[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 169 (Monday, December 2, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7371-H7373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   COMMUNITY FIRE SAFETY ACT OF 2013

  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 3588) to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to 
exempt fire hydrants from the prohibition on the use of lead pipes, 
fittings, fixtures, solder, and flux.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3588

       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 ``Community Fire Safety Act of 
     2013''.

     SEC. 2. EXEMPTING FIRE HYDRANTS FROM PROHIBITION ON USE OF 
                   LEAD.

       Section 1417(a)(4)(B) of the Safe Drinking Water Act is 
     amended by inserting ``fire hydrants,'' after ``shower 
     valves,''.

[[Page H7372]]

     SEC. 3. EVALUATION OF SOURCES OF LEAD IN WATER DISTRIBUTION 
                   SYSTEMS AND ALTERNATE ROUTING SYSTEMS.

       The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
     shall--
       (1) consult with and seek the advice of the National 
     Drinking Water Advisory Council on potential changes to the 
     regulations pertaining to lead under the Safe Drinking Water 
     Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.); and
       (2) request the Council to consider sources of lead 
     throughout drinking water distribution systems, including 
     through components used to reroute drinking water during 
     distribution system repairs.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Johnson) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and insert extraneous materials in the Record on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, many Members think that the suspension calendar is 
reserved for unimportant legislation. That is not the case today. It is 
reserved for bills that need no amendments and on which more than two-
thirds of the House agrees. The Community Fire Safety Act of 2013 meets 
those two tests.
  Sometimes when we budget our time, we ask ourselves, what should I 
work on first, the urgent or the important? H.R. 3588 is both urgent 
and important. It corrects a problem that first surfaced in October of 
this year, but which impacts all water utilities and firefighting units 
in the United States effective next month.
  Water utilities have made it clear that they have two choices come 
January 4: fail to comply with Federal law, or leave gaps in critical 
fire hydrant service. No one should ever face that choice.
  Here is the background. On January 4, 2011, the President signed into 
law the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act. This law prohibits the 
manufacturing and installation of pipes, fittings, and fixtures that 
have lead content of greater than two-tenths of 1 percent, but it 
exempts specific items, including tub fillers and shower valves. There 
is also a general exemption for pipes, fittings, and fixtures where the 
water is not anticipated to be consumed.
  The effective date of the law is January 4, 2014, the beginning of 
next month. I am told that when Congress wrote this law in 2010 and the 
President signed it in 2011, the issue of fire hydrants never entered 
the conversation--nor did the EPA suggest that fire hydrants were 
covered, at least not until October of this year, 10 short weeks before 
the law takes effect.
  On October 22, the EPA announced that because fire hydrants are 
occasionally, but rarely, used in the stream of human water 
consumption, they are not exempt under the act. This means any hydrant 
manufactured or installed 33 days from now must have a lead content 
that meets the statutory standard.
  The EPA's conclusion was based on a technical reading of the statute. 
Because the rule's announcement takes effect in early January, the 
solution is this brief but important legislation.
  The worry for water utilities and firefighters is that hydrants can 
break without warning, often as a result of vehicular accidents. Winter 
is a busy time for replacing hydrants due, in part, to freezing road 
conditions. But neither water utilities nor firefighters can tolerate 
hydrants that are not certified to meet strict performance parameters. 
Hydrants must never get stuck closed and should never leak.
  Why do hydrants contain tiny amounts of lead in the brass alloys in 
their valves and other parts? Because that alloy gives a cleaner fit 
that doesn't leak and doesn't get stuck. Confidence that a hydrant 
meets this standard is crucial.
  Mr. Speaker, even though a couple of manufacturers claim to have 
developed hydrants that can meet today's lead-free standard, none of 
them claims independent verification of the lead-free standard, much 
less proof that the extreme low-lead hydrant will work for fire safety. 
If such hydrants are developed and later certified, communities will 
certainly always be free to choose them. But in the meantime, the 2010 
law is unforgiving.

