ADDITIONAL WATER SAMPLING FROM HOSPITALS

House Bill 4379 as introduced

Sponsor:  Rep. Robert Kosowski

Committee:  Natural Resources

Complete to 6-5-18

SUMMARY:

House Bill 4379 would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require a supplier of water to a hospital to collect and analyze water samples from that hospital.

The bill would require any entity that supplies water to a hospital in Michigan to collect water samples from the hospital at least once every year. This would be in addition to the sampling and analysis of water required under Section 7 of the act. The supplier would then have those samples analyzed according to the standards set out in Section 7 for the presence of lead and all other contaminants where there is a state drinking water standard.

The results of the analysis would be provided to both the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the hospital the samples were collected from.

Hospital would mean (as defined in Section 20106 of the Public Health Code) a facility offering inpatient, overnight care, and services for observation, diagnosis, and active treatment of an individual with a medical, surgical, obstetric, chronic, or rehabilitative condition requiring the daily direction or supervision of a physician. Hospital would not include a mental health hospital licensed or operated by the Department of Health and Human Services or a hospital operated by the Department of Corrections.

Proposed MCL 325.1007a

FISCAL IMPACT:

House Bill 4379 would not affect costs or revenues for the Department of Environmental Quality. The suppliers required to sample drinking water provided to hospitals have the option to use the state lab to test their respective samples but are not required to do so; samples may also be tested by certified non-state labs.

The bill would increase costs for local units of government that also own or operate water supplies. These suppliers would be required to collect periodic drinking water samples and have these samples tested in order to ensure compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. The number of samples would vary by supplier, so the extent of this cost increase is unclear. The bill is unlikely to affect local government revenues.

                                                                                         Legislative Analyst:   Emily S. Smith

                                                                                                 Fiscal Analyst:   Austin Scott

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.