2025 -- H 5375

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LC000849

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- LEAD POISONING PREVENTION ACT

     Introduced By: Representatives Morales, Handy, Cruz, Furtado, Slater, Kislak, Giraldo,
Carson, Ajello, and Bennett

     Date Introduced: February 07, 2025

     Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 23-24.6-28 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-24.6 entitled "Lead

Poisoning Prevention Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     23-24.6-28. Lead water supply replacement.

     (a) Water suppliers shall develop a service line inventory no later than October 16, 2024,

to determine the existence or absence of lead within each water connection in its service area. This

inventory shall be completed in accordance with all applicable state and federal requirements

including, but not limited to, the IIJA. Water suppliers shall include in their inventories a list of all

private side lead service replacements performed in their service areas since January 1, 2018.

Transient non-community water systems are exempt from this section.

     (b) The service line inventory shall include all service lines and shall classify which are:

     (1) Lead service lines;

     (2) Non-lead; and

     (3) Lead status unknown.

     (c)(1) Once completed, each water supplier shall provide a copy of its inventory to the

department and to the Rhode Island infrastructure bank. This inventory shall be posted on the

department’s website and on the water supplier’s website. Water suppliers without a website shall

make the most recent service line inventory available in a publicly accessible location in each

community they serve.

     (2) The department shall:

     (i) Establish a webpage that serves as a public dashboard to track progress towards the

deadline in subsection (a) of this section for each public water supply system;

     (ii) Publish and maintain online a map of the location of each service line and identify

whether it is a lead service line or may be of unknown material and allow this map to serve as

compliance for participating public water supply systems with requirements at 40 C.F.R. §

141.84(a)(8) that direct the systems to make the service line materials inventory publicly accessible;

and

     (iii) Define disadvantaged communities consistent with federal guidance.

     (d) When conducting the inventory of service lines in its distribution system for the initial

inventory pursuant to this section, a water supplier shall use any information on lead and galvanized

iron or steel that it has identified pursuant to applicable state and federal requirements.

     (e) Water suppliers may utilize the following to develop a service line inventory:

     (1) Visual inspection during planned maintenance, meter replacement, and main

replacement projects;

     (2) Solicitation and receipt of comments, complaints, and other input from customers in

the service area;

     (3) Historical building records and other available data from the American Water Works

Association or other industry research groups; and/or

     (4) Any other procedures and resources, including from 40 C.F.R. § 141.84(a)(3), the water

supplier deems appropriate for identifying lead service lines.

     (f)(1) Within thirty (30) days of identifying a lead service line, the water supplier shall

provide written notice to the property owner, the tenants of the building, and the director of the

presence of lead service lines or lead status unknown service lines. The notice shall be multilingual

and include information describing the sources of lead in drinking water, description of the health

effects of lead exposure, and steps customers can take to mitigate exposure to lead in drinking

water. This notice shall include lead service line replacement instructions and contact information

to schedule a service line inspection and replacement.

     (2) Mitigation measures shall include, but not be limited to:

     (i) A water supplier providing a filter pitcher or point-of-use device certified by an

American Standards Institute accredited certifier to reduce lead;

     (ii) Instructions to use the filter; and

     (iii) Six (6) months of filter replacement cartridges.

     (g) A water supplier without an established lead service line replacement program shall

coordinate with the department and the Rhode Island infrastructure bank to develop a replacement

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program.

     (h) A water supplier shall develop and submit to the department a lead service replacement

plan in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency Lead

and Copper Rule Improvements.

     (i) The department and the Rhode Island infrastructure bank shall coordinate with water

suppliers to implement lead replacement programs, including assisting with providing financial

assistance to the extent the funds are available.

     (j) The department and the Rhode Island infrastructure bank shall assist water suppliers

with grants, loans, or other financial assistance to ensure that public service lines containing lead

are replaced in accordance with this chapter.

     (k) Based on the inventories provided pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the

department, the water suppliers, and the Rhode Island infrastructure bank shall determine the

estimated total cost associated with all private side replacements. Consistent with any applicable

federal law and regulation and to the extent funds are available, the Rhode Island infrastructure

bank shall utilize federal funds allocated under section 50105 of the IIJA for the specific purpose

of reducing lead in drinking water, to enable water suppliers to meet all eligible private side lead

service replacement cost.

     (l) In the event total costs exceed available federal funding allocated under section 50105

of the IIJA, the Rhode Island infrastructure bank may request appropriations in one or more fiscal

years from the general assembly sufficient to meet the outstanding total cost of all identified

outstanding private side lead service line replacements.

     (m) For properties with a lead service line or a lead status unknown service line, water

suppliers shall inspect, at no cost to the property owner, the private side service lines to determine

whether lead or galvanized iron or steel is present. If lead is detected in the private service line, the

private service line shall be replaced in accordance with all applicable federal and state

requirements.

     (n) The water supplier shall replace the entire lead service line, if lead is present in the

public side. The water supplier shall replace the entire lead service line with minor disruption to

water service unless there is either an emergency or all persons served by the service line object to

the replacement in writing. Transient non-community water systems shall be exempt from lead

service line replacements.

