I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 226

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to assure the safety of public

water systems.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. DINGELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to assure the safety

of public water systems.

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 Amendments of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES; EFFECTIVE DATE; DISCLAIMER.

7 (a) REFERENCE TO SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT.—

8 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this

9 Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an

10 amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision,
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1 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section

2 or other provision of title XIV of the Public Health Service

3 Act (the Safe Drinking Water Act) (42 U.S.C. 300f and

4 following).

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise speci6 fied in this Act or in the amendments made by this Act,

7 the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the

8 date of enactment of this Act.

9 (c) DISCLAIMER.—Nothing in this Act or in any

10 amendments made by this Act to title XIV of the Public

11 Health Service Act (the Safe Drinking Water Act) or any

12 other law shall be construed by the Administrator of the

13 Environmental Protection Agency or the courts as affect14 ing, modifying, expanding, changing, or altering (1) the

15 provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, (2)

16 the duties and responsibilities of the Administrator under

17 that Act, or (3) the regulation or control of point or

18 nonpoint sources of pollution discharged into waters cov19 ered by that Act. The Administrator shall identify in the

20 agency’s annual budget all funding and full-time equiva21 lents administering the Safe Drinking Water Act sepa22 rately from funding and staffing for the Federal Water

23 Pollution Control Act.
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1 SEC. 3. NATIONAL DRINKING WATER REGULATIONS.

2 (a) NEW CONTAMINANT SELECTION.—Section

3 1412(b)(3) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(3) REGULATION OF UNREGULATED CONTAMI5 NANTS.—

6 ‘‘(A) PROPOSED LISTS.—(i) Within 1 year after

7 the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

8 Amendments of 1994, the Administrator, after con9 sultation with the scientific community, including

10 the Science Advisory Board, shall select and publish

11 a proposed list of not fewer than 15 contaminants

12 which are known or anticipated to occur in public

13 water systems, which are not subject to any pro14 posed or promulgated national primary drinking

15 water regulation, and which may require regulation

16 under this title.

17 ‘‘(ii) Within 5 years after the enactment of the

18 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994 and

19 every 4 years thereafter, the Administrator, after

20 consultation with the scientific community, including

21 the Science Advisory Board, and after considering

22 the occurrence data base established under section

23 1445(g), shall (in addition to the contaminants list24 ed under clause (i)) select and publish a proposed

25 list of not fewer than 12 contaminants which are not

26 subject to any proposed or promulgated national pri-
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1 mary drinking water regulation, which are known or

2 anticipated to occur in public water systems, and

3 which may require regulation under this title.

4 ‘‘(iii) If, after the year 2010, the Administrator

5 determines that the number of unregulated contami6 nants meeting the criteria for the list under clause

7 (ii) is fewer than 12, the Administrator may, by

8 rule, waive the requirement to select at least 12 con9 taminants every 4 years under that clause. At any

10 time after such rule is promulgated, the Adminis11 trator may, after consultation with the scientific

12 community, including the Science Advisory Board

13 and after considering the occurrence data base es14 tablished under section 1445(g), select a proposed

15 list of 1 or more contaminants (in addition to the

16 contaminants listed under clause (i) or (ii)) which

17 are known or anticipated to occur in public water

18 systems, which are not subject to any proposed or

19 promulgated national primary drinking water regula20 tion, and which may require regulation under this

21 title.

22 ‘‘(iv) In selecting unregulated contaminants for

23 the proposed lists referred to in this paragraph, the

24 Administrator shall select contaminants that present

25 the greatest public health concern. The Adminis-
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1 trator, in making such selection, shall take into con2 sideration, among other factors of public health con3 cern, the effect of such contaminants upon

4 subgroups that comprise a meaningful portion of the

5 general population (such as pregnant woman and

6 children) that are identifiable as being at greater

7 health risk than the general population, based on

8 adequate scientific information. The unregulated

9 contaminants considered for such proposed lists

10 shall include, but not be limited to, substances re11 ferred to in section 101(14) of the Comprehensive

12 Environmental Response Compensation and Liability

13 Act of 1980, and substances registered as pesticides

14 under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and

15 Rodenticide Act.

16 ‘‘(v) The Administrator’s decision whether or

17 not to select an unregulated contaminant for a pro18 posed list pursuant to this paragraph shall not be

19 subject to judicial review.

20 ‘‘(B) FINAL LIST.—Each proposed list estab21 lished in subparagraph (A) shall be subject to public

22 comment for a period of at least 60 days. Within 6

23 months after the close of the public comment period,

24 and not later than 1 year after the proposed list is

25 published, the Administrator shall publish in the
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1 Federal Register the final list of contaminants meet2 ing the requirements of subparagraph (A), together

3 with responses to significant comments. Each final

4 list shall include at least the minimum number of

5 contaminants specified in subparagraph (A).

6 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION TO REGULATE.—At any

7 time after the final list of contaminants established

8 under subparagraph (B) is published, but not later

9 than 30 months thereafter, the Administrator shall

10 determine, by rule, whether or not to regulate each

11 of the contaminants on such final list. The Adminis12 trator, after notice in the Federal Register, may ex13 tend the period for making such determination for

14 any or all of the contaminants on the list for up to

15 9 months. The Administrator shall allow at least 90

16 days for public comment prior to making a deter17 mination under this subparagraph. A determination

18 to regulate a contaminant shall be based on the fol19 lowing three findings:

20 ‘‘(i) A finding that the contaminant is

21 known to occur in public water systems.

22 ‘‘(ii) A finding that, based on the best

23 available public health information, the con24 taminant occurs in concentrations which have
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1 or may have any adverse effect on the health of

2 persons.

3 ‘‘(iii) A finding that regulation of such

4 contaminant presents a meaningful opportunity

5 for public health risk reduction for persons

6 served by public water systems.

7 The Administrator may regulate a contaminant that

8 does not appear on a list published under subpara9 graph (A) or (B) if the determination to regulate is

10 pursuant to this subparagraph.

11 ‘‘(D) REGULATION.—For each contaminant

12 under subparagraph (C) that the Administrator de13 termines shall be regulated, the Administrator shall

14 promulgate, by rule, maximum contaminant level

15 goals and national primary drinking water regula16 tions as provided in paragraphs (4) and (5) of this

17 subsection. The Administrator shall propose the

18 maximum contaminant level goal and national pri19 mary drinking water regulation not later than 18

20 months after the determination to regulate under

21 subparagraph (C), and may publish such proposed

22 regulation concurrent with the determination to reg23 ulate. The Administrator shall allow at least 90 days

24 for public comment on any such proposed goal and

25 proposed regulation. The Administrator shall pro-
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1 mulgate a maximum contaminant level goal and na2 tional primary drinking water regulation within 18

3 months after the proposal thereof. The Adminis4 trator, by notice in the Federal Register, may extend

5 the deadline for such promulgation for up to 9

6 months.

7 ‘‘(E) HEALTH ADVISORIES.—The Administrator

8 may publish health advisories (which are not regula9 tions) or take other appropriate actions for contami10 nants not subject to any national primary drinking

11 water regulation.

12 ‘‘(F) STUDY OF HEALTH EFFECTS.—As part of

13 the Administrator’s study, under existing authorities

14 of the Administrator, of the health effects of con15 taminants for regulatory purposes, the Adminis16 trator shall examine, among other health related is17 sues, methods for identifying subpopulations that

18 may be impacted by contaminants and the extent

19 and nature of such impacts, taking into consider20 ation other risks to such subpopulations. There are

21 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be

22 necessary for the Administrator to examine the

23 health effects of drinking water contaminants for

24 such regulatory purposes.
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1 ‘‘(G) CRYPTOSPORIDIUM.—(i) Not later than

2 December 31, 1996, the Administrator shall publish

3 a maximum contaminant level goal and promulgate

4 an interim national primary drinking water regula5 tion for cryptosporidium for public water systems

6 serving 10,000 persons or more. Such regulation

7 shall take effect not later than 24 months after the

8 date of promulgation.

9 ‘‘(ii) Not later than December 31, 1998, the

10 Administrator shall promulgate a national primary

11 drinking water regulation for cryptosporidium. Such

12 regulation shall take effect, for public water systems

13 of all sizes, not later than 24 months after the date

14 of promulgation.

15 Each date for publication and promulgation specified in

16 clause (i) and (ii) may be delayed by up to 6 months if

17 the Administrator determines that such additional time is

18 necessary to review information under the Administrator’s

19 information collection rule.’’.

20 (b) LIMITED ALTERNATIVE TO FILTRATION RE21 QUIREMENTS.—Section 1412(b)(7)(C) is amended by add22 ing at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(v) As an additional alternative to the regulations

24 promulgated pursuant to clauses (i) and (iii), including the

25 criteria for avoiding filtration contained in 40 CFR
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1 141.71, a State exercising primary enforcement respon2 sibility for public water systems may establish, on a case3 by-case basis and after notice and an opportunity of at

4 least 90 days for public comment, alternatives to filtration

5 requirements in effect on such date of enactment, in the

6 case of systems having uninhabited, undeveloped water7 sheds in consolidated ownership, and having control over

8 access to, and activities in, those watersheds if (taking into

9 consideration the effects of wildlife in such watersheds)

10 the State determines (and the Administrator concurs) that

11 the public health will be fully protected by such alter12 natives consistent with the requirements of this title. The

13 authority of a State to establish alternatives under this

14 clause shall expire 3 years after the enactment of the Safe

15 Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994.’’.

16 (c) COMPLIANCE DATES.—Section 1412(b) is amend17 ed by striking the first sentence in paragraph (10) and

18 by adding the following at the end thereof:

19 ‘‘(12) Within 24 months after the promulgation of

20 a national primary drinking water regulation under this

21 subsection, each State exercising primary enforcement re22 sponsibility for public water systems shall adopt cor23 responding State regulations under section 1413(a)(1).

24 The Administrator shall specify the date upon which pub25 lic water systems must comply with each national primary
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1 drinking water regulation promulgated under this sub2 section. Such compliance date may not be more than 36

3 months after the date of promulgation, except that if the

4 Administrator determines that additional time is nec5 essary for capital improvements required to meet the na6 tional primary drinking water regulations, the Adminis7 trator may establish a later compliance date. Such later

8 date shall not be later than 48 months after the date of

9 promulgation (or 60 months in the case of systems serving

10 fewer than 3,300 persons). Each State with primary en11 forcement responsibility may determine a public water sys12 tem’s eligibility for any extension beyond 36 months.

13 Nothing in this paragraph shall limit the discretion of the

14 Administrator to differentiate among the compliance dates

15 on the basis of system size or other factors considered ap16 propriate by the Administrator, or to establish interim

17 compliance milestones.’’.

18 SEC. 4. STANDARD SETTING.

19 Section 1412 is amended as follows:

20 (1) The second sentence of subsection (b)(4) is

21 amended by inserting before the period the follow22 ing: ‘‘or a treatment technique established pursuant

23 to paragraph (7)(A) of this subsection’’.

24 (2) Subsection (b)(5) is amended as follows:
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1 (A) In the first sentence, strike ‘‘feasible’’

2 after ‘‘means’’ and insert ‘‘achievable’’; and

3 after ‘‘technology’’ strike ‘‘, treatment tech4 niques and’’ and insert ‘‘or’’.

5 (B) Insert ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(5)’’ and add the

6 following at the end thereof:

7 ‘‘(B) For purposes of taking costs into consideration

8 pursuant to the first sentence of subparagraph (A) of this

9 paragraph, in the case of any national primary drinking

10 water regulation proposed and promulgated after enact11 ment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

12 1994 (other than a national primary drinking water regu13 lation covered by subparagraph (C) or (D)), the Adminis14 trator shall consider (in the case of nonthreshold contami15 nants) and may consider (in the case of threshold contami16 nants) both the incremental compliance costs likely to be

17 incurred and the incremental public health risk reduction

18 benefits afforded by alternative levels. The terms ‘costs’

19 and ‘benefits’, as used in this subparagraph—

20 ‘‘(i) shall include additional and identifiable re21 ductions, if any, of regulated contaminants not cov22 ered by such proposed or promulgated regulation

23 that are expected to be achieved solely from the use

24 of the applicable technology or technologies that

25 form the basis for such regulation, and
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1 ‘‘(ii) shall include consideration of the effects of

2 such contaminants upon subgroups that comprise a

3 meaningful portion of the general population, such

4 as pregnant women and children, that are identifi5 able as being at greater health risk than the general

6 population based on adequate scientific information.

7 ‘‘(C) Subparagraph (B) shall not take effect with re8 spect to the first promulgation after the date of enactment

9 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, or

10 with respect to the initial revision after such date, of a

11 national primary drinking water regulation for the follow12 ing:

13 ‘‘(i) Contaminants covered by the proposed na14 tional primary drinking water regulation for radio15 nuclides as set forth in 56 Federal Register 33050,

16 July 19, 1991.

17 ‘‘(ii) Sulfate.

18 ‘‘(iii) Contaminants covered by the proposed ne19 gotiated rules on (I) disinfectants and disinfection

20 by-products as set forth in 59 Federal Register

21 38668, July 29, 1994, and (II) enhanced surface

22 water treatment as set forth in 59 Federal Register

23 38832, July 29, 1994. Subparagraph (B) shall also

24 not take effect with respect to the promulgation of

25 a second stage regulation for contaminants covered
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1 by the proposed negotiated rules referred to in

2 clause (iii).

