View Bill Status
View Bill Text
View Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact
SJM118.........................................by RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
DRINKING WATER - ARSENIC - Stating findings of the Legislature and urging
that the enforcement of the reduced maximum contaminant level in drinking
water be suspended until such time as definitive scientific evidence within
the United States validates that consumption of water between 10 to 50 PPB
of arsenic increases cancer mortality, or produces some other health
problem and that the health benefit of removing trace amounts of arsenic
from drinking water is commensurate with the associated costs of compliance
with the new standard.
01/31 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/01 Rpt prt - to Res/Env
02/16 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
02/17 10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Gannon
Title apvd - to House
02/20 House intro - 1st rdg - to Env
03/07 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/08 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/16 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - 57-7-6
AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Barraclough, Barrett, Bastian, Bayer,
Bedke, Bell, Bilbao, Black, Block, Boe, Bolz, Brackett, Bradford,
Cannon, Chadderdon, Clark, Collins, Deal, Denney, Edmunson,
Ellsworth, Eskridge, Field(18), Field(23), Hart, Harwood, Henderson,
Jaquet, Kemp, Lake, Loertscher, Mathews, McGeachin, McKague, Miller,
Moyle, Nielsen, Nonini, Pence, Raybould, Ring, Roberts, Rydalch,
Sali, Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd(2), Shepherd(8), Shirley, Skippen,
Smylie, Snodgrass, Stevenson, Trail, Wills
NAYS -- Henbest, LeFavour, Martinez, Mitchell, Ringo, Rusche,
Smith(30)
Absent and excused -- Crow, Garrett, Pasley-Stuart, Smith(24), Wood,
Mr. Speaker
Floor Sponsor - Barraclough
Title apvd - To Senate
03/17 To enrol
03/20 Rpt enrol - Pres signed - Sp signed
03/21 To Secretary of State
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2006
IN THE SENATE
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 118
BY RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS
3 ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION REPRESENTING THE STATE OF
4 IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
5 We, your Memorialists, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
6 State of Idaho assembled in the Second Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth
7 Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
8 WHEREAS, arsenic is a widely distributed, naturally occurring element
9 present in trace amounts in all living organisms and concentrations in drink-
10 ing water come primarily from natural sources with higher levels being found
11 more frequently in ground water than surface water and also being found more
12 frequently in the West; and
13 WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with setting
14 standards for contaminants in drinking water and adopted a maximum contaminant
15 level for arsenic of 50 parts per billion (PPB) in 1975 based on a standard
16 that was originally established in 1942 by the Public Health Service; and
17 WHEREAS, in 2001, the EPA set a new standard for arsenic, reducing the
18 maximum contaminant level for arsenic in drinking water to 10 PPB based on its
19 reliance on a Taiwanese study relating to an assessment of risks associated
20 with dose response curves and since that time, the EPA's primary reliance on
21 the study has been questioned and criticized; and
22 WHEREAS, the level of 10 PPB becomes enforceable on January 23, 2006, for
23 public water systems, and such systems will be found in violation if they
24 exceed an annual average of 10 PPB during any four quarters; and
25 WHEREAS, over 90 city and community water systems in Idaho, and similar
26 systems throughout the nation, typically rely on wells for drinking water, and
27 arsenic tends to occur in higher levels in those areas and all of these water
28 systems are now burdened with constructing water facilities at costs in the
29 millions of dollars to comply with the 10 PPB standard; and
30 WHEREAS, a number of ecological studies conducted in the United States and
31 elsewhere have found no association between cancer and arsenic in drinking
32 water at 10 to 50 PPB; and
33 WHEREAS, a recent study of cancer mortality and arsenic in drinking water
34 conducted by Professor Emeritus Lynden Williams of Ohio University finds colon
35 cancer mortality rates are inversely associated with arsenic levels; being
36 highest in those counties where arsenic levels in drinking water are lowest
37 and lowest in those counties where arsenic levels are highest, suggesting that
38 removal of arsenic will increase colon cancer mortality rates.
39 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-
40 sion of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Repre-
41 sentatives concurring therein, that we urge the enforcement of the reduced
42 maximum contaminant level for arsenic in drinking water be suspended until
43 such time as definitive scientific evidence within the United States validates
44 that consumption of water between 10 to 50 PPB of arsenic increases cancer
2
1 mortality, or produces some other health problem, and that the health benefit
2 of removing trace amounts of arsenic from drinking water is commensurate with
3 the associated costs of compliance with the new standard.
4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate be, and she is
5 hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to the Pres-
6 ident of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Con-
7 gress, and the congressional delegation representing the State of Idaho in the
8 Congress of the United States.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 15708
The United States Environmental Agency has adopted a new standard
of 10 Parts Per Billion (PPB) for arsenic in drinking water.
Many cities and communities in Idaho exceed this new standard.
To meet this new standard will cost millions of dollars and could
bankrupt some Idaho communities. Some in the scientific
community do not believe this new standard is based on sound
scientific data. This memorial requests the Idaho delegation
support putting the new 10 PPB standard on hold until adequate
research can be conducted in the United States to determine what
levels of arsenic is health threatening.
FISCAL NOTE
There is no fiscal impact to the General Fund.
Contact
Name: Senator Tom Gannon
Phone: 208-332-1345
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE SJM NO. 118
REVISED REVISED REVISED REVISED REVISED REVISE