[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4470 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4470

 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act with respect to the requirements 
       related to lead in drinking water, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 2016

Mr. Kildee (for himself, Mr. Upton, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Levin, Mrs. Miller 
  of Michigan, Mr. Walberg, Mr. Amash, Mr. Benishek, Mr. Huizenga of 
  Michigan, Mr. Bishop of Michigan, Mrs. Dingell, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. 
  Moolenaar, Mr. Trott, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Payne, and Ms. Edwards) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act with respect to the requirements 
       related to lead in drinking water, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Safe Drinking Water Act Improved 
Compliance Awareness Act''.

SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF DRINKING WATER REGULATIONS.

    Section 1414(c) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-
3(c)) is amended--
            (1) in the header, by inserting ``States, the 
        Administrator, and'' before ``Persons Served'';
            (2) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Notice of any exceedance of a lead action 
                level or any other enforceable maximum level of lead in 
                a regulation issued under section 1412, which shall 
                protect the privacy of individual customer 
                information.'';
            (3) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C)--
                            (i) in the header, by striking 
                        ``Violations'' and inserting ``Notice of 
                        violations''; and
                            (ii) in clause (iv)--
                                    (I) in subclause (I), by striking 
                                ``broadcast'';
                                    (II) in subclause (II), by striking 
                                ``in a newspaper of general circulation 
                                serving the area'' and inserting ``for 
                                circulation in the affected area''; and
                                    (III) in subclause (III), by 
                                striking ``in lieu of notification by 
                                means of broadcast media or 
                                newspaper'';
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as 
                subparagraphs (E) and (F), respectively; and
                    (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the 
                following:
                    ``(D) Notice by administrator.--If, after 24 hours 
                after the Administrator's notification under subsection 
                (a)(1)(A), the State with primary enforcement 
                responsibility or the owner or operator of the public 
                water system, with regard to a notice required under 
                subparagraph (C), has not issued a notice for a 
                violation of a national primary drinking water 
                regulation with significant potential to have serious 
                adverse effects on human health as a result of acute 
                exposure, the Administrator shall issue such required 
                notice pursuant to this paragraph.'';
            (4) in paragraph (4)(B)(ii), by striking ``the terms'' and 
        inserting ``the terms `action level',''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Exceedance of safe lead level.--
                    ``(A) Strategic plan.--Not later than 120 days 
                after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the 
                Administrator shall, in collaboration with owners and 
                operators of public water systems and States, establish 
                a strategic plan for how the Administrator, a State 
                with primary enforcement responsibility, and owners and 
                operators of public water systems shall conduct 
                targeted outreach, education, technical assistance, and 
                risk communication to populations affected by lead in a 
                public water system, including dissemination of 
                information described in subparagraph (C).
                    ``(B) EPA initiation of notice.--
                            ``(i) Forwarding of data by employee of 
                        epa.--If an employee of the Environmental 
                        Protection Agency develops or receives data, 
                        which meets the requirements of section 
                        1412(b)(3)(A), indicating that the drinking 
                        water of a person served by a public water 
                        system contains a level of lead that exceeds a 
                        lead action level or other enforceable maximum 
                        level of lead in a regulation promulgated under 
                        section 1412, the employee shall forward such 
                        data to the owner or operator of the public 
                        water system in which the exceedance occurred.
                            ``(ii) Dissemination of information by 
                        owner or operator.--If an owner or operator of 
                        a public water system receives a notice under 
                        clause (i), the owner or operator, within a 
                        time period established by the Administrator, 
                        shall disseminate the information described in 
                        subparagraph (C).
                            ``(iii) Consultation.--
                                    ``(I) Deadline.--Not later than 24 
                                hours after becoming aware that an 
                                owner or operator of a public water 
                                system has not disseminated the 
                                information described in subparagraph 
                                (C) in the time period established by 
                                the Administrator as required under 
                                clause (ii), the Administrator shall 
                                consult, for a period not to exceed 24 
                                hours, with the applicable Governor to 
                                develop a plan, in accordance with the 
                                strategic plan, to make such 
                                information available to affected 
                                persons within 24 hours of the end of 
                                such consultation period.
                                    ``(II) Delegation.--The 
                                Administrator may only delegate the 
                                duty to consult under this clause to an 
                                employee of the Environmental 
                                Protection Agency who is working in the 
                                Office of Water, at the headquarters of 
                                the Agency, at the time of such 
                                delegation.
                            ``(iv) Dissemination by administrator.--The 
                        Administrator shall disseminate the information 
                        described subparagraph (C) if--
                                    ``(I) the Administrator and the 
                                applicable Governor do not agree on a 
                                plan described in clause (iii)(I) 
                                during the consultation period under 
                                such clause; or
                                    ``(II) the applicable Governor does 
                                not disseminate the information within 
                                24 hours of the end of such 
                                consultation period.
                    ``(C) Information required.--Information required 
                to be disclosed under this paragraph shall include a 
                clear explanation of the exceedance of a lead action 
                level or other enforceable maximum level of lead in a 
                regulation promulgated under section 1412, its 
                potential adverse effects on human health, the steps 
                that the owner or operator of the public water system 
                is taking to correct the exceedance, and whether it is 
                advisable for persons served by the public water system 
                to seek alternative water supplies.''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF LEAD PIPES, SOLDER, AND FLUX.

