All licensed day cares in Oregon will be required to test drinking water for high levels of lead under rules approved Thursday by a state policy board.

Day cares must test drinking water and submit results to state regulators by Sept. 30. Day cares must close access to taps with excessive lead in water. And failure to test or provide clean drinking water could result in warnings, fines or license revocations.

The new testing requirements, approved unanimously by Oregon's Early Learning Council, mark a dramatic reversal in state policy. In September, the Early Learning Council determined that testing would be too costly for childcare operators. But after The Oregonian/OregonLive spotlighted that decision, Gov. Kate Brown intervened and directed her appointed council to set testing requirements.

Councilmembers on Thursday embraced testing but openly struggled with how aggressive the state's standards should be. Officials pledged to review results by early 2019 to determine if changes are needed.

"We want no lead ingested by children, period," said Sue Miller, chairwoman of the council. "Now, the rule before us today is a step toward that."

Oregon joins a handful of states, including Washington, that require lead testing in day cares. The rules require testing at taps used for drinking, cooking, preparing food or infant formula.

Taps that test at or above 15 parts per billion must be closed to children. That's lower than the 20 parts per billion originally proposed by state officials. But it's not 1 part per billion – the standard that environmental advocacy groups wanted.

Celeste Meiffren-Swango, state director of Environment Oregon, told councilmembers she's disappointed in standards that give an illusion of safety.

"It is unacceptable to allow any amount of lead in drinking water for our children," she said.

Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, reiterated that "there's no safe level of lead exposure." But Allen said the new standard for action – 15 parts per billion – should help protect children.

"Oregon kids will be protected by this rule," he said.

Federal regulators have found that the greatest risk for lead exposure comes from lead dust and paint. Drinking water can represent 20 percent or more of a person's total exposure to lead, a dangerous neurotoxin.

Day cares serve an age group considered the most vulnerable to lead. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, lead is especially dangerous to children who are younger than 6, with even low levels of exposure linked to learning disabilities and damage to the nervous system.

State health officials acknowledged they could have pushed for a more aggressive threshold requiring action by day care providers. "But from our standpoint, the relative risk reduction would really not warrant that," said David Emme, the state's drinking water manager.

The new rules effect more than 4,000 licensed day cares across Oregon, including in-home care and commercial centers. The rules also apply to small, unlicensed day cares that receive government subsidies to watch children from low-income families.

Existing day cares will be required to test water fixtures every six years, although a facility that has been tested within the past six years can seek a deferral. Childcare providers seeking a new license will be required to have the water tested before submitting an application.

Testing previously has been estimated to cost day cares up to about $100. But officials don't yet have a handle on how much the new requirements will cost day cares when a problem is found and remediation is required.

Day cares with problems must take bad taps offline and provide children clean water, either from safe faucets or by serving bottled water. Those day cares also must submit a plan to Oregon's Office of Child Care within 60 days outlining planned improvements. After the state signs off, day cares have 30 days to make fixes.

Miriam Calderon, the state's Early Learning Division director, said officials will review lead results not only individually but holistically to determine if additional regulation by the state is needed.

"This," she said, "is very much the first step of understanding the extent of the problem."

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@_brad_schmidt