Under Subpart 67-4 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations, Title X, “all school districts and boards of cooperative educational services are required to test potable water for lead contamination, and to develop and implement a lead remediation plan, where applicable.”
The Subpart 67-4 testing requirement was first promulgated under emergency legislation in 2016, and was subsequently signed into permanent law. Public Health Law PHL Section 1110 was amended on December 23, 2021 and these revisions to Subpart 67-4 went into effect on December 22, 2022. Notable revisions include 1) Action Level lowered from 15 ppb to 5 ppb, 2) Compliance monitoring will be every 3 years (previously every 5 years) and 3) Lead-free” buildings are no longer exempt from testing requirements. To comply with these new testing requirements sampling must be performed between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2025.
Lead is a toxic metal that can be harmful to human health when ingested. Young children, especially those 6 years and younger, are at particular risk for lead exposure because they have frequent handto-mouth activity and absorb lead more easily than do adults. Children’s nervous systems are still undergoing development and thus are more susceptible to the effects of toxicants. Therefore, emphasis may be placed on assessment of lead exposure in schools and early childhood education facilities, where concentrations of a vulnerable population are regularly congregated.
Lead can be introduced into potable water by being present in the source water or, more commonly, by interaction of the water with fixtures and plumbing materials containing lead. Common sources of lead in potable water include solder, fluxes, pipes and pipe fittings, fixtures, and sediments. It is possible that different water outlets in a given building could have dissimilar concentrations of lead. It is also possible that, due to temporal fluctuations in water chemistry and physical conditions that may affect the integrity of the plumbing and the water being conveyed, the result obtained from a test at a given time may differ from the result obtained from a test at another time, even if the sampling procedures are identical.