[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1252 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1252

   To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to change the drinking water 
standard for arsenic from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion 
by fiscal year 2003 and to 3 parts per billion by fiscal year 2006 and 
to authorize an $800 million to provide grants to small public drinking 
        water systems to assist them in meeting these standards.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2001

  Mr. Sanders (for himself, Mr. Bonior, Ms. Lee, Mr. Abercrombie, Mr. 
George Miller of California, Mr. Kucinich, Ms. Mckinney, Mr. Payne, Mr. 
  Pallone, Mr. Sherman, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Towns, Mr. Hoeffel, and Ms. 
   Norton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to change the drinking water 
standard for arsenic from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion 
by fiscal year 2003 and to 3 parts per billion by fiscal year 2006 and 
to authorize an $800 million to provide grants to small public drinking 
        water systems to assist them in meeting these standards.

    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 ``Arsenic Reduction in Drinking Water 
Act''.

SEC. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that:
            (1) According to a 1999 study by the National Academy of 
        Sciences, arsenic in drinking water causes bladder, lung and 
        skin cancer, and may cause kidney and liver cancer. The study 
        also found that arsenic harms the central and peripheral 
        nervous systems, as well as heart and blood vessels, and causes 
        serious skin problems. It also may cause birth defects and 
        reproductive problems.
            (2) According to Environmental Protection Agency data, more 
        than 34 million Americans drink tap water supplied by systems 
        containing average levels of arsenic that pose unacceptable 
        cancer risks.
            (3) The current national standard of 50 parts per billion 
        for arsenic in drinking water was established in 1942, before 
        health officials knew that arsenic causes cancer.
            (4) According to National Academy of Sciences estimates, 
        one out of 100 people who drink water containing 50 parts per 
        billion of arsenic will get cancer (based on drinking two 
        liters of water per day over the course of a lifetime). That's 
        an unacceptably high cancer risk.
            (5) The Environmental Protection Agency, which sets the 
        arsenic standard, normally assigns standards for toxins and 
        contaminants that represent no more than a one-in-10,000 risk 
        factor for cancer.
            (6) The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that 
        reducing arsenic in drinking water to 3 parts per billion is 
        feasible.
            (7) In 1997, Congress directed the Environmental Protection 
        Agency to set a new arsenic standard.
            (8) Small communities are concerned about improving 
        drinking water quality.
            (9) Small communities often struggle to meet water quality 
        standards because of difficulty in securing funding.
            (10) Small public water systems serving fewer than 10,000 
        people represent 94 percent of all public water systems.
            (11) Small communities would benefit from a grant program 
        designed to provide funding for water quality projects without 
        a substantial matching requirement.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to--
            (1) establish drinking water standards for arsenic such 
        that--
                    (A) all drinking water systems in the United States 
                shall be required to reduce arsenic in drinking water 
                to 10 parts per billion by fiscal year 2003;
                    (B) all drinking water systems in the United States 
                shall be required to reduce arsenic in drinking water 
                to 3 parts per billion by fiscal year 2006; and
            (2) to provide grants to small public drinking water 
        systems to assist them in meeting the revised standards for 
        arsenic in drinking water.

SEC. 3. LOWERING THE LEVELS OF ARSENIC IN DRINKING WATER.

    Section 1412(b)(12)(A) of the Safe Drinking Water Act is amended by 
adding the following new clauses at the end thereof:
                    ``(vii) Effective October 1, 2003, the maximum 
                contaminant level for arsenic shall be 10 parts per 
                billion.
                    ``(viii) Effective October 1, 2006, the maximum 
                contaminant level for arsenic shall be 3 parts per 
                billion.''.

SEC. 4. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR ARSENIC.

    Part E of the Safe Drinking Water Act is amended by adding the 
following new section at the end thereof:

``SEC. 1459. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR ARSENIC.

    ``(a) Assistance Program.--The Administrator shall make grants 
under this section to public water systems serving fewer than 10,000 
people to assist such systems in meeting the drinking water standards 
for arsenic that take effect October 1, 2003, and October 1, 2006.
    ``(b) Minimum State Allocation.--The aggregate of public water 
systems eligible for grants under this section in each State shall not 
receive less than 1 percent of the total nationwide appropriation for 
such grants in each fiscal year in which such grants are made.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $800,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2002 through 2006.''.
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