[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 306 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 306

 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide procedures for claims 
                      relating to drinking water.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 8, 2003

  Mr. Gary G. Miller of California (for himself, Mr. Calvert, and Mr. 
Dooley of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
    to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide procedures for claims 
                      relating to 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 ``Drinking Water Standards 
Preservation Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The safety of drinking water, and the adequacy of water 
        supplies, is a national concern. In the 29 years since Congress 
        first mandated the establishment of uniform national minimum 
        drinking water standards, national standards have been 
        established for more than 100 contaminants and parameters.
            (2) The States have been authorized to enforce those 
        standards, and, in appropriate cases, set stricter standards on 
        a statewide basis.
            (3) It is technologically infeasible for a drinking water 
        system to provide water with a zero level of contaminants, and 
        a determination that drinking water must contain no 
        contaminants would threaten the adequacy of water supplies.
            (4) The setting of drinking water standards is a complex 
        public policy determination requiring a careful analysis and 
        balancing of a number of factors, including--
                    (A) the maximum safe level for each drinking water 
                contaminant, the technological capability of removing 
                contaminants from public drinking water supplies; and
                    (B) the importance of assuring that drinking water 
                is affordable to all Americans.
            (5) The setting of these standards is not appropriate for 
        individual juries deciding individual cases in the separate 
        States, but rather is fundamentally a scientific issue to be 
        resolved by the appropriate Federal and State agencies in 
        accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the Safe Drinking 
        Water Act and the applicable State authorities.
            (6) Claims for monetary damages brought against public 
        water providers under the common law of the various States 
        based on alleged contamination of drinking water threaten to 
        undermine the science-based uniform national system of water 
        quality regulation.
            (7) The States should retain maximum flexibility to handle 
        claims for monetary damages brought against public water 
        providers based on alleged contamination of drinking water, 
        including the authority to decide whether such claims should be 
        heard by the courts or an administrative agency.
            (8) The costs of defending against multiple legal claims 
        can be financially burdensome to any water provider, but 
        especially to small systems, and the imposition of such costs 
        cannot be justified when a supplier complies with the 
        requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT.

     Section 1449 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-8) is 
amended as follows:
            (1) By striking ``Nothing'' in the first sentence of 
        subsection (e) and inserting ``(1) Except as provided in 
        subsection (f), nothing''.
            (2) By striking ``or to seek any other relief'' at the end 
        of the first sentence of subsection (e).
            (3) By adding after the first sentence of subsection (e) 
        the following: ``Nothing in subsection (f) creates a new cause 
        of action, and, except as otherwise explicitly provided in this 
        title, nothing in this title expands liability otherwise 
        imposed or limits any defense otherwise available under Federal 
        or State law.'' .
            (4) By striking ``Nothing'' in the second sentence of 
        subsection (e) and inserting ``Except as provided in subsection 
        (f), nothing''.
            (5) By adding the following new subsection at the end 
        thereof:
    ``(f)(1) No public water system shall be liable in a civil suit 
brought before any Federal or State court for damages arising from 
injury (including personal injury, death, or property damage) allegedly 
caused by delivery of contaminated water, unless the court determines 
that the plaintiff has established the following:
                    ``(A) In the case of a regulated contaminant, the 
                plaintiff must establish that each of the following 
                criteria are met:
                            ``(i) The substance in the delivered water 
                        which the plaintiff claims caused the injury 
                        was subject to a Federal or State regulation 
                        prescribed under this Act at the time of 
                        delivery.
                            ``(ii) There is substantial scientific 
                        evidence that the substance in the delivered 
                        water which the plaintiff claims caused the 
                        injury was of such a nature, and in such 
                        amounts, that it was reasonably likely to cause 
                        the kind of injury of which the plaintiff 
                        complains.
                            ``(iii) The public water system violated 
                        the regulation referred to in clause (i).
                            ``(iv) The violation was negligent.
                            ``(v) The violation caused the injury.
                    ``(B) In the case of an unregulated contaminant, 
                the plaintiff must establish that each of the following 
                criteria are met:
                            ``(i) The substance in the delivered water 
                        which the plaintiff claims caused the injury 
                        was not subject to any requirements prescribed 
                        under this Act at the time of delivery.
                            ``(ii) There is substantial scientific 
                        evidence that the substance in the delivered 
                        water which the plaintiff claims caused the 
                        injury was of such a nature, and in such 
                        amounts, that it was reasonably likely to cause 
                        the kind of injury of which the plaintiff 
                        complains.
                            ``(iii) The injury actually was caused by 
                        delivery of water that contained such a 
                        substance.
                            ``(iv) The public water system knew or 
                        should have known that the substance was in the 
                        drinking water at such a level and was likely 
                        to cause the injury.
                            ``(v) It was feasible for the supplier to 
                        have removed such contaminant to a level below 
                        which it was not likely to cause such injury.
            ``(2) The court shall, in a special pretrial proceeding, 
        subject to the requirements of paragraph (3), determine whether 
        the plaintiff has established either that criteria in clauses 
        (i), (ii), and (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) or criteria in clauses 
        (i), (ii), and (v) in paragraph (1)(B) have been met.
            ``(3) The court, in making the determinations required in 
        paragraphs (1)(A) and (1)(B), shall adopt and give binding 
        effect to any findings of fact, conclusions of law, or 
        determination of any agency of a State exercising primary 
        enforcement authority for purposes of this title. Nothing in 
        this section limits the jurisdiction or authority of any State 
        agency to make findings and determinations with respect to 
        whether--
                    ``(A) requirements for drinking water quality 
                adequately protect the public;
                    ``(B) additional requirements for regulated or 
                unregulated contaminants are warranted; and
                    ``(C) public water systems are in compliance with 
                such requirements.''.
                                 <all>