SB 0590 Summary

• Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to rename the Department of Environmental Quality as the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and adds new definitions including filtered bottle-filling stations, filtered faucets, child care centers, and schools.

• Requires each school to develop a drinking water safety plan by August 1, 2020, specifying locations for filtered bottle-filling stations (at least 1 per 100 occupants), filtered faucets, and water outlets taken out of service.

• Mandates annual water sampling and testing of all filtered bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets for lead and contaminants, with immediate shutdown of outlets exceeding lead levels of 1 part per billion or state drinking water standards.

• Requires all schools to install filtered bottle-filling stations and filtration devices by August 1, 2021, and shut off or render permanently inoperable any water outlets not converted to filtered systems.

• Establishes the School and Child Care Center Clean Drinking Water Fund to provide grants and assistance to public schools and low-income child care centers for acquisition, installation, maintenance, and testing of filtration systems.