225 ILCS 320/35.5

(225 ILCS 320/35.5)

Sec. 35.5. Lead in drinking water prevention.

(a) The General Assembly finds that lead has been detected in the drinking water of schools in this State. The General Assembly also finds that infants and young children may suffer adverse health effects and developmental delays as a result of exposure to even low levels of lead. The General Assembly further finds that it is in the best interests of the people of the State to require school districts or chief school administrators, or the designee of the school district or chief school administrator, to test for lead in drinking water in school buildings and provide written notification of the test results.

The purpose of this Section is to require (i) school districts or chief school administrators, or the designees of the school districts or chief school administrators, to test for lead with the goal of providing school building occupants with an adequate supply of safe, potable water; and (ii) school districts or chief school administrators, or the designees of the school districts or chief school administrators, to notify the parents and legal guardians of enrolled students of the sampling results from their respective school buildings.

(b) For the purposes of this Section:

"Community water system" has the meaning provided in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 611.101.

"School building" means any facility or portion thereof that was constructed on or before January 1, 2000 and may be occupied by more than 10 children or students, pre-kindergarten through grade 5, under the control of (a) a school district or (b) a public, private, charter, or nonpublic day or residential educational institution.

"Source of potable water" means the point at which non-bottled water that may be ingested by children or used for food preparation exits any tap, faucet, drinking fountain, wash basin in a classroom occupied by children or students under grade 1, or similar point of use; provided, however, that all (a) bathroom sinks and (b) wash basins used by janitorial staff are excluded from this definition.

(c) Each school district or chief school administrator, or the designee of each school district or chief school administrator, shall test each source of potable water in a school building for lead contamination as required in this subsection.

(1) Each school district or chief school administrator, or the designee of each school district or chief school administrator, shall, at a minimum, (a) collect a first-draw 250 milliliter sample of water, (b) flush for 30 seconds, and (c) collect a second-draw 250 milliliter sample from each source of potable water located at each corresponding school building; provided, however, that to the extent that multiple sources of potable water utilize the same drain, (i) the foregoing collection protocol is required for one such source of potable water, and (ii) only a first-draw 250 milliliter sample of water is required from the remaining such sources of potable water. The water corresponding to the first-draw 250 milliliter sample from each source of potable water shall have been standing in the plumbing pipes for at least 8 hours, but not more than 18 hours, without any flushing of the source of potable water before sample collection.

(2) Each school district or chief school administrator, or the designee of each school district or chief school administrator, shall arrange to have the samples it collects pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection submitted to a laboratory that is certified for the analysis of lead in drinking water in accordance with accreditation requirements developed by a national laboratory accreditation body, such as the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Conference (NELAC) Institute (TNI). Samples submitted to laboratories pursuant to this subdivision (2) shall be analyzed for lead using one of the test methods for lead that is described in 40 CFR 141.23(k)(1). Within 7 days after receiving a final analytical result concerning a sample collected pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, the school district or chief school administrator, or a designee of the school district or chief school administrator, that collected the sample shall provide the final analytical result to the Department.

(3) If any of the samples taken in the school exceed 5 parts per billion, the school district or chief school administrator, or the designee of the school district or chief school administrator, shall promptly provide an individual notification of the sampling results, via written or electronic communication, to the parents or legal guardians of all enrolled students and include the following information: the corresponding sampling location within the school building and the United States Environmental Protection Agency's website for information about lead in drinking water. If any of the samples taken at the school are at or below 5 parts per billion, notification may be made as provided in this paragraph or by posting on the school's website.

(4) Sampling and analysis required under this Section shall be completed by the following applicable deadlines: for school buildings constructed prior to January 1, 1987, by December 31, 2017; and for school buildings constructed between January 2, 1987 and January 1, 2000, by December 31, 2018.

(5) A school district or chief school administrator, or the designee of the school district or chief school administrator, may seek a waiver of the requirements of this subsection from the Department, if (A) the school district or chief school administrator, or the designee of the school district or chief school administrator, collected at least one 250 milliliter or greater sample of water from each source of potable water that had been standing in the plumbing pipes for at least 6 hours and that was collected without flushing the source of potable water before collection, (B) a laboratory described in subdivision (2) of this subsection analyzed the samples in accordance with a test method described in that subdivision, (C) test results were obtained prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, but after January 1, 2013, and (D) test results were submitted to the Department within 120 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly.

(6) The owner or operator of a community water system may agree to pay for the cost of the laboratory analysis of the samples required under this Section and may utilize the lead hazard cost recovery fee under Section 11-150.1-1 of the Illinois Municipal Code or other available funds to defray said costs.

(7) Lead sampling results obtained shall not be used for purposes of determining compliance with the Board's rules that implement the national primary drinking water regulations for lead and copper.

(d) By no later than June 30, 2019, the Department shall determine whether it is necessary and appropriate to protect public health to require schools constructed in whole or in part after January 1, 2000 to conduct testing for lead from sources of potable water, taking into account, among other relevant information, the results of testing conducted pursuant to this Section.

(e) Within 90 days of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, the Department shall post on its website guidance on mitigation actions for lead in drinking water, and ongoing water management practices, in schools. In preparing such guidance, the Department may, in part, reference the United States Environmental Protection Agency's 3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools.

(Source: P.A. 99-922, eff. 1-17-17; 100-103, eff. 8-11-17.)