Union Calendar No. 412

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3392

[Report No. 103–745, Part I]

A BILL

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to assure

the safety of public water systems.

SEPTEMBER 26, 1994

Committees on Science, Space, and Technology and the

dered to be printedthe Whole House on the State of the Union and orJudiciary discharged; committed to the Committee of
IB

Union Calendar No. 412

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3392

[Report No. 103–745, Part I]

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

water systems.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 27, 1993

Mr. SLATTERY (for himself, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. ROWLAND, Mr. HALL of Texas,

Mr. COOPER, Mr. PAXON, Mr. UPTON, Mr. LEHMAN, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr.

POMEROY, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. CANADY, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. FRANK of

Massachusetts, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. BARLOW, Mr. MCHUGH,

Mr. SWETT, Mrs. VUCANOVICH, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. HUNTER, Mr.

GRANDY, and Mr. WALSH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

JANUARY 26, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. SMITH of Iowa, Mr. YATES, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr.

HALL of Ohio, Mr. FORD of Tennessee, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. PICKETT, Mr.

LANCASTER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. COMBEST,

Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. EWING, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́,

Mr. BISHOP, Mr. EMERSON, Mr. DARDEN, Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mr.

CAMP, Mr. GILLMOR, Ms. DANNER, Mr. PARKER, Mr. BLUTE, Mr.

BALLENGER, Mr. VOLKMER, Mr. LIGHTFOOT, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. CONDIT,

Mr. KYL, Mr. MCCURDY, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. SARPALIUS, Mr. JOHNSON

of Georgia, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming,

Mr. PETE GEREN of Texas, Mr. TAYLOR of Mississippi, Mr. SKEEN, Mr.

BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. STUMP, Mr. KIM, Mr.

COX, Mr. DREIER, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. HUTTO,

Mr. MINGE, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. LAUGHLIN, Mr. WILSON, Mr. REGULA, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. EVERETT, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. LAROCCO, Mr.

PETRI, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mr. LEVY, Mr. SMITH

of Michigan, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. MICA, Mr. COBLE, Mr.

MCINNIS, and Mr. SISISKY
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SEPTEMBER 23, 1994

Reported with an amendment; referred to the following committees for a period ending not later than September 26, 1994: to the Committee on

Science, Space, and Technology for consideration of such provisions contained in the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of that

committee pursuant to clause 1(r), rule X; and to the Committee on the

Judiciary for consideration of such portions of sections 15 and 17 of the

amendment recommended by the Committee on Energy and Commerce

as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(1),

rule X.

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

SEPTEMBER 26, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. HASTERT, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. EDWARDS of Texas,

Mr. ANDREWS of New Jersey, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. DOOLEY, Mr.

KOPETSKI, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. LEACH, Mr.

GOODLING, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. ZELIFF, Mr. MCKEON,

Mr. GORDON, Mr. OXLEY, Ms. LONG, Mr. ROTH, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. TEJEDA, Mr. KREIDLER, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. PENNY, Mr.

KINGSTON, Mr. PETERSON of Florida, Mr. QUINN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. SWIFT, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. BREWSTER, Mr. DEAL,

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. MAZZOLI, Mr. WOLF, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr.

CUNNINGHAM, Mr. MCCANDLESS, Mr. JACOBS, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. INGLIS

of South Carolina, Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. ROSE, Mr. ORTON,

Mr. HERGER, Mr. LEWIS of Florida, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. BROWDER, Mrs.

THURMAN, Mr. DICKS, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. DICKEY,

Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. JOHNSON of

South Dakota, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. THOMAS of California, Mr. RAVENEL, Mr. TALENT, Mr. ARCHER, Mr. CRANE, Mr. CRAPO,

Mr. MYERS of Indiana, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr.

BAESLER, Mr. MCMILLAN, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. GINGRICH, Mr. KOLBE,

Mr. BONILLA, Mr. HORN, Mr. ROGERS, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr.

SUNDQUIST, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr.

GOSS, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. WHITTEN, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. HAMILTON, Mr.

FIELDS of Texas, Mr. SCHAEFER, Mr. LINDER, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. TANNER, Mr. VALENTINE, Mr. WISE, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. WALKER,

Mr. CLINGER, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. BORSKI, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. HYDE, Mrs.

CLAYTON, Mr. GALLO, and Ms. SNOWE

SEPTEMBER 26, 1994

Committees on Science, Space, and Technology and the Judiciary discharged;

committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the

Union and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 27, 1993]
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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,

11 the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or

12 other provision of title XIV of the Public Health Service

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

14 following).

