§ 1113 — Drinking water quality council; established

§ 1113. Drinking water quality council; established. 1. There shall be\nestablished, within the department, the drinking water quality council.\nSuch council shall be composed of twelve members as follows:\n (a) the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, who shall be the\nchair of the council;\n (b) the commissioner of environmental conservation or designee;\n (c) a designee of the commissioner of environmental conservation with\nexpertise in water resources;\n (d) a designee of the commissioner with expertise in drinking water;\nand\n (e) eight members appointed by the governor, two of whom shall be\nrecommended by the temporary president of the senate, and two by the\nspeaker of the assembly.\n 2. (a) Of the four members appointed to the drinking water quality\ncouncil and recommended by the temporary president of the senate and the\nspeaker of the assembly, the temporary president of the senate and the\nspeaker of the assembly shall each recommend:\n (i) one member who represents water purveyors; and\n (ii) one member representing the public, who has a background or\nexpertise in toxicology or health risk assessment.\n (b) Of the four additional members appointed to the drinking water\nquality council, the governor shall appoint:\n (i) one member who represents water purveyors;\n (ii) one member who has a background or expertise in toxicology or\nhealth risk assessment;\n (iii) one member who has a background or expertise in microbiology;\nand\n (iv) one member who has a background or expertise in environmental\nengineering.\n (c) The members of such council appointed pursuant to paragraph (e) of\nsubdivision one of this section shall serve terms of two years.\n (d) The members appointed pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision one\nof this section shall each serve his or her term of office or until his\nor her successor is appointed; provided that any vacancy in the position\nof an appointed member shall be filled in the same manner as the\noriginal appointment and only for the unexpired term of the vacancy.\n 3. The members of the drinking water quality council shall receive no\ncompensation for their services, but shall be allowed their actual and\nnecessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant\nto this title.\n 4. The drinking water quality council shall meet at such times and\nplaces as may be determined by its chair. The council shall meet at a\nminimum of two times per year. All meetings shall be open to the public\npursuant to article seven of the public officers law. A majority of the\nmembers of such council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of\nbusiness. Action may be taken, and motions and resolutions adopted, at\nany meeting by the affirmative vote of a majority of the full membership\nof the council.\n 5. The council shall make recommendations to the department relating\nto:\n (a) those contaminants, which the department may list as emerging\ncontaminants pursuant to section one thousand one hundred twelve of this\ntitle.\n (i) In determining what substances shall be recommended as emerging\ncontaminants the council shall, at a minimum, consider:\n A. unregulated contaminants monitored pursuant to the federal Safe\nDrinking Water Act (42 USC § 300g-1) as amended from time to time;\n B. substances that require regulation or monitoring when present in\ndrinking water in other jurisdictions outside the state of New York;\n C. pesticide chemicals for which the United States environmental\nprotection agency has set human health benchmarks for drinking water;\n D. substances found at sites in remedial programs located inside and\noutside the state of New York, including but not limited to inactive\nhazardous waste sites; and\n E. waterborne pathogens and microbiological contaminants.\n (ii) The council shall recommend a notification level for each\nrecommended emerging contaminant.\n (iii) The council shall recommend timeframes and frequencies in which\ntesting should be required for the recommended emerging contaminants,\nallowing for variation based on circumstances such as the source of\nwater, the region and size of the water system.\n (iv) The council shall provide the department with its first list of\nrecommended emerging contaminants and corresponding notification levels\nfor which testing shall be required no later than one year from the\ninitial meeting of the council, and the council shall update the list\nand recommend notification levels annually thereafter;\n (b) a review of substances identified as emerging contaminants\npursuant to section one thousand one hundred twelve of this title. Where\nappropriate the council shall recommend either a maximum contaminant\nlevel (MCL), or the removal of the substance from the list of emerging\ncontaminants, on the basis of available scientific evidence and any\nother relevant factors;\n (c) the form and content of public notifications issued pursuant to\nsection one thousand one hundred twelve of this title;\n (d) working with other state agencies and the federal government to\nensure funds are available and accessible, parties known to be\nresponsible for contamination are pursued, and mitigation, remediation,\nand cleanup projects occur in a timely manner;\n (e) the development of educational materials regarding private well\nwater testing;\n (f) the appropriate use of, and methods and manner of conducting,\nbiomonitoring and biomonitoring studies;\n (g) the inclusion of information on the online tracking and mapping\nsystem established in section 3-0315 of the environmental conservation\nlaw; and\n (h) anything else the department or the department of environmental\nconservation designates.\n 6. The drinking water quality council shall be entitled to request and\nreceive information from any state, municipal department, board,\ncommission or agency that may be required or are deemed necessary for\nthe purposes of such council, including but not limited to all water\ninformation and annual reports the department has relating to both\npublic and private water supplies.\n 7. Before the council advances any recommendation to the department,\nthe council shall provide an opportunity for public and stakeholder\ncomments. Final recommendations of the council shall be posted on the\ndepartment's website within thirty days after the council adopts such\nrecommendations.\n