II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4470 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2016 

Received 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF DRINKING WATER REGULA5 TIONS. 

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

7 U.S.C. 300g–3(c)) is amended— 

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

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

10 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

12 ‘‘paragraph (2)(E)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

13 (2)(F)’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(D) Notice of any exceedance at the 90th 

16 percentile of a lead action level in a regulation 

17 promulgated under section 1412.’’; 

18 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘sub20 paragraph (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

21 (E)’’; 

22 (B) in subparagraph (C)— 

23 (i) in the header, by striking ‘‘VIOLA24 TIONS’’ and inserting ‘‘NOTICE OF VIOLA25 TIONS’’; 


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1 (ii) in the matter preceding clause 

2 (i)— 

3 (I) by inserting ‘‘, and each ex4 ceedance described in paragraph 

5 (1)(D),’’ after ‘‘for each violation’’; 

6 and 

7 (II) by inserting ‘‘or exceedance’’ 

8 after ‘‘Each notice of violation’’; 

9 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or exceedance’’ 

10 after ‘‘the violation’’ each place it appears; 

11 and 

12 (iv) in clause (iv)— 

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

14 ‘‘broadcast media’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘media, including broadcast media,’’; 

16 (II) in subclause (II)— 

17 (aa) by striking ‘‘in a news18 paper of general circulation serv19 ing the area’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

20 circulation in the affected area, 

21 including in a newspaper of gen22 eral circulation serving the 

23 area,’’; and 


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1 (bb) by striking ‘‘or the date 

2 of publication of the next issue of 

3 the newspaper’’; and 

4 (III) in subclause (III), by strik5 ing ‘‘in lieu of notification by means 

6 of broadcast media or newspaper’’; 

7 (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 

8 and (E) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respec9 tively; and 

10 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(D) NOTICE BY ADMINISTRATOR.—If, 

13 after 24 hours after the Administrator’s notifi14 cation under subsection (a)(1)(A), the State 

15 with primary enforcement responsibility or the 

16 owner or operator of the public water system 

17 has not issued a notice that is required under 

18 subparagraph (C) for an exceedance described 

19 in paragraph (1)(D), the Administrator shall 

20 issue such required notice pursuant to this 

21 paragraph.’’; 

22 (4) in paragraph (3)(B)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) and’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A),’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (C) or (D) 

2 of paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

3 (C) or (E) of paragraph (2), and notices issued 

4 by the Administrator with respect to public 

5 water systems serving Indian Tribes under sub6 paragraph (D) of such paragraph’’; 

7 (5) in paragraph (4)(B)— 

8 (A) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘the terms’’ 

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

10 (B) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘and (IV)’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘(IV) the action level for the con12 taminant, and (V)’’; and 

13 (6) by adding at the end the following: 

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

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

16 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

17 paragraph, the Administrator shall, in collabo18 ration with owners and operators of public 

19 water systems and States, establish a strategic 

20 plan for how the Administrator, a State with 

21 primary enforcement responsibility, and owners 

22 and operators of public water systems shall con23 duct targeted outreach, education, technical as24 sistance, and risk communication to populations 

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1 cluding dissemination of information described 

2 in subparagraph (C). 

3 ‘‘(B) EPA INITIATION OF NOTICE.— 

4 ‘‘(i) FORWARDING OF DATA BY EM5 PLOYEE OF EPA.—If the Environmental 

6 Protection Agency develops or receives, 

7 from a source other than the State or the 

8 public water system, data, which meets the 

9 requirements of section 1412(b)(3)(A)(ii), 

10 indicating that the drinking water of a per11 son served by a public water system con12 tains a level of lead that exceeds a lead ac13 tion level promulgated under section 1412, 

14 the Administrator shall require an appro15 priate employee of the Agency to forward 

16 such data to the owner or operator of the 

17 public water system and to the State in 

18 which the exceedance occurred within a 

19 time period established by the Adminis20 trator. 

21 ‘‘(ii) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMA22 TION BY OWNER OR OPERATOR.—If an 

23 owner or operator of a public water system 

24 receives a notice under clause (i), the 

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1 tablished by the Administrator, shall dis2 seminate to affected persons the informa3 tion described in subparagraph (C). 

