BILL NUMBER: S3581
SPONSOR: RIVERA
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to lead service line
identification
 
PURPOSE:
This bill would amend the Public Health Law (PHL) by adding new section
1114-C to ensure that property owners or occupants of real property
respond to a request by covered water systems serving water to the prop-
erty to provide access for free water service line inspections within
the property for the purpose of completing lead service line invento-
ries.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends PHL by adding a new section 1114-c, as it relates to
lead service line identification, to require customers to respond within
30 days to a request by a covered water system to conduct a free service
line inspection in order to determine the presence of a lead service
line. If a customer fails to respond within 30 days, the covered water
system may accept the consent of tenants or other non-owner adult occu-
pants in order to conduct such an inspection. The covered water system
may take steps to secure access to the property to conduct an inspection
if the customer or non-owner adult occupants do not respond or if
consent is not provided. Once a customer or non-owner adult occupant has
consented to an inspection request, a free service line inspection must
occur within 60 days after consent was given to the covered water
system. This section would also maintain the status quo for any liabil-
ity for parties during such an inspection with the exception that any
non-owner adult occupants that consented to an inspection would be
shielded from any liability resulting from such inspection.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Most utilities around the country do not know the material of every
service line in their distribution systems. Many service lines are
therefore classified as "unknown". With the US Environmental Protection
Agency mandate announced on October 8, 2024, to replace all lead pipes
nationwide within a decade, and the New York State Governor's announce-
ment of funding to replace lead service lines, it is critical that New
York's covered water systems quickly identify how many of these unknown
service lines are made of lead in order to coordinate the materials,
labor, and funding needed to achieve 100% lead pipe replacement on time.
In 2023, New York State enacted the Lead Pipe Right to Know Act, which
requires covered water systems to develop inventories identifying how
many service lines in their distribution systems are made of lead or
other materials. These inventories will be available online to ensure
that New Yorkers can easily access information about their risk of expo-
sure to lead in drinking water. Covered water systems must update their
inventories at least once a year with new data collected.
Covered water systems must be able to easily access properties in their
distribution systems to inspect service lines to determine the material
they are made of. This legislation will ensure that the service line
inventories required by the Lead Pipe Right to Know Act will be
completed faster and validated over time more easily, allowing covered
water systems to replace lead service lines and eliminate lead exposure
more efficiently.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2024: S9345/A10311 Paulin
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Effective immediately.