Water quality: notification levels and response levels: procedures.

The California Safe Drinking Water Act provides for the operation of public water systems and imposes on the State Water Resources Control Board various duties and responsibilities for the regulation and control of drinking water in the state. The act requires the state board to adopt drinking water standards for contaminants in drinking water based upon specified criteria and requires any person who owns a public water system to ensure that the system, among other things, complies with those drinking water standards. The act requires a public water system to provide prescribed notices within 30 days after it is first informed of a confirmed detection of a contaminant found in drinking water delivered by the public water system for human consumption that is in excess of a maximum contaminant level, a notification level, or a response level established by the state board. This bill would require the state board to comply with specified public notice and comment procedures when establishing or revising a notification level or response level, except as specified for a contaminant that the Division of Drinking Water of the state board finds presents the potential for imminent harm to public health and safety.