3 Any subsequent revision of any such regulation shall be

4 subject to the provisions of subparagraph (D).

5 ‘‘(D) In the case of any national primary drinking

6 water regulation for a contaminant regulated prior to en7 actment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

8 1994, or any subsequent revision of a national primary

9 drinking water regulation established in accordance with

10 subparagraph (C), subparagraph (B) shall apply to any

11 proposal to amend such national primary drinking water

12 regulation only if a review required pursuant to paragraph

13 (9) results in findings by the Administrator, published in

14 the Federal Register, that changes in technology, treat15 ment techniques, or other means permit greater protection

16 of the health of persons. If the Administrator promulgates

17 such regulation in accordance with subparagraph (B),

18 such regulation must provide for greater protection of the

19 health of persons. If the Administrator does not promul20 gate a regulation in accordance with subparagraph (B) be21 cause such greater protection of the health of persons is

22 not achievable, the Administrator may initiate a new rule23 making under subparagraph (A) or retain the existing na24 tional primary drinking water regulations.
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1 ‘‘(E) Any subsequent revision of a national primary

2 drinking water regulation for contaminants regulated in

3 accordance with subparagraph (C) or (D) (where such re4 vision is pursuant to the standard setting language of sub5 paragraph (B)) shall, at a minimum, provide greater pro6 tection of the health of persons than the regulation in ef7 fect on the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water

8 Act Amendments of 1994 for such contaminant or, in the

9 case of contaminants subject to subparagraph (C), than

10 the regulation promulgated under subparagraph (C). If

11 the Administrator does not promulgate such regulation in

12 accordance with subparagraph (B) because such greater

13 protection is not achievable, the Administrator may initi14 ate a new rulemaking pursuant to subparagraph (A) or

15 retain the existing national primary drinking water regula16 tions.

17 ‘‘(F) In the absence of scientific evidence suggesting

18 new or more serious health effects than existing on the

19 date of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend20 ments of 1994, for purposes of proposal and promulgation

21 after such date of a national primary drinking water regu22 lation for sulfate, the Administrator shall include—

23 ‘‘(i) best technology or other means under sub24 section (b)(5), and
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1 ‘‘(ii) public notification and options for provi2 sion of alternative water to populations at risk as al3 ternative means for complying with such regulation.

4 Such proposal shall be made within 6 months after such

5 date of enactment and such rule shall be promulgated

6 within 2 years after such date of enactment.

7 ‘‘(G)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), notwith8 standing any provision of any law enacted prior to the en9 actment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

10 1994, within 6 months of such date of enactment, the Ad11 ministrator shall promulgate a national primary drinking

12 water regulation for radon.

13 ‘‘(ii) For the period of 5 years from the date of pro14 mulgation of the regulation under clause (i) or from the

15 end of the 6-month period referred to in such clause,

16 whichever comes first, such regulation shall provide that

17 public water systems may comply with an alternative max18 imum contaminant level of 1000 picocuries per liter. If

19 the Congress enacts legislation which reauthorizes the In20 door Radon Abatement Act in the 103d or 104th Con21 gress, such alternative maximum contaminant level shall

22 thereafter be deemed to be the applicable maximum con23 taminant level for purposes of such regulation.’’.
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1 (3) In the first sentence of subsection

2 (b)(7)(A), strike the word ‘‘ascertain’’ and insert

3 ‘‘measure’’.

4 (4) In subsection (b)(9) strike ‘‘3-year’’ and in5 sert ‘‘5-year’’. No change to section 1412(b)(9)

6 made by this Act shall be a basis for delaying the

7 promulgation of any rule proposed pursuant to sec8 tion 1412(b)(9) prior to the date of the enactment

9 of this Act.

10 (5) Add the following new subsection at the end

11 thereof:

12 ‘‘(f) METHODOLOGIES; RISK ASSESSMENT.—(1) The

13 Administrator, in carrying out the provisions of this title,

14 is expected, consistent with the intent of Congress, to use

15 at all times sound, unbiased, and objective scientific prac16 tices and methodologies. The Administrator, in carrying

17 out the Administrator’s responsibilities under this title,

18 shall ensure that the presentation of information on sig19 nificant health risks is unbiased and informative.

20 ‘‘(2) To the extent feasible, documents made available

21 to the general public which describe the degree of risk

22 from exposure shall, at a minimum, characterize the popu23 lation or populations, (including any identifiable sub24 populations, as referred to in section 1412(b)(5)(B)(ii), at

25 greater risk than the general population) addressed by any
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1 agency risk estimates; state the expected risk for the spe2 cific population; and state the reasonable range or other

3 equivalent description of uncertainty in the assessment

4 process.’’.

5 SEC. 5. SMALL SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY.

6 Section 1412(b)(6) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(6)(A) For purposes of this section and section

8 1415, at the time the Administrator proposes and promul9 gates a national primary drinking water regulation estab10 lishing a maximum contaminant level for any contami11 nant, the Administrator shall propose and promulgate a

12 listing of the best technology or other means available for

13 achieving compliance with such regulation for large public

14 water systems, and a listing of the best technology or other

15 means, if any, available for achieving compliance with such

16 regulation for public water systems in each of the follow17 ing categories:

18 ‘‘(i) Systems serving fewer than 10,000 persons

19 but not fewer than 3,300 persons.

20 ‘‘(ii) Systems serving 3,300 persons or fewer.

21 In proposing and promulgating lists for systems described

22 in clauses (i) and (ii), the Administrator shall consider

23 cost variations associated with system size.

24 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this section and section 1415,

25 at the time the Administrator proposes and promulgates
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1 a national primary drinking water regulation establishing

2 a treatment technique for any contaminant, the Adminis3 trator shall propose and promulgate, for large public water

4 systems, and for systems in the size ranges referred to

5 in clause (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A), a listing of the

6 best technology or other means, if any, available for

7 achieving a level of protection for public health equivalent

8 to the level of protection provided by such treatment tech9 nique for systems in such size ranges.

10 ‘‘(C) A listing under this paragraph of the best tech11 nology or other means under subparagraph (A) shall not

12 be construed to require or authorize that any specified

13 technology or other means be used for purpose of meeting

14 any national primary drinking water regulation.

15 ‘‘(D) A listing under this paragraph of the best tech16 nology or other means shall provide as much reliable infor17 mation as practicable on performance, effectiveness, limi18 tations, costs, and other relevant factors in support of the

19 listing, including the applicability of such technology or

20 other means to surface and underground source waters,

21 or both. Consistent with such reliable information, each

22 State exercising primary enforcement responsibility for

23 such systems shall presume (pending the availability of

24 monitoring data, pending availability of information on a

25 system’s viability, including the availability of financial as-
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1 sistance under this title, and pending other relevant fac2 tors) that use of such technology or other means should

3 enable the public water system concerned to meet the na4 tional primary drinking water regulation.

5 ‘‘(E) The Administrator shall, on a continuing basis,

6 assess the engineering feasibility, performance, effective7 ness, costs, and limitations of best technologies and other

8 means of meeting national primary drinking water regula9 tions, and may, by rule, revise the list under subparagraph

10 (A) or (B) as appropriate.

11 ‘‘(F) As used in this paragraph, the term ‘best tech12 nology’ for public water systems shall include, whenever

13 appropriate, innovative and alternative technologies.

14 ‘‘(G) At any time after the promulgation of a national

15 primary drinking water regulation, the Administrator may

16 add to the lists under this paragraph, by guidance pub17 lished in the Federal Register, any new or innovative tech18 nology or other means. A State may treat such tech19 nologies in the same manner as those listed pursuant to

20 subparagraph (A) or (B).

21 ‘‘(H) To the greatest extent possible, within 24

22 months after the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water

23 Act Amendments of 1994, the Administrator shall publish

24 each of the following for public water systems in the size
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1 ranges referred to in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph

2 (A)—

3 ‘‘(i) For contaminants subject to a maximum

4 contaminant level promulgated prior to such publica5 tion, a list of best technologies available that achieve

6 compliance with such maximum contaminant level.

7 ‘‘(ii) For contaminants subject to a treatment

8 technique promulgated prior to such publication, a

9 list of alternative technologies that achieve a level of

10 protection of public health equivalent to the level of

11 protection provided by such treatment technique.’’.

12 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 1413.

13 (a) EMERGENCY PLANS.—Section 1413(a)(5) is

14 amended by inserting after ‘‘emergency circumstances’’

15 the following: ‘‘including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes,

16 and other natural disasters’’.

17 (b) PROTECTION OF DRINKING WATER DISTRIBU18 TION SYSTEMS.—Section 1413(a) is amended by adding

19 the following after paragraph (6), as added by section

20 7(a):

21 ‘‘(7) has adopted (pursuant to guidance issued

22 by the Administrator not later than 3 years after the

23 date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water

24 Act Amendments of 1994) and implemented require25 ments for public water systems in the State to take
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1 feasible measures to protect the distribution system

2 from contamination due to leakage from sewer

3 lines.’’.

4 (c) RECYCLING OF FILTER BACKWASH.—Section

5 1413 is amended by adding at the end thereof the follow6 ing:

7 ‘‘(c) RECYCLING OF FILTER BACKWASH.—The Ad8 ministrator shall promulgate a regulation to govern the

9 recycling of filter backwash water within the treatment

10 process of a public water system. The Administrator shall

11 promulgate such regulation not later than 3 years after

12 the date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

13 Amendments of 1994 unless such recycling has been ad14 dressed by the Administrator’s ‘enhanced surface water

15 treatment rule’ prior to such date. Any regulation under

16 this subsection shall be deemed to be a national primary

17 drinking water regulation for purposes of this title.’’.

18 SEC. 7. CERTIFICATION OF LABORATORIES AND OPERA19 TORS.

20 (a) CERTIFICATION.—Section 1413(a) is amended by

21 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (4), by striking

22 the period at the end of paragraph (5) and inserting a

23 semicolon, and by adding the following at the end thereof:

24 ‘‘(6) has adopted and is implementing, within 2

25 years after the promulgation of regulations pursuant
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1 to section 1442(h), requirements for the certification

2 of—

3 ‘‘(A) laboratories conducting tests pursu4 ant to this part, and

5 ‘‘(B) operators of community and

6 nontransient noncommunity public water sys7 tems; and’’.

8 (b) STANDARDS.—Section 1442 is amended by add9 ing the following at the end thereof:

10 ‘‘(h) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—(1) Not later than 30

11 months after the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking

12 Water Act Amendments of 1994 and after consultation

13 with States exercising primary enforcement responsibility

14 for public water systems, the Administrator shall promul15 gate regulations specifying minimum standards for certifi16 cation (and recertification) of the operators of public

17 water systems. Such regulations shall take into account

18 existing State programs, the complexity of the system and

19 other factors aimed at providing an effective program at

20 reasonable cost to States and public water systems, taking

21 into account the size of the system.

22 ‘‘(2) Not later than 3 years after the date of enact23 ment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

24 1994 and after consultation with States exercising pri25 mary enforcement responsibility for public water systems,
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1 the Administrator shall promulgate regulations specifying

2 minimum standards for certification (and recertification)

3 of laboratories conducting tests pursuant to this part.

4 Such regulations shall contain minimum criteria to ensure,

5 to the extent possible, nationwide uniformity in such test6 ing.

7 ‘‘(3) For any State exercising primary enforcement

8 responsibility for public water systems which has an oper9 ator certification program in effect on the date of the en10 actment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

11 1994, the regulations under paragraph (1) shall allow the

12 State to enforce such program in lieu of the regulations

13 under paragraph (1) if the State submits the program to

14 the Administrator within 18 months after the promulga15 tion of such regulations unless the Administrator deter16 mines (within 9 months after the State submits the pro17 gram to the Administrator) that such program is incon18 sistent with such regulations. If disapproved it may be re19 submitted in accordance with section 1428(c).’’.

20 (c) STUDY OF TRANSIENT SYSTEMS.—The Adminis21 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall sur22 vey various categories of transient noncommunity public

23 water systems nationwide to evaluate any potential public

24 health threat posed by any lack of operator certification

25 or training for such systems, and within 4 years after the
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1 date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

2 Amendments of 1994, report to Congress with appropriate

3 recommendations.

4 SEC. 8. ENFORCEMENT OF DRINKING WATER REGULA5 TIONS.

6 (a) NOTICE.—Section 1414(a)(1)(A) is amended by

7 striking ‘‘he shall so notify the State and’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘the Administrator shall so notify the State, provide the

9 State with an opportunity to confer with the Adminis10 trator, and notify’’.

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1414(g)(2) is

12 amended as follows:

13 (1) Amend the first sentence to read as follows:

14 ‘‘In the case of a State exercising primary enforce15 ment responsibility for public water systems, an

16 order issued under this subsection to enforce section

17 1445 shall not take effect until after the Adminis18 trator has provided such State with an opportunity

19 to confer with the Administrator regarding the

20 order.’’.

21 (2) Strike ‘‘proposed’’ in the second sentence.

22 (c) CIVIL PENALTY.—Section 1414(g)(3) is amended

23 as follows:

24 (1) In subparagraph (B), strike ‘‘$5,000’’ and

25 insert ‘‘$75,000 (or $100,000 if the violation occurs
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1 for more than 15 days or the public water system

2 serves more than 10,000 persons)’’.

3 (2) In subparagraph (C), strike ‘‘$5,000’’ and

4 insert ‘‘$75,000 (or $100,000 if the violation occurs

5 for more than 15 days or the public water system

6 serves more than 10,000 persons)’’.

