06-21-2013 BPU RPT 01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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W A T E R E N E R G Y RIVERSIDE PUBLIC UTILITIES Board Memorandum PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD OF PUBLIC UTILITIES DATE: June 21, 2013 ITEM NO: 1 SUBJECT: PUBLIC HEALTH GOALS — WATER (CALIFORNIA HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 116470 (c)) — PUBLIC HEARING ISSUE The item for Board of Public Utilities consideration is to conduct a public hearing as required under California Health and Safety Code Section 116470 (c) on the triennial Public Health Goals Report. RECOMMENDATION: That the Board of Public Utilities conduct a public hearing for review of the Public Health Goals Report. BACKGROUND: Public water systems serving more than 10,000 service connections must prepare a brief, written report in plain language by July 1, 2013 that gives information on the "detection" of any contaminants above the Public Health Goals (PHGs) published by the State Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment ( OEHHA). The report must also list the "detection" of any contaminant above the Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs) set by United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for all other contaminants until such time as OEHHA has published PHGs for the other contaminants. Public Health Goals are set based exclusively on health consideration to protect the most sensitive subpopulation, without consideration to treatment feasibility, costs, and analytical capacity to detect. PHGs level is determined from numeric health risk, which OEHHA calculated based on long term exposures to low levels of contaminants in drinking water. In contrast, Maximum Contamination Levels are set by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) with consideration to best available treatment technology, cost of treatment, routine analytical capability and overall health protection considering other risk factors. In many instances, the PHG level is a theoretical calculation that cannot be tested using routinely available equipment. The MCL is a practical level that can be tested by standard laboratory methods and verified to ensure the public is protected from increased health risk. The MCL is an enforceable level, whereas the PHG is not. It is emphasized that the report only needs to provide information on the very limited number of contaminants that any one system has found at a level exceeding a PHG or a MCLG. The requirements under the legislation are in addition to the annual "Consumer Confidence Report". There are five constituents who are above the applicable PHG or MCLG based on compliance monitoring data from 2010 to 2012, found in the Utilities' drinking water (Table 1 and Attachment 2). The cost to reduce these constituents to a level below the applicable PHG or MCLG is estimated at $1,430 per customer per year.