A summary of Budget Amendments is listed below. Use the link to get more information on any item of interest.
Virginia Legislative Tracking Summary
With the 2020 Legislative year complete, the Water Utility Committee has prepared a summary of all the Drinking Water Quality bills that were tracked this year.
The bills are differentiated as Passed, Failed, or Carried Over. Passed bills are subject to review
and veto by the Governor; therefore some of the bills listed as passed may be amended and some
may not become law. The General Assembly sometimes incorporates provisions from one bill into
another bill, so even if a bill has failed, one or more of its provisions may exist in legislation that has
passed.
and veto by the Governor; therefore some of the bills listed as passed may be amended and some
may not become law. The General Assembly sometimes incorporates provisions from one bill into
another bill, so even if a bill has failed, one or more of its provisions may exist in legislation that has
passed.
The bills listed below are specific to Drinking Water and Water Utilities. For a complete list of bills involving groundwater, wastewater, stormwater, etc., download the final weekly report here.
Note: Descriptions summarize bills as introduced. Due to amendments throughout the legislative session, the substance of bill following introduction may differ from the summary description. Please refer to bill text for current provisions. Links are provided for your convenience.
Directs the SWCB to predict the risk that each locality and region in the Commonwealth will experience water supply shortfalls, to encourage the development of cross-jurisdictional water supply projects, and to adopt regulations designating regional planning areas based primarily on the river basin. Each locality in a particular regional planning area shall participate in cross-jurisdictional, coordinated water resource planning, and all localities in each area shall together develop and submit a single regional water supply plan. The bill directs DEQ to facilitate the creation of the regional water plans by ensuring sufficient coordination among localities, providing planning and other assistance, and ensuring that each regional plan identifies risks and proposes cost-effective strategies in response. The bill directs that the Board and DEQ prioritize the allocation of funds to localities that sufficiently participate in regional planning.
Directs the Commissioner of Health to convene a workgroup to study the occurrence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and other perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the Commonwealth's public drinking water and to develop recommendations for specific maximum contaminant levels for PFOA, PFOS, and other PFAS for inclusion in regulations of the Board of Health applicable to waterworks.
Requires each local school board to submit its plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources and report the results of any such test to the Department of Health. The bill also requires local school boards to take all necessary steps to notify parents if testing results indicate lead contamination that exceeds the maximum contaminant level goals set by U.S. EPA.
Requires licensed child day programs and certain other programs that serve preschool-age children to develop and implement a plan to test potable water from sources identified by the U.S. EPA as high priority. The bill requires
such plan and the results of each such test to be submitted to and reviewed by the Commissioner of Social Services and the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water. The bill stipulates that if the result of any such test indicates a level of lead in the potable water that is at or above 15 parts per billion, the program shall remediate the level of lead in the potable water to below 15 parts per billion, confirm such remediation by retesting the water, and submit the results of the retests to the Commissioner of Social Services and the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water for review. The bill also provides such programs the option of using bottled water in lieu of testing or remediation. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
such plan and the results of each such test to be submitted to and reviewed by the Commissioner of Social Services and the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water. The bill stipulates that if the result of any such test indicates a level of lead in the potable water that is at or above 15 parts per billion, the program shall remediate the level of lead in the potable water to below 15 parts per billion, confirm such remediation by retesting the water, and submit the results of the retests to the Commissioner of Social Services and the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water for review. The bill also provides such programs the option of using bottled water in lieu of testing or remediation. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
Requires a utility, defined in the bill as the owner or operator of any coal ash pond in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that is closed by capping in place, to complete a survey of all drinking water wells within three miles of each of its ponds by October 1, 2020, and notify residents via mail of the survey.
The bill requires each utility to commission an independent well water test on behalf of the owner of each such well by January 1, 2021, and requires such test to be done once per year during each of the five years following the approval of the closure of a coal ash pond and once every five years thereafter. Provides that if any test exceeds groundwater quality standards for constituents associated with coal ash, the Virginia Waste Management Board shall instruct the utility to provide alternate water supplies to the owner of the well
Establishes minimum requirements for the installation of water bottle filling stations and drinking fountains in new public school buildings, additions to existing public school buildings, and alterations to existing public school buildings estimated to cost $50,000 or more. The bill requires the Board of Education to amend its regulations to require local school divisions to allow all students to carry and utilize a water bottle while at school.