7 (d) ENFORCEABILITY OF STATE REQUIREMENTS.—

8 Section 1414 is amended by adding the following at the

9 end thereof:

10 ‘‘(h) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—For a State exercising

11 primary enforcement responsibility for public water sys12 tems, any violation of a State requirement that imple13 ments a national primary drinking water regulation shall

14 be treated as a violation of a national primary drinking

15 water regulation in effect under section 1412, except to

16 the extent that the State requirement includes elements

17 that are more stringent, or broader in scope, than ele18 ments of the national primary drinking water regulation.’’.

19 SEC. 9. QUARTERLY NONCOMPLIANCE REPORTING.

20 (a) NONCOMPLIANCE REPORTING.—Section 1413 is

21 amended by inserting the following new subsection after

22 subsection (c):

23 ‘‘(d) QUARTERLY NONCOMPLIANCE REPORTING.—

24 (1) Each State exercising primary enforcement respon25 sibility for public water systems shall submit quarterly re-
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1 ports to the Administrator on a schedule and in a format

2 prescribed by the Administrator, consisting of each of the

3 following items:

4 ‘‘(A) Violations, during the previous quarter, by

5 public water systems in the State of State regula6 tions adopted to implement the requirements of na7 tional primary drinking water regulations.

8 ‘‘(B) Enforcement actions taken, during the

9 previous quarter, by the State against public water

10 systems with respect to State regulations adopted to

11 implement the requirements of national primary

12 drinking water regulations.

13 ‘‘(C) Notification of any variance or exemption

14 granted during the previous quarter. The notice

15 shall include a statement of reasons for the granting

16 of the variance or exemption, including documenta17 tion of the need for the variance or exemption and

18 the finding that the granting of the variance or ex19 emption will not result in an unreasonable risk to

20 health. The State may use a single notification

21 statement to report 2 or more similar variances or

22 exemptions.

23 ‘‘(2) The reports under paragraph (1)(A) shall in24 clude information specifying the contamination level in the
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1 case of any exceedance of any maximum contaminant level

2 included in a national primary drinking water regulation.

3 ‘‘(3) The Administrator shall make all information

4 reported to the Administrator under this subsection avail5 able to the public in such manner as will ensure maximum

6 accessibility and comprehension by the public.’’.

7 (b) COMPLIANCE WITH SUBSECTION (h).—Section

8 1413(a)(3) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including reports

9 under subsection (d),’’ after ‘‘reports’’.

10 SEC. 10. SMALL SYSTEM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

11 (a) BAAT VARIANCE.—Section 1415 is amended by

12 adding the following at the end thereof:

13 ‘‘(e) SMALL SYSTEM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—

14 ‘‘(1) BAAT VARIANCES.—In the case of public

15 water systems serving 3,300 persons or fewer, a

16 variance under this section shall be granted by a

17 State which has primary enforcement responsibility

18 for public water systems allowing the use of Best

19 Available Affordable Technology in lieu of best tech20 nology or other means where—

21 ‘‘(A) no best technology or other means is

22 listed under subparagraph (A)(ii) or subpara23 graph (B) of section 1412(b)(6) for a given

24 contaminant for public water systems serving

25 3,300 persons or fewer;
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1 ‘‘(B) the Administrator has identified

2 BAAT for that contaminant pursuant to para3 graph (3); and

4 ‘‘(C) the State finds that the conditions in

5 paragraph (4) are met.

6 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF BAAT.—The term ‘Best

7 Available Affordable Technology’ or ‘BAAT’ means

8 the most effective technology or other means for the

9 control of a drinking water contaminant or contami10 nants that is available and affordable to systems

11 serving fewer than 3,300 persons.

12 ‘‘(3) IDENTIFICATION OF BAAT.—(A) As part

13 of each national primary drinking water regulation

14 proposed and promulgated after the enactment of

15 the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994,

16 the Administrator shall identify BAAT in any case

17 where no ‘best technology or other means’ is listed

18 under subparagraph (A)(ii) or subparagraph (B) of

19 section 1412(b)(6) for that contaminant for systems

20 serving fewer than 3,300 persons. No such identified

21 BAAT shall require a technology from specific man22 ufacturer or brand. BAAT need not be adequate to

23 achieve the applicable maximum contaminant level

24 or treatment technique, but shall bring the public

25 water system as close to achievement of such maxi-
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1 mum contaminant level as practical or as close to

2 the level of health protection provided by such treat3 ment technique as practical, as the case may be. Any

4 technology or other means identified as BAAT must

5 be determined by the Administrator to be protective

6 of public health. Simultaneously with identification

7 of BAAT, the Administrator shall list any assump8 tions underlying the public health determination re9 ferred to in the preceding sentence, where such as10 sumptions concern the public water system to which

11 the technology may be applied, or its source waters.

12 The Administrator shall provide the assumptions

13 used in determining affordability, taking into consid14 eration the number of persons served by such sys15 tems. Such listing shall provide as much reliable in16 formation as practicable on performance, effective17 ness, limitations, costs, and other relevant factors in

18 support of such listing, including the applicability of

19 BAAT to surface and underground waters or both.

20 ‘‘(B) To the greatest extent possible, within 24

21 months after the date of the enactment of the Safe

22 Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, the Ad23 ministrator shall identify BAAT for all national pri24 mary drinking water regulations proposed or pro25 mulgated prior to such date of enactment where no
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1 best technology or other means is listed under sub2 paragraph (A)(ii) or subparagraph (B) of section

3 1412(b)(6) for that contaminant for systems serving

4 fewer than 3,300 persons, and where compliance by

5 such small systems is not practical. In identifying

6 BAAT for such national primary drinking water reg7 ulations, the Administrator shall give priority to

8 evaluation of atrazine, asbestos, selenium,

9 pentachlorophenol, antimony, and nickel.

10 ‘‘(4) CONDITIONS FOR BAAT VARIANCE.—To

11 grant a variance under this subsection, the State

12 must determine that—

13 ‘‘(A) the public water system cannot install

14 ‘best technology or other means’ because of the

15 system’s small size;

16 ‘‘(B) the public water system could not

17 comply with the maximum contaminant level

18 through use of alternate water supplies or

19 through management changes or restructuring,

20 as described in section 1419 (relating to public

21 water system viability);

22 ‘‘(C) the public water system has the ca23 pacity to operate and maintain BAAT; and

24 ‘‘(D) the circumstances of the public water

25 system are consistent with the public health as-
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1 sumptions identified by the Administrator

2 under paragraph (3).

3 ‘‘(5) SCHEDULES.—Any variance granted by a

4 State under this subsection shall establish a schedule

5 for the installation and operation of BAAT within a

6 period not to exceed 2 years after the issuance of the

7 variance, except that the State may grant an exten8 sion of 1 additional year upon application by the

9 system. The application shall include a showing of

10 financial or technical need. Variances under this

11 subsection shall be for a term not to exceed 5 years

12 (including the period allowed for installation and op13 eration of BAAT), but may be renewed for such ad14 ditional 5-year periods by the State upon a finding

15 that the criteria in paragraph (4) continued to be

16 met.

17 ‘‘(6) MICROBIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS.—No

18 variance may be issued under this subsection for

19 microbiological contaminants.

20 ‘‘(7) REVIEW.—Any review by the Adminis21 trator under paragraphs (4) and (5) shall be pursu22 ant to subsection (a)(1)(G)(i).’’.

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING CHANGES.—(1)

24 Section 1415 is amended by striking ‘‘best technology,

25 treatment techniques, or other means’’ and ‘‘best available
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1 technology, treatment techniques or other means’’ each

2 place such terms appear and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘best

3 technology or other means’’.

4 (2) Section 1415(a)(1)(A) is amended by striking the

5 third sentence and by striking ‘‘Before a schedule pre6 scribed by a State pursuant to this subparagraph may

7 take effect’’ and all that follows down to the beginning

8 of the last sentence.

9 (3) Section 1415(a)(1)(C) is amended as follows:

10 (A) Amend the first sentence to read as follows:

11 ‘‘Before a variance is issued and a schedule is pre12 scribed pursuant to this subsection or subsection (e)

13 by a State, the State shall provide notice and an op14 portunity for a public hearing on the proposed vari15 ance and schedule.’’.

16 (B) Insert ‘‘under this section’’ before the pe17 riod at the end of the third sentence’’.

18 (4) Section 1415(a)(1)(D) is amended as follows:

19 (A) Strike ‘‘under subparagraph (A)’’ and in20 sert ‘‘under this section’’.

21 (B) Strike ‘‘that subparagraph’’ in each place it

22 appears and insert in each such place ‘‘this section’’.

23 (C) Strike the last sentence.

24 (5) Section 1415(a)(1)(F) is amended by striking ‘‘3-

25 year’’ and inserting ‘‘5-year’’ and by amending the first
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1 sentence to read as follows: ‘‘Not later than 5 years after

2 the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend3 ments of 1994, the Administrator shall complete a review

4 of the variances granted under this section (and the sched5 ules prescribed in connection with such variances).’’.

6 (6) Section 1415(a)(1)(G)(i) is amended by striking

7 ‘‘subparagraph (A) or (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’.

8 (7) Section 1415(b) is amended by striking ‘‘para9 graph (1)(B) or (2) of subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘this

10 section’’.

11 (8) Section 1415(c) is amended by striking ‘‘sub12 section (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’.

13 (9) Section 1415(d) is amended to read as follows:

14 ‘‘(d) øREPEALED.¿’’.

15 SEC. 11. EXEMPTIONS.

16 (a) SYSTEMS SERVING FEWER THAN 3,300 PER17 SONS.—Section 1416 is amended by adding the following

18 at the end thereof:

19 ‘‘(h) SMALL SYSTEMS.—(1) For public water systems

20 serving fewer than 3,300 persons, the maximum exemp21 tion period shall be 4 years if the State is exercising pri22 mary enforcement responsibility for public water systems

23 and determines that—

24 ‘‘(A) the public water system cannot meet the

25 maximum contaminant level or install Best Available
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1 Affordable Technology (‘BAAT’) due in either case

2 to compelling economic circumstances (taking into

3 consideration the availability of financial assistance

4 under section 1443(c), relating to State Revolving

5 Funds) or other compelling circumstances;

6 ‘‘(B) the public water system could not comply

7 with the maximum contaminant level through the

8 use of alternate water supplies;

9 ‘‘(C) the granting of the exemption will provide

10 a drinking water supply that protects public health

11 given the duration of exemption; and

12 ‘‘(D) the State has met the requirements of

13 paragraph (2).

14 ‘‘(2)(A) Before issuing an exemption under this sec15 tion or an extension thereof for a small public water sys16 tem described in paragraph (1), the State shall—

17 ‘‘(i) examine the public water system’s tech18 nical, financial, and managerial capability (taking

19 into consideration any available financial assistance)

20 to operate in, and maintain compliance with, this

21 title, and

22 ‘‘(ii) determine if management or restructuring

23 changes (or both) can reasonably be made that will

24 result in compliance with this title or, if compliance
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1 cannot be achieved, improve the quality of the drink2 ing water.

3 ‘‘(B) Management changes referred to in subpara4 graph (A) may include rate increases, accounting changes,

5 the hiring of consultants, the appointment of a technician

6 with expertise in operating such systems, contractual ar7 rangements for a more efficient and capable system for

8 joint operation, or other reasonable strategies to improve

9 viability.

10 ‘‘(C) Restructuring changes referred to in subpara11 graph (A) may include ownership change, physical consoli12 dation with another system, or other measures to other13 wise improve customer base and gain economies of scale.

14 ‘‘(D) If the State determines that management or re15 structuring changes referred to in subparagraph (A) can

16 reasonably be made, it shall require such changes and a

17 schedule therefore as a condition of the exemption. If the

18 State determines to the contrary, the State may still grant

19 the exemption. The decision of the State under this sub20 paragraph shall not be subject to review by the Adminis21 trator, except as provided in subsection (d).

22 ‘‘(3) Paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (a) shall

23 not apply to an exemption issued under this subsection.

24 Subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(2) shall not apply to

25 an exemption issued under this subsection, but any exemp-
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1 tion granted to such a system may be renewed for addi2 tional 4-year periods upon application of the public water

3 system and after a determination that the criteria of para4 graphs (1) and (2) of this subsection continue to be met.

5 ‘‘(4) No exemption may be issued under this section

6 for microbiological contaminants.’’.

7 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

8 (1) Section 1416(b)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘prescribed

9 by a State pursuant to this subsection’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘prescribed by a State pursuant to this subsection or sub11 section (h)’’.

12 (2) Section 1416(c) is amended by striking ‘‘under

13 subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘under this section’’ and by

14 striking ‘‘including’’ in the second sentence and inserting

15 ‘‘including, in the case of an exemption under subsection

16 (a),’’.

17 (3) Section 1416(d)(1) is amended by striking ‘‘3-

18 year’’ and inserting ‘‘4-year’’ and by amending the first

19 sentence to read as follows: ‘‘Not later than 4 years after

20 the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

21 Amendments of 1994, the Administrator shall complete a

22 comprehensive review of the exemptions granted (and

23 schedules prescribed pursuant thereto) by the States dur24 ing the 4-year period beginning on such date.’’.