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise specified

16 in this Act or in the amendments made by this Act, the

17 amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date

18 of enactment of this Act.

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

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

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

22 other law shall be construed by the Administrator of the
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1 Environmental Protection Agency or the courts as affecting,

2 modifying, expanding, changing, or altering (1) the provi3 sions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, (2) the

4 duties and responsibilities of the Administrator under that

5 Act, or (3) the regulation or control of point or nonpoint

6 sources of pollution discharged into waters covered by that

7 Act. The Administrator shall identify in the agency’s an8 nual budget all funding and full-time equivalents admin9 istering the Safe Drinking Water Act separately from fund10 ing and staffing for the Federal Water Pollution Control

11 Act.

12 SEC. 3. NATIONAL DRINKING WATER REGULATIONS.

13 (a) NEW CONTAMINANT SELECTION.—Section

14 1412(b)(3) is amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘(3) REGULATION OF UNREGULATED CONTAMI16 NANTS.—

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

18 the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

19 Amendments of 1994, the Administrator, after con20 sultation with the scientific community, including the

21 Science Advisory Board, shall select and publish a

22 proposed list of not fewer than 15 contaminants

23 which are known or anticipated to occur in public

24 water systems, which are not subject to any proposed

25 or promulgated national primary drinking water reg-
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1 ulation, and which may require regulation under this

2 title.

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

4 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994 and

5 every 4 years thereafter, the Administrator, after con6 sultation with the scientific community, including the

7 Science Advisory Board, and after considering the oc8 currence data base established under section 1445(g),

9 shall (in addition to the contaminants listed under

10 clause (i)) select and publish a proposed list of not

11 fewer than 12 contaminants which are not subject to

12 any proposed or promulgated national primary

13 drinking water regulation, which are known or an14 ticipated to occur in public water systems, and which

15 may require regulation under this title.

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

17 determines that the number of unregulated contami18 nants meeting the criteria for the list under clause

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

20 waive the requirement to select at least 12 contami21 nants every 4 years under that clause. At any time

22 after such rule is promulgated, the Administrator

23 may, after consultation with the scientific commu24 nity, including the Science Advisory Board and after

25 considering the occurrence data base established under
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1 section 1445(g), select a proposed list of 1 or more

2 contaminants (in addition to the contaminants listed

3 under clause (i) or (ii)) which are known or antici4 pated to occur in public water systems, which are not

5 subject to any proposed or promulgated national pri6 mary drinking water regulation, and which may re7 quire regulation under this title.

8 ‘‘(iv) In selecting unregulated contaminants for

9 the proposed lists referred to in this paragraph, the

10 Administrator shall select contaminants that present

11 the greatest public health concern. The Administrator,

12 in making such selection, shall take into consider13 ation, among other factors of public health concern,

14 the effect of such contaminants upon subgroups that

15 comprise a meaningful portion of the general popu16 lation (such as pregnant woman and children) that

17 are identifiable as being at greater health risk than

18 the general population, based on adequate scientific

19 information. The unregulated contaminants consid20 ered for such proposed lists shall include, but not be

21 limited to, substances referred to in section 101(14) of

22 the Comprehensive Environmental Response Com23 pensation and Liability Act of 1980, and substances

24 registered as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide,

25 Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
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1 ‘‘(v) The Administrator’s decision whether or not

2 to select an unregulated contaminant for a proposed

3 list pursuant to this paragraph shall not be subject to

4 judicial review.

5 ‘‘(B) FINAL LIST.—Each proposed list estab6 lished in subparagraph (A) shall be subject to public

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

8 months after the close of the public comment period,

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

10 published, the Administrator shall publish in the Fed11 eral Register the final list of contaminants meeting

12 the requirements of subparagraph (A), together with

13 responses to significant comments. Each final list

14 shall include at least the minimum number of con15 taminants specified in subparagraph (A).

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

17 time after the final list of contaminants established

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

19 than 30 months thereafter, the Administrator shall de20 termine, by rule, whether or not to regulate each of

21 the contaminants on such final list. The Adminis22 trator, after notice in the Federal Register, may ex23 tend the period for making such determination for

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

25 9 months. The Administrator shall allow at least 90
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1 days for public comment prior to making a deter2 mination under this subparagraph. A determination

3 to regulate a contaminant shall be based on the fol4 lowing three findings:

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

6 known to occur in public water systems.

