II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1401 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to address lead contamination in 

school drinking water. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 21, 2017 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to address lead 

contamination in school drinking water. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Get the Lead Out of 

5 Schools Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SCHOOL TESTING AND NOTIFICATION; GRANT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 Section 1464 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 300j–24) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(e) TESTING AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

2 FOR PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS THAT SERVE SCHOOLS.— 

3 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

4 subsection, the Administrator shall promulgate a national 

5 primary drinking water regulation for school drinking 

6 water that— 

7 ‘‘(1) establishes a lead action level that is not 

8 less than the lead action level established by the Ad9 ministrator under section 1412(b); 

10 ‘‘(2) requires each public water system to sam11 ple for lead in the drinking water at such schools as 

12 the Administrator determines to have a risk of lead 

13 in the drinking water at a level that meets or ex14 ceeds the lead action level established under para15 graph (1); and 

16 ‘‘(3) in the case of results of sampling under 

17 paragraph (2) that indicate that the drinking water 

18 of a school contains lead that meets or exceeds the 

19 lead action level established under paragraph (1), re20 quires the public water system that serves the school 

21 to notify the local educational agency that has juris22 diction over the school, the relevant local health 

23 agencies, the municipality, and the State as soon as 

24 practicable, but not later than 5 business days after 


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1 the date on which the public water system receives 

2 the sampling results. 

3 ‘‘(f) SCHOOL LEAD TESTING AND REMEDIATION

4 GRANT PROGRAM.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In 

6 this subsection, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency (as defined 

8 in subsection (d)(1)); or 

9 ‘‘(B) a State agency that administers a 

10 statewide program to test for, or remediate, 

11 lead contamination in drinking water. 

12 ‘‘(2) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Not later than 1 

13 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

14 the Administrator shall establish a grant program to 

15 make grants available to eligible entities to test for, 

16 and remediate, lead contamination in school drinking 

17 water. 

18 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

20 receives a grant under this subsection may use 

21 grant funds— 

22 ‘‘(i) to recover the costs incurred by 

23 the eligible entity for testing for lead con24 tamination in school drinking water con25 ducted by an entity approved by the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Jun 27, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1401.IS S1401

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1 ministrator or the State to conduct the 

2 testing; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) to replace lead pipes, pipe fit4 tings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures of 

5 any school with drinking water that con6 tains a level of lead that meets or exceeds 

7 the action level established by the Adminis8 trator under subsection (e)(1) with lead 

9 free (as defined in section 1417) pipes, 

10 pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and fix11 tures. 

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 5 per13 cent of grant funds accepted under this sub14 section shall be used to pay the administrative 

15 costs of testing for, or remediation of, lead con16 tamination. 

17 ‘‘(4) GUIDANCE; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—As a 

18 condition of receiving a grant under this subsection, 

19 an eligible entity shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) expend grant funds in accordance 

21 with— 

22 ‘‘(i) the guidance of the Environ23 mental Protection Agency entitled ‘3Ts for 

24 Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in 

25 Schools: Revised Technical Guidance’ and 


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1 dated October 2006 (or any successor 

2 guidance); or 

3 ‘‘(ii) applicable State regulations or 

4 guidance regarding the reduction of lead in 

5 drinking water in schools that is not less 

6 stringent than the guidance referred to in 

7 clause (i), as determined by the Adminis8 trator; 

9 ‘‘(B) make publicly available, including, to 

10 the maximum extent practicable, on the Inter11 net website of the eligible entity, a copy of the 

12 results of any testing for lead contamination in 

13 school drinking water that is carried out with 

14 funds under this subsection; and 

15 ‘‘(C) notify parent, teacher, and employee 

16 organizations of the availability of the results 

17 described in subparagraph (B).’’. 

Æ 


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