    Section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-6) is 
amended--
            (1) by amending subsection (a)(2)(A) to read as follows:
                    ``(A) In general.--
                            ``(i) Identification and notice.--Each 
                        owner or operator of a public water system 
                        shall identify and provide notice to persons 
                        who may be affected by--
                                    ``(I) lead contamination of their 
                                drinking water where such contamination 
                                results from--
                                            ``(aa) the lead content in 
                                        the construction materials of 
                                        the public water distribution 
                                        system; or
                                            ``(bb) corrosivity of the 
                                        water supply sufficient to 
                                        cause leaching of lead; or
                                    ``(II) an exceedance, in their 
                                drinking water, of a lead action level 
                                or any other enforceable maximum level 
                                of lead in a regulation issued under 
                                section 1412.
                            ``(ii) Manner and form.--Notice under this 
                        paragraph shall be provided in such manner and 
                        form as may be reasonably required by the 
                        Administrator. Notwithstanding clause (i)(II), 
                        notice under this paragraph shall be provided 
                        notwithstanding the absence of a violation of 
                        any national drinking water standard.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(2)--
                    (A) by striking ``The requirements'' and inserting 
                the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--The requirements'';
                    (B) by adding at the end the following: 
                ``Enforcement of these requirements shall be carried 
                out by a State with primary enforcement responsibility 
                or the Administrator, as appropriate.
                    ``(B) Notification by administrator.--In the case 
                of a violation described in subsection 
                (a)(2)(A)(i)(II), if the public water system or the 
                State in which the public water system is located does 
                not notify the public of the violation in accordance 
                with subsection (a)(2), the Administrator shall notify 
                the public of such violation in accordance with 
                subsection (a)(2), including the relevant 
                concentrations of lead. Such notice shall protect the 
                privacy of individual customer information.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Public Education.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall make information 
        available to the public regarding lead in drinking water, 
        including information regarding--
                    ``(A) risks associated with lead in drinking water;
                    ``(B) the likelihood that drinking water in a 
                residence may contain lead;
                    ``(C) steps States, water utilities, and consumers 
                can take to reduce the risks of lead; and
                    ``(D) the availability of additional resources that 
                consumers can use to minimize lead exposure, including 
                information on how to sample for lead in drinking 
                water.
            ``(2) Vulnerable populations.--In making information 
        available to the public under this subsection, the 
        Administrator shall carry out targeted outreach strategies that 
        focus on educating groups within the general population that 
        may be at greater risk than the general population of adverse 
        health effects from exposure to lead in drinking water.''.
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