7 ‘‘(ii) A finding that, based on the best avail8 able public health information, the contaminant

9 occurs in concentrations which have or may have

10 any adverse effect on the health of persons.

11 ‘‘(iii) A finding that regulation of such con12 taminant presents a meaningful opportunity for

13 public health risk reduction for persons served by

14 public water systems.

15 The Administrator may regulate a contaminant that

16 does not appear on a list published under subpara17 graph (A) or (B) if the determination to regulate is

18 pursuant to this subparagraph.

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

20 under subparagraph (C) that the Administrator deter21 mines shall be regulated, the Administrator shall pro22 mulgate, by rule, maximum contaminant level goals

23 and national primary drinking water regulations as

24 provided in paragraphs (4) and (5) of this subsection.

25 The Administrator shall propose the maximum con-
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1 taminant level goal and national primary drinking

2 water regulation not later than 18 months after the

3 determination to regulate under subparagraph (C),

4 and may publish such proposed regulation concurrent

5 with the determination to regulate. The Adminis6 trator shall allow at least 90 days for public comment

7 on any such proposed goal and proposed regulation.

8 The Administrator shall promulgate a maximum con9 taminant level goal and national primary drinking

10 water regulation within 18 months after the proposal

11 thereof. The Administrator, by notice in the Federal

12 Register, may extend the deadline for such promulga13 tion for up to 9 months.

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

15 may publish health advisories (which are not regula16 tions) or take other appropriate actions for contami17 nants not subject to any national primary drinking

18 water regulation.

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

20 the Administrator’s study, under existing authorities

21 of the Administrator, of the health effects of contami22 nants for regulatory purposes, the Administrator shall

23 examine, among other health related issues, methods

24 for identifying subpopulations that may be impacted

25 by contaminants and the extent and nature of such
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1 impacts, taking into consideration other risks to such

2 subpopulations. There are authorized to be appro3 priated such sums as may be necessary for the Ad4 ministrator to examine the health effects of drinking

5 water contaminants for such regulatory purposes.

6 ‘‘(G) CRYPTOSPORIDIUM.—(i) Not later than De7 cember 31, 1996, the Administrator shall publish a

8 maximum contaminant level goal and promulgate an

9 interim national primary drinking water regulation

10 for cryptosporidium for public water systems serving

11 10,000 persons of more. Such regulation shall take ef12 fect not later than 24 months after the date of pro13 mulgation.

14 ‘‘(ii) Not later than December 31, 1998, the Ad15 ministrator shall promulgate a national primary

16 drinking water regulation for cryptosporidium. Such

17 regulation shall take effect, for public water systems

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

19 of promulgation.

20 Each date for publication and promulgation specified in

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

22 the Administrator determines that such additional time is

23 necessary to review information under the Administrator’s

24 information collection rule.’’.
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1 (b) LIMITED ALTERNATIVE TO FILTRATION REQUIRE2 MENTS.—Section 1412(b)(7)(C) is amended by adding at

3 the end the following:

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

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

6 criteria for avoiding filtration contained in 40 CFR 141.71,

7 a State exercising primary enforcement responsibility for

8 public water systems may establish, on a case-by-case basis

9 and after notice and an opportunity of at least 90 days

10 for public comment, alternatives to filtration requirements

11 in effect on such date of enactment, in the case of systems

12 having uninhabited, undeveloped watersheds in consoli13 dated ownership, and having control over access to, and ac14 tivities in, those watersheds if (taking into consideration

15 the effects of wildlife in such watersheds) the State deter16 mines (and the Administrator concurs) that the public

17 health will be fully protected by such alternatives consistent

18 with the requirements of this title. The authority of a State

19 to establish alternatives under this clause shall expire 3

20 years after the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

21 Amendments of 1994.’’.

22 (c) COMPLIANCE DATES.—Section 1412(b) is amended

23 by striking the first sentence in paragraph (10) and by add24 ing the following at the end thereof:
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1 ‘‘(12) Within 24 months after the promulgation of a

2 national primary drinking water regulation under this sub3 section, each State exercising primary enforcement respon4 sibility for public water systems shall adopt corresponding

5 State regulations under section 1413(a)(1). The Adminis6 trator shall specify the date upon which public water sys7 tems must comply with each national primary drinking

8 water regulation promulgated under this subsection. Such

9 compliance date may not be more than 36 months after the

10 date of promulgation, except that if the Administrator de11 termines that additional time is necessary for capital im12 provements required to meet the national primary drinking

13 water regulations, the Administrator may establish a later

14 compliance date. Such later date shall not be later than 48

15 months after the date of promulgation (or 60 months in

16 the case of systems serving fewer than 3,300 persons). Each

17 State with primary enforcement responsibility may deter18 mine a public water system’s eligibility for any extension

19 beyond 36 months. Nothing in this paragraph shall limit

20 the discretion of the Administrator to differentiate among

21 the compliance dates on the basis of system size or other

22 factors considered appropriate by the Administrator, or to

23 establish interim compliance milestones.’’.

