Department of Health; public water supply duties and responsibilities; coordinated budget requests with department.

(1) Recognizing that supervision and control of county health departments of the Department of Health is retained by the State Surgeon General, and that public health aspects of the state public water supply program require joint participation in the program by the Department of Health and its units and the department, the Department of Health shall:

(a) Establish and maintain laboratories for the conducting of radiological, microbiological, and chemical analyses of water samples from public water systems, which are submitted to such laboratories for analysis. Copies of the reports of such analyses and quarterly summary reports shall be submitted to the appropriate department district or subdistrict office.

(b) Require each county health department to:

1. Collect such water samples for analysis as may be required by the terms of this act, from public water systems within its jurisdiction. The duty to collect such samples may be shared with the appropriate department district or subdistrict office and shall be coordinated by field personnel involved.

2. Submit the collected water samples to the appropriate laboratory for analysis.

3. Maintain reports of analyses for its own records.

4. Conduct complaint investigation of public water systems to determine compliance with federal, state, and local standards and permit compliance.

5. Notify the appropriate department district or subdistrict office of potential violations of federal, state, and local standards and permit conditions by public water systems and assist the department in enforcement actions with respect to such violations to the maximum extent practicable.

6. Review and evaluate laboratory analyses of water samples from private water systems.

(c) Require those county health departments designated by the Department of Health and approved by the department as having qualified sanitary engineering staffs and available legal resources, in addition to the duties prescribed in paragraph (b), to:

1. Review, evaluate, and approve or disapprove each application for the construction, modification, or expansion of a public water system to determine compliance with federal, state, and local requirements. A copy of the completed permit application and a report of the final action taken by the county health department shall be forwarded to the appropriate department district office.

2. Review, evaluate, and approve or disapprove applications for the expansion of distribution systems. Written notification of action taken on such applications shall be forwarded to the appropriate department district or subdistrict office.

3. Maintain inventory, operational, and bacteriological records and carry out monitoring, surveillance, and sanitary surveys of public water systems to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.