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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 2312-2320CITY OF PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL Special Meeting Monday, February 12, 2024 Council Chambers & Hybrid 5:30 PM     Agenda Item     13.Informational Update: Recently Promulgated and Pending Federal Regulations Governing Lead in Drinking Water City Council Staff Report From: City Manager Report Type: INFORMATION REPORTS Lead Department: Utilities Meeting Date: February 12, 2024 Staff Report:2312-2320 TITLE Informational Update: Recently Promulgated and Pending Federal Regulations Governing Lead in Drinking Water RECOMMENDATION Receive informational update from the Utilities Department. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This informational update to City Council is to provide information regarding recently promulgated and pending federal regulations governing lead in drinking water and the City’s implementation and ongoing compliance efforts. These regulations require the City to verify prior to October 16, 2024 that no public or private lead service lines exist in the City‘s water system. As of January 8, 2024, Palo Alto is approximately 53% complete with its inventory of the service lines and currently anticipates completing the service line inventory prior to the October 16, 2024 deadline. To date, no lead service lines have been identified. Proposed federal regulations will require CPAU to sample an annual total of 20% of the public and private elementary schools (K-5th grades) per year, conduct sampling at secondary schools (6th-12th grades) on request for one testing cycle (i.e., 5 years), and conduct sampling on request of all schools’ facilities thereafter. The school sampling will start in 2027 if the draft regulations are promulgated as currently written. BACKGROUND Lead is a metallic element that has historically been used in items such as plumbing (e.g., piping, solder, fixtures) paints, cable coverings, bullets, radiation shielding material, and as a gasoline additive. Lead is a widespread contaminant in the human environment and occurs in drinking water principally as a consequence of leaching from plumbing containing lead. Health Effects of Lead Exposure According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency1 (USEPA), lead is harmful to human health and there is no safe blood lead level for children. In the human body, lead can substitute for calcium, which is a mineral that strengthens the bones. Lead is carried in the bloodstream and can harm the nervous system and brain. What is not excreted is absorbed into the bones, where it can accumulate. Young children are especially susceptible to lead exposure, because of their frequent hand-to-mouth activity, and their metabolism - their bodies absorb metals at a higher rate than the average adult. The California Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 (Health and Safety Code Section 116365) requires the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to perform risk assessments and adopt public health goals (PHGs) for contaminants in drinking water based exclusively on public health considerations. A PHG of 0.2 micrograms per liter (µg/L) for lead in drinking water has been established on the basis of studies relating neurobehavioral deficits to elevated lead concentrations in the blood. However, PHGs are not enforceable drinking water standards, which also typically account for technical feasibility and cost of implementation in their establishment. Sources of Lead in Drinking Water Lead is rarely present in the source water for drinking water supplies (i.e., untreated water from streams, rivers, lakes, or underground aquifers that is used to supply private wells and public drinking water). Lead has not been detected historically in water provided by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) or in samples collected by the City of Palo Alto Utilities Department (CPAU) at concentrations greater than allowable pursuant to federal and state regulations. Most lead in drinking water results from corrosion of older plumbing materials containing lead. Corrosion can release lead from pipes, solder, fixtures, and other plumbing materials that the water contacts as it moves through plumbing to the tap. The use of lead pipes was banned in the 1980s, yet the USEPA estimates there are over 9 million lead service lines delivering water in neighborhoods across America. The extent to which corrosion of plumbing materials occurs can affect the amount of lead that is present in the drinking water. Interior lead solder (commonly used until 1988) and lead pipe, leaded brass fittings, valves, and various drinking water outlets (e.g., water fountains and faucets) that contain lead materials are the primary contributors. The occurrence and rate of corrosion depend on the nature of the source water, the corrosion control practices at the water system, and the age of the plumbing materials in the building. Older brass plumbing components can also contain a large percentage of lead, but the amount of lead in new brass drinking water fixtures is regulated at both the state and federal level to help protect drinking water quality. 