[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2161 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2161

  To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to prevent the enforcement of 
 certain national primary drinking water regulations unless sufficient 
    funding is available or variance technology has been identified.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 21, 2005

  Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Hagel, and Mr. Nelson of 
   Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to prevent the enforcement of 
 certain national primary drinking water regulations unless sufficient 
    funding is available or variance technology has been identified.

    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 ``Small System Safe Drinking Water Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Guidance.--Section 1412(b)(4)(E) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300g-1(b)(4)(E)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
                            ``(vi) Guidance.--As soon as practicable 
                        after the date of enactment of this clause, the 
                        Administrator shall--
                                    ``(I) convene a working group 
                                composed of representatives from 
                                States, small publicly-owned water 
                                systems, and treatment manufacturers, 
                                which shall, not later than 180 days 
                                after the date of enactment of this 
                                clause, conduct a study of, and submit 
                                to the Administrator a report on, 
                                barriers to the use of point-of-use and 
                                point-of-entry treatment units, package 
                                plants, including water bottled by the 
                                public water system, and modular units;
                                    ``(II) develop a model guidance 
                                document based on recommendations 
                                received from the working group under 
                                subclause (I) and similar State 
                                guidance documents for distribution to 
                                States to assist States in regulating 
                                and promoting the treatment options 
                                described in subclause (I); and
                                    ``(III) distribute to small water 
                                systems--
                                            ``(aa) the model guidance 
                                        document developed under 
                                        subclause (II); and
                                            ``(bb) such other 
                                        information relating to the 
                                        treatment options described in 
                                        subclause (I) as the 
                                        Administrator considers to be 
                                        appropriate.''.
    (b) Enforcement of National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.--
            (1) Health effects.--Section 1412(b)(3)(C) of the Safe 
        Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-1(b)(3)(C)) is amended by 
        adding at the end the following:
                            ``(v) Health effects.--When proposing any 
                        national primary drinking water regulation that 
                        includes a maximum containment level, health 
                        effects shall be clearly translated into--
                                    ``(I) the quantity of water that an 
                                individual can consume; and
                                    ``(II) the length of time that may 
                                elapse before the effects of a 
                                contaminate can occur.''.
            (2) Feasible technologies.--Section 1412(b)(4)(E)(i) of the 
        Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-1(b)(4)(E)(i)) is 
        amended by adding at the end: ``The technologies shall reflect 
        the different water sources from various regions of the United 
        States.''.
            (3) Variance technologies.--Section 1412(b)(15) of the Safe 
        Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-1(b)(15)) is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by redesignating clauses (i) through 
                        (iii) as subclauses (I) through (III), 
                        respectively, and indenting appropriately;
                            (ii) by striking ``(A) In general.--At 
                        the'' and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) Technologies.--
                            ``(i) In general.--At the''; and
                            (iii) by adding after the matter following 
                        subparagraph (A)(i)(III) (as redesignated by 
                        clause (i)) the following:
                    ``(B) Affordability.--In establishing affordability 
                criteria under this subparagraph, the Administrator 
                shall--
                            ``(i) in determining whether a treatment 
                        technology or treatment technique is 
                        affordable, include consideration of costs 
                        associated with complying with all relevant 
                        regulations promulgated in accordance with this 
                        Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
                        (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) with which a 
                        municipality or small public water system may 
                        be required to comply;
                            ``(ii) give extra weight to households the 
                        total income of which is below the poverty 
                        level, and to communities that meet the 
                        affordability criteria of a State established 
                        in accordance with section 1452(b)(3)(A)(iii), 
                        as determined by the Administrator; and
                            ``(iii) ensure that the affordability 
                        criteria are not more costly, on a per-capita 
                        basis, to a small public water system than the 
                        cost, on a per-capita basis, to a large water 
                        system of acquiring feasible technology 
                        described in paragraph (4).''.
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) Enforcement.--No national primary drinking 
                water regulation promulgated under this Act to regulate 
                a public water system serving a population of less than 
                10,000 individuals may be enforced by the Administrator 
                or a State unless a variance technology has been 
                identified in accordance with this paragraph.''.
            (4) Effect of bilateral compliance agreement.--Section 1412 
        of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-1) is amended by 
        adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Effect of Bilateral Compliance Agreement.--A system that has 
entered into a bilateral compliance agreement with the State, and 
complied with that agreement, shall be considered to be in compliance 
with the Federal drinking water standard that is the subject of the 
compliance agreement for the duration of the agreement.''.
            (5) State revolving loan funds.--Section 1452 of the Safe 
        Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-12) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating subsections (n), (o), (p), 
                (q), and (r) as subsection (o), (p), (q), (r), and (s) 
                respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after subsection (m) the 
                following:
    ``(n) Enforcement.--No national primary drinking water regulation 