24 SEC. 4. STANDARD SETTING.

25 Section 1412 is amended as follows:
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1 (1) The second sentence of subsection (b)(4) is

2 amended by inserting before the period the following:

3 ‘‘or a treatment technique established pursuant to

4 paragraph (7)(A) of this subsection’’.

5 (2) Subsection (b)(5) is amended as follows:

6 (A) In the first sentence, strike ‘‘feasible’’

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

8 ‘‘technology’’ strike ‘‘, treatment techniques and’’

9 and insert ‘‘or’’.

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

11 following at the end thereof:

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

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

14 paragraph, in the case of any national primary drinking

15 water regulation proposed and promulgated after enactment

16 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994 (other

17 than a national primary drinking water regulation covered

18 by subparagraph (C) or (D)), the Administrator shall con19 sider (in the case of nonthreshold contaminants) and may

20 consider (in the case of threshold contaminants) both the

21 incremental compliance costs likely to be incurred and the

22 incremental public health risk reduction benefits afforded

23 by alternative levels. The terms ‘costs’ and ‘benefits’, as used

24 in this subparagraph—
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1 ‘‘(i) shall include additional and identifiable re2 ductions, if any, of regulated contaminants not cov3 ered by such proposed or promulgated regulation that

4 are expected to be achieved solely from the use of the

5 applicable technology or technologies that form the

6 basis for such regulation, and

7 ‘‘(ii) shall include consideration of the effects of

8 such contaminants upon subgroups that comprise a

9 meaningful portion of the general population, such as

10 pregnant women and children, that are identifiable as

11 being at greater health risk than the general popu12 lation based on adequate scientific information.

13 ‘‘(C) Subparagraph (B) shall not take effect with re14 spect to the first promulgation after the date of enactment

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

16 with respect to the initial revision after such date, of a na17 tional primary drinking water regulation for the following:

18 ‘‘(i) Contaminants covered by the proposed na19 tional primary drinking water regulation for radio20 nuclides as set forth in 56 Federal Register 33050,

21 July 19, 1991.

22 ‘‘(ii) Sulfate.

23 ‘‘(iii) Contaminants covered by the proposed ne24 gotiated rules on (I) disinfectants and disinfection by25 products as set forth in 59 Federal Register 38668,
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1 July 29, 1994, and (II) enhanced surface water treat2 ment as set forth in 59 Federal Register 38832, July

3 29, 1994. Subparagraph (B) shall also not take effect

4 with respect to the promulgation of a second stage

5 regulation for contaminants covered by the proposed

6 negotiated rules referred to in clause (iii).

7 Any subsequent revision of any such regulation shall be sub8 ject to the provisions of subparagraph (D).

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

10 water regulation for a contaminant regulated prior to en11 actment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

12 1994, or any subsequent revision of a national primary

13 drinking water regulation established in accordance with

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

15 proposal to amend such national primary drinking water

16 regulation only if a review required pursuant to paragraph

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

18 the Federal Register, that changes in technology, treatment

19 techniques, or other means permit greater protection of the

20 health of persons. If the Administrator promulgates such

21 regulation in accordance with subparagraph (B), such regu22 lation must provide for greater protection of the health of

23 persons. If the Administrator does not promulgate a regula24 tion in accordance with subparagraph (B) because such

25 greater protection of the health of persons is not achievable,
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1 the Administrator may initiate a new rulemaking under

2 subparagraph (A) or retain the existing national primary

3 drinking water regulations.

4 ‘‘(E) Any subsequent revision of a national primary

5 drinking water regulation for contaminants regulated in

6 accordance with subparagraph (C) or (D) (where such revi7 sion is pursuant to the standard setting language of sub8 paragraph (B)) shall, at a minimum, provide greater pro9 tection of the health of persons than the regulation in effect

10 on the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

11 Amendments of 1994 for such contaminant or, in the case

12 of contaminants subject to subparagraph (C), than the regu13 lation promulgated under subparagraph (C). If the Admin14 istrator does not promulgate such regulation in accordance

15 with subparagraph (B) because such greater protection is

16 not achievable, the Administrator may initiate a new rule17 making pursuant to subparagraph (A) or retain the exist18 ing national primary drinking water regulations.

