What's happening
This bill expands lead testing requirements for potable water to include day care facilities, in addition to schools, in New York.
Why it matters
Expanding lead testing to day care facilities addresses a major gap in child health protections. , as young children are especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead exposure, which can cause long-term developmental and health issues.
The bill ensures transparency and accountability. by requiring day care facilities to notify parents and post test results online, mirroring protocols already in place for schools, so families can make informed decisions about their children’s safety.
Coordination between multiple state agencies (Department of Health, Education, and Children and Family Services) is mandated. , which could improve oversight and consistency in testing and remediation efforts across educational and child care environments.
The provision for financial assistance recognizes the potential burden on day care providers. , particularly smaller or independent centers, helping ensure that cost does not become a barrier to protecting children from lead exposure.
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Who cares
OCFS-licensed child day care centers
Covered centers would face periodic lead testing, disclosure and safe drinking water requirements, with possible hardship assistance subject to appropriation.
Parents of children attending covered day care centers
They would receive written test results when lead contamination is found, and centers would have to provide safe drinking water until follow-up tests meet regulatory requirements.
State health officials and the Office of Children and Family Services
They would coordinate on regulations, receive testing results and participate in biennial reporting on findings.
Day care providers with New York City health department permits
The bill expressly excludes these providers from its testing and related requirements.
Headline styles
Test Day Care Water
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to health
- Print number 6046a
- Amend and recommit to health
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Test Day Care Water
In Senate Committee · Health · Sponsor Velmanette Montgomery
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6046--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 26, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. RYAN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to expanding lead testing to day care facilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 1110 of the public health law, as added by chapter 296 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
§ 1110. School and day care potable water testing and standards. 1. For the purposes of this section, "day care facilities" shall mean a child day care center, licensed with the office of children and family services. The provisions of this section do not apply to child day care centers, group family day care homes, family day care homes, school-age child care programs and small day care centers that hold a permit issued by the New York City department of health and mental hygiene.
2. In addition to school districts already classified as a public water system under parts 141 and 142 of title 40 of the code of federal regulations, as such regulations may, from time to time, be amended, every school district [and], board of cooperative educational services, and day care facility shall conduct periodic first-drawn tap testing of potable water systems to monitor for lead contamination in each occupied school building under its jurisdiction as required by regulations promulgated pursuant to this section. The testing shall be conducted and the results analyzed by an entity or entities approved by the commissioner.
[2.] 3. Where a finding of lead contamination is made, the affected school district or day care facility shall: (a) continue first-drawn tap water testing pursuant to regulations promulgated pursuant to this section; (b) provide [school] occupants with an adequate supply of safe, potable water for drinking as required by rules and regulations of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02948-03-9
A. 6046--A 2
department until future tests indicate lead levels pursuant to regulations promulgated pursuant to this section; and (c) provide parents or persons in parental relation to a child attending said school or day care facility with written notification of test results as well as posting such test results on the school district's website.
[3.] 4. First-drawn tap testing shall not be required for school or day care facility buildings that have been deemed "lead-free" as defined by section 1417 of the federal safe drinking water act.
[4.] 5. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of education and the commissioner of children and family services, shall promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the regulations promulgated with regard to lead levels shall be consistent with the requirements for those school districts or day care facilities classified as a public water system under parts 141 and 142 of title 40 of the code of federal regulations as such regulations may, from time to time, be amended.
[5.] 6. The commissioner in consultation with the commissioner of children and family services, may grant a waiver from the testing requirements of this section for certain school buildings, provided that, the school district or day care facility has substantially complied with the testing requirements and has been found to be below lead levels as determined by regulations promulgated pursuant to this section for such buildings.
[6.] 7. Each school district [and], board of cooperative educational services, and day care facility conducting testing pursuant to subdivision one of this section and each school district classified as a public water system under parts 141 and 142 of title 40 of the code of federal regulations, as such regulations may, from time to time, be amended, shall make a copy of the results of all such testing and any lead remediation plans available to the public on its website and any additional means as chosen by such school district or day care facility. A copy of the results of all testing shall also be immediately transmitted to the department [and], state education department, and office of children and family services in a format to be determined by the commissioner and to the county department of health in the local jurisdiction of the school building. The commissioner of education and the commissioner of children and family services, in conjunction with the commissioner, shall publish a report biennially based on the findings from the tap water testing conducted according to the provisions of this section. Such report shall be sent to the commissioner, the governor, the temporary president of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly and shall be made available on the department's [and], state education department's and office of children and family services' websites.
8. Subject to appropriation, the commissioner may provide financial assistance to assist day care facilities with compliance with this section when such compliance imposes an unreasonable financial hardship as determined by the commissioner on the day care facility and such day care facilities are not eligible for building aid under section nineteen fifty or thirty-six hundred two of the education law.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.