[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3429 Introduced in House (IH)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 3429

  To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide for annual consumer 
      confidence reports regarding contaminants in drinking water.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 9, 1996

  Mr. Saxton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide for annual consumer 
      confidence reports regarding contaminants in drinking water.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Water Quality Public Right-To-Know 
Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORTS.

    Section 1414(c) of title XIV of the Public Health Service Act (the 
``Safe Drinking Water Act'') (42 U.S.C. 300g-3(c)) is amended by 
inserting ``(1)'' after ``(c)'', by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 
(2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, by redesignating 
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraphs (1) and (2) as clauses (i) and 
(ii), respectively, by striking ``this subsection'' the first 2 places 
it appears and inserting ``this paragraph'' and by adding the following 
new paragraph at the end thereof:
            ``(2) Consumer confidence reports by community water 
        systems.--
                    ``(A) Annual reports to consumers.--The 
                Administrator shall issue regulations within 18 months 
                after the date of the enactment of this paragraph to 
                require each community water system to--
                            ``(i) publish annually in one or more local 
                        newspapers serving the area in which customers 
                        of the system are located, and
                            ``(ii) mail to each customer of the system 
                        at least once annually
                a report on the level of contaminants in the drinking 
                water purveyed by that system (hereinafter in this 
                paragraph referred to as a `consumer confidence 
                report').
                    ``(B) Contents of report.--The consumer confidence 
                reports required under this paragraph shall include, 
                but not be limited to, each of the following--
                            ``(i) Information on the source, content, 
                        and quality of the water purveyed.
                            ``(ii) A plainly worded explanation of the 
                        health implications of contaminants which are 
                        present at levels that exceed the maximum 
                        contaminant level goals or health advisories.
                            ``(iii) Information on compliance with 
                        national primary drinking water regulations.
                            ``(v) Information on priority unregulated 
                        contaminants to the extent that testing methods 
                        and health effects information are available 
                        (including levels of cryptosporidium and radon 
                        where States determine they may be found).
                            ``(vi) For each contaminant present in the 
                        drinking water supplied by the system, a 
                        statement of the maximum contaminant level that 
                        has been established under this Act for that 
                        contaminant.
                    ``(C) Coverage.--The local government for a 
                political subdivision in which customers of a public 
                water system are located may determine not to apply the 
                mailing requirement of subparagraph (A)(ii) to a 
                community water system serving fewer than 3,300 persons 
                within such political subdivision if such system--
                            ``(i) informs its customers that the system 
                        will not be complying with subparagraph 
                        (A)(ii),
                            ``(ii) makes information available upon 
                        request to the public regarding the quality of 
                        the water supplied by such system, and
                            ``(iii) publishes the public notice 
                        required by subparagraph (A)(i) annually in one 
                        or more local newspapers sold in such political 
                        subdivision.
                    ``(D) Alternative form and content.--A State 
                exercising primary enforcement responsibility may 
                establish alternative requirements with respect to the 
                form and content of consumer confidence reports under 
                this paragraph.''.
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