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Lead in water bill moves out of Ohio House committee
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
A lawmaker panel moved legislation that would require faster public notification of lead in drinking water.
The Ohio House’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee action Tuesday sends House Bill 512 to the floor for a final vote as early as today.
The committee vote was lopsided and bipartisan in favor of the amended package of law changes, with state Rep. John Boccieri of Poland, D-59th, a vocal critic of some aspects of the bill, supporting most of them.
“The bill needs a lot more work,” he said.
“It’s a work in progress. You can’t get everything that you want. It’s a first step, and more timely public notification is good.”
HB 512 would increase requirements for testing for and notification of lead in water from public systems.
Under the legislation, residents and other users would have to be informed within two days if lead and copper levels topped allowed thresholds.
A larger, more in-depth public education program would have to be launched within 30 days. Under current law, notice has to be made within 30 days, with a public-education campaign within 60 days.
Additionally, the legislation would set the definition of “lead free” in new construction plumbing to 0.25 percent, down from the current 8 percent. And grant and loan programs would be leveraged to assist schools and communities that want to replace contaminated water systems.
The legislation was offered after lead issues surfaced in water systems in the village of Sebring.
Patricia Sweeney, commissioner of the Mahoning County District Board of Health, testified at the hearing. While the health board supports timely public notice of lead in public drinking water, she added, “This experience also very clearly demonstrated to the Mahoning County District Board of Health that accomplishing those tasks within the two-day time frame HB 512 is requiring would not have been possible.”
Sweeney suggested four or five days for the notice requirements.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee accepted a number of amendments but rejected a handful offered by Boccieri that would have allowed the development of plans by local agencies to respond to a lead-contamination incident, specify in state law how public notice could be made, define a public-health crisis and shorten the time frame for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to act when local water systems fail to do so.
But Boccieri and state Rep. Sean O’Brien of Bazetta, D-63rd, the ranking minority member of the House committee, signed off on the legislation, voicing hope further changes would be made in the Ohio Senate.
O’Brien said, “This is a step in the right direction. I think we have some concerns with the notification that really need to be looked at as the bill moves forward.”