I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 306

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide procedures for claims 

relating to drinking water. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2003

Mr. GARY G. MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. CALVERT, and Mr. 

DOOLEY of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide 

procedures for claims relating to drinking water.

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 ‘‘Drinking Water Stand5 ards Preservation Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) The safety of drinking water, and the ade2 quacy of water supplies, is a national concern. In the 

3 29 years since Congress first mandated the estab4 lishment of uniform national minimum drinking 

5 water standards, national standards have been es6 tablished for more than 100 contaminants and pa7 rameters. 

8 (2) The States have been authorized to enforce 

9 those standards, and, in appropriate cases, set 

10 stricter standards on a statewide basis. 

11 (3) It is technologically infeasible for a drinking 

12 water system to provide water with a zero level of 

13 contaminants, and a determination that drinking 

14 water must contain no contaminants would threaten 

15 the adequacy of water supplies. 

16 (4) The setting of drinking water standards is 

17 a complex public policy determination requiring a 

18 careful analysis and balancing of a number of fac19 tors, including—

20 (A) the maximum safe level for each drink21 ing water contaminant, the technological capa22 bility of removing contaminants from public 

23 drinking water supplies; and 

24 (B) the importance of assuring that drink25 ing water is affordable to all Americans. 
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1 (5) The setting of these standards is not appro2 priate for individual juries deciding individual cases 

3 in the separate States, but rather is fundamentally 

4 a scientific issue to be resolved by the appropriate 

5 Federal and State agencies in accordance with the 

6 rulemaking provisions of the Safe Drinking Water 

7 Act and the applicable State authorities. 

8 (6) Claims for monetary damages brought 

9 against public water providers under the common 

10 law of the various States based on alleged contami11 nation of drinking water threaten to undermine the 

12 science-based uniform national system of water qual13 ity regulation. 

14 (7) The States should retain maximum flexi15 bility to handle claims for monetary damages 

16 brought against public water providers based on al17 leged contamination of drinking water, including the 

18 authority to decide whether such claims should be 

19 heard by the courts or an administrative agency. 

20 (8) The costs of defending against multiple 

21 legal claims can be financially burdensome to any 

22 water provider, but especially to small systems, and 

23 the imposition of such costs cannot be justified when 

24 a supplier complies with the requirements of the 

25 Safe Drinking Water Act. 
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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. 

2 Section 1449 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 300j–8) is amended as follows: 

4 (1) By striking ‘‘Nothing’’ in the first sentence 

5 of subsection (e) and inserting ‘‘(1) Except as pro6 vided in subsection (f), nothing’’. 

7 (2) By striking ‘‘or to seek any other relief’’ at 

8 the end of the first sentence of subsection (e). 

9 (3) By adding after the first sentence of sub10 section (e) the following: ‘‘Nothing in subsection (f) 

11 creates a new cause of action, and, except as other12 wise explicitly provided in this title, nothing in this 

13 title expands liability otherwise imposed or limits 

14 any defense otherwise available under Federal or 

15 State law.’’ . 

16 (4) By striking ‘‘Nothing’’ in the second sen17 tence of subsection (e) and inserting ‘‘Except as pro18 vided in subsection (f), nothing’’. 

19 (5) By adding the following new subsection at 

20 the end thereof: 

21 ‘‘(f)(1) No public water system shall be liable in a 

22 civil suit brought before any Federal or State court for 

23 damages arising from injury (including personal injury, 

24 death, or property damage) allegedly caused by delivery 

25 of contaminated water, unless the court determines that 

26 the plaintiff has established the following: 
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1 ‘‘(A) In the case of a regulated contami2 nant, the plaintiff must establish that each of 

3 the following criteria are met: 

4 ‘‘(i) The substance in the delivered 

5 water which the plaintiff claims caused the 

6 injury was subject to a Federal or State 

7 regulation prescribed under this Act at the 

8 time of delivery. 

9 ‘‘(ii) There is substantial scientific 

10 evidence that the substance in the deliv11 ered water which the plaintiff claims 

12 caused the injury was of such a nature, 

13 and in such amounts, that it was reason14 ably likely to cause the kind of injury of 

15 which the plaintiff complains. 

16 ‘‘(iii) The public water system violated 

17 the regulation referred to in clause (i). 

18 ‘‘(iv) The violation was negligent. 

19 ‘‘(v) The violation caused the injury. 

20 ‘‘(B) In the case of an unregulated con21 taminant, the plaintiff must establish that each 

22 of the following criteria are met: 

23 ‘‘(i) The substance in the delivered 

24 water which the plaintiff claims caused the 

25 injury was not subject to any requirements 
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1 prescribed under this Act at the time of 

2 delivery. 

3 ‘‘(ii) There is substantial scientific 

4 evidence that the substance in the deliv5 ered water which the plaintiff claims 

6 caused the injury was of such a nature, 

7 and in such amounts, that it was reason8 ably likely to cause the kind of injury of 

9 which the plaintiff complains. 

10 ‘‘(iii) The injury actually was caused 

11 by delivery of water that contained such a 

12 substance. 

13 ‘‘(iv) The public water system knew or 

14 should have known that the substance was 

15 in the drinking water at such a level and 

16 was likely to cause the injury. 

17 ‘‘(v) It was feasible for the supplier to 

18 have removed such contaminant to a level 

19 below which it was not likely to cause such 

20 injury. 

21 ‘‘(2) The court shall, in a special pretrial pro22 ceeding, subject to the requirements of paragraph 

23 (3), determine whether the plaintiff has established 

24 either that criteria in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of 
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1 paragraph (1)(A) or criteria in clauses (i), (ii), and 

2 (v) in paragraph (1)(B) have been met. 

3 ‘‘(3) The court, in making the determinations 

4 required in paragraphs (1)(A) and (1)(B), shall 

5 adopt and give binding effect to any findings of fact, 

6 conclusions of law, or determination of any agency 

7 of a State exercising primary enforcement authority 

8 for purposes of this title. Nothing in this section lim9 its the jurisdiction or authority of any State agency 

10 to make findings and determinations with respect to 

11 whether—

12 ‘‘(A) requirements for drinking water qual13 ity adequately protect the public; 

14 ‘‘(B) additional requirements for regulated 

15 or unregulated contaminants are warranted; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(C) public water systems are in compli18 ance with such requirements.’’.

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