I 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Drinking Water 

5 Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF DRINKING WATER REGULA2 TIONS. 

3 Section 1414(c) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 300g–3(c)) is amended— 

5 (1) in the header, by inserting ‘‘STATES, THE

6 ADMINISTRATOR, AND’’ before ‘‘PERSONS SERVED’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(D) Notice of any exceedance of a lead 

10 action level or any other enforceable maximum 

11 level of lead in a regulation issued under section 

12 1412, which shall protect the privacy of indi13 vidual customer information.’’; 

14 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

15 (A) in subparagraph (C)— 

16 (i) in the header, by striking ‘‘VIOLA17 TIONS’’ and inserting ‘‘NOTICE OF VIOLA18 TIONS’’; and 

19 (ii) in clause (iv)— 

20 (I) in subclause (I), by striking 

21 ‘‘broadcast’’; 

22 (II) in subclause (II), by striking 

23 ‘‘in a newspaper of general circulation 

24 serving the area’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

25 circulation in the affected area’’; and 


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1 (III) in subclause (III), by strik2 ing ‘‘in lieu of notification by means 

3 of broadcast media or newspaper’’; 

4 (B) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 

5 and (E) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respec6 tively; and 

7 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(D) NOTICE BY ADMINISTRATOR.—If, 

10 after 24 hours after the Administrator’s notifi11 cation under subsection (a)(1)(A), the State 

12 with primary enforcement responsibility or the 

13 owner or operator of the public water system, 

14 with regard to a notice required under subpara15 graph (C), has not issued a notice for a viola16 tion of a national primary drinking water regu17 lation with significant potential to have serious 

18 adverse effects on human health as a result of 

19 acute exposure, the Administrator shall issue 

20 such required notice pursuant to this para21 graph.’’; 

22 (4) in paragraph (4)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘the 

23 terms’’ and inserting ‘‘the terms ‘action level’,’’; and 

24 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(5) EXCEEDANCE OF SAFE LEAD LEVEL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than 

2 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

3 paragraph, the Administrator shall, in collabo4 ration with owners and operators of public 

5 water systems and States, establish a strategic 

6 plan for how the Administrator, a State with 

7 primary enforcement responsibility, and owners 

8 and operators of public water systems shall con9 duct targeted outreach, education, technical as10 sistance, and risk communication to populations 

11 affected by lead in a public water system, in12 cluding dissemination of information described 

13 in subparagraph (C). 

14 ‘‘(B) EPA INITIATION OF NOTICE.— 

15 ‘‘(i) FORWARDING OF DATA BY EM16 PLOYEE OF EPA.—If an employee of the 

17 Environmental Protection Agency develops 

18 or receives data, which meets the require19 ments of section 1412(b)(3)(A), indicating 

20 that the drinking water of a person served 

21 by a public water system contains a level 

22 of lead that exceeds a lead action level or 

23 other enforceable maximum level of lead in 

24 a regulation promulgated under section 

25 1412, the employee shall forward such 


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1 data to the owner or operator of the public 

2 water system in which the exceedance oc3 curred. 

4 ‘‘(ii) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMA5 TION BY OWNER OR OPERATOR.—If an 

6 owner or operator of a public water system 

7 receives a notice under clause (i), the 

8 owner or operator, within a time period es9 tablished by the Administrator, shall dis10 seminate the information described in sub11 paragraph (C). 

12 ‘‘(iii) CONSULTATION.— 

13 ‘‘(I) DEADLINE.—Not later than 

14 24 hours after becoming aware that 

15 an owner or operator of a public 

16 water system has not disseminated 

17 the information described in subpara18 graph (C) in the time period estab19 lished by the Administrator as re20 quired under clause (ii), the Adminis21 trator shall consult, for a period not 

22 to exceed 24 hours, with the applica23 ble Governor to develop a plan, in ac24 cordance with the strategic plan, to 

25 make such information available to afVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:02 Feb 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4470.IH H4470

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1 fected persons within 24 hours of the 

2 end of such consultation period. 

