CA SB996

Establishes a dedicated Constituents of Emerging Concern (CEC) Program within the State Water Resources Control Board to assess information and recommend further study on CEC in drinking water that may pose public health risks.

Creates a Science Advisory Panel with at least seven members from public health, engineering, toxicology, epidemiology, and chemical/biological sciences fields to review monitoring data, identify CEC candidates, and recommend frameworks for standardized detection methods and risk-based screening programs.

Establishes a Stakeholder Advisory Group with at least nine members representing water systems, public health agencies, utilities, nonprofits, trade associations, disadvantaged communities, businesses, and environmental laboratories to provide input on panel selection, research needs, and program implementation.

Creates the CEC Action Fund in the State Treasury, administered by the state board upon legislative appropriation, to support panel establishment, standardized analytical methods development, research contracts, and program administration costs.

Authorizes the state board to provide financial assistance to public water systems upon legislative appropriation if CEC monitoring costs impose financial hardship, with priority given to systems serving fewer than 10,000 people located in disadvantaged communities.