Section 116409.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Promotion of the public health of Californians of all ages by protection and maintenance of dental health through the fluoridation of drinking water is a paramount issue of statewide concern.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article to preempt local government regulations, ordinances, and initiatives that prohibit or restrict the fluoridation of drinking water by public water systems with 10,000 or more service connections, without regard to whether the public water system might otherwise be exempt from Section 116410 or the requirements of this section, pursuant to Section 116415.

(c) It is further the intent of the Legislature in establishing this article to decrease the burden the Medi-Cal and the Denti-Cal programs place upon the state's limited funds.

(Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 727, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2005.)