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State outlines school and child care lead-testing requirements and AB 1096'mandated public reporting
Summary
Staff described LCRI sampling obligations for elementary schools and child care facilities served by community water systems, the five-year sampling cadence (20% per year through 2032), waiver possibilities, and how Assembly Bill 1096 will require the State Water Resources Control Board to publish results and reasons for declined sampling by June 30, 2028.
State Water Resources Control Board staff told attendees the new federal Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) will require community water systems to identify and notify eligible schools and child care facilities and to sample a portion of those facilities between Nov. 1, 2027 and Oct. 31, 2032.
Under the plan presented, community water systems must develop a list of schools and licensed child care facilities by Nov. 1, 2027 and contact facilities to propose sampling schedules. For elementary schools and child care facilities the LCRI requires that systems sample at least 20% of identified sites each year during the first five years after the compliance date (effectively ensuring each eligible elementary school or child care facility will have been sampled at least once between Nov. 1, 2027 and Oct. 31, 2032 unless the facility declines or is nonresponsive).
Sampling protocols differ by facility type: elementary schools require five first-draw 250-milliliter samples (two fountains, a kitchen faucet, a classroom outlet and a nurse's faucet if available); child care facilities require two samples (a drinking fountain and a kitchen or classroom outlet). For other tap sampling under the LCRI, the rule reduces the lead action level to 10 parts per billion beginning Nov. 1, 2027; laboratories and systems must provide sample results to facilities and public health departments within prescribed deadlines (results to facility and agencies no later than 30 days after receipt; consumer-requested results no later than three business days after receipt by the system).
Assembly Bill 1096, passed in 2025 and discussed at the workshop, layered a transparency requirement on top of the LCRI: community water systems must report each year the schools and child care facilities they sampled, those that declined sampling (and the reason provided), and those that did not respond. The state must publish that information on a searchable website by June 30, 2028 and highlight results greater than 5 ppb and indicate action-level exceedances (10 ppb).
Public comment and concerns: Nick Blair, senior policy advocate with the Association of California Water Agencies, said his group "supports the intent" of AB 1096 but urged clear coordination between the Division of Drinking Water and the Department of Social Services to avoid duplicative sampling and reporting requirements for child care providers. Chuck Hansen, an industry vendor, warned that limited in-field inspection could undercount lead-containing service lines and urged more robust field verification.
What happens next: The Division is developing a policy handbook for AB 1096 implementation and solicited public input on waiver eligibility, submission procedures and additional acceptable reasons for declining sampling. Systems must submit annual outreach and sampling data beginning Jan. 30, 2029 for the previous compliance year.
