[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3127 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3127

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide assistance to States to 
support testing of private wells in areas of suspected contamination to 
      limit or prevent human exposure to contaminated groundwater.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 17, 2002

 Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Fitzgerald) introduced the following 
        bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
        Environment and Public WorksYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide assistance to States to 
support testing of private wells in areas of suspected contamination to 
      limit or prevent human exposure to contaminated groundwater.

    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 ``Private Well Testing Assistance 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR TESTING OF PRIVATE WELLS.

    Part E of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 1459. ASSISTANCE FOR TESTING OF PRIVATE WELLS.

    ``(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            ``(1) more than 15,100,000 households in the United States 
        are served by private drinking water wells;
            ``(2) while private well owners generally are responsible 
        for regular testing of drinking water wells for the presence of 
        contaminants, cases of serious or potentially widespread 
        groundwater contamination often require State health and 
        environmental agencies to conduct costly tests on numerous 
        drinking water well sites;
            ``(3) many of those sites are included in the Comprehensive 
        Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information 
        System of the Environmental Protection Agency, through which 
        Federal funding is available for testing of private wells 
        during initial site assessments but not for subsequent regular 
        sampling to ensure that contaminants have not migrated to other 
        wells;
            ``(4) many State governments do not have the resources to 
        provide regular, reliable testing of drinking water wells that 
        are located in proximity to areas of suspected groundwater 
        contamination;
            ``(5) State fiscal conditions, already in decline before 
        the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, are rapidly 
        approaching a state of crisis;
            ``(6) according to the National Conference of State 
        Legislatures--
                    ``(A) revenues in 43 States are below estimates; 
                and
                    ``(B) 36 States have already planned or implemented 
                cuts in public services;
            ``(7) as a result of those economic conditions, most States 
        do not have drinking water well testing programs in place, and 
        many State well testing programs have been discontinued, 
        placing households served by private drinking water wells at 
        increased risk; and
            ``(8) the provision of Federal assistance, with a State 
        cost-sharing requirement, would establish an incentive for 
        States to provide regular testing of drinking water wells in 
        proximity to new and existing areas of suspected groundwater 
        contamination.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, acting in 
        consultation with appropriate State agencies.
            ``(2) Area of concern.--The term `area of concern' means a 
        geographic area in a State the groundwater of which may, as 
        determined by the State--
                    ``(A) be contaminated or threatened by a release of 
                1 or more substances of concern; and
                    ``(B) present a serious threat to human health.
            ``(3) Hazardous substance.--The term `hazardous substance' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the 
        Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
        Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601).
            ``(4) Pollutant or contaminant.--The term `pollutant or 
        contaminant' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of 
        the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 
        Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601).
            ``(5) Substance of concern.--The term `substance of 
        concern' means--
                    ``(A) a hazardous substance;
                    ``(B) a pollutant or contaminant;
                    ``(C) petroleum (including crude oil and any 
                fraction of crude oil);
                    ``(D) methyl tertiary butyl ether; and
                    ``(E) such other naturally-occurring or other 
                substances (including arsenic, beryllium, and 
                chloroform) as the Administrator, in consultation with 
                appropriate State agencies, may identify by regulation.
    ``(c) Establishment of Program.--Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall establish a 
program to provide funds to each State for use in testing private wells 
in the State.
    ``(d) Determination of Areas of Concern.--Not later than 30 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 
promulgate regulations that describe criteria to be used by a State in 
determining whether an area in the State is an area of concern, 
including a definition of the term `threat to human health'.
    ``(e) Application Process.--
            ``(1) In general.--A State that seeks to receive funds 
        under this section shall submit to the Administrator, in such 
        form and containing such information as the Administrator may 
        prescribe, an application for the funds.
            ``(2) Certification.--A State application described in 
        paragraph (1) shall include a certification by the Governor of 
        the State of the potential threat to human health posed by 
        groundwater in each area of concern in the State, as determined 
in accordance with the regulations promulgated by the Administrator 
under subsection (d).
            ``(3) Processing.--Not later than 15 days after the 
        Administrator receives an application under this subsection, 
        the Administrator shall approve or disapprove the application.
    ``(f) Provision of Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--If the Administrator approves an 
        application of a State under subsection (e)(3), the 
        Administrator shall provide to the State an amount of funds to 
        be used to test private wells in the State that--
                    ``(A) is determined by the Administrator based on--
                            ``(i) the number of private wells to be 
                        tested;
                            ``(ii) the prevailing local cost of testing 
                        a well in each area of concern in the State; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) the types of substances of concern 
                        for which each well is to be tested; and
                    ``(B) consists of not more than $500 per well, 
                unless the Administrator determines that 1 or more 
                wells to be tested warrant the provision of a greater 
                amount.
            ``(2) Cost sharing.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Federal share of the cost of 
                any test described in paragraph (1) shall not exceed 80 
                percent.
                    ``(B) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of 
                the cost of any test described in paragraph (1) may be 
                provided in cash or in kind.
    ``(g) Number and Frequency of Tests.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), in determining 
        the number and frequency of tests to be conducted under this 
        section with respect to any private well in an area of concern, 
        a State shall take into consideration--
                    ``(A) typical and potential seasonal variations in 
                groundwater levels; and
                    ``(B) resulting fluctuations in contamination 
                levels.
            ``(2) Limitation.--Except in a case in which at least 2 
        years have elapsed since the last date on which a private well 
        was tested using funds provided under this section, no funds 
        provided under this section may be used to test any private 
        well--
                    ``(A) more than 4 times; or
                    ``(B) on or after the date that is 1 year after the 
                date on which the well is first tested.
    ``(h) Other Assistance.--Assistance provided to test private wells 
under this section shall be in addition to any assistance provided for 
a similar purpose under this Act or any other Federal law.
    ``(i) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this section, the Administrator, in cooperation with the National 
Ground Water Association, shall submit to Congress a report that 
describes the progress made in carrying out this section.
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
        2003 through 2006, to remain available until expended.
            ``(2) Minimum allocation.--The Administrator shall ensure 
        that, for each fiscal year, each State receives not less than 
        0.25 percent of the amount made available under paragraph (1) 
        for the fiscal year.''.
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