II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2161 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to prevent the enforcement of certain 

national primary drinking water regulations unless sufficient funding 

is available or variance technology has been identified. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 21, 2005 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. HAGEL, and Mr. NELSON of 

Nebraska) 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 prevent the enforcement of certain national primary drinking water 

regulations unless sufficient funding is available or variance technology has been identified. 

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 ‘‘Small System Safe 

5 Drinking Water Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) GUIDANCE.—Section 1412(b)(4)(E) of the Safe 

3 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–1(b)(4)(E)) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(vi) GUIDANCE.—As soon as prac6 ticable after the date of enactment of this 

7 clause, the Administrator shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) convene a working group 

9 composed of representatives from 

10 States, small publicly-owned water 

11 systems, and treatment manufactur12 ers, which shall, not later than 180 

13 days after the date of enactment of 

14 this clause, conduct a study of, and 

15 submit to the Administrator a report 

16 on, barriers to the use of point-of-use 

17 and point-of-entry treatment units, 

18 package plants, including water bot19 tled by the public water system, and 

20 modular units; 

21 ‘‘(II) develop a model guidance 

22 document based on recommendations 

23 received from the working group 

24 under subclause (I) and similar State 

25 guidance documents for distribution 

26 to States to assist States in regulating 
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1 and promoting the treatment options 

2 described in subclause (I); and 

3 ‘‘(III) distribute to small water 

4 systems— 

5 ‘‘(aa) the model guidance 

6 document developed under sub7 clause (II); and 

8 ‘‘(bb) such other information 

9 relating to the treatment options 

10 described in subclause (I) as the 

11 Administrator considers to be ap12 propriate.’’. 

13 (b) ENFORCEMENT OF NATIONAL PRIMARY DRINK14 ING WATER REGULATIONS.— 

15 (1) HEALTH EFFECTS.—Section 1412(b)(3)(C) 

16 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g– 

17 1(b)(3)(C)) is amended by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(v) HEALTH EFFECTS.—When pro20 posing any national primary drinking 

21 water regulation that includes a maximum 

22 containment level, health effects shall be 

23 clearly translated into— 

24 ‘‘(I) the quantity of water that 

25 an individual can consume; and 
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1 ‘‘(II) the length of time that may 

2 elapse before the effects of a contami3 nate can occur.’’. 

4 (2) FEASIBLE TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 

5 1412(b)(4)(E)(i) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 300g–1(b)(4)(E)(i)) is amended by add7 ing at the end: ‘‘The technologies shall reflect the 

8 different water sources from various regions of the 

9 United States.’’. 

10 (3) VARIANCE TECHNOLOGIES.—Section 

11 1412(b)(15) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 300g–1(b)(15)) is amended— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

14 (i) by redesignating clauses (i) 

15 through (iii) as subclauses (I) through 

16 (III), respectively, and indenting appro17 priately; 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

19 At the’’ and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) TECHNOLOGIES.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—At the’’; and 

22 (iii) by adding after the matter fol23 lowing subparagraph (A)(i)(III) (as redes24 ignated by clause (i)) the following: 
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1 ‘‘(B) AFFORDABILITY.—In establishing af2 fordability criteria under this subparagraph, the 

3 Administrator shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) in determining whether a treat5 ment technology or treatment technique is 

6 affordable, include consideration of costs 

7 associated with complying with all relevant 

8 regulations promulgated in accordance 

9 with this Act and the Federal Water Pollu10 tion Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) 

11 with which a municipality or small public 

12 water system may be required to comply; 

13 ‘‘(ii) give extra weight to households 

14 the total income of which is below the pov15 erty level, and to communities that meet 

16 the affordability criteria of a State estab17 lished in accordance with section 

18 1452(b)(3)(A)(iii), as determined by the 

19 Administrator; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) ensure that the affordability cri21 teria are not more costly, on a per-capita 

22 basis, to a small public water system than 

23 the cost, on a per-capita basis, to a large 

24 water system of acquiring feasible tech25 nology described in paragraph (4).’’. 
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1 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(E) ENFORCEMENT.—No national pri3 mary drinking water regulation promulgated 

4 under this Act to regulate a public water sys5 tem serving a population of less than 10,000 in6 dividuals may be enforced by the Administrator 

7 or a State unless a variance technology has 

8 been identified in accordance with this para9 graph.’’. 

10 (4) EFFECT OF BILATERAL COMPLIANCE

11 AGREEMENT.—Section 1412 of the Safe Drinking 

12 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–1) is amended by add13 ing at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(f) EFFECT OF BILATERAL COMPLIANCE AGREE15 MENT.—A system that has entered into a bilateral compli16 ance agreement with the State, and complied with that 

17 agreement, shall be considered to be in compliance with 

18 the Federal drinking water standard that is the subject 

19 of the compliance agreement for the duration of the agree20 ment.’’. 

21 (5) STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS.—Section 

22 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 300j–12) is amended— 
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1 (A) by redesignating subsections (n), (o), 

2 (p), (q), and (r) as subsection (o), (p), (q), (r), 

3 and (s) respectively; and 

4 (B) by inserting after subsection (m) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(n) ENFORCEMENT.—No national primary drinking 

7 water regulation promulgated under this Act may be en8 forced by the Administrator or a State unless sufficient 

9 funds are available under this title to assist each public 

10 water system in meeting the regulation.’’. 

