HB626 Summary

• Requires the Department of Health to establish a two-year pilot project testing all Tier 1 beaches for Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus not less than monthly.

• Department must test both water and sand samples and follow existing procedures for recreational water quality standards, including issuing advisories and posting warning signs when test results warrant action.

• Department must submit reports to the legislature no later than twenty days before the regular sessions of 2022, 2023, and 2024, including testing schedules, results, response actions taken, and recommendations on whether testing should continue beyond the two-year period.

• Pilot project terminates on June 30, 2023.

• Act takes effect on July 1, 2021, with an unspecified appropriation from general revenues for fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.