25 (4) Section 1416(b)(2)(C) is repealed.
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1 (c) SYSTEMS SERVING MORE THAN 3,300 PER2 SONS.—Section 1416(b)(2)(A)(ii) is amended by striking

3 ‘‘12 months’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years’’ and section

4 1416(b)(2)(B) is amended by striking ‘‘3 years after the

5 date of the issuance of the exemption’’ and inserting ‘‘4

6 years after the expiration of the initial exemption’’.

7 SEC. 12. PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM VIABILITY.

8 Part B is amended by adding the following at the

9 end thereof:

10 ‘‘SEC. 1419. PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM VIABILITY.

11 ‘‘(a) EPA GUIDELINES.—Within 18 months after the

12 enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments

13 of 1994, the Administrator shall issue guidelines for pur14 poses of subsection (b) for State programs to bring public

15 water systems into compliance with this title and to main16 tain such compliance. The guidelines shall be developed

17 in consultation with the States.

18 ‘‘(b) STATE PROGRAMS TO ASSURE VIABILITY.—

19 Within 2 years after issuance of guidelines under sub20 section (a), each State exercising primary enforcement re21 sponsibility for public water systems shall develop and im22 plement a comprehensive program to assure the viability

23 of community and noncommunity nontransient public

24 water systems within that State which are subject to the

25 provisions of subsection (e). The program shall be treated
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1 as approved by the Administrator unless disapproved by

2 the Administrator within 6 months after the date of its

3 submittal. If disapproved it may be resubmitted in accord4 ance with section 1428(c).

5 ‘‘(c) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL SYS6 TEMS.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no fi7 nancial assistance may be provided from funds made avail8 able under section 1443(c) to any public water system in

9 operation on the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking

10 Water Act Amendments of 1994 that—

11 ‘‘(A) serves fewer than 10,000 persons, and

12 ‘‘(B) has a history of violations of monitoring

13 requirements or violations of national primary drink14 ing water regulations,

15 unless the State determines whether the public water sys16 tem has, or will have, the technical, managerial, and finan17 cial capability to operate in compliance, and maintain com18 pliance, with this title. Such determination shall be based

19 on such information as the public water system may pro20 vide to the State and such other information as may be

21 available to the State. In making such determination the

22 State shall take into consideration the financial assistance

23 which may be available to the public water system.

24 ‘‘(2)(A) If the State determines under paragraph (1)

25 that a public water system lacks the capability referred
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1 to in paragraph (1), the State shall require adoption by

2 the system of management or restructuring changes or

3 both before providing funding to the system under section

4 1443(c), except as provided in subparagraph (B). Manage5 ment changes may include rate increases, accounting

6 changes, the hiring of consultants, the appointment of a

7 technician with expertise in operating such systems, con8 tractual arrangements for a more efficient and capable

9 system for joint operation, or other reasonable strategies

10 to improve viability. Restructuring changes may include

11 ownership change, physical consolidation with another sys12 tem, or other measures to otherwise improve customer

13 base and gain economies of scale.

14 ‘‘(B) If the State determines under paragraph (1)

15 that a system lacks the capability referred to in paragraph

16 (1), funds provided under section 1443(c) (relating to

17 State Revolving Funds) shall be available only to support

18 such physical consolidation.

19 ‘‘(d) NEW SYSTEMS.—No financial assistance of any

20 kind may be provided under this title to any public water

21 system that is established, and begins operations, in any

22 State after the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

23 Amendments of 1994, unless the Administrator deter24 mines that the State has an effective operating permit pro25 gram or other means to ensure, before commencing oper-
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1 ation, that the system has the management and technical

2 capacity and financial capability, taking into account its

3 customer base and other relevant factors, to comply and

4 maintain compliance with the applicable requirements of

5 this title. No change in the ownership of a public water

6 system shall result in the application of the prohibition

7 contained in this subsection to such system.

8 ‘‘(e) STATE VIABILITY ASSESSMENTS.—(1) Before

9 the end of the first full fiscal year after the enactment

10 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994,

11 each State shall establish a program for assessing, over

12 a 5-year period, the long-term technical, managerial, and

13 financial capability of community and nontransient

14 noncommunity public water systems serving fewer than

15 10,000 persons that are in violation of this title or may

16 be in jeopardy of not maintaining compliance with this

17 title. The State shall establish a schedule for determining

18 which systems to include in the assessment program.

19 ‘‘(2) The assessment program referred to in para20 graph (1) shall include any public water system that has

21 been in significant noncompliance (as defined in guidelines

22 issued prior to the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water

23 Act Amendments of 1994 or any revisions thereof and in

24 national primary drinking water regulations promulgated

25 after such date of enactment) or violated any maximum
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1 contaminant level or treatment technique, any variance,

2 or any exemption under this title during the 2 years prior

3 to the date on which the State makes a determination (in

4 accordance with the schedule under in paragraph (1)) re5 garding whether to include such system in the assessment

6 program.

7 ‘‘(3) For all public water systems referred to in para8 graph (1) (other than those referred to in paragraph (2)),

9 the State shall establish, in consultation with the Adminis10 trator, a system of priorities, as part of the program for

11 conducting assessments, where there has been other non12 compliance during such 2-year period which the State con13 siders serious. The State shall publish such priorities and

14 file them with the Administrator. The State, in its discre15 tion and considering its resources, may, but is not required

16 to, conduct assessments of public water systems which are

17 in compliance during such period.

18 ‘‘(f) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive any re19 quirements of this section in the case of a State viability

20 program adopted before the enactment of this section if

21 the Administrator finds that such State viability program

22 is fully achieving the objectives of this section.

23 ‘‘(g) AVAILABILITY OF SRF FUNDS.—Unless the

24 State has—
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1 ‘‘(1) prior to the end of the first full fiscal year

2 after the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

3 Amendments of 1994, established a program meet4 ing the requirements of subsection (e), and

5 ‘‘(2) beginning with the third fiscal year after

6 the Administrator issues guidelines under subsection

7 (a), developed and implemented an approved pro8 gram under subsection (b),

9 only 50 percent of the funds that would otherwise be allo10 cated to that State under section 1443(c) (relating to

11 State Revolving Funds) may be made available to the

12 State.

13 ‘‘(h) EPA REVIEW.—The decisions of the State

14 under this section regarding any particular public water

15 system are not subject to review by the Administrator.’’.

16 SEC. 13. SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT AND PETITION PRO17 GRAM.

18 (a) GUIDELINES AND PROGRAMS.—Section 1428 is

19 amended by adding ‘‘AND SOURCE WATER’’ after

20 ‘‘WELLHEAD’’ in the section heading and by adding at

21 the end thereof the following:

22 ‘‘(l) SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT.—

23 ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE.—Within 12 months after en24 actment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend25 ments of 1994, after notice and comment, the Ad-
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1 ministrator shall publish guidance for States exercis2 ing primary enforcement responsibility for public

3 water systems to carry out directly or through dele4 gation (for the protection and benefit of public water

5 systems and for the support of monitoring flexibility)

6 a source water assessment program within the

7 State’s boundaries.

8 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—A source

9 water assessment program under this subsection

10 shall—

11 ‘‘(A) delineate the boundaries of the as12 sessment areas in such State from which one or

13 more public water systems in the State receive

14 supplies of drinking water, using all reasonably

15 available hydrogeologic information on the

16 sources of the supply of drinking water in the

17 State and the water flow, recharge, and dis18 charge and any other reliable information as

19 the State deems necessary to adequately deter20 mine such areas; and

21 ‘‘(B) identify for contaminants regulated

22 under this title for which monitoring is required

23 under this title (or any unregulated contami24 nants which the State, for the purposes of this

25 subsection, has determined to present an urgent
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1 threat to public health), to the extent practical,

2 the origins within each delineated area of such

3 contaminants to determine the susceptibility of

4 the public water systems in the delineated area

5 to such contaminants.

6 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL, IMPLEMENTATION, AND MON7 ITORING RELIEF.—A State source water assessment

8 program under this subsection shall be submitted to

9 the Administrator within 18 months after the Ad10 ministrator’s guidance is issued under this sub11 section and shall be deemed approved 9 months

12 after the date of such submittal unless the Adminis13 trator disapproves the program as provided in sub14 section (c). States shall begin implementation of the

15 program immediately after its approval. The Admin16 istrator’s approval of a State program under this

17 subsection shall include a timetable, established in

18 consultation with the State, allowing not more than

19 2 years for completion after approval of the pro20 gram. Public water systems seeking monitoring relief

21 in addition to the interim relief provided under sec22 tion 1418(a) shall be eligible for monitoring relief,

23 consistent with section 1418(b), upon completion of

24 the assessment in the delineated source water as25 sessment area or areas concerned.
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1 ‘‘(4) TIMETABLE.—The timetable referred to in

2 paragraph (3) shall take into consideration the avail3 ability to the State of funds under section 1443(c)

4 (relating to State Revolving Funds) for assessments

5 and other relevant factors. The Administrator may

6 extend any timetable included in a State program

7 approved under paragraph (3) to extend the period

8 for completion by an additional 18 months. The

9 timetable shall be deemed to be part of the guidance

10 published under paragraph (1) and shall be subject

11 to section 1450(j). Compliance with subsection (g)

12 shall not affect any State permanent monitoring

13 flexibility program approved under section 1418(b).

14 To avoid duplication and to encourage efficiency, the

15 program shall, to the extent practicable, be coordi16 nated with other existing programs and mechanisms,

17 including the wellhead protection program, vulner18 ability assessments, sanitary surveys, and monitor19 ing programs.

20 ‘‘(5) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The Admin21 istrator shall, as soon as practicable, conduct a dem22 onstration project, in consultation with other Fed23 eral agencies, to demonstrate the most effective and

24 protective means of assessing and protecting source
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1 waters serving large metropolitan areas and located

2 on Federal lands.

3 ‘‘(m) PETITION PROGRAM.—

4 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF PETITIONS.—Within 18

5 months after publication by the Administrator of

6 guidance under subsection (l), each State exercising

7 primary enforcement responsibility shall adopt and

8 submit to the Administrator a source water petition

9 program. A petition under such program may re10 quest that the State assist in addressing the origins

11 of contaminants regulated under this title (or un12 regulated contaminants for which the State has de13 termined, for purposes of this section, that there is

14 an urgent threat to public health) and that are not

15 adequately addressed by the wellhead protection pro16 gram or other programs. The origins of such con17 taminants may include, to the extent practicable, the

18 specific activities that affect the drinking water sup19 ply of a community. Such program shall also include

20 provisions for voluntary partnerships, including

21 those in which public water systems and local gov22 ernments participate and submit petitions. The pro23 gram shall provide for public notice of petitions.

24 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF PETITIONS.—Petitions sub25 mitted to the State under this subsection may seek
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1 assistance in directing, or redirecting, consistent

2 with applicable program authorities administrative,

3 technical, or financial resources to address the ori4 gins of drinking water contaminants regulated under

5 this title (or unregulated contaminants for which the

6 State has determined, for purposes of this section,

7 that there is an urgent threat to public health) and

8 that are not adequately addressed by the wellhead

9 protection program or other programs. Any such pe10 tition shall, at a minimum—

11 ‘‘(A) include delineation of the source

12 water area covered by the petition, based on the

13 source water assessment delineation areas set

14 forth in subsection (l)(2)(A);

15 ‘‘(B) based on reasonably available data,

16 identify the nature of the problem that is the

17 basis for the petition;

18 ‘‘(C) to the extent practicable, identify the

19 origins of such drinking water contaminants;

20 and

21 ‘‘(D) identify any missing data necessary

22 to adequately characterize the problem that is

23 the basis of the petition.

24 Identification of a contaminant or contaminants in

25 a petition shall be contaminant specific. Contami-
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1 nants may be combined in a single petition. The

2 State may elect to waive the requirement for the pe3 titioner to meet subparagraph (D).

4 ‘‘(3) RESPONSE TO PETITIONS.—Each State re5 ceiving a petition under this subsection shall respond

6 to the petition in an expeditious manner unless the

7 State determines, in its discretion, that the petition

8 is frivolous. The State response may include, as ap9 propriate, utilization and coordination of programs,

10 technical assistance, financial assistance, education,

11 training, contingency plans and demonstration

12 projects for the delineated areas to protect the

13 drinking water supply of systems within those areas

14 from such contaminants. Nothing in this paragraph

15 is intended or shall be interpreted to create or con16 vey any new authority in any State, political subdivi17 sion of a State, or public water system for any con18 trol measure or limit in any way any authority of a

19 State, political subdivision of a State, or water sys20 tem.

21 ‘‘(4) APPROVAL OF PETITION PROGRAM.—The

22 Administrator’s approval of a State source water pe23 tition program under this subsection is not required

24 unless the State uses grant funds under section

25 1443(c) (relating to State Revolving Funds) to
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1 adopt and implement the program. The State may

2 use grants allotted to the State under section

3 1443(c) for such purposes only with the approval of

4 the Administrator. If adopted with the use of funds

5 made available under section 1443(c) by a State ex6 ercising primary enforcement responsibility for pub7 lic water systems, the State shall comply with the

8 delineation requirements set forth in subsection

9 (l)(2)(A) and the program shall contain, as appro10 priate, one or more of the elements referred to in

11 section 1428(a)(4).’’.

12 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Subsection (b) of sec13 tion 1428 is amended by adding the following at the end

14 thereof: ‘‘No funds shall be available to the State under

15 section 1443(c) (relating to State Revolving Funds) for

16 the purpose of carrying out a State source water petition

17 program unless the State procedures referred to in this

18 section also apply to any State source water petition pro19 gram adopted under subsection (m).’’.

