Under the second option, the applicant must make a plan for providing on a permanent basis an adequate supply of potable water from external sources and ensuring that children served on the premises do not consume water from contaminated drinking water sources. This option also requires the applicant to provide the plan and proof of the applicant's compliance with these requirements to the licensing or certification authority, but no further testing is necessary. The bill authorizes an applicant who has previously complied with this option, when it submits a subsequent application, to switch to the first option or to submit a new test result showing each drinking water source to have no lead contamination, in which case the applicant is exempt from all testing and reporting requirements.

Under the bill, a child care provider applying for Wisconsin Shares certification may, as an alternative to the testing requirement, conduct a plumbing assessment and submit documentation of the assessment with its application. Under the bill, a plumbing assessment is an assessment completed by a licensed plumber, environmental consultant, certified lead risk assessor, or certified lead hazard investigator that includes, at a minimum, a determination of the year in which the building was built, a review of any available utility records for the presence of a full or partial lead service line, and an inspection of interior plumbing for the presence in the building's plumbing of leaded or galvanized steel pipes or any fixtures, fittings, faucets, or valves made with alloys that contain lead, such as leaded brass (presence of lead). If a plumbing assessment shows the presence of lead, the applicant must choose one of the two courses of action required after a test shows lead contamination. If a plumbing assessment shows no presence of lead, the applicant is exempt from further testing and reporting requirements.

The bill specifies that remediation may include affixing a point-of-source or point-of-entry filter to a drinking water source and testing may be conducted with such a filter affixed. The bill also specifies that remediation may include permanently disconnecting, shutting off, or otherwise eliminating access to water from a drinking water source if another drinking water source on the premises is not contaminated or will be remediated, and that after proof of such remediation is submitted to the licensing or certifying authority, the applicant is exempt from further testing requirements with respect to that drinking water source.

The bill requires DCF and DATCP, in consultation with the Department of Health Services and the Department of Natural Resources, to seek federal funding to assist, respectively, child care providers and operators of child care centers, group homes, and recreational and educational camps in paying for the costs of complying with the testing and remediation requirements, and to ensure that any funding obtained for this purpose is distributed equitably among those eligible entities.

This bill allows the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands to use school trust funds to issue loans to municipalities for the purpose of remediating lead contamination in a building used for child care, as a group home for children, or as a recreational or educational camp for children.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB424-SSA1,1 Section 1 . 24.61 (3) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB424-SSA1,4,2 24.61 (3) (a) 2. A town, village, city or county as provided under s. 67.04 or otherwise authorized by law, or to remediate lead contamination in a building used for child care, as a group home for children, or as a recreational or educational camp for children by an entity with which the town, village, city, or county has contracted.

SB424-SSA1,2 Section 2. 48.651 (1d) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

SB424-SSA1,4,6 48.651 (1d) (am) In establishing the requirements for certification of a child care provider under par. (a), the department shall include a requirement that all child care providers certified under s. 48.651 comply with s. 48.675.

SB424-SSA1,3 Section 3. 48.67 (6) of the statutes is created to read:

SB424-SSA1,4,9 48.67 (6) That all child care centers licensed under s. 48.65 and all group homes licensed under s. 48.625 comply with s. 48.675.

SB424-SSA1,4 Section 4. 48.675 of the statutes is created to read:

SB424-SSA1,4,11 48.675 Testing for lead in drinking water. (1) Definitions. In this section:

SB424-SSA1,4,14 (a) “Drinking water source” means a water faucet, drinking fountain, ice maker, or other water outlet that dispenses potable water that is used for drinking or food preparation.

SB424-SSA1,4,17 (b) “Lead contamination” means a concentration of lead that is greater than the federal action level established under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 USC 300f et seq.

SB424-SSA1,4,20 (c) “Presence of lead” means the presence in a building's plumbing of leaded or galvanized steel pipes or any fixtures, fittings, faucets, or valves made with alloys that contain lead, such as leaded brass.

SB424-SSA1,5,6 (2) Testing required. (a) Except as provided under subs. (3) (b) 4., (4) (b), (5), and (6), each applicant for an initial or continued license to operate a group home under s. 48.625 or a child care center under s. 48.65 or for an initial or renewed certification under s. 48.651 shall, no sooner than 6 months prior to submitting the application, test the water from every drinking water source used or to be used by children in the building used or to be used for child care or as a group home to monitor for lead contamination. A test under this subsection may be completed with a point-of-source or point-of-entry filter affixed to the drinking water source. The applicant shall submit the test results to the appropriate licensing or certifying authority along with the application. This section does not apply to child care programs under s. 120.13 (14).

SB424-SSA1,5,10 (b) A license or certification applicant shall ensure that the testing required under sub. (2) is done by the State Laboratory of Hygiene or a laboratory certified under ch. NR 149, Wis. Adm. Code, and that samples are collected in accordance with instructions provided by the laboratory that will do the testing.

SB424-SSA1,5,16 (3) Procedures if lead contamination is found. If a test submitted under sub. (2) shows that there is lead contamination in a drinking water source or a plumbing assessment conducted under sub. (5) shows the presence of lead in plumbing at a building used or to be used for child care or as a group home, the applicant for an initial or continued license under s. 48.625 or 48.65 or for an initial or renewed certification under s. 48.651 shall do one of the following:

SB424-SSA1,5,18 (a) Remediation. 1. Immediately after obtaining the test results, disconnect, shut off, or otherwise eliminate all access to water from the drinking water source.

SB424-SSA1,5,22 2. Provide the building with an adequate supply of potable water or, for an applicant for an initial license under s. 48.625 or 48.65 or an initial certification under s. 48.651, prepare a plan to provide the building with an adequate supply of potable water if licensed or certified.

SB424-SSA1,5,25 3. Submit along with its application the most recent test results under sub. (2) and other proof, such as photographs, receipts, or other applicable documentation, that it is compliant with subds. 1. and 2.

SB424-SSA1,6,3 4. Within 6 months after submitting the application, establish, submit to the licensing or certifying authority, and begin to carry out a plan for remediating the lead contamination.

SB424-SSA1,6,13 5. Between the date the license or certification is granted, continued, or renewed and the date on which the applicant submits an application for the subsequent license or certification period, the applicant may demonstrate to the appropriate licensing or certifying authority continued compliance with subds. 1. to 4. and submit more recent test results than the last results submitted under sub. (2). Except as provided under sub. (6), if a test result is submitted under this subdivision that shows no lead contamination in a drinking water source, this subsection no longer applies with respect to that drinking water source, but sub. (2) applies with respect to that drinking water source for an application submitted for the subsequent license or certification period.

SB424-SSA1,6,16 (b) Substitution of water source. 1. Immediately after obtaining the test results, disconnect, shut off, or otherwise eliminate all access to water from the drinking water source.

SB424-SSA1,6,21 2. Establish and carry out a plan for providing, on a permanent basis, an adequate supply of potable water from external sources, such as bottled water, and for ensuring that children served in the building do not consume water from contaminated drinking water sources. The plan shall include the estimated quantity of water needed to supply the building with all potable water needs.

SB424-SSA1,7,2 3. No later than 3 months after the first application is submitted after the test showing lead contamination, submit the plan established under subd. 2. and proof, such as photographs, receipts, or other applicable documentation, that the applicant is compliant with subds. 1. and 2. and will be during the license or certification period.