(a) Lead plumbing monitoring and compliance testing shall be undertaken by the department, as a part of the department’s ongoing program for reducing toxic substances from the environment.

(b) For purposes of implementing this article, the department shall, based on its available resources and staffing, annually select not more than 75 drinking water faucets or other drinking water plumbing fittings and fixtures for testing and evaluation, including the locations from which to select the faucets, fittings, and fixtures, to determine compliance with Section 116875.

(c) In implementing this article, the department shall use test methods, protocols, and sample preparation procedures that are adequate to determine total lead concentration in a drinking water plumbing fitting or fixture to determine compliance with the standards for the maximum allowable total lead content set forth in Section 116875.

(d) (1) In selecting drinking water faucets and other drinking water plumbing fittings and fixtures to test and evaluate pursuant to this article, the department shall exercise its judgment regarding the specific drinking water plumbing fittings or fixtures to test.

(2) This article does not require the department’s selection to be either random or representative of all available plumbing fittings or fixtures.

(3) The department shall acquire its samples of fittings and fixtures from locations that are readily accessible to the public at either retail or wholesale sources.

(e) The department shall annually post the results of the testing and evaluation conducted pursuant to this article on its Internet Web site and shall transmit these results in an annual report to the State Department of Public Health.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 581, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2009.)