What's happening
This bill requires New York to promptly establish and publish a comprehensive list of emerging contaminants in public water.
Why it matters
Mandates a strict 30-day deadline. for New York’s health commissioner to officially identify and publish the first list of emerging contaminants, speeding up governmental response to water safety threats that may otherwise linger without oversight.
Expands the scope of regulated chemicals,. explicitly adding numerous substances (such as 1,2,3-trichloropropane, various PFAS compounds, heavy metals like vanadium and cobalt, and specific industrial solvents and endocrine disruptors) to the initial list—meaning water utilities and regulators must monitor and potentially act on a far broader array of possible hazards.
Provides the public with greater transparency. about what specific contaminants are being tracked in drinking water, potentially empowering residents to advocate for faster remediation or protective measures if these chemicals are detected locally.
Could drive earlier and more comprehensive testing. by water suppliers, as well as prompt regulatory or cleanup actions, since the list’s prompt publication will trigger legal and practical obligations to address contaminants not previously subject to such scrutiny.
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Who cares
Headline styles
List Emerging Contaminants Now
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 39
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to rules
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.
List New Water Contaminants
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Richard Gottfried
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6625
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
July 10, 2019
Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a list of emerging contaminants
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph c of subdivision 3 of section 1112 of the public health law, as added by section 1 of part M of chapter 57 of the laws of 2017, is amended and a new subdivision 13 is added to read as follows:
c. The commissioner shall, at a minimum, include the following chemicals identified as emerging contaminants in the first list of emerging contaminants: 1,2,3-trichloropropane; 1,3-butadiene; chloromethane (methyl chloride); 1,1-dichloroethane; bromomethane (methyl bromide); chlorodifluoromethene (HCFC-22); bromochloromethane (halon 1011); 1,4-dioxane; vanadium; molybdenum; cobalt; strontium; chromium; chromium-6; chlorate; perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS); [and] perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA); perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA); perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS); perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA); perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS); hexafluoropropylene oxide (HFPO); 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2- (heptaflouropropoxy) propanoic acid; 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2- (heptafluoropropoxy) propanoate; heptafluoropropyl 1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl ether; testosterone; and 4-androstene-3,17-dione.
13. The commissioner shall promulgate the first list of emerging contaminants within thirty days of the effective date of this subdivision.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11758-02-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a list of emerging contaminants
Purpose or general idea of bill
Directs the commissioner to promulgate the first list of emerging contaminants within 30 days of enactment of this legislation.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 of the bill amends section 1112 of the public health law to expand the list of chemicals to be included on the list of emerging contaminants; and requires the commissioner to promulgate such list within 30 days of the effective date.
Section 2 of the bill is the effective date.
Justification
New York's "emerging contaminant monitoring act," enacted in 2017, was created with the intent to address a federal loophole in emerging contaminant monitoring. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the Safe Drinking Water Act, requires periodic testing for 30 unregulated contaminants suspected to be present in drinking water supplies, known as the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR). However, this testing is only required for public water systems serving 10,000 or more residents, and occasionally a limited sample of smaller systems.
Because of this loophole, 2.5 million New Yorkers on smaller water systems do not benefit from this testing. By amending the emerging contaminant monitoring act to require the inclusion of chemicals listed on EPA's third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR-3) that have already been detected in water systems in the state, New York will gain a better understanding of occurrence and exposure in the state, including in these smaller communities.
There are also chemicals showing up in drinking water supplies in other parts of the country that are being used to replace PFOA, known as GenX chemicals. New York needs to be ahead of the curve to ensure these replacement chemicals, which are suspected to be equally as dangerous as PFOA, are not polluting New York's drinking water supplies.
The creation of New York's first emerging contaminant list, which would include most UCMR-3 chemicals and some of the most recent emerging contaminants, would provide the public with critical water quality information, protect public health, and inform the Department of Health on what chemicals need drinking water standards. This testing is a crucial means to begin a proactive approach to regulating drinking water contaminants in New York.
Prior legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
Immediate
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.