Section 3745.50. Coordinator of harmful algae management and response

(A) The director of environmental protection shall serve as coordinator, or designate a coordinator, of harmful algae management and response. The director or the director's designee shall develop plans providing for coordination that may include, but are not limited to, the actions and items specified in divisions (B) and (C) of this section.

(B) The director or the director's designee shall consult with the directors of agriculture, health, and natural resources and representatives of local governments, publicly owned treatment works, and public water systems to implement actions that do both of the following:

(1) Protect against cyanobacteria in the western basin and public water supplies;

(2) Manage wastewater to limit nutrient loading into the western basin.

(C) The director or the director's designee shall develop and implement protocols and actions that may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Analytical protocols for monitoring of cyanobacteria at water intake structures of public water systems, testing for cyanobacteria in Lake Erie, and establishing public health advisory levels and public notification protocols if trigger levels of cyanotoxins are detected;

(2) Provisions on training, testing, and treatment and other support regarding cyanobacteria identification, sampling, treatment techniques, algaecide application, public notification, and source water protection for employees of publicly owned treatment works and public water systems;

(3) Protocols requiring public water systems to notify the environmental protection agency if any of the following occurs:

(a) Cyanotoxins are detected in finished drinking water.

(b) Cyanobacteria are detected in their source water.

(c) Application of an algaecide is anticipated to the source water.

(D) As used in this section, "western basin" has the same meaning as in section 905.326 of the Revised Code.

Added by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, SB 1, §1, eff. 7/3/2015.