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

20 new or more serious health effects than existing on the date

21 of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments

22 of 1994, for purposes of proposal and promulgation after

23 such date of a national primary drinking water regulation

24 for sulfate, the Administrator shall include—
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1 ‘‘(i) best technology or other means under sub2 section (b)(5), and

3 ‘‘(ii) public notification and options for provi4 sion of alternative water to populations at risk as al5 ternative means for complying with such regulation.

6 Such proposal shall be made within 6 months after such

7 date of enactment and such rule shall be promulgated with8 in 2 years after such date of enactment.

9 ‘‘(G)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), notwith10 standing any provision of any law enacted prior to the en11 actment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

12 1994, within 6 months of such date of enactment, the Ad13 ministrator shall promulgate a national primary drinking

14 water regulation for radon.

15 ‘‘(ii) For the period of 5 years from the date of promul16 gation of the regulation under clause (i) or from the end

17 of the 6-month period referred to in such clause, whichever

18 comes first, such regulation shall provide that public water

19 systems may comply with an alternative maximum con20 taminant level of 1000 picocuries per liter. If the Congress

21 enacts legislation which reauthorizes the Indoor Radon

22 Abatement Act in the 103d or 104th Congress, such alter23 native maximum contaminant level shall thereafter be

24 deemed to be the applicable maximum contaminant level

25 for purposes of such regulation.’’.
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1 (3) In the first sentence of subsection (b)(7)(A),

2 strike the word ‘‘ascertain’’ and insert ‘‘measure’’.

3 (4) In subsection (b)(9) strike ‘‘3-year’’ and in4 sert ‘‘5-year’’. No change to section 1412(b)(9) made

5 by this Act shall be a basis for delaying the promul6 gation of any rule proposal pursuant to section

7 1412(b)(9) prior to the date of the enactment of this

8 Act.

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

10 thereof:

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

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

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

14 at all times sound, unbiased, and objective scientific prac15 tices and methodologies. The Administrator, in carrying out

16 the Administrator’s responsibilities under this title, shall

17 ensure that the presentation of information on significant

18 health risks is unbiased and informative.

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

20 to the general public which describe the degree of risk from

21 exposure shall, at a minimum, characterize the population

22 or populations, (including any identifiable subpopulations,

23 as referred to in section 1412(b)(5)(B)(ii), at greater risk

24 than the general population) addressed by any agency risk

25 estimates; state the expected risk for the specific population;
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1 and state the reasonable range or other equivalent descrip2 tion of uncertainty in the assessment process.’’.

3 SEC. 5. SMALL SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY.

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

5 ‘‘(6)(A) For purposes of this section and section 1415,

6 at the time the Administrator proposes and promulgates a

7 national primary drinking water regulation establishing a

8 maximum contaminant level for any contaminant, the Ad9 ministrator shall propose and promulgate a listing of the

10 best technology or other means available for achieving com11 pliance with such regulation for large public water systems,

12 and a listing of the best technology or other means, if any,

13 available for achieving compliance with such regulation for

14 public water systems in each of the following categories:

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

16 but not fewer than 3,300 persons.

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

18 In proposing and promulgating lists for systems described

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

20 variations associated with system size.

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

22 the time the Administrator proposes and promulgates a na23 tional primary drinking water regulation establishing a

24 treatment technique for any contaminant, the Adminis25 trator shall propose and promulgate, for large public water
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1 systems, and for systems in the size ranges referred to in

2 clause (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A), a listing of the best

3 technology or other means, if any, available for achieving

4 a level of protection for public health equivalent to the level

5 of protection provided by such treatment technique for sys6 tems in such size ranges.

7 ‘‘(C) A listing under this paragraph of the best tech8 nology or other means under subparagraph (A) shall not

9 be construed to require or authorize that any specified tech10 nology or other means be used for purpose of meeting any

11 national primary drinking water regulation.

12 ‘‘(D) A listing under this paragraph of the best tech13 nology or other means shall provide as much reliable infor14 mation as practicable on performance, effectiveness, limita15 tions, costs, and other relevant factors in support of the list16 ing, including the applicability of such technology or other

17 means to surface and underground source waters, or both.

