)The public water system shall not invalidate any sample after the sample has been
reported to the state.
(b)The public water system shall not provide any instruction to the homeowner that
contravenes the mandated notice provision set forth in proposed law, and shall not
provide any instruction designed to avoid finding iron, lead, or copper exceedances. (c)The public water system shall not revalidate any sample that was previously
invalidated.
Proposed law provides that, for its purposes, "lead service line" means a service line made of lead
or service line connected to a lead pigtail, lead gooseneck, or other lead fitting. Provides that for
each full or partial lead service line replacement that includes either galvanized piping or lead piping,
the public water system shall hand-deliver or mail a notice prior to the replacement to every
residence down-pipe of the replacement. Requires that the notice be provided at least two weeks
prior to commencement of the service line replacement and include information specified in
proposed law.
Proposed law provides that monies collected through fines levied against a public water system for
noncompliance with any provision of proposed law shall be deposited into the Drinking Water
Revolving Loan Fund established by present law (R.S. 40:2824).
With respect to federal funding that may be provided to the state's Drinking Water Revolving Loan
Fund through federal law known as the "LIFT America Act of 2021", proposed law requires the La.
Department of Health to do all of the following:
(1)Assist public water systems in disadvantaged communities, as defined in present law (R.S.
40:2822), in the application process for grants and loans financed with such funding.
(2)Inform public water systems with Lead and Copper Rule violations of the availability of
grants and loans financed with such funding.
(Adds R.S. 40:5.6(C)-(F) and 2827)