20 (c) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF STATE PRO21 GRAMS.—Section 1428 is amended as follows:

22 (1) Amend the first sentence of subsection

23 (c)(1) to read as follows: ‘‘If, in the judgment of the

24 Administrator, a State program or portion thereof

25 under subsection (a) is not adequate to protect pub-
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1 lic water systems as required by subsection (a) or a

2 State program under subsection (l) or (m) or section

3 1418(b) does not meet the applicable requirements

4 of subsection (l), (m) or section 1418(b), the Admin5 istrator shall disapprove such program or portion

6 thereof.’’.

7 (2) Add after the second sentence of subsection

8 (c)(1) the following: ‘‘A State program developed

9 pursuant to subsection (l) or (m) or section 1418(b)

10 shall be deemed to meet the applicable requirements

11 of subsection (l), (m) or section 1418(b) unless the

12 Administrator determines within 9 months of the re13 ceipt of the program that such program (or portion

14 thereof) does not meet such requirements.’’.

15 (3) In the third sentence of subsection (c)(1)

16 and in subsection (c)(2) strike ‘‘is inadequate’’ and

17 insert ‘‘is disapproved’’.

18 (4) Add the following at the end of subsection

19 (c)(1): ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this

20 subsection, the provisions of this subsection shall

21 apply to source water petition programs under sub22 section (m) only if the State uses grants under sec23 tion 1443(c) (relating to State Revolving Funds) for

24 such program.’’.
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1 (5) In subsection (b), add the following before

2 the period at the end of the first sentence: ‘‘and

3 source water assessment programs under subsection

4 (l)’’.

5 (6) In subsection (g)—

6 (A) insert after ‘‘under this section’’ the

7 following: ‘‘, State source water assessment pro8 grams under subsection (l) and State petition

9 programs under subsection (m) for which the

10 State uses grants under section 1443(c) (relat11 ing to State Revolving Funds)’’; and

12 (B) strike ‘‘Such’’ in the last sentence and

13 inserting ‘‘In the case of wellhead protection

14 programs, such’’.

15 SEC. 14. MONITORING OF REGULATED CONTAMINANTS.

16 Part B is amended by adding the following after sec17 tion 1417:

18 ‘‘SEC. 1418. MONITORING OF CONTAMINANTS.

19 ‘‘(a) INTERIM MONITORING RELIEF AUTHORITY.—

20 (1) A State exercising primary enforcement responsibility

21 for public water systems may modify the monitoring re22 quirements for—

23 ‘‘(A) regulated chemical pesticide contaminants,

24 ‘‘(B) polychlorinated byphenyls,

25 ‘‘(C) dioxin, and
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1 ‘‘(D) unregulated contaminants for which mon2 itoring is required under phase II as set forth on

3 January 30, 1991, in volume 56 of the Federal Reg4 ister, page 3526 and phase V as set forth on July

5 17, 1992, in volume 57 of the Federal Register,

6 page 31776

7 for an interim period to provide that any public water sys8 tem serving 3,300 persons or fewer shall not be required

9 to conduct additional quarterly monitoring during an in10 terim relief period for such contaminants if—

11 ‘‘(i) monitoring, conducted at the beginning of

12 the period for the contaminant concerned and cer13 tified to the State by the public water system, fails

14 to detect the presence of the contaminant in the

15 ground or surface water supplying the public water

16 system, and

17 ‘‘(ii) the State (considering the hydrogeology of

18 the area and other relevant factors) determines in

19 writing that the contaminant is unlikely to be de20 tected by further monitoring during such period.

21 ‘‘(2) The interim relief period referred to in para22 graph (1) shall terminate when permanent monitoring re23 lief is adopted and approved for such State, or at the end

24 of 36 months after the enactment of the Safe Drinking

25 Water Act Amendments of 1994, whichever comes first.
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1 In order to serve as a basis for interim relief, the monitor2 ing conducted at the beginning of the period must occur

3 at the time determined by the State to be the time of the

4 public water system’s greatest vulnerability to the con5 taminant concerned in the relevant ground or surface

6 water, taking into account in the case of pesticides the

7 time of application of the pesticide for the source water

8 area and the travel time for the pesticide to reach such

9 waters and taking into account, in the case of other con10 taminants, seasonality of precipitation and contaminant

11 travel time.

12 ‘‘(b) PERMANENT MONITORING RELIEF AUTHOR13 ITY.—(1) Each State exercising primary enforcement re14 sponsibility for public water systems under this title and

15 having an approved wellhead protection program and a

16 source water assessment program may adopt, in accord17 ance with guidance published by the Administrator, and

18 submit to the Administrator as provided in section

19 1428(c), tailored alternative monitoring requirements for

20 public water systems in such State (as an alternative to

21 the monitoring requirements specified in the Administra22 tor’s standardized monitoring framework for chemical con23 taminants and the applicable national primary drinking

24 water regulations) where the State concludes that (based

25 on data available at the time of adoption concerning sus-
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•HR 226 IH

1 ceptibility, use, occurrence, wellhead protection, or from

2 the State’s drinking water source water assessment pro3 gram) such alternative monitoring would provide assur4 ance that it complies with the Administrator’s guidelines.

5 The State program must be adequate to assure compliance

6 with, and enforcement of, applicable national primary

7 drinking water regulations. Alternative monitoring shall

8 not apply to regulated microbiological contaminants, dis9 infectants and disinfection by-products, or corrosion by10 products. The preceding sentence is not intended to limit

11 other authority of the Administrator under other provi12 sions of this title to grant monitoring flexibility.

13 ‘‘(2)(A) The Administrator shall issue, after notice

14 and comment and at the same time as guidelines are is15 sued for source water assessment under section 1428(l),

16 guidelines for States to follow in proposing alternative re17 quirements to the standardized monitoring framework for

18 chemical contaminants. The Administrator shall publish

19 such framework in the Federal Register. The guidelines

20 shall assure that the public health will be protected from

21 drinking water contamination. The guidelines shall require

22 that a State alternative monitoring program apply on a

23 contaminant-by-contaminant basis and that, to be eligible

24 for such alternative monitoring program, a public water

25 system must show the State that the contaminant is not
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1 present in the drinking water supply or, if present, it is

2 reliably and consistently below the maximum contaminant

3 level.

4 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the phrase

5 ‘reliably and consistently below the maximum contaminant

6 level’ means that, although contaminants have been de7 tected in a water supply, the State has sufficient knowl8 edge of the contamination source and extent of contamina9 tion to predict that the maximum contaminant level will

10 not be exceeded. In determining that a contaminant is reli11 ably and consistently below the maximum contaminant

12 level, States shall consider the quality and completeness

13 of data, the length of time covered and the volatility or

14 stability of monitoring results during that time, and the

15 proximity of such results to the maximum contaminant

16 level. Wide variations in the analytical results, or analyt17 ical results close to the maximum contaminant level, shall

18 not be considered to be reliably and consistently below the

19 maximum contaminant level.

20 ‘‘(3) The guidelines issued by the Administrator

21 under paragraph (2) shall require that if, after the mon22 itoring program is in effect and operating, a contaminant

23 covered by the alternative monitoring program is detected

24 at levels at or above the maximum contaminant level or
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1 is no longer reliably or consistently below the maximum

2 contaminant level, the public water system must either—

3 ‘‘(A) demonstrate that the contamination

4 source has been removed or that other action has

5 been taken to eliminate the contamination problem,

6 or

7 ‘‘(B) test for the detected contaminant pursu8 ant to the applicable national primary drinking

9 water regulation.

10 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT AS NPDWR.—All monitoring relief

11 granted by a State to a public water system for a regu12 lated contaminant under subsection (a) or (b) shall be

13 treated as part of the national primary drinking water reg14 ulation for that contaminant.

15 ‘‘(d) OTHER MONITORING RELIEF.—Nothing in this

16 section shall be construed to affect the authority of the

17 States under the standard monitoring framework for

18 chemical contaminants and under applicable national pri19 mary drinking water regulations to alter monitoring re20 quirements through waivers in effect at the time of the

21 enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments

22 of 1994. States are encouraged to use such authority.’’.

23 SEC. 15. FEDERAL FACILITIES.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C is amended by adding at

25 the end thereof the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1429. FEDERAL FACILITIES.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each department, agency, and

3 instrumentality of the executive, legislative, and judicial

4 branches of the Federal Government—

5 ‘‘(1) owning or operating any facility in a well6 head protection area,

7 ‘‘(2) engaged in any activity at such facility re8 sulting, or which may result, in the contamination of

9 water supplies in any such area, or

10 ‘‘(3) owning or operating any public water sys11 tem

12 shall be subject to, and comply with, all Federal, State,

13 interstate, and local requirements, both substantive and

14 procedural (including any requirement for permits or re15 porting or any provisions for injunctive relief and such

16 sanctions as may be imposed by a court to enforce such

17 relief), respecting the protection of such wellhead areas

18 and respecting such public water systems in the same

19 manner and to the same extent as any person is subject

20 to such requirements, including the payment of reasonable

21 service charges. The Federal, State, interstate, and local

22 substantive and procedural requirements referred to in

23 this subsection include, but are not limited to, all adminis24 trative orders and all civil and administrative penalties

25 and fines, regardless of whether such penalties or fines

26 are punitive or coercive in nature or are imposed for iso-
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•HR 226 IH

1 lated, intermittent, or continuing violations. The United

2 States hereby expressly waives any immunity otherwise

3 applicable to the United States with respect to any such

4 substantive or procedural requirement (including, but not

5 limited to, any injunctive relief, administrative order or

6 civil or administrative penalty or fine referred to in the

7 preceding sentence, or reasonable service charge). The rea8 sonable service charges referred to in this subsection in9 clude, but are not limited to, fees or charges assessed in

10 connection with the processing and issuance of permits,

11 renewal of permits, amendments to permits, review of

12 plans, studies, and other documents, and inspection and

13 monitoring of facilities, as well as any other nondiscrim14 inatory charges that are assessed in connection with a

15 Federal, State, interstate, or local regulatory program re16 specting the protection of wellhead areas or public water

17 systems. Neither the United States, nor any agent, em18 ployee, or officer thereof, shall be immune or exempt from

19 any process or sanction of any State or Federal Court with

20 respect to the enforcement of any such injunctive relief.

21 No agent, employee, or officer of the United States shall

22 be personally liable for any civil penalty under any Fed23 eral, State, interstate, or local law concerning the protec24 tion of wellhead areas or public water systems with respect

25 to any act or omission within the scope of the official du-
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•HR 226 IH

1 ties of the agent, employee, or officer. An agent, employee,

2 or officer of the United States shall be subject to any

3 criminal sanction (including, but not limited to, any fine

4 or imprisonment) under any Federal or State requirement

5 adopted pursuant to this title, but no department, agency,

6 or instrumentality of the executive, legislative, or judicial

7 branch of the Federal Government shall be subject to any

8 such sanction. The President may exempt any facility of

9 any department, agency, or instrumentality in the execu10 tive branch from compliance with such a requirement if

11 he determines it to be in the paramount interest of the

12 United States to do so. No such exemption shall be grant13 ed due to lack of appropriation unless the President shall

14 have specifically requested such appropriation as a part

15 of the budgetary process and the Congress shall have

16 failed to make available such requested appropriation. Any

17 exemption shall be for a period not in excess of 1 year,

18 but additional exemptions may be granted for periods not

19 to exceed 1 year upon the President’s making a new deter20 mination. The President shall report each January to the

21 Congress all exemptions from the requirements of this sec22 tion granted during the preceding calendar year, together

23 with his reason for granting each such exemption.

24 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—

25 (1) The Administrator may commence an administrative
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•HR 226 IH

1 enforcement action against any department, agency, or in2 strumentality of the executive, legislative, or judicial

3 branch of the Federal Government subject to the provi4 sions of subsection (a) pursuant to the enforcement au5 thorities contained in this title. The Administrator shall

6 initiate an administrative enforcement action against such

7 a department, agency, or instrumentality in the same

8 manner and under the same circumstances as an action

9 would be initiated against another person. Any voluntary

10 resolution or settlement of such an action shall be set forth

11 in a consent order.

12 ‘‘(2) No administrative order issued to such a depart13 ment, agency, or instrumentality shall become final until

14 such department, agency, or instrumentality has had the

15 opportunity to confer with the Administrator.

16 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON STATE USE OF FUNDS COL17 LECTED FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—Unless a State

18 law in effect on the date of the enactment of the Safe

19 Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994 or a State con20 stitution requires the funds to be used in a different man21 ner, all funds collected by a State from the Federal Gov22 ernment from penalties and fines imposed for violation of

23 any substantive or procedural requirement referred to in

24 subsection (a) shall be used by the State only for projects

25 designed to improve or protect the environment or to de-
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•HR 226 IH

1 fray the costs of environmental protection or enforce2 ment.’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1447(a) is

4 amended as follows:

5 (1) By striking out ‘‘(1) having jurisdiction over

6 any federally owned or maintained public water sys7 tem or (2)’’.

8 (2) By striking out ‘‘respecting the provision of

9 safe drinking water and’’.

10 (3) Section 1447(c) is amended by striking out

11 ‘‘the Safe Drinking Water Amendments of 1977’’

12 and inserting ‘‘this title’’ and by striking ‘‘this Act’’

13 and inserting ‘‘this title’’.

