State Water Board staff outline 2025 drinking-water bills; AB 1096, SB 31 and SB 466 shape near-term work

Amanda Simpson, legislative analyst in the Board’s Office of Legislative Affairs, presented the drinking-water bills that reached the governor this year and explained near-term implementation tasks for the State Water Board.

Simpson said AB 1096 (Connolly) — a lead-in-schools bill — requires community water systems to document outreach for lead testing in school and childcare systems, submit the results to the State Water Board and publish data online to improve transparency for parents and communities. She said the board must publish that lead-testing data by June 30, 2028, and that community water systems must update consumer confidence reports by Dec. 31, 2028, to link to the board’s published data.

She described SB 31, which widens where disinfected tertiary recycled water may be used (parks, common areas of residential developments and some food-adjacent facilities) and requires the State Water Board to update Title 22 regulations. Simpson also noted SB 72 will update the California Water Plan and expand advisory participation, and that SB 466 (Caballero) creates liability protections for public water systems implementing board-approved Hexavalent Chromium compliance plans; SB 466 was signed and will take effect in January 2026. A PFAS mitigation-fund bill (SB 454) was vetoed by the governor, who said it was premature to create a fund without a dedicated funding source.

Ending: Simpson offered to follow up on questions about budget-trailer bills and implementation details not in her portfolio; staff encouraged advisory members to send follow-up questions to the Office of Legislative Affairs.