1 United States Environmental Protection Agency https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/basic- information-about-lead-drinking-water#health Regulatory Background The USEPA recently proposed the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) to reduce exposure to lead through drinking water nationwide. The proposal regulation builds on the 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) to the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), which are summarized further below. Federal Lead and Copper Rule In 1991, the USEPA published final regulatory revisions to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for lead and copper under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This regulation is known as the Lead and Copper Rule (Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations Part 141). Since 1991 the LCR has undergone various revisions. In 2007, EPA revised the LCR to enhance implementation in the areas of monitoring, treatment, customer awareness, lead service line replacement, and enhanced public education requirements. Federal Lead and Copper Rule Revisions During January 2021, the USEPA published the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations and Implementation; (40 CFR Parts 141 and 142). The LCRR improved the reliability of lead tap sampling results, strengthened corrosion control treatment requirements, expanded consumer awareness, and improved risk communication. Pursuant to the LCRR, all water systems must develop and submit by October 16, 20242 an initial service line inventory of the entire system, including both the publicly and privately owned portions of the water service line up to the building penetration. The current service line inventory results are required to be made available to the public and are posted on the City’s website. If the City identifies any private lead service lines, it must inform the resident within 30- days of completing the inventory and annually thereafter. Palo Alto previously inventoried all City-owned water piping (i.e., the water mains and service lines up to the water meter). Palo Alto does not have any known lead service lines in its system, but inventory of the private service lines has not been performed previously. While the State of California has previously required lead sampling at public schools, the LCRR requires for the first time in federal regulations that community water systems (e.g., City of Palo Alto) conduct lead-in-drinking-water testing and public education in public and private schools and childcare facilities, unless the facility was either built or had replaced all plumbing after January 1, 2014. The LCRR requires community water systems to sample 20% of elementary schools and 20% of childcare facilities per year and conduct sampling at secondary schools on request for one testing cycle (i.e., 5 years) and conduct sampling on request of all schools and childcare facilities thereafter. In California, the testing of childcare facilities will be implemented separately by the Department of Social Services and sampling childcare facilities will not be the responsibility of the community water system. Therefore, even though the LCRR requires 2 The original deadline established in the LCRR was January 16, 2024 (86 FR 4198) but was extended to October 16, 2024 in 86 FR 31939. The delay in the effective date is consistent with presidential directives issued on January 20, 2021, to the heads of federal agencies to review certain regulations, including the LCRR. community water systems to perform the sampling, the state will address childcare facilities separately and will only require the City to sample public and private schools where it serves water prior to October 16, 2029.3 Proposed Federal Lead and Copper Rule Improvements On December 6, 2023, the USEPA announced the proposed LCRI (88 FR 84878) with the following principal modifications to the current regulations. Achieving 100% Lead Pipe Replacement within 10 years. The proposed LCRI would require the majority of water systems to replace lead services lines within 10 years. Locating Legacy Lead Pipes. Under the proposed LCRI, all water systems would be required to regularly update their inventories, create a service line replacement plan, and identify the materials of all service lines of unknown material. Improving Tap Sampling. The proposed LCRI would make changes to drinking water sampling requirements, informed by best practices, and would require collection of the first liter and fifth liter samples at sites with lead service lines and use the higher of the two values when determining compliance with the rule. Lowering the Lead Action Level. USEPA is proposing to lower the lead action level from 15 µg/L to 10 µg/L. When a water system’s lead sampling exceeds the action level, the system would be required to inform the public and take action to reduce lead exposure while concurrently working to replace all lead pipes. Strengthening Protections to Reduce Exposure. Water systems with multiple lead action level exceedances would be required to conduct additional outreach to customers and make filters available to all consumers. The filters must be certified to reduce lead. Notably however, the proposed LCRI delayed the compliance timeframe for school sampling that was originally established in the LCRR. Under the proposed LCRI, the 5-year school sampling schedule starts three years after the date of publication of the final LCRI, which is anticipated in late summer of 2024. State of California Regulations Senate Bill No. 1398 (2015-2016), Public Water Systems: lead user service lines, added California Health and Safety Code (HSC) section 116885 and was subsequently amended by Senate Bill No. 427 (2017-2018). HSC Section 116885 requires all community water systems to compile an inventory of known partial or total lead user service lines by July 1, 2018. California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Section 64551.60 defines “User service line," as “the pipe, tubing, and fittings connecting a water main to an individual water meter or service connection,” but does not include the service line from the meter to individual homes. Therefore, the inventory collected under California law only contained information on the City-owned pipe and water service lines between the main and