H.B. 626 Summary

• Establishes a two-year pilot project requiring the Department of Health to test all Tier 1 beaches monthly for Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

• Department must test both water and sand at beaches and follow standard procedures for issuing advisories, conducting follow-up sampling, and posting warning signs when test results exceed recreational water quality standards.

• Requires the Department of Health to submit reports to the legislature no later than twenty days before the regular sessions of 2022, 2023, and 2024, detailing testing schedules, results, response actions taken, and recommendations on whether testing should continue beyond the pilot period.

• Pilot project terminates on June 30, 2023.

• Appropriates funding from general revenues for fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 to establish and operate the pilot project, with the amount to be determined.