14 SEC. 16. EMERGENCY POWERS.

15 Section 1431(b) is amended by striking out ‘‘$5,000’’

16 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$15,000’’.

17 SEC. 17. TAMPERING.

18 Section 1432 is amended as follows:

19 (1) In subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the

20 end of paragraph (1) and by striking paragraph (2)

21 and inserting the following:

22 ‘‘(2) to knowingly and deliberately interfere

23 with the operation of a public water system with the

24 intent to cause economic harm to the system or

25 cause the system to violate this title; or
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1 ‘‘(3) to knowingly and deliberately render inac2 curate a monitoring device with the intent to falsify

3 monitoring results.’’.

4 (2) By adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(e) FAILURE TO REPORT.—Any owner or operator

6 of a public water system who knowingly and deliberately

7 fails to report for more than 90 days to the State with

8 primary enforcement responsibility for public water sys9 tems, or to the public as required by this title, or to the

10 Administrator, a violation of a maximum contaminant

11 level or treatment technique shall be subject to a fine of

12 not more than $10,000, imprisonment for not more than

13 2 years, or both, except that failure to comply with the

14 exact form and contents of a notice shall not be considered

15 a failure to report which is subject to enforcement under

16 this subsection.

17 ‘‘(f) FALSE STATEMENTS.—State requirements ap18 plicable to public water systems in States with primary

19 enforcement responsibility for public water systems under

20 this title, or requirements of the Administrator under this

21 title, respecting statements, representations, writings, or

22 documents shall be construed to be subject to the provi23 sions of section 1001 of title 18 of the United States Code

24 and for such purposes such requirements shall be treated

25 as a matter within the jurisdiction of a department or
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1 agency of the United States and solely for that purpose

2 such State shall be treated as a Federal department or

3 agency.’’.

4 SEC. 18. FUNDS FOR SAFE DRINKING WATER.

5 (a) STATE REVOLVING FUNDS.—Section 1443 is

6 amended by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d)

7 and by adding the following new subsection after sub8 section (b):

9 ‘‘(c) STATE REVOLVING FUNDS.—

10 ‘‘(1) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—

11 ‘‘(A) GRANTS TO STATES TO ESTABLISH

12 REVOLVING FUNDS.—The Administrator shall

13 enter into agreements with States to make cap14 italization grants, including letters of credit, to

15 the States under this subsection solely to fur16 ther the health protection objectives of this

17 title, promote the efficient use of fund re18 sources, and for such other purposes as speci19 fied in this title. The grants shall be deposited

20 in drinking water treatment revolving funds es21 tablished by the State, except as otherwise pro22 vided in this subsection and in other provisions

23 of this title. No portion of any specific percent24 age amount of such grants referred to in para25 graph (5), (8), or (9) or authorized by other
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1 provisions of this title to be used for other pur2 poses specified in this title shall be deposited in

3 any State revolving fund. All such grants shall

4 be allotted to the States in the same manner as

5 funds are allotted to States under subsection

6 (a)(4), except as provided in paragraph (8) and

7 except that the State allotment for a State not

8 exercising primary enforcement responsibility

9 for public water systems shall not be deposited

10 in any such fund but shall be allotted by the

11 Administrator as follows: 30 percent of such al12 lotment shall be available to the Administrator

13 as needed to exercise primary enforcement re14 sponsibility under this title in such State and

15 the remainder shall be reallotted to States exer16 cising primary enforcement responsibility for

17 public water systems for deposit in such funds.

18 Whenever the Administrator makes a final de19 termination pursuant to section 1413(b) that

20 the requirements of section 1413(a) are no

21 longer being met by a State, additional grants

22 for such State under this title shall be imme23 diately terminated by the Administrator.

24 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—Except as other25 wise authorized by this title, amounts deposited
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1 in such revolving funds, including loan repay2 ments and interest earned on such amounts,

3 shall be used only for providing loans or other

4 financial assistance of any kind or nature that

5 the State deems appropriate to public water

6 systems. Such financial assistance may be used

7 by a public water system only for expenditures

8 (not including monitoring, operation, and main9 tenance expenditures) of a type or category

10 which the Administrator has determined,

11 through guidance, will facilitate compliance with

12 national primary drinking water regulations ap13 plicable to such system under section 1412 or

14 otherwise significantly further the health pro15 tection objectives of this title. Such financial as16 sistance may be used for acquisition from will17 ing sellers, at fair market value, of real prop18 erty or interests therein which are integral to

19 such systems. 15 percent of the amount cred20 ited to any revolving fund established under

21 this section in any fiscal year shall be available

22 solely for providing loan assistance to public

23 water systems which regularly serve fewer than

24 10,000 persons.
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1 ‘‘(C) FUND MANAGEMENT.—Each State

2 revolving fund under this subsection shall be es3 tablished, maintained, and credited with repay4 ments and interest. The fund corpus shall be

5 available in perpetuity for providing financial

6 assistance under this section. To the extent

7 amounts in each such fund are not required for

8 current obligation or expenditure, such amounts

9 shall be invested in interest bearing obligations

10 of the State or of the United States.

11 ‘‘(D) GRANTS FROM REVOLVING FUNDS.—

12 A State may not provide assistance in the form

13 of grants from a State revolving fund estab14 lished under this subsection in an aggregate

15 amount which exceeds the sum of the interest

16 collected on deposits in such State revolving

17 fund plus amounts deposited in such fund by

18 the State pursuant to paragraph (3). Such

19 grants may only be made to public water sys20 tems owned by a governmental or inter-govern21 mental agency, a non-profit organization, an In22 dian tribe, or any combination thereof which

23 the State finds to be experiencing financial

24 hardship.
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1 ‘‘(E) INVESTOR-OWNED PUBLIC WATER

2 SYSTEMS.—In the case of any public water sys3 tem not owned by a governmental or inter-gov4 ernmental agency, a non-profit organization, an

5 Indian tribe, or any combination thereof, the

6 State may provide assistance from a State re7 volving fund under this subsection according to

8 priorities established by the State based on the

9 greatest public health needs and financial need.

10 The State may provide loan assistance to any

11 such system from such a State revolving fund

12 only after making a determination that the sys13 tem has the ability to repay the loan according

14 to its terms and conditions. States are author15 ized to require such systems to identify a dedi16 cated source for repayment of the loans and to

17 impose such other requirements as may be nec18 essary to assure loan repayment.

19 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT.—No loan or

20 other financial assistance may be provided to a pub21 lic water system from a revolving fund established

22 under this subsection to be used for any expenditure

23 that could be avoided or significantly reduced by ap24 propriate consolidation of that public water system

25 with any other public water system, except that in
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1 such cases such assistance may be provided from the

2 revolving fund for such consolidation.

3 ‘‘(3) STATE CONTRIBUTION.—In the case of

4 grants made after fiscal year 1995, each agreement

5 under this subsection shall require that the State de6 posit in the fund from State moneys an amount

7 equal to at least 20 percent of the total amount of

8 the grant to be made to the State on or before the

9 date on which the grant payment is made to the

10 State.

11 ‘‘(4) COMBINED FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION.—

12 Notwithstanding subparagraph (C) of paragraph

13 (1), a State may (as a convenience and to avoid un14 necessary administrative costs) combine, in accord15 ance with State law, the financial administration of

16 a revolving fund established under this subsection

17 with the financial administration of any other revolv18 ing fund established by the State if otherwise not

19 prohibited by the law under which such revolving

20 fund was established and if the Administrator deter21 mines that—

22 ‘‘(A) the grants under this subsection, to23 gether with loan repayments and interest, will

24 be separately accounted for and used solely for

25 the purposes specified in paragraph (1); and
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1 ‘‘(B) the authority to establish assistance

2 priorities and carry out oversight and related

3 activities (other than financial administration)

4 with respect to such assistance remains with

5 the State agency having primary responsibility

6 for administration of the State program under

7 this part.

8 ‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATION.—(A) Each State may

9 annually use up to 4 percent of the funds allotted

10 to the State under this subsection to cover the rea11 sonable costs of administration of the assistance pro12 gram under this subsection and of providing tech13 nical assistance to public water systems within the

14 State. For fiscal year 1995 and each fiscal year

15 thereafter, each State may use up to an additional

16 5 percent of the funds allotted to the State under

17 this subsection for public water system supervision if

18 the State matches such expenditures with at least an

19 equal amount of non-Federal funds. At least half of

20 such match must be additional to the amount ex21 pended by the State for public water supervision in

22 fiscal year 1993. An additional 1 percent of the

23 funds annually allotted to the State under this sub24 section shall be used by each State to provide tech-
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1 nical assistance to public water systems in such

2 State.

3 ‘‘(B) The Administrator shall publish such

4 guidance and promulgate such regulations as may be

5 necessary to carry out the provisions of this section,

6 including—

7 ‘‘(i) provisions to ensure that each State

8 commits and expends funds allotted to the

9 State under this subsection as efficiently as

10 possible in accordance with this title and appli11 cable State laws,

12 ‘‘(ii) guidance to prevent waste, fraud, and

13 abuse, and

14 ‘‘(iii) guidance to avoid the use of funds

15 made available under this subsection to finance

16 the expansion of any public water system in an17 ticipation of future population growth.

18 Such guidance and regulations shall also insure that

19 the States, and public water systems receiving as20 sistance under this subsection, use accounting, audit,

21 and fiscal procedures that conform to generally ac22 cepted accounting standards.

23 ‘‘(C) Each State administering a revolving fund

24 and assistance program under this subsection shall

25 publish and submit to the Administrator a report
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1 every 2 years on its activities under this subsection,

2 including the findings of the most recent audit of

3 the fund and the entire State allotment. The Admin4 istrator shall periodically audit all revolving funds

5 established by, and all other amounts allotted to, the

6 States pursuant to this subsection in accordance

7 with procedures established by the Comptroller Gen8 eral.

9 ‘‘(6) NEEDS SURVEY.—The Administrator shall

10 conduct an assessment of financial needs of all pub11 lic water systems in the United States and submit

12 a report to the Congress containing the results of

13 such assessment within 2 years after the date of the

14 enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend15 ments of 1994. The Administrator shall revise such

16 report periodically as appropriate.

‘‘(7) INDIAN TRIBES.—11 17 ⁄2 percent of the

18 amounts appropriated annually to carry out this

19 subsection may be used by the Administrator to

20 make grants to Indian Tribes and Alaskan Native

21 Villages which are not otherwise eligible to receive

22 either grants from the Administrator under this sub23 section or assistance from State revolving funds es24 tablished under this subsection. Such grants may

25 only be used for expenditures by such tribes and vil-
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1 lages for public water system expenditures referred

2 to in paragraph (1)(B).

3 ‘‘(8) OTHER AREAS.—Of the funds annually

4 available under this section for grants to States, the

5 Administrator shall make allotments in accordance

6 with section 1443(a)(4) for the District of Columbia,

7 the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the North8 ern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and

9 the Republic of Palau. The grants allotted as pro10 vided in this paragraph may be provided by the Ad11 ministrator to the governments of such areas, to

12 public water systems in such areas, or to both, to be

13 used for the public water system expenditures re14 ferred to in paragraph (1)(B). Such grants shall not

15 be deposited in revolving funds. The total allotment

16 of grants under this subsection for all areas de17 scribed in this paragraph in any fiscal year shall not

18 exceed 1 percent of the aggregate amount made

19 available to carry out this subsection in that fiscal

20 year.

21 ‘‘(9) ADDITIONAL SET-ASIDES.—Any State ex22 ercising primary enforcement responsibility for pub23 lic water systems may use up to 4 percent of the an24 nual grants under this subsection allotted to that

25 State for the following:
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1 ‘‘(A) To establish and implement wellhead

2 protection programs under section 1428.

3 ‘‘(B) For a period of 5 years after the Ad4 ministrator publishes guidance under section

5 1428(l), to establish and implement source

6 water assessment programs under section 1428.

7 ‘‘(C) For a 7-fiscal year period after guide8 lines are issued under section 1419(a), to de9 velop and implement a viability program under

10 section 1419(b) and assess viability under sec11 tion 1419(e).

12 Not more than 2 percent of such annual grant allot13 ment for any such State in any fiscal year may be

14 used by that State for purpose of subparagraph (C).

15 If any State exercising primary enforcement respon16 sibility for public water systems adopts a petition

17 program under section 1428(m), the State may use

18 not more than 1 percent of the grant under this sub19 section allotted to the State in any fiscal year for es20 tablishing and implementing such program. No such

21 funds shall be used for such a petition program if

22 the State fails to implement the program.

23 ‘‘(10) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR STATE

24 OF VIRGINIA.—Notwithstanding the other provisions

25 of this subsection limiting the use of funds deposited
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1 in a State revolving fund from any State allotment,

2 the State of Virginia may, as a single demonstration

3 and with the approval of the Virginia General As4 sembly and the Administrator, conduct a program to

5 demonstrate alternative approaches to intergovern6 mental coordination to assist in the financing of new

7 drinking water facilities in the following rural com8 munities in southwestern Virginia where none exists

9 on the date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking

10 Water Act Amendments of 1994 and where such

11 communities are experiencing economic hardship:

12 Lee County, Wise County, Scott County, Dickenson

13 County, Russell County, Buchanan County, Tazewell

14 County, and the city of Norton, Virginia. The funds

15 allotted to that State and deposited in the State re16 volving fund may be loaned to a regional endowment

17 fund for the purpose set forth in this paragraph

18 under a plan to be approved by the Administrator.