11 (c) RENEWAL OF EXEMPTION.—Section 1416(b)(2) 

12 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–5(b)(2)) 

13 is amended by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(C) In the case of a system that does not 

16 serve more than a population of 10,000 and 

17 that needs financial assistance for the necessary 

18 improvements, an exemption granted under 

19 clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (B) may be 

20 renewed for such period as the State determines 

21 to be appropriate, if the system establishes that 

22 it is taking all practicable steps to meet the re23 quirements of subparagraph (B).’’. 

24 (d) RESEARCH, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, INFORMA25 TION, AND TRAINING OF PERSONNEL.—Section 1442 of 
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1 the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300i) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(d) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PILOT

6 PROJECTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es8 tablish a research pilot program (referred to in this 

9 subsection as the ‘program’) to explore new tech10 nologies or approaches that public water systems 

11 may use to comply with a public drinking water 

12 standard promulgated under this Act. 

13 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF ADMINISTRATOR.— 

14 In carrying out this subsection, the Administrator 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) establish an application process that 

17 includes criteria that may be used to assess 

18 water systems applying for participation in the 

19 program; 

20 ‘‘(B) based on applications received under 

21 subparagraph (A), select 20 communities with 

22 various populations and water sources in dif23 ferent regions of the United States for partici24 pation in the program; 
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1 ‘‘(C) fund projects that develop or imple2 ment new technologies or approaches for imple3 mentation of Federal drinking water standards; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(D) coordinate projects with the Arsenic 

6 Water Technology Partnership program of the 

7 Department of Energy. 

8 ‘‘(3) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND DISINFEC9 TION STRATEGIES.—The Administrator shall carry 

10 out a pilot program to conduct research into tech11 nology transfer issues and disinfection strategies re12 lating to drinking water, including risks associated 

13 with the migration to chloramines for the purpose of 

14 water disinfection.’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (e)— 

16 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

17 Administrator’’ and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator’’; 

19 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

20 ‘‘Such assistance’’ and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(2) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance pro22 vided under paragraph (1)’’; 

23 (C) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘The 

24 Administrator’’ and inserting the following: 
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1 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.—The Ad2 ministrator’’; 

3 (D) in the fourth sentence, by striking 

4 ‘‘Each nonprofit’’ and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION WITH STATE.—Each non6 profit’’; and 

7 (E) by striking the fifth sentence and all 

8 that follows through the end of the subsection 

9 and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(5) ASSISTANCE IN COMPLYING WITH

11 RULES.—The Administrator shall ensure, to the 

12 maximum extent practicable, that each water system 

13 required to comply with Federal drinking water rules 

14 receives adequate technical assistance and training 

15 to meet the requirements of those final rules, includ16 ing through assistance to be provided by qualified 

17 nonprofit associations with expertise in public water 

18 systems. 

19 ‘‘(6) PRIORITY.—The Administrator shall give 

20 priority for assistance under this section to water 

21 systems that, as of the date of enactment of this 

22 paragraph, are not in compliance with, as deter23 mined by the Administrator— 

24 ‘‘(A) the final rule entitled ‘Disinfectants 

25 and Disinfection Byproducts’ and published by 
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1 the Administrator on December 16, 1998 (63 

2 Fed. Reg. 69390); or 

3 ‘‘(B) the final rule entitled ‘Arsenic and 

4 Clarifications to Compliance and New Source 

5 Contaminants Monitoring’ and published by the 

6 Administrator on January 22, 2001 (66 Fed. 

7 Reg. 6976). 

8 ‘‘(7) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—The Adminis9 trator shall not initiate any enforcement action 

10 against a water system under this Act unless the 

11 Administrator first provides to the water system as12 sistance in accordance with this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(8) FUNDING.— 

14 ‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA15 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

16 to carry out this subsection $15,000,000 for 

17 each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010. 

18 ‘‘(B) LOBBYING EXPENSES.—No portion 

19 of any State revolving loan fund established 

20 under section 1452, and no portion of any 

21 funds made available under this subsection, 

22 may be used for lobbying expenses. 

23 ‘‘(C) TRIBAL ASSISTANCE.—Of the amount 

24 made available under subparagraph (A) for a 

25 fiscal year, at least 3 percent shall be used for 
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1 technical assistance to public water systems 

2 owned or operated by Indian Tribes.’’. 

3 (e) CONTAMINANT STUDY AND REPORT.— 

4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL.—The Adminis5 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency (re6 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘‘Administrator’’) 

7 shall establish a panel of experts composed of not 

8 more than 6 members appointed by the Adminis9 trator, of whom— 

10 (A) 1 member shall be selected by the Ad11 ministrator; 

12 (B) 1 member shall be appointed based on 

13 the recommendation of State water administra14 tors; 

15 (C) 3 members shall be appointed based on 

16 the recommendation of associations rep17 resenting public water systems; and 

18 (D) 1 member shall be appointed based on 

19 the recommendation of the National Academy 

20 of Sciences. 

21 (2) DUTIES.—The panel of experts shall— 

22 (A) conduct a review of studies on the 

23 health effects of exposure to arsenic and dis24 infection byproducts; and 
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1 (B) not later than 180 days after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, submit to the Com3 mittee on Environment and Public Works of the 

4 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Com5 merce of the House of Representatives a report 

6 that includes— 

7 (i) the results of the review; and 

8 (ii) an assessment of the most recent 

9 scientific findings relating to the health ef10 fects of exposure to the substances de11 scribed in subparagraph (A), including a 

12 comparison of studies and research con13 ducted after the date on which maximum 

14 contaminant levels and maximum contami15 nant level goals for those substances were 

16 established in accordance with section 

17 1412 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 300g–1). 

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