Directs the SWCB to regulate aboveground storage tanks that measure more than 1,320 gallons in capacity and are used to contain hazardous substances other than oil. The bill directs the Board to adopt regulations that establish requirements for registration, certification, and inspection, and other requirements of tank owners, and that establish a schedule of fees. The bill authorizes the Board to undertake corrective action, or to require the owner to undertake corrective action, in the event of a discharge of a hazardous substance. The bill requires tank owners to register their tanks, pay certain registration fees, develop release response plans, upgrade certain older tanks, install containment infrastructure for certain aboveground storage tanks, notify certain parties in the event of a release of a regulated substance, and demonstrate their financial responsibility.
Directs the State Board of Health to adopt regulations establishing maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) in public drinking water systems for (i) PFOS, PFOA, and other PFAS compounds; (ii) chromium-6; and (iii) 1,4-dioxane. The bill requires such MCLs to be protective of public health, including the health of vulnerable subpopulations, and to be no higher than any MCL or health advisory adopted by the U.S. EPA for the same contaminant. The bill directs the Board to consider certain studies in adopting such MCLs and to consider establishing other MCLs any time two or more other states set limits or issue guidance on a given contaminant.
Authorizes the SWCB to administratively withdraw an individual or a general coverage water protection permit application if it is incomplete or for failure by the applicant to provide the required information after 60 days from the date of the latest written information request made by the Board. Prior to an administrative withdrawal, the bill requires the Board to provide (i) notice to the applicant and (ii) an opportunity for an informal fact-finding proceeding. The bill also authorizes an applicant to request suspension of an application review by the Board that does not affect the Board's ability to administratively withdraw the application.
Prohibits hydraulic fracturing, as defined in the bill, in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater
Management Area.
Management Area.
Requires each local school board to install at least one purified water bottle filling station in every public school in the local school division. The bill requires that each purified water bottle filling station (i) dispense filtered, clean drinking water; (ii) be regularly cleaned and maintained; and (iii) be accompanied by a cup dispenser if there is no drinking fountain on the same floor and wing as the water bottle filling station.
Requires each local school board to submit its plan to test and remediate certain potable water sources and report the results of any such test to VDH.
Requires licensed child day programs and certain other programs that serve preschool-age children to develop and implement a plan to test potable water from sources identified by U.S. EPA as high priority. The bill requires such plan and the results of each such test to be submitted to and reviewed by the Commissioner of Social Services and VDH’s Office of Drinking Water. The bill stipulates that if the result of any such test indicates a level of lead in the potable water that is at or above 15 parts per billion, the program shall remediate the level of lead in the potable water to below 15 parts per billion, confirm such remediation by retesting the water, and submit the results of the retests to the Commissioner of Social Services and the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water for review. The bill also provides such programs the option of using bottled water in lieu of testing or remediation. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2021.
Requires each school board to test each public school building in the local school division for the presence of Legionella bacteria at such regular intervals as the school board deems necessary to maintain the health and decency of such buildings. The bill requires the Department of Education to make recommendations for the frequency of testing for the presence of Legionella bacteria in public school buildings and to notify each local school board of its recommendations no later than September 1, 2020. The bill also requires each public elementary and secondary school to maintain files of its Legionella bacteria test results and make such files available for review.
Prohibits any person from constructing a well in a groundwater management area for nonagricultural irrigation purposes except in the surficial aquifer. The bill authorizes the SWCB (the Board) to adopt regulations to develop a general permit for the regulation of irrigation withdrawals from the surficial aquifer greater than 300,000 gallons in any one month. The bill directs the Board to promulgate regulations establishing criteria for determining whether the quantity or quality of the groundwater in a surficial aquifer is adequate to meet a proposed beneficial use.
Indefinitely re-establishes the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Advisory Committee, which expired on January 1, 2018, to assist the Department of Environmental Quality and the State Water Commission in developing, revising, and implementing a management strategy for groundwater in the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Area.
Requests the Office of Drinking Water of the Department of Health to study the Commonwealth's drinking water infrastructure and oversight of the drinking water program. In conducting its study, the Office shall (i) identify problems or issues that may result in contamination of drinking water with lead, copper, or other substances or organisms or increase the likelihood of contamination of drinking water with lead, copper, or other substances or organisms and (ii) develop recommendations for addressing such problems or issues.
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