19 The plan may include an advisory group that in20 cludes representatives of such counties.

21 ‘‘(11) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

22 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

23 the purposes of this subsection $599,000,000 for the

24 fiscal year 1994 and $1,000,000,000 for each of the

25 fiscal years 1995, 1996, and 1997, and such sums
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1 as may be necessary thereafter. Sums shall remain

2 available until expended.’’.

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of

5 the Environmental Protection Agency shall report to the

6 Congress, after notice and public comment, on the appro7 priateness of using State revolving funds under section

8 1443(c) of the Public Health Service Act for acquisition

9 of real property or interests therein from willing sellers

10 where such acquisition is undertaken in addition to, or as

11 an alternative to, system development as a means of com12 plying with national primary drinking water regulations.

13 The review of the use of such funds shall examine any

14 cost savings and environmental benefits for safe drinking

15 water and any problems related thereto.

16 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—(1) The Adminis17 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency may pro18 vide technical assistance to small public water systems to

19 enable such systems to achieve and maintain compliance

20 with applicable national primary drinking water regula21 tions. Such assistance may include circuit-rider programs,

22 training, and preliminary engineering evaluations. There

23 is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to

24 be used for such technical assistance $15,000,000 for the

25 fiscal year 1994, and such sums as may be necessary for
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1 fiscal years thereafter. No portion of any State revolving

2 fund established under section 1443(c) of the Public

3 Health Service Act and no portion of any funds made

4 available under this subsection may be used either directly

5 or indirectly for lobbying expenses. Of the total amount

6 appropriated under this subsection, 3 percent shall be

7 used for technical assistance to public water systems

8 owned or operated by Indian tribes. Nothing in this Act

9 or the amendments made by this Act authorizes scientific

10 or environmental research and development.

11 (2) Section 1442(g) is amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘(g) øRESERVED¿.’’.

13 (d) PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS SUPERVISION

14 GRANTS.—Section 1443(a) is amended as follows:

15 (1) Paragraph (4) is amended by adding the

16 following at the end thereof: ‘‘The allotment of grant

17 funds under this subsection for States not exercising

18 primary enforcement responsibility for public water

19 systems shall not be provided to such States but

20 shall be available to the Administrator for the costs

21 of administering this title in those States.’’.

22 (2) Paragraph (7) is amended by striking out

23 ‘‘not more than the following amounts’’ and all that

24 follows down through the end of such paragraph and
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1 inserting ‘‘such sums as may be necessary for fiscal

2 years after fiscal year 1994.’’.

3 SEC. 19. RECORDS AND INSPECTIONS.

4 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 1445(a)(1) is amended

5 by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1)’’ and by adding at the end

6 the following:

7 ‘‘(B) Instead of using the authority under subpara8 graph (A) for the purposes set forth in this paragraph or

9 subsection (b), the Administrator may, on a case-by-case

10 basis, require by certified mail any public water system

11 to provide, on a 1-time, periodic, or continuous basis, such

12 records, reports, and information as the Administrator

13 may reasonably require in determining whether such sys14 tem has acted or is acting in compliance with this title.

15 The Administrator shall provide the State exercising pri16 mary enforcement responsibility for public water systems

17 a copy of such certified mail. This subparagraph shall not

18 be construed to change any requirements of other applica19 ble laws, such as the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.

20 Nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to affect

21 the authority of the Administrator to use the authority

22 of subsection (b) to determine compliance with this title.’’.

23 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 1445(c) is amended by

24 adding at the end the following: ‘‘Such penalty may be

25 assessed by the Administrator after notice and oppor-
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1 tunity for a public hearing on the record in accordance

2 with section 554 of title 5 of the United States Code.’’.

3 SEC. 20. MONITORING FOR UNREGULATED CONTAMI4 NANTS.

5 Section 1445(a) is amended as follows:

6 (1) By adding at the end of paragraph (2) the

7 following sentence: ‘‘Within 24 months after the en8 actment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend9 ments of 1994 and every 5 years thereafter, the Ad10 ministrator shall review and, if necessary, revise the

11 list of unregulated contaminants for which monitor12 ing is required.’’.

13 (2) In paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘not more

14 than 40’’ after ‘‘shall list’’ in the first sentence.

15 (3) In paragraph (4), by adding at the end

16 thereof: ‘‘Prior to the 24-month deadline established

17 under subsection (g), the State, where it is exercis18 ing primary enforcement responsibility for public

19 water systems under this title, shall provide the re20 sults of such monitoring to the Administrator for in21 clusion in the occurrence data base under subsection

22 (g).’’.

23 SEC. 21. OCCURRENCE DATA BASE.

24 Section 1445 is amended by adding the following new

25 subsection at the end thereof:
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1 ‘‘(g) OCCURRENCE DATA BASE.—Not later than 24

2 months after enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

3 Amendments of 1994, the Administrator shall assemble

4 and maintain a national drinking water occurrence data

5 base, using monitoring data on the occurrence of both reg6 ulated and unregulated contaminants in public water sup7 ply systems obtained under subsection (a) of this section,

8 and information from other public and private sources.’’.

9 SEC. 22. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

10 (a) GUIDELINES.—Section 1450 is amended by add11 ing the following at the end thereof:

12 ‘‘(j) GUIDELINES.—(1) All guidelines issued by the

13 Administrator for States exercising primary enforcement

14 responsibility for public water systems for any purpose

15 pursuant to any requirement established by the Safe

16 Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994 shall be pub17 lished in the Federal Register and shall remain in effect

18 until changed by the Administrator in accordance with the

19 same procedure as they were established. Such guidelines

20 shall not be considered to be rules and shall not be en21 forceable as rules. Adoption by a State of a program cov22 ered by such guidelines and approval of the program by

23 the Administrator shall be treated as an agreement by the

24 State with, and acceptance of, the guidelines.
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1 ‘‘(2) Except as otherwise provided in this title, failure

2 of a State to abide by a guideline referred to in paragraph

3 (1) shall not be a basis for the State’s loss of primary

4 enforcement responsibility for public water systems.

5 ‘‘(3) The Administrator shall order a State to halt

6 use of a monitoring relief program under section 1418 to

7 which any guideline referred to in paragraph (1) applies

8 if the Administrator makes a finding, in writing, after no9 tice to the State, that the State has failed to comply with

10 such guideline and gives the State at least 90 days to cor11 rect the alleged problem.

12 ‘‘(4) The Administrator may, in the Administrator’s

13 discretion, reduce by 50 percent the amount of grants oth14 erwise made available to the State in any fiscal year under

15 section 1443(c) (relating to State revolving funds) if the

16 Administrator makes a finding in writing, after notice to

17 the State, that the State has failed to comply with any

18 guideline referred to in paragraph (1) and gives the State

19 at least 90 days to correct the alleged problem.’’.

20 (b) WHISTLE BLOWER.—Section 1450(i) is amended

21 as follows:

22 (1) Amend paragraph (2)(A) by striking ‘‘30

23 days’’ and inserting ‘‘180 days’’ and by inserting be24 fore the period at the end ‘‘and the Environmental

25 Protection Agency’’.
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1 (2) Amend paragraph (2)(B)(i) by inserting be2 fore the last sentence the following: ‘‘Upon conclu3 sion of such hearing and the issuance of a rec4 ommended decision that the complaint has merit,

5 the Secretary shall issue a preliminary order provid6 ing the relief prescribed in clause (ii), but may not

7 order compensatory damages pending a final

8 order.’’.

9 (3) Amend paragraph (2)(B)(ii) by inserting

10 ‘‘and’’ before ‘‘(III)’’ and by striking ‘‘compensatory

11 damages, and (IV) where appropriate, exemplary

12 damages’’ and inserting ‘‘and the Secretary may

13 order such person to provide compensatory damages

14 to the complainant’’.

15 (4) Redesignate paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and

16 (6) as paragraphs (4), (5), (6), and (7), respectively,

17 and insert after paragraph (2) the following:

18 ‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary shall dismiss a complaint filed

19 under paragraph (1), and shall not conduct the investiga20 tion required under paragraph (2), unless the complainant

21 has made a prima facie showing that any behavior de22 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph

23 (1) was a contributing factor in the unfavorable personnel

24 action alleged in the complaint.
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1 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding a finding by the Secretary that

2 the complaint has made the showing required by para3 graph (1)(A), no investigation required under paragraph

4 (2) shall be conducted if the employer demonstrates, by

5 clear and convincing evidence, that it would have taken

6 the same unfavorable personnel action in the absence of

7 such behavior.

8 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may determine that a violation

9 of paragraph (1) has occurred only if the complainant has

10 demonstrated that any behavior described in subpara11 graphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1) was a contribut12 ing factor in the unfavorable personnel action alleged in

13 the complaint.

14 ‘‘(D) Relief may not be ordered under paragraph (2)

15 if the employer demonstrates clear and convincing evi16 dence that it would have taken the same unfavorable per17 sonnel action in the absence of such behavior.’’.

18 (5) Add at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(8) This subsection may not be construed to expand,

20 diminish, or otherwise affect any right otherwise available

21 to an employee under Federal or State law to reduce the

22 employee’s discharge or other discriminatory action taken

23 by the employer against the employee. The provisions of

24 this subsection shall be prominently posted in any place

25 of employment to which this subsection applies.’’.
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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 subsection (b) shall apply to claims filed under section

3 1450(i) of the Public Health Service Act on or after the

4 date of the enactment of this Act.

5 SEC. 23. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.

6 Part E is amended by adding at the end the following

7 new section:

8 ‘‘SEC. 1452. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may assess

10 an administrative penalty for violations of section 1412,

11 1415, 1416, or 1442(h). Such a penalty may only be as12 sessed—

13 ‘‘(1) after providing notice (in accordance with

14 section 1414(a)(1)(A)) of at least 45 days of the Ad15 ministrator’s intention to assess such penalty to the

16 State exercising primary enforcement responsibility

17 for public water systems and to the public water sys18 tem in violation of such section, and

19 ‘‘(2) after opportunity for a hearing on the

20 record in accordance with section 554 of title 5,

21 United States Code.

22 ‘‘(b) PENALTY.—The penalty under subsection (a)

23 shall be not more than $5,000 per day of violation. The

24 total penalty under such subsection shall not exceed—
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1 ‘‘(1) $50,000 for violation of section 1442(h)

2 (relating to minimum standards for certification of

3 operators and laboratories), or

4 ‘‘(2) $90,000 in the case of violations of sec5 tions 1412, 1415, and 1416.

6 In assessing such penalties, the Administrator shall con7 sider the size of the public water system, the ability of

8 the system to operate in compliance with this title, the

9 seriousness of the violation, the economic impact of such

10 violation, and history of violations.’’.

11 SEC. 24. WATER RETURN.

12 Part E is amended by adding at the end the follow13 ing:

14 ‘‘SEC. 1453. WATER RETURN.

15 ‘‘Not later than 18 months after the date of the en16 actment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

17 1994, the Administrator shall issue, after public notice,

18 guidelines to assist public water systems in assessing the

19 conditions, when it is consistent with the requirements and

20 public health objectives of this title, to return water from

21 the public water system used for heat pumps and similar

22 devices to the distribution system of the public water sys23 tem.’’.
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1 SEC. 25. WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.

2 Part E is amended by adding at the end the follow3 ing:

4 ‘‘SEC. 1454. WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.

5 ‘‘(a) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 1 year after the

6 date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

7 Amendments of 1994, the Administrator shall publish in

8 the Federal Register guidelines for water conservation

9 plans for public water systems serving fewer than 3,300

10 persons, public water systems serving between 3,300 and

11 10,000 persons, and public water systems serving more

12 than 10,000 persons, taking into consideration such fac13 tors as water availability and climate.

14 ‘‘(b) SRF LOANS OR GRANTS.—Within 1 year after

15 publication of the guidelines under subsection (a), a State

16 exercising primary enforcement responsibility for public

17 water systems may require a public water system, as a

18 condition of receiving a loan or grant from a State revolv19 ing fund under section 1443(c), to submit with its applica20 tion for such loan or grant a water conservation plan con21 sistent with such guidelines.’’.

22 SEC. 26. SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS; FITTINGS; AND RESIDEN23 TIAL WATER TREATMENT UNITS.

24 Part F is amended by adding at the end the follow25 ing:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1466. SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Except as provided in sub3 section (b), within 3 years after the date of the enactment

4 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994 the

5 Administrator shall promulgate regulations containing a

6 health effects based performance standard establishing

7 minimal leaching levels of lead from new submersible

8 pumps reasonably anticipated to be used in domestic water

9 wells, taking into account marketing and sales information

10 and other relevant factors. Such standard shall apply to

11 new pumps manufactured for, or first introduced into,

12 interstate commerce after the effective date of the regula13 tion promulgating the standard.

14 ‘‘(2) At a minimum, the standard under this section

15 shall not allow lead concentration in drinking water to in16 crease by more than 15 parts per billion (ppb) when in

17 prolonged contact with the pump. Such standard shall be

18 effective 3 years after the date of its promulgation or at

19 such earlier time as the Administrator determines that

20 pumps subject to paragraph (1) can reasonably be antici21 pated to be in compliance with such standards.