the meter. The LCRR requires the inventory from the water 3 The proposed LCRI proposes to extend the LCRR deadline by three years. The final compliance date will be dependent on the date the final LCRI is promulgated. main to the building penetration, including any privately owned service lines. While the City can rely on previously information collected to comply with the requirements of the LCRR, the previously collected information is insufficient for full compliance and the City still needs to inspect all user service lines between the meter and the house penetration. Previous School Sampling Initiatives To further safeguard water quality in California’s K-12 public schools, the California legislature in 2017 added Health and Safety Code section 116277, which required community water systems to test lead levels, by July 1, 2019, in drinking water at all California public, K-12 school sites that were constructed before January 1, 2010. Sampling of private schools was not required by the state law, but the LCRR requires sampling of both public and private schools. The City conducted sampling of public school sites and reported the results as required by HSC section 116277. Of the 90 samples collected, the concentration of lead in water samples collected by the City from public schools were all less than the action level of 15 µg/L and less than the LCRI-proposed action level of 10 µg/L in all but two samples. The school where the elevated lead concentrations were identified promptly implemented corrective actions to mitigate potential exposure to lead in water from the two locations where the lead concentration exceeded the action level. Historical LCR Sampling and Analytical Results The lead action level is a measure of the effectiveness of the corrosion control treatment in water systems and is not a standard for establishing a safe level of lead in drinking water. To check if corrosion control is working, the USEPA requires water systems to test for lead at the tap in certain homes, including those with lead service lines. Systems compare sample results from homes to EPA’s action level of 15 µg/L. If 10 percent of the samples from the homes contain lead at concentrations greater than the action level, then the system must perform actions such as public education and lead service line replacement. During the previous two rounds of sampling under the LCR that the City performed during 2020 and 2023, a total of 38 homes were sampled each event (i.e., 76 total samples) and none of the samples collected contained lead at concentrations exceeding the action level of 15 µg/L or the LCRI-proposed action level of 10 µg/L. During the 2020 sampling event, there were no detections of lead greater than the laboratory reporting limit of 5 µg/L. During the 2023 sampling event, there were two detections of lead at concentrations of 5.53 µg/L and of 9.74 µg/L. All participating residents were informed of their individual sampling results as part of the program. ANALYSIS As of January 8, 2024, Palo Alto has completed inventory of approximately 11,087 of the 20,908 water services (i.e., approximately 53% complete) and currently anticipates completing the service line inventory prior to the October 16, 2024 deadline. Results of the inventory will be posted on the City’s website and made publicly available as required by the LCRR. To date, no private lead service lines have been identified. Based on information from the California Department of Education and City records, there are 46 schools to be included in the LCRR sampling program as shown by school type in the table below. School Type Private Public Totals Kindergartens 3 3 K-12 3 1 4 Elementary School 16 13 29 Intermediate/Middle Schools 1 3 4 High Schools 4 2 6 Totals 27 19 46 Pending adoption of the final LCRI, CPAU will be required to sample an annual total of 20% of the public and private elementary schools (K-5th grades) per year and conduct sampling at secondary schools (6th-12th grades) on request for one testing cycle (i.e., 5 years) and conduct sampling on request of all schools’ facilities thereafter. The sampling is anticipated to start in 2027, i.e., three years after the anticipated promulgation of the final LCRI. FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT Funding is available in the FY 2024 Water Fund budget. Compliance with the federal LCRR regulations is a significant expense for CPAU in terms of allocated resources (internal staffing and hourly contractors). The estimated cost of the new LCRI program is $1.8 million in allocated labor and overhead costs based on the number of personnel assigned to assess every private service line in the City. In order to meet the compliance deadline of October 2024, CPAU had to reallocate staff performing maintenance work and hire additional hourly contractors to complete the sampling. Costs for future sampling of schools will be estimated after the final LCRI is promulgated. Funding for subsequent years of the program will be subject to approval through the annual budget development process. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT During 2024, the City will be developing informational outreach for Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) and all other Palo Alto schools that will be distributed after the final LCRI is promulgated (anticipated in late summer of 2024). The informational outreach will inform the schools of the final regulations and associated sampling timelines so the schools can plan and prepare appropriately. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW This informational update is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act. ATTACHMENTS None. APPROVED BY: Dean Batchelor, Director of Utilities Staff: Matt Zucca, Assistant Director of Water Gas Wastewater