A 10681: Directs school districts and boards of cooperative educational services to implement certified point-of-use lead removal filtration devices when an elevated risk for lead exposure is identified; allows for the discontinuance of use of such filtration devices once certain requirements are met.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10681  IN ASSEMBLY March 20, 2026 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SANTABARBARA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to preventing lead exposure in school drinking water through risk-based certified point- of-use filtration The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 1110 of the public health law is amended by adding 2 a new subdivision 7 to read as follows: 3 7. (a) Every school district and board of cooperative educational 4 services shall implement certified point-of-use lead-removal filtration 5 in any school building or drinking water fixture or other potable water 6 outlet used for consumption that is identified as presenting an elevated 7 risk for lead exposure based on one or more of the following: 8 (i) plumbing systems or fixtures installed prior to modern lead-free 9 standards; 10 (ii) documented lead action-level exceedances in prior testing cycles; 11 (iii) the presence or suspected presence of lead service lines or 12 lead-containing fixtures; 13 (iv) corrosion or variability indicated by testing results; and/or 14 (v) buildings undergoing phased plumbing replacement or remediation. 15 (b) Any point-of-use lead-removal filtration device implemented by a 16 school district or board of cooperative educational services pursuant to 17 this subdivision shall meet NSF/ANSI Standard 53, or any successor stan- 18 dard, for lead removal. 19 (c) Any school district or board of cooperative educational services 20 implementing a certified point-of-use lead-removal filtration device 21 pursuant to this subdivision shall: 22 (i) implement a written maintenance and replacement schedule for such 23 point-of-use lead-removal filtration device; 24 (ii) maintain maintenance logs for such point-of-use lead-removal 25 filtration device; 26 (iii) conduct periodic verification sampling as directed by the 27 department; and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15233-01-6 
 A. 10681 2 1 (iv) provide public notice to parents, guardians and staff of the use 2 of such point-of-use lead-removal filtration device. 3 (d) A school district or board of cooperative educational services 4 required to implement a point-of-use lead-removal filtration device 5 pursuant to this subdivision may discontinue the use of such filtration 6 device upon demonstrating to the department and the state education 7 department that: 8 (i) lead service lines have been removed or replaced; 9 (ii) drinking water fixtures are certified lead-free; and 10 (iii) two consecutive testing cycles show no action-level exceedances. 11 (e) The department and the state education department shall jointly 12 issue guidance to school districts and boards of cooperative educational 13 services establishing approved point-of-use lead-removal filtration 14 devices, maintenance procedures, documentation standards and verifica- 15 tion testing protocols. 16 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 17 the date on which it shall have become a law; provided, however, that 18 the department of health and the department of education are authorized 19 and directed to promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the 20 implementation of this act on or before such date.