18 Consistent with such reliable information, each State exer19 cising primary enforcement responsibility for such systems

20 shall presume (pending the availability of monitoring data,

21 pending availability of information on a system’s viability,

22 including the availability of financial assistance under this

23 title, and pending other relevant factors) that use of such

24 technology or other means should enable the public water
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1 system concerned to meet the national primary drinking

2 water regulation.

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

4 assess the engineering feasibility, performance, effectiveness,

5 costs, and limitations of best technologies and other means

6 of meeting national primary drinking water regulations,

7 and may, by rule, revise the list under subparagraph (A)

8 or (B) as appropriate.

9 ‘‘(F) As used in this paragraph, the term ‘best tech10 nology’ for public water systems shall include, whenever ap11 propriate, innovative and alternative technologies.

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

13 primary drinking water regulation, the Administrator may

14 add to the lists under this paragraph, by guidance pub15 lished in the Federal Register, any new or innovative tech16 nology or other means. A State may treat such technologies

17 in the same manner as those listed pursuant to subpara18 graph (A) or (B).

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

20 after the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend21 ments of 1994, the Administrator shall publish each of the

22 following for public water systems in the size ranges re23 ferred to in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A)—

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

25 contaminant level promulgated prior to such publica-
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1 tion, a list of best technologies available that achieve

2 compliance with such maximum contaminant level.

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

4 technique promulgated prior to such publication, a

5 list of alternative technologies that achieve a level of

6 protection of public health equivalent to the level of

7 protection provided by such treatment technique.’’.

8 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 1413.

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

10 amended by inserting after ‘‘emergency circumstances’’ the

11 following: ‘‘including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and

12 other natural disasters’’.

13 (b) PROTECTION OF DRINKING WATER DISTRIBUTION

14 SYSTEMS.—Section 1413(a) is amended by adding the fol15 lowing after paragraph (6), as added by section 7(a):

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

17 by the Administrator not later than 3 years after the

18 date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

19 Amendments of 1994) and implemented requirements

20 for public water systems in the State to take feasible

21 measures to protect the distribution system from con22 tamination due to leakage from sewer lines.’’.

23 (c) RECYCLING OF FILTER BACKWASH.—Section 1413

24 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
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1 ‘‘(c) RECYCLING OF FILTER BACKWASH.—The Admin2 istrator shall promulgate a regulation to govern the recy3 cling of filter backwash water within the treatment process

4 of a public water system. The Administrator shall promul5 gate such regulation not later than 3 years after the date

6 of the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend7 ments of 1994 unless such recycling has been addressed by

8 the Administrator’s ‘enhanced surface water treatment rule’

9 prior to such date. Any regulation under this subsection

10 shall be deemed to be a national primary drinking water

11 regulation for purposes of this title.’’.

12 SEC. 7. CERTIFICATION OF LABORATORIES AND OPERA13 TORS.

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

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

16 period at the end of paragraph (5) and inserting a semi17 colon, and by adding the following at the end thereof:

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

19 years after the promulgation of regulations pursuant

20 to section 1442(h), requirements for the certification

21 of—

22 ‘‘(A) laboratories conducting tests pursuant

23 to this part, and
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1 ‘‘(B) operators of community and

2 nontransient noncommunity public water sys3 tems; and’’.

4 (b) STANDARDS.—Section 1442 is amended by adding

5 the following at the end thereof:

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

7 months after the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking

8 Water Act Amendments of 1994 and after consultation with

9 States exercising primary enforcement responsibility for

10 public water systems, the Administrator shall promulgate

11 regulations specifying minimum standards for certification

12 (and recertification) of the operators of public water sys13 tems. Such regulations shall take into account existing

14 State programs, the complexity of the system and other fac15 tors aimed at providing an effective program at reasonable

16 cost to States and public water systems, taking into account

17 the size of the system.

18 ‘‘(2) Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment

19 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994 and

20 after consultation with States exercising primary enforce21 ment responsibility for public water systems, the Adminis22 trator shall promulgate regulations specifying minimum

23 standards for certification (and recertification) of labora24 tories conducting tests pursuant to this part. Such regula-
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1 tions shall contain minimum criteria to ensure, to the ex2 tent possible, nationwide uniformity in such testing.

3 ‘‘(3) For any State exercising primary enforcement re4 sponsibility for public water systems which has an operator

5 certification program in effect on the date of the enactment

6 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, the

7 regulations under paragraph (1) shall allow the State to

8 enforce such program in lieu of the regulations under para9 graph (1) if the State submits the program to the Adminis10 trator within 18 months after the promulgation of such reg11 ulations unless the Administrator determines (within 9

12 months after