22 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—(1) If the Administrator deter23 mines, after notice and opportunity for public comment,

24 that—
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1 ‘‘(A) voluntary standards have been developed

2 that are at least as protective as the minimum

3 standard described in subsection (a)(2), and

4 ‘‘(B) pumps subject to paragraph (1) of sub5 section (a) can reasonably be anticipated to be in

6 compliance with such voluntary standards within 6

7 years after the date of the enactment of the Safe

8 Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994,

9 the Administrator shall not promulgate regulations estab10 lishing the standard under subsection (a) or, if such regu11 lations have been promulgated, provide that such regula12 tions shall not take effect or be enforced.

13 ‘‘(2) Within 2 years after the date of the enactment

14 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, the

15 Administrator shall determine, after notice and oppor16 tunity for public comment, whether new submersible

17 pumps which convey drinking water and which contain

18 brass alloys containing 0.2 percent lead or more are being

19 manufactured for, or first introduced into, interstate com20 merce. If the Administrator determines, at that time, that

21 such pumps are not being manufactured for, or first intro22 duced into, interstate commerce, the Administrator shall

23 not promulgate regulations establishing the standard

24 under subsection (a) or make a determination under sub25 section (b)(1), or if such regulations have been promul-
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1 gated, provide that such regulations shall not take effect

2 or be enforced.

3 ‘‘SEC. 1467. FITTINGS.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 1 year after the date of

5 the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend6 ments of 1994, the Administrator shall determine if—

7 ‘‘(1) voluntary standards for new plumbing fit8 tings manufactured for or introduced into interstate

9 commerce which convey drinking water have been

10 developed that are at least as protective of human

11 health as the minimum performance standard pro12 mulgated under subsection (b), and

13 ‘‘(2) such fittings can reasonably be anticipated

14 to comply with such standards within 5 years after

15 such date of enactment.

16 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—If the Administrator deter17 mines that such voluntary standards for new plumbing fit18 tings which convey drinking water have not been developed

19 or that such fittings cannot reasonably be anticipated to

20 comply, within 5 years of such date of enactment, with

21 such voluntary standards, the Administrator shall, within

22 2 years after the date of such determination, promulgate

23 regulations setting a health effects based performance

24 standard establishing minimal leaching levels of lead from

25 such new plumbing fittings. Such regulation shall take ef-
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1 fect 3 years after the date of such promulgation. Under

2 such regulation, such fittings shall not cause lead con3 centration in drinking water to increase by more than 15

4 parts per billion when in prolonged contact with such fit5 ting.

6 ‘‘SEC. 1468. ENFORCEMENT OF SECTIONS 1466 AND 1467.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who manufactures or

8 first introduces in interstate commerce any new submers9 ible pump or new plumbing fitting which violates any re10 quirement established by the Administrator by regulation

11 under section 1466 or 1467, shall be liable to the United

12 States for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed

13 $10,000 for each such violation. To assess such civil pen14 alty, the Administrator shall, after notice and opportunity

15 for hearing on the record in accordance with sections 554

16 and 556 of title 5, United States Code, issue an order

17 assessing such civil penalty.

18 ‘‘(b) ACTIONS.—The Administrator may commence a

19 civil action to enjoin any violation of section 1466 or 1467

20 or to assess and recover any civil penalty under subsection

21 (a). Any such action may be brought in the district court

22 of the United States for the district in which the violation

23 is alleged to have occurred or in which the defendant re24 sides or has the defendant’s principal place of business.
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1 Such a court shall have jurisdiction to issue injunctive re2 lief and to assess a civil penalty.

3 ‘‘(c) ORDER.—The Administrator may issue an order

4 to require any person to comply with any requirement of

5 section 1466 or 1467.

6 ‘‘(d) FUTURE COMPLIANCE.—The Administrator

7 shall periodically evaluate compliance with the standards

8 under sections 1466 and 1467.

9 ‘‘SEC. 1469. RESIDENTIAL WATER TREATMENT UNITS.

10 ‘‘(a) FTC INVESTIGATION.—The Federal Trade

11 Commission, in consultation with the Administrator of the

12 Environmental Protection Agency, shall conduct an inves13 tigation, pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission Act,

14 into the veracity of claims that devices manufactured, sold,

15 or distributed in interstate commerce for use in single and

16 multi-family residences will improve the quality of drink17 ing water or eliminate or reduce the level of 1 or more

18 drinking water contaminants (for which a national pri19 mary drinking water regulation is promulgated under the

20 Safe Drinking Water Act) and shall take such action pur21 suant to section 5 of such Act against any person who

22 introduces, delivers for introduction, sells, advertises, or

23 offers for sale, in interstate commerce, such devices as the

24 Commission deems appropriate to ensure that such claims

25 are consistent with the requirements of that Act and any
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1 applicable decisions and orders of the Commission under

2 section 5 of that Act. The Commission shall, consistent

3 with the requirements of such Act, report the results of

4 its investigation and the actions it takes to the Congress

5 within 2 years after enactment of this Act. The Commis6 sion may, from time to time, issue rules (pursuant to sec7 tion 553 of title 5 of the United States Code) and any

8 violation of such rules shall be treated by the Commission

9 as a violation of a rule under section 18 of the Federal

10 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a) regarding unfair

11 or deceptive acts or practices.

12 ‘‘(b) EPA REPORT.—The Administrator, taking into

13 account any available results of such study, shall, within

14 3 years after the date of the enactment of the Safe Drink15 ing Water Act Amendments of 1994, submit a report to

16 Congress containing recommendations regarding the effec17 tiveness of such devices, and recommendations for legisla18 tion, to the extent necessary to assure the effectiveness

19 of such devices in reducing the level of drinking water con20 taminants.’’.

21 SEC. 27. BOTTLED DRINKING WATER STANDARDS.

22 Section 410 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic

23 Act (21 U.S.C. 349) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)

2 Except as provided in subsection (b), whenever’’;

3 and

4 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

5 new subsection:

6 ‘‘(b) BOTTLED DRINKING WATER STANDARDS.—(1)

7 Not later than 180 days after the Administrator of the

8 Environmental Protection Agency promulgates a national

9 primary drinking water regulation for a contaminant

10 under section 1412 of the Public Health Service Act (42

11 U.S.C. 300g–1), the Secretary, after public notice and

12 comment, shall issue a regulation under this subsection

13 for that contaminant in bottled water or make a finding

14 that such a regulation is not necessary to protect the pub15 lic health because the contaminant is contained in water

16 in public water systems (as defined under section 1401(4)

17 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300f(4)) but not in water used

18 for bottled drinking water. In the case of contaminants

19 for which national primary drinking water regulations

20 were promulgated under such section 1412 before the date

21 of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend22 ments of 1994, the Secretary shall issue such regulation

23 within 1 year after such date of enactment.

24 ‘‘(2) A regulation issued by the Secretary as provided

25 in this subsection shall include any monitoring require-
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1 ments that the Secretary determines appropriate for bot2 tled water.

3 ‘‘(3) A regulation issued by the Secretary as provided

4 in this subsection shall require the following:

5 ‘‘(A) In the case of contaminants for which a

6 maximum contaminant level is established in a na7 tional primary drinking water regulation under sec8 tion 1412 of the Public Health Service Act, the reg9 ulation under this subsection shall establish a maxi10 mum contaminant level for the contaminant in bot11 tled water which is at least as stringent as the maxi12 mum contaminant level provided in the national pri13 mary drinking water regulation.

14 ‘‘(B) In the case of contaminants for which a

15 treatment technique is established in a national pri16 mary drinking water regulation under section 1412

17 of the Public Health Service Act, the regulation

18 under this subsection shall require that bottled water

19 be subject to requirements no less protective of the

20 public health than those applicable to water provided

21 by public water systems using the treatment tech22 nique required by the national primary drinking

23 water regulation.

24 ‘‘(4)(A) If the Secretary fails to establish a regulation

25 under this subsection within the 180-day period described
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1 in paragraph (1), the national primary drinking water reg2 ulation referred to in paragraph (1) shall be considered,

3 as of the date on which the Secretary is required to estab4 lish a regulation under paragraph (1), as the regulation

5 applicable under this subsection to bottled water.

6 ‘‘(B) Not later than 30 days after the end of the 180-

7 day period, or the 1-year period if applicable, described

8 in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, with respect to a

9 national primary drinking water regulation that is consid10 ered applicable to bottled water as provided in subpara11 graph (A), publish a notice in the Federal Register that—

12 ‘‘(i) sets forth the requirements of the national

13 primary drinking water regulation, including mon14 itoring requirements, which shall be applicable to

15 bottled water, and

16 ‘‘(ii) provides that such requirements shall take

17 effect on the date on which the national primary

18 drinking water regulation for the contaminant takes

19 effect under section 1412 of the Public Health Serv20 ice Act (or in the case of national primary drinking

21 water regulations promulgated before the enactment

22 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

23 1994, on the date 18 months after the enactment of

24 such Act).’’.
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1 SEC. 28. ARSENIC.

2 (a) STUDY.—Subject to availability of appropriations,

3 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen4 cy shall enter into an agreement with the National Acad5 emy of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study of the

6 human health effects of arsenic (which is subject to regu7 lation as a contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water

8 Act), taking into consideration the fact that arsenic occurs

9 naturally. Such study shall be completed within 2 years

10 of the date the agreement is entered into. A report shall

11 be transmitted to the Administrator of the Environmental

12 Protection Agency for purposes of subsection (b).

13 (b) REGULATION.—

14 (1) PROPOSED REGULATION.—Not later than

15 December 31, 1996, the Administrator of the Envi16 ronmental Protection Agency shall propose a na17 tional primary drinking water regulation for arsenic.

18 If the study under subsection (a) is begun before

19 May 31, 1996, the Administrator may not, except as

20 provided in paragraph (2), promulgate such regula21 tion until the National Academy of Sciences has is22 sued a report under such subsection. When the Na23 tional Academy of Sciences issues such report, the

24 Administrator shall reopen the comment period on

25 the proposed regulation for 60 days.
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1 (2) REGULATION.—The Administrator shall

2 promulgate a national primary drinking water regu3 lation for arsenic not later than December 31, 1999,

4 except that the Administrator may extend such date

5 for 1 year if the Administrator has issued a new

6 proposed regulation for arsenic. The Administrator

7 may promulgate such regulation prior to such date

8 if the Administrator finds that arsenic in drinking

9 water is associated with an imminent and substan10 tial endangerment to the health of persons and pub11 lishes such determination in the Federal Register.

12 (3) STANDARD SETTING PROCESS.—In issuing

13 the national primary drinking water regulation for

14 arsenic, the Administrator may promulgate a na15 tional primary drinking water regulation pursuant to

16 section 1412(b)(5) (A) and (B) of the Safe Drinking

17 Water Act.

18 SEC. 29. DEFINITIONS.

19 (a) PIPED WATER.—Section 1401 is amended by

20 adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(15) The term ‘piped water’ means, in addi22 tion to water carried in pipes, water carried in cul23 verts, canals, or similar conveyances. Such term does

24 not include irrigation water provided to incidental

25 nonagricultural users if the Administrator or State
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1 (in the case of a State exercising primary enforce2 ment responsibility for public water systems) deter3 mines that alternative drinking water to achieve the

4 equivalent level of health protection provided by the

5 applicable national primary drinking water regula6 tions is provided for drinking, cooking, and bathing,

7 or where the Administrator or State (in the case of

8 a State exercising primary enforcement responsibil9 ity for public water systems) determines that the

10 water provided for drinking, cooking, and bathing is

11 treated by the provider of such irrigation water, or

12 a pass-through entity providing water for drinking,

13 cooking, and bathing, to achieve the equivalent level

14 of health protection provided by the applicable na15 tional primary drinking water regulations. This

16 paragraph shall not be construed to affect the mean17 ing of the term ‘human consumption’ as used in any

18 other provision of this title. As used in this para19 graph, the term ‘conveyance’ does not include rivers,

20 streams, lakes, or ponds. Nothing in this paragraph

21 shall create new or additional requirements for pub22 lic water system.’’.

23 (b) ALTERNATIVE QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING

24 PROCEDURES.—Section 1401(1)(D) is amended by adding

25 the following at the end thereof: ‘‘At any time after pro-
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1 mulgation of a regulation referred to in this paragraph,

2 the Administrator may add equally effective quality con3 trol and testing procedures by guidance published in the

4 Federal Register. Such procedures shall be treated as an

5 alternative for public water systems to the quality control

6 and testing procedures listed in the regulation.’’.

7 SEC. 30. REPORTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

8 AGENCY ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS.

9 For States and Indian Tribes in which the Adminis10 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency has re11 voked primary enforcement responsibility under part B of

12 title XIV of the Public Health Service Act (the Safe

13 Drinking Water Act) or is otherwise administering such

14 title, the Administrator shall provide every 2 years, a re15 port to Congress on the implementation by the Adminis16 trator of all applicable requirements of that title in such

17 States.

18 SEC. 31. GENERAL AUTHORIZATION.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A is amended by adding the

20 following new section after section 1401:

21 ‘‘SEC. 1402. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

23 as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this

24 title for the first 8 fiscal years following the enactment

25 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994.’’.
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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The heading for

2 part A is amended to read as follows:

3 ‘‘PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS’’.

4 SEC. 32. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

5 Section 1421(b)(3)(B)(i) is amended by striking

6 ‘‘number or States’’ and inserting ‘‘number of States’’.

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HR 226 IH——6

HR 226 IH——7

HR 226 IH——8