President’s Message – OCWD Supports AB 2560
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 2560 into law, a bill that establishes a transparent process for setting health-based advisory levels for drinking water contaminants before enforceable standards are established. Authored by Assembly Member Bill Quirk (D-Hayward), the Orange County Water District (OCWD; the District) was a bill co-sponsor.
The new law requires the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) to comply with specified public notice and comment procedures when establishing or revising notification levels and response levels, except when the Water Board finds the potential for imminent harm to public health and safety. Previously, there was no public process for setting these health-based advisory levels and the decisions were made without input from the Water Board.
We’re committed to providing safe, reliable drinking water for the 2.5 million people in our service area and we applaud Assembly Member Quirk’s leadership on AB 2560. Reasonable notice and transparency would help inform interested stakeholders and allow water systems affected by notification levels or response levels changes to take appropriate measures to plan and prepare for implementation of such changes.
AB 2560 co-authors include California Senator John Moorlach and Assembly Members Tom Daly, Cottie Petrie-Norris, and Rebecca Bauer-Kahn. AB 2560 is also co-sponsored by the California Municipal Utilities Association. For more information regarding this new law, please visit California’s Legislative Information website and read Assembly Member Quirk’s news release.
AB 2560 supports water systems in our commitment to provide a safe and reliable water supply for today and for generations to come and we are thankful to all who helped lead and support this effort.
 | Vicente Sarmiento, Esq. |