4 ‘‘(iii) CONSULTATION.— 

5 ‘‘(I) DEADLINE.—With respect to 

6 an exceedance at the 90th percentile 

7 of a lead action level in a regulation 

8 promulgated under section 1412, if 

9 the owner or operator of the public 

10 water system does not disseminate, in 

11 the time period established by the Ad12 ministrator, the information described 

13 in subparagraph (C), as required 

14 under clause (ii), not later than 24 

15 hours after becoming aware of such 

16 failure to disseminate, the Adminis17 trator shall consult, within a period 

18 not to exceed 24 hours, with the ap19 plicable Governor to develop a plan, in 

20 accordance with the strategic plan, to 

21 disseminate such information to af22 fected persons within 24 hours of the 

23 end of such consultation period. 

24 ‘‘(II) DELEGATION.—The Ad25 ministrator may only delegate the 


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1 duty to consult under this clause to 

2 an employee of the Environmental 

3 Protection Agency who is working in 

4 the Office of Water, at the head5 quarters of the Agency, at the time of 

6 such delegation. 

7 ‘‘(iv) DISSEMINATION BY ADMINIS8 TRATOR.—The Administrator shall, as 

9 soon as reasonably possible, disseminate to 

10 affected persons the information described 

11 subparagraph (C) if— 

12 ‘‘(I) the Administrator and the 

13 applicable Governor do not agree on a 

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

15 the consultation period under such 

16 clause; or 

17 ‘‘(II) the applicable Governor 

18 does not disseminate the information 

19 within 24 hours of the end of such 

20 consultation period. 

21 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Informa22 tion required to be disseminated under this 

23 paragraph shall include a clear explanation of 

24 the exceedance of a lead action level, its poten25 tial adverse effects on human health, the steps 


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1 that the owner or operator of the public water 

2 system is taking to correct the exceedance, and 

3 the necessity of seeking alternative water sup4 plies until the exceedance is corrected. 

5 ‘‘(6) PRIVACY.—Any notice under this sub6 section to the public or an affected person shall pro7 tect the privacy of individual customer informa8 tion.’’. 

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

10 AND FLUX. 

11 Section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 300g–6) is amended— 

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

14 follows: 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IDENTIFICATION AND NOTICE.— 

17 Each owner or operator of a public water 

18 system shall identify and provide notice to 

19 persons who may be affected by— 

20 ‘‘(I) lead contamination of their 

21 drinking water where such contamina22 tion results from— 

23 ‘‘(aa) the lead content in the 

24 construction materials of the 


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1 public water distribution system; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(bb) corrosivity of the 

4 water supply sufficient to cause 

5 leaching of lead; or 

6 ‘‘(II) an exceedance at the 90th 

7 percentile of a lead action level in a 

8 regulation promulgated under section 

9 1412. 

10 ‘‘(ii) MANNER AND FORM.—Notice 

11 under this paragraph shall be provided in 

12 such manner and form as may be reason13 ably required by the Administrator. Not14 withstanding clause (i)(II), notice under 

15 this paragraph shall be provided notwith16 standing the absence of a violation of any 

17 national drinking water standard.’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 

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

20 inserting the following: 

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

22 and 

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

24 ‘‘Enforcement of such requirements shall be 

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1 ment responsibility or the Administrator, as ap2 propriate. 

3 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION BY ADMINISTRATOR.— 

4 In the case of an exceedance described in sub5 section (a)(2)(A)(i)(II), if the public water sys6 tem or the State in which the public water sys7 tem is located does not notify the persons who 

8 may be affected by such exceedance in accord9 ance with subsection (a)(2), the Administrator 

10 shall notify such persons of such exceedance in 

11 accordance with subsection (a)(2), including no12 tification of the relevant concentrations of lead. 

13 Such notice shall protect the privacy of indi14 vidual customer information.’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC EDUCATION.— 

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

18 make information available to the public regarding 

19 lead in drinking water, including information regard20 ing— 

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

22 water; 

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

24 a residence may contain lead; 


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1 ‘‘(C) steps States, public water systems, 

2 and consumers can take to reduce the risks of 

3 lead; and 

4 ‘‘(D) the availability of additional re5 sources that consumers can use to minimize 

6 lead exposure, including information on how to 

7 sample for lead in drinking water. 

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

9 information available to the public under this sub10 section, the Administrator shall carry out targeted 

11 outreach strategies that focus on educating groups 

12 within the general population that may be at greater 

13 risk than the general population of adverse health 

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

Passed the House of Representatives February 10, 

2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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