HB543: HB543 Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act; enact

Georgia law currently does not require schools or child care centers to test drinking water for lead. This bill, called the "Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act," would add a new section to Georgia's education code requiring every child care learning center and every public or private primary or secondary school to test drinking water outlets for lead by July 1, 2026, and create a remediation plan if contamination is found. Contamination is defined as five parts per billion or more. If lead is found, the center or school must notify parents, guardians, and staff in writing, post results publicly, report to the Department of Public Health, and provide an alternate lead-free water source during cleanup. The Department of Public Health, working with other state agencies, must write testing and remediation rules by January 1, 2026. Schools already regulated as public water systems under federal rules are exempt, and no school system may waive these requirements.

• Requires every child care learning center and public or private K-12 school to test drinking water outlets for lead by July 1, 2026.
• Defines lead contamination as a concentration of five parts per billion or greater.
• Requires written notice to parents, guardians, and staff, public posting of results, and reporting to the Department of Public Health when contamination is found.
• Requires an alternate lead-free water source be provided while remediation is underway.
• Directs the Department of Public Health to set testing and remediation rules by January 1, 2026, in consultation with other state agencies.
• Exempts facilities already regulated as public water systems under federal law and bars local school systems from waiving the requirement.

Public and private K-12 schools, child care learning centers, parents and guardians, school and center staff, the Department of Public Health, the Department of Education, the Department of Early Care and Learning, and the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources.

Families and staff would learn directly if their school's or child care center's water contains lead, a substance linked to health risks, and schools would have to act on it with a required fix-it plan and a temporary alternate water source rather than leaving the issue unaddressed.

• Section 1 gives the bill its short title, the "Get the Lead Out of School Drinking Water Act."
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 20-1-12, requiring testing of drinking water outlets for lead by July 1, 2026 and remediation plans with timelines.
• Subsection (c) requires written notice to families and staff, public posting of results, reporting to the Department of Public Health, and an alternate water source during remediation.
• Subsection (d) requires the Department of Public Health, with other agencies, to set testing and remediation rules by January 1, 2026.
• Subsection (e) authorizes, but does not guarantee, Department of Education grants to help centers and schools comply, subject to available funding.
• Subsection (f) exempts facilities already classified as public water systems under federal regulations.
• Subsection (g) blocks strategic waiver school systems, charter systems, and charter schools from waiving this requirement.

1. 2025-02-24House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-21House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-20House Hopper (House)

• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)Primary sponsor
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)
• Eric Bell (D, HD-075)
• Robert Dawson (D, HD-065)
• Tangie Herring (D, HD-145)

• school drinking water
• lead contamination
• child care regulation
• public health
• school safety