                              {time}  1730

  It does not allow exemptions for even the least frequent and briefest 
exposures to water that may pass through a hydrant. Communities that 
never allow any human consumption from a hydrant will be barred from 
installing hydrants that today are in stock and ready to meet emergency 
repairs.
  The risk to human health from lead in water is from long-term 
exposure. That is why there is no scientific data showing health 
effects from people drinking water from hydrants. But there are 
documented times when firefighters have arrived on the emergency scene 
only to find the hydrant is out of service. This leads to tragedy we 
can and must avoid.
  If shower valves and tub fillers should be exempt--and they are--
let's exempt hydrants so there are no gaps in fire safety. I urge a 
``yes'' vote on H.R. 3588.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be here with my colleague from Ohio 
(Mr. Johnson) in support of H.R. 3588.
  As we heard, 3 years ago, Congress passed important legislation to 
reduce lead in drinking water supplies by eliminating a very 
significant remaining source of lead--our water delivery 
infrastructure. The Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act amended the 
Safe Drinking Water Act to address the high levels of lead documented 
in the drinking water in many communities.
  Lead is a very dangerous contaminant, and it is especially dangerous 
to our children. It is retained in their bodies and leads to a host of 
chronic problems. We need to remove lead from our drinking water, but 
we do not need to regulate fire hydrants to achieve this worthy and 
important goal.
  Fire hydrants are rarely used to provide drinking water, and those 
rare occasions are during emergencies--for instance, the break of a 
water main. And, when these rare events occur, flushing the hydrant is 
sufficient to ensure that lead and other contaminants are not conveyed 
in the water.
  As sometimes happens, Mr. Speaker, laws have unintended consequences. 
When Congress passed the amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act 3 
years ago, I doubt anyone intended to have EPA regulate fire hydrants.
  EPA hosted a webinar on this issue recently. The agency consulted 
stakeholders from the hydrant manufacturing industry, municipalities 
from across our country, State and city regulatory agencies, and water 
supply companies. These sources provided the Agency with information to 
demonstrate that regulating hydrants would be expensive to implement, 
and it would deliver virtually no additional public health benefits.
  Closer to home, I heard from two municipalities in my district, 
Latham and Colonie, both in Albany County. Their local leaders were 
very concerned about the expense of replacing their inventory of fire 
hydrants and about problems that could arise if they were unable to 
service and replace hydrants in a timely manner.
  As we all know, fire hydrants are a vital part of the safety 
infrastructure of every community, large or small, across this great 
country. I am told the average cost is as high as $2,000 per hydrant, 
if not more. Most communities keep a reserve inventory so hydrants can 
be replaced as needed. Without this fix, communities across the country 
would be spending millions to replace inventories of working hydrants.
  Not only would communities have to replace their inventory of 
hydrants, but there is a real question about the availability of lead-
free alternatives. The supply of lead-free hydrants is still small, and 
some newer designs have yet to be tested and certified fully.
  Well, we certainly do not need to impose unnecessary costs on our 
communities across this country. We can fix this problem, and we are 
moving forward with a sound and effective solution today.
  H.R. 3588 adds fire hydrants to the list of plumbing fixtures and 
other

[[Page H7373]]

components of water infrastructure that are exempted from the 
requirements to reduce lead. H.R. 3588 is a simple, bipartisan bill 
that provides a straightforward correction to the law. It will save our 
communities money and time, two very important commodities.
  In addition, the bill contains a provision requiring the EPA 
Administrator to consult with the Drinking Water Advisory Council on 
options for reducing lead in our drinking water in a cost-effective 
manner. Hopefully, this dialogue will provide more cost-effective 
options for achieving a worthy goal: cleaner, safer drinking water.
  Again, I want to commend our colleague, Representative Johnson, for 
his work on this legislation and thank him for working together with me 
to ensure that communities can concentrate on efforts that will bring 
true public health improvements to our citizens and avoid unnecessary 
expenses that achieve no real benefits.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I have no further Members who wish 
to speak on this issue. If my good friend is prepared to summarize, I 
am prepared to close.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I have no other speakers here on our side.
  Again, I want to thank the gentleman from Ohio; I want to thank 
Chairman Upton of the Energy and Commerce Committee and Ranking Member 
Waxman of the same committee for expediting this very important bill. 
Again, I urge all of our colleagues to support this worthy legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I too want to say thanks to my good 
friend and colleague, Mr. Tonko, for his support of this legislation. 
It may seem trivial to some; but trust me, it is not trivial to the 
many communities who are sitting on stockpiles, literally millions of 
dollars worth of current hydrant technology that would have to be 
replaced as a result, and that money just going down the tubes. I, too, 
urge a ``yes'' vote on H.R. 3588.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3588.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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