promulgated under this Act may be enforced by the Administrator or a 
State unless sufficient funds are available under this title to assist 
each public water system in meeting the regulation.''.
    (c) Renewal of Exemption.--Section 1416(b)(2) of the Safe Drinking 
Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-5(b)(2)) is amended by striking subparagraph 
(C) and inserting the following:
                    ``(C) In the case of a system that does not serve 
                more than a population of 10,000 and that needs 
                financial assistance for the necessary improvements, an 
                exemption granted under clause (i) or (ii) of 
                subparagraph (B) may be renewed for such period as the 
                State determines to be appropriate, if the system 
                establishes that it is taking all practicable steps to 
                meet the requirements of subparagraph (B).''.
    (d) Research, Technical Assistance, Information, and Training of 
Personnel.--Section 1442 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 
300i) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the following:
    ``(d) Research and Development Pilot Projects.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall establish a 
        research pilot program (referred to in this subsection as the 
        `program') to explore new technologies or approaches that 
        public water systems may use to comply with a public drinking 
        water standard promulgated under this Act.
            ``(2) Responsibilities of administrator.--In carrying out 
        this subsection, the Administrator shall--
                    ``(A) establish an application process that 
                includes criteria that may be used to assess water 
                systems applying for participation in the program;
                    ``(B) based on applications received under 
                subparagraph (A), select 20 communities with various 
                populations and water sources in different regions of 
                the United States for participation in the program;
                    ``(C) fund projects that develop or implement new 
                technologies or approaches for implementation of 
                Federal drinking water standards; and
                    ``(D) coordinate projects with the Arsenic Water 
                Technology Partnership program of the Department of 
                Energy.
            ``(3) Technology transfer and disinfection strategies.--The 
        Administrator shall carry out a pilot program to conduct 
        research into technology transfer issues and disinfection 
        strategies relating to drinking water, including risks 
        associated with the migration to chloramines for the purpose of 
        water disinfection.''; and
            (2) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by striking ``The 
                Administrator'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator'';
                    (B) in the second sentence, by striking ``Such 
                assistance'' and inserting the following:
            ``(2) Types of assistance.--Assistance provided under 
        paragraph (1)'';
                    (C) in the third sentence, by striking ``The 
                Administrator'' and inserting the following:
            ``(3) Availability of assistance.--The Administrator'';
                    (D) in the fourth sentence, by striking ``Each 
                nonprofit'' and inserting the following:
            ``(4) Consultation with state.--Each nonprofit''; and
                    (E) by striking the fifth sentence and all that 
                follows through the end of the subsection and inserting 
                the following:
            ``(5) Assistance in complying with rules.--The 
        Administrator shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, 
        that each water system required to comply with Federal drinking 
        water rules receives adequate technical assistance and training 
        to meet the requirements of those final rules, including 
        through assistance to be provided by qualified nonprofit 
        associations with expertise in public water systems.
            ``(6) Priority.--The Administrator shall give priority for 
        assistance under this section to water systems that, as of the 
        date of enactment of this paragraph, are not in compliance 
        with, as determined by the Administrator--
                    ``(A) the final rule entitled `Disinfectants and 
                Disinfection Byproducts' and published by the 
                Administrator on December 16, 1998 (63 Fed. Reg. 
                69390); or
                    ``(B) the final rule entitled `Arsenic and 
                Clarifications to Compliance and New Source 
                Contaminants Monitoring' and published by the 
                Administrator on January 22, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 6976).
            ``(7) Enforcement action.--The Administrator shall not 
        initiate any enforcement action against a water system under 
        this Act unless the Administrator first provides to the water 
        system assistance in accordance with this subsection.
            ``(8) Funding.--
                    ``(A) Authorization of appropriations.--There is 
                authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
                subsection $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 
                through 2010.
                    ``(B) Lobbying expenses.--No portion of any State 
                revolving loan fund established under section 1452, and 
                no portion of any funds made available under this 
                subsection, may be used for lobbying expenses.
                    ``(C) Tribal assistance.--Of the amount made 
                available under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year, at 
                least 3 percent shall be used for technical assistance 
                to public water systems owned or operated by Indian 
                Tribes.''.
    (e) Contaminant Study and Report.--
            (1) Establishment of panel.--The Administrator of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in this subsection 
        as the ``Administrator'') shall establish a panel of experts 
        composed of not more than 6 members appointed by the 
        Administrator, of whom--
                    (A) 1 member shall be selected by the 
                Administrator;
                    (B) 1 member shall be appointed based on the 
                recommendation of State water administrators;
                    (C) 3 members shall be appointed based on the 
                recommendation of associations representing public 
                water systems; and
                    (D) 1 member shall be appointed based on the 
                recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences.
            (2) Duties.--The panel of experts shall--
                    (A) conduct a review of studies on the health 
                effects of exposure to arsenic and disinfection 
                byproducts; and
                    (B) not later than 180 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act, submit to the Committee on 
                Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the 
                Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
                Representatives a report that includes--
                            (i) the results of the review; and
                            (ii) an assessment of the most recent 
                        scientific findings relating to the health 
                        effects of exposure to the substances described 
                        in subparagraph (A), including a comparison of 
                        studies and research conducted after the date 
                        on which maximum contaminant levels and maximum 
                        contaminant level goals for those substances 
                        were established in accordance with section 
                        1412 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 
                        300g-1).
                                 <all>