TEXAS & CALIFORNIA, APRIL 6, 2017 -- Two bills introduced this week would require mandatory lead testing at schools in California and Texas.
House Bill 2395 was introduced by Rep. Nicole Collier, (D-Fort Worth), and would require the state's 1,200 school districts and charters to pay for annual water supply testing, which is estimated to cost up to $3,000 per building, according to The Texas Tribune. Several Texas school districts have begun voluntarily testing their water, and replacing water fountains in some instances.
A bill in the California State Assembly, AB 746 would make testing for lead mandatory and require schools to shut off any source of drinking water found to exceed EPA lead standards. Schools would also need to inform staff and parents about the potential exposure. The bill's author is Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego). The bill does not detail how schools would fund alternative water sources, according to a local NPR-affiliate.
The Los Angeles Unified School District has been flushing drinking fountains and other water sources for 30 seconds every day to flush out any lead, and has recently focused its efforts on testing and repairing or replacing sources that are found to exhibit high levels of lead following testing.
Read more about the Texas bill here and the California bill here.
