FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 16, 2026
Time Requested: 03:58 PM |
| Agency: |
Health, WV Department of |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 2727 |
Introduced |
SB457 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Utilities |
|---|
|
FUND(S):
General
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund 0417 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH-OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Legislation creates:
Increases Existing Expenses
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
The purpose of this bill is regarding water quality affecting residents of the state; establishing findings; requiring Department of Health to evaluate whether public water sources contain levels of contaminants making them unsafe; providing water filtration equipment or technology to residents whose water is deemed unsafe; and providing for rulemaking.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established maximum contaminant levels for more than 90 contaminants in the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The SDWA requires EPA to establish and enforce standards that public drinking water systems must follow. EPA delegates primary enforcement responsibility (called primacy) for public water systems to states that meet certain requirements.
WVDH has primacy to enforce the NPDWR and SDWA. EPA requires primacy agencies to have regulations for contaminants under NPDWR no less stringent than EPA, adopt and implement procedures for enforcement of regulations, maintain an inventory of public water systems in the state, have a program to conduct sanitary surveys, have a program to certify labs to analyze water samples, have a lab that will serve as the state's principal lab that is certified by EPA, have a program to ensure that new or modified systems are capable of complying with the NPDWR, have adequate enforcement authority to compel water systems to comply with the NPDWRs, have adequate recordkeeping and reporting requirements, have adequate variance and exemption requirements as stringent as EPA's, have an adequate plan to provide safe drinking water in emergencies like a natural disaster, and have adopted authority to assess administrative penalties for violations, etc. Public water systems are required to provide drinking water that meets all NPDWR.
The SDWA also requires that once every five years, the EPA issue a list of unregulated contaminants to be monitored by public water systems. The EPA uses this monitoring data to make determinations about future regulations and other actions to protect public health under SDWA. EPA uses a variety of factors when determining if a contaminant will be regulated such as determining whether a contaminant may have adverse health effects, where a contaminant is found or substantially likely to be found in public water systems with a frequency and at levels of concern, and whether there is a meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction through a regulation. EPA has also established Secondary Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisory Tables. WVDH does not have authority to enforce these standards, but regularly uses the health advisory levels when making water quality decisions. Many of the contaminants in the NPDWR are identified as chronic contaminants meaning that chronic health effects are possible as a result of exposure over many years to the drinking water contaminants above the maximum level established by EPA.
The Department estimates the cost of this legislation to be $70,758,285 initially, with potential future costs of $18,240,517.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2026
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2027
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
0 |
70,758,265 |
18,240,517 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
739,737 |
739,737 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
70,018,528 |
17,500,780 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
The estimated personal services would include an Environmental Resource Program Manager 1 ($78,617) to manage the new program, an Environmental Toxicologist to evaluate water quality data and determine thresholds of various contaminants ($86,116), and six environmental resource specialists 2 ($63,870) to collect, enter, monitor, and enforce the data ($547,953 - for 8 employees) Fringes for all positions $191,784 at 35% for a total of $739,737. The program would also require additional current expense totaling $18,528 for the eight new staff: Laptop $1,010, extended warranty on laptops $181, two monitors each $144 = $288, and cell phones $57.00. Ongoing cost of $780 for cell phone service @$65 per month.
WV has federal funding in the State Revolving Fund that is provided as loans or principal forgiveness loans to eligible public water systems to install or upgrade necessary treatment and/or change sources. There are many different types of home filtration devices available. However, individual filters are not designed to remove a wide range of contaminant or contaminant levels. There also may not be filters developed to remove specific contaminants. Improper use or lack of maintenance on an individual filter could reduce the effectiveness. Estimating costs under the assumption that every household on public water (approx. 700,000 based on a tracking database provided by the EPA, which is called Safe Drinking Water Information System) might need a filter and estimating that a filter might cost $100 (basic point of use carbon filter priced at Home Depot), initial filter cost could be around $70M of state funds to cover these expenditures. Some of these filters are only good for 2-3 months so they would need to be replaced frequently. This would take a substantial amount of staff time to track filters and replacements.
The amount in the ongoing column include estimates as the program would also have to conduct a considerable amount of additional source water sampling that exceeds the federal requirements depending on the WV established limits. There are approximately 250 community public water systems. Estimating sampling of an unknown number and type of contaminant and it will be assumed that the state is conducting the required sampling, cost is estimated at approximately $40,000 per system for 250 systems to adequately monitor source water. This is a total of $10 million per year. Enforcement costs would also be needed if the water system did not sample as required. Treatment installation or upgrades for non-regulated contaminants with state established levels could be as high as $10-50 million per water system depending on the contaminants for a total of approximately $12.5 billion. Additional treatment will increase operation and maintenance costs of a public water system. Conservative estimates for initial contaminants are around $30,000 per year for each system required to install additional treatment for a total of $7.5 million. If this cost were required of the public water system, this additional $17.5 million costs ($10M + $7.5M) would be passed on to the consumer. If the intent is to not pass these additional to the consumer, the state program would need additional funding for this program. The existing state drinking water program is mostly federally funded to support the primacy agency. The majority of the above listed costs would not be eligible costs for the federal funds.
Memorandum
It is impossible to determine the exact number of households that might be affected. Estimating costs for every household on public water (approx. 700,000 households) who might need a filter and estimating the cost of that filter to ensure adequate filtration system for all households in WV on public water systems would be difficult to provide an accurate number due to life expectancy of the filter being used. There are many different types of home filtration devices available. However, individual filters are not designed to remove a wide range of contaminant or contaminant levels. There also may not be filters developed to remove specific contaminants. Improper use or lack of maintenance on an individual filter could reduce the effectiveness. Some of these filters are only good for 2-3 months so they would need to be replaced frequently and could increase the estimated cost above and this would take a substantial amount of staff time to track filters and replacements.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Arvin Singh, Secretary, EdD, MBA, MPH, MS, FACHE
Email Address: OSAfiscalnotes@wv.gov