     (o) In the event a property owner refuses to allow the inspection or replacement of private

side service lines, the water supplier shall file notice of all attempts to inspect or replace the private

side service lines and the property owner’s refusal to allow inspection or replacement services with

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the department. The notice shall state at a minimum: the date and time of each attempt; the name

of the person who refused each attempt; and the name and signature of the person who made each

attempt. The address where each refusal took place shall be published on the appropriate

department website to ensure occupants of the building have notice of the potential lead in the

service line. The notice shall be filed within thirty (30) days following the second refusal by the

property owner. The notice shall be written as a multilingual document. In the event that a water

service line in a rental property is found to contain lead and the property owner declines or is

unresponsive, the tenant shall be entitled to make a second (2nd) request to the property owner for

service line replacement. If the property owner refuses or fails to respond within sixty (60) days,

the tenant shall have the option to terminate the lease. Upon termination, the property owner may

not withhold the tenant’s security deposit based upon the tenant’s exercise of their termination

rights under this section.

     (p) If the property is a rental property, the owner shall inform the tenants of the presence

of lead in accordance with § 23-24.6-15(b). If the owner fails to provide tenants with timely

notification of the existence of lead in service lines to the building the owner shall be subject to

civil penalty in accordance with § 23-24.6-27.

     (q) When a property owner transfers the ownership of property, they shall disclose the

presence of lead service lines. Pursuant to § 5-20.8-11, every contract for the transfer or purchase

and sale of real estate that is or may be served by a service line containing lead shall provide that

potential purchasers be permitted a ten-day (10) period, unless the parties mutually agree upon a

different period of time, to conduct a risk assessment or an inspection of the property’s water

service lines for the presence of lead hazards before becoming obligated under the contract to

transfer or purchase. Parties may mutually agree to waive a risk assessment or an inspection.

     (r) The department and the Rhode Island infrastructure bank shall prioritize the allocation

of funds for private lead service line replacements in accordance with all federal requirements and

based on the percentage of private lead service lines present within a water supplier service area,

which shall be based on factors including, but not limited to:

     (1) Targeting known lead service lines;

     (2) Targeting available funds to lead service line replacements for disadvantaged water

suppliers; and

     (3) Targeting populations most sensitive to the effects of lead.

     (s) Upon award of funds for lead service replacements, water suppliers shall prioritize

projects within their service area to disadvantaged customers and those who are most sensitive to

the effects of lead.

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     (t) For any award of one million dollars ($1,000,000) or greater to a water supplier for a

lead service line replacement project, the Rhode Island infrastructure bank shall require water

suppliers and their contractors to participate in an approved apprenticeship program for all

apprenticeable crafts or trades that will be employed on the project at the time of bid.

     (u) Contingent upon available funding, each water supplier shall complete the replacement

of all public and private lead service lines in its service area within ten (10) years of the effective

date of this section [June 24, 2023] unless otherwise provided in this section. All lead service line

replacement projects funded under this section shall be completed in accordance with all applicable

state and federal requirements including, but not limited to, the IIJA and related federal regulations

and guidance.

     (v) Upon completion of the lead service line inventory or no earlier than January 1, 2025,

any water supplier that provided financing to its customers for private side lead service replacement

after January 1, 2018, may be eligible for reimbursement from the state for costs associated with

private side lead service replacements financed by its customers. State reimbursement shall be

subject to appropriation by the general assembly. The water supplier shall submit request for

reimbursements to the department. Within ninety (90) days of receipt of funds from the state, the

water supplier shall reimburse each customer for costs incurred in connection with their private

side lead service replacement project.

     (w) Each water supplier shall provide an annual report to the governor, president of the

senate, speaker of the house, director of the department of health, and executive director of the

Rhode Island infrastructure bank within ninety (90) days of the end of each fiscal year. The report

shall contain information, including, but not limited to: the number of public service lines per

community served and the number replaced; the number of private service lines per community

served and the number replaced; an estimated number of service lines to be replaced; property type;

number of private service line inspections conducted; and annual expense to replace service lines.

Water suppliers whose initial inventories contain only non-lead service lines are not required to

provide subsequent annual reports required in this section.

     (x) Water suppliers may coordinate with the department and nonprofit lead advocacy

organizations to reach residents in communities with lead infrastructure. This coordination may

include, but is not limited to, developing education materials, awareness communications, and

outreach campaigns.

     (y) The department shall enforce the provisions of this section.

     (z) To protect the health, safety, and welfare of its residents, a municipality may adopt an

ordinance that allows the municipality, the water supplier, or any agent of either, to enter a property

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within the municipality to perform a lead service line replacement if the property owner is eligible

for a free service line replacement, subject to the notice requirement in this subsection. The

municipality shall provide the owner and any residents of the property with written notice at least

seventy-two (72) hours before entering the property, unless, in the case of an emergency, as

determined by the department of health. Nothing in this subsection, or any municipal ordinance

adopted pursuant to the provisions of this subsection, shall be construed to authorize or permit any

municipality, water supplier or any agent to enter any part of the property that is not directly related

to performing a lead service line replacement.

     (aa) To protect the health, safety, and welfare of its residents, a municipality may adopt an

ordinance that allows a tenant to request and schedule a private side lead service line replacement

with their local water supplier in the event that a water service line in a rental property is found to

contain lead, the property owner is eligible for a free service line replacement, and the property

owner is unresponsive to a request for a service line replacement.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC000849

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- LEAD POISONING PREVENTION ACT

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     This act would allow municipalities to enact ordinances that would permit municipalities

and water suppliers to enter properties to perform lead service line replacements and permit tenants

to request and schedule private side lead service line replacements with the local water supplier

when the property owner is unresponsive to a request for service line replacement; provided that,

the property owner is eligible for a free service line replacement.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC000849

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