Call to Order and Roll Call
The 6th meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Environment was held on Thursday, November 3, 2016, at 1:00 PM, in Room 149 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Fitz Steele, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Representative Fitz Steele, Co-Chair; Senators C.B. Embry Jr., Chris Girdler, Ernie Harris, Paul Hornback, Ray S. Jones II, John Schickel, Brandon Smith, Johnny Ray Turner, Robin L. Webb, and Whitney Westerfield; Representatives Hubert Collins, Tim Couch, Daniel Elliott, Jim Gooch Jr., Chris Harris, Cluster Howard, Reginald Meeks, Lewis Nicholls, Marie Rader, John Short, Jim Stewart III, and Jill York.
Guests: Pete Goodman, Director, Division of Water.
LRC Staff: Tanya Monsanto, Stefan Kasacavage, and Marielle Manning.
Upon motion made by Representative Collins and seconded by Representative Howard, the October 6, 2016 minutes were approved by voice vote and without objection.
State of Clean Drinking Water in the Commonwealth
Pete Goodman, Director, Division of Water, provided a presentation on the state of clean drinking water in the Commonwealth. Drinking water is regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act and most systems in Kentucky have a good record of compliance with providing safe, drinkable water from the 401 community public water systems. There are some problems with the age of drinking water systems and with compliance in removing disinfection byproducts. However, the Division of Water and the Kentucky Rural Water Association (KRWA) are working with public water systems to provide financial, managerial, and technical assistance.
In response to Senator Jones, Mr. Goodman stated that progress has been made in the Martin County water district. KRWA has addressed some of the more significant leaks, and estimates that water loss is down from about 60 percent to the high 30s. Mr. Goodman further explained that some federal grant money or low interest loans may be available to make the necessary improvements to the system. The Division of Water does not have the authority to take over the functions of local municipalities. Mr. Goodman stated there was a solid waste grant for Fishtrap Lake to deal with some litter programs.
Responding to Representative Meeks, Mr. Goodman explained that there were no water system data in the Shelbyville and Jefferson County areas on the map, because that information was not shared with the division due to public safety concerns. Regarding Lake Dreamland, Mr. Goodman said he would have to provide information regarding its progress to legislative staff in the future.
In response to Representative Collins, Mr. Goodman said that low-flow appliances have contributed to water conservation, which has caused water consumption to fall below projections made by water utilities. Mr. Goodman explained how disinfection of water lines was accomplished and how looping back dead-end lines will help to eliminate unpleasant flavors and odors in lower-use water lines in rural counties. Mr. Goodman also stated the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority has a Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund which provides a majority of the money used to finance water projects, such as the one in Johnson County. Mr. Goodman said that new water lines go through the “10 States Standards” engineering review process.
Responding to Representative Steele, Mr. Goodman was unsure if Victaulic lines would pass the 10 States Standards.
In response to Representative Nicholls, Mr. Goodman explained that surface water systems have more total organic carbon and the Division of Water works to optimize the removal of total organic carbon in the source water. The maximum contaminant level for trihalomethanes is 60 parts per million and for haloacetic acids it is 80 parts per million.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The documents distributed during the meeting are available in the LRC Library.