3 ‘‘(II) DELEGATION.—The Ad4 ministrator may only delegate the 

5 duty to consult under this clause to 

6 an employee of the Environmental 

7 Protection Agency who is working in 

8 the Office of Water, at the head9 quarters of the Agency, at the time of 

10 such delegation. 

11 ‘‘(iv) DISSEMINATION BY ADMINIS12 TRATOR.—The Administrator shall dis13 seminate the information described sub14 paragraph (C) if— 

15 ‘‘(I) the Administrator and the 

16 applicable Governor do not agree on a 

17 plan described in clause (iii)(I) during 

18 the consultation period under such 

19 clause; or 

20 ‘‘(II) the applicable Governor 

21 does not disseminate the information 

22 within 24 hours of the end of such 

23 consultation period. 

24 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Informa25 tion required to be disclosed under this paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:02 Feb 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4470.IH H4470

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1 graph shall include a clear explanation of the 

2 exceedance of a lead action level or other en3 forceable maximum level of lead in a regulation 

4 promulgated under section 1412, its potential 

5 adverse effects on human health, the steps that 

6 the owner or operator of the public water sys7 tem is taking to correct the exceedance, and 

8 whether it is advisable for persons served by the 

9 public water system to seek alternative water 

10 supplies.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF LEAD PIPES, SOLDER, 

12 AND FLUX. 

13 Section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 300g–6) is amended— 

15 (1) by amending subsection (a)(2)(A) to read as 

16 follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IDENTIFICATION AND NOTICE.— 

19 Each owner or operator of a public water 

20 system shall identify and provide notice to 

21 persons who may be affected by— 

22 ‘‘(I) lead contamination of their 

23 drinking water where such contamina24 tion results from— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) the lead content in the 

2 construction materials of the 

3 public water distribution system; 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(bb) corrosivity of the 

6 water supply sufficient to cause 

7 leaching of lead; or 

8 ‘‘(II) an exceedance, in their 

9 drinking water, of a lead action level 

10 or any other enforceable maximum 

11 level of lead in a regulation issued 

12 under section 1412. 

13 ‘‘(ii) MANNER AND FORM.—Notice 

14 under this paragraph shall be provided in 

15 such manner and form as may be reason16 ably required by the Administrator. Not17 withstanding clause (i)(II), notice under 

18 this paragraph shall be provided notwith19 standing the absence of a violation of any 

20 national drinking water standard.’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘The requirements’’ and 

23 inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The requirements’’; 


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1 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘Enforcement of these requirements shall be 

3 carried out by a State with primary enforce4 ment responsibility or the Administrator, as ap5 propriate. 

6 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION BY ADMINISTRATOR.— 

7 In the case of a violation described in sub8 section (a)(2)(A)(i)(II), if the public water sys9 tem or the State in which the public water sys10 tem is located does not notify the public of the 

11 violation in accordance with subsection (a)(2), 

12 the Administrator shall notify the public of such 

13 violation in accordance with subsection (a)(2), 

14 including the relevant concentrations of lead. 

15 Such notice shall protect the privacy of indi16 vidual customer information.’’; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC EDUCATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

20 make information available to the public regarding 

21 lead in drinking water, including information regard22 ing— 

23 ‘‘(A) risks associated with lead in drinking 

24 water; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the likelihood that drinking water in 

2 a residence may contain lead; 

3 ‘‘(C) steps States, water utilities, and con4 sumers can take to reduce the risks of lead; and 

5 ‘‘(D) the availability of additional re6 sources that consumers can use to minimize 

7 lead exposure, including information on how to 

8 sample for lead in drinking water. 

9 ‘‘(2) VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.—In making 

10 information available to the public under this sub11 section, the Administrator shall carry out targeted 

12 outreach strategies that focus on educating groups 

13 within the general population that may be at greater 

14 risk than the general population of adverse health 

15 effects from exposure to lead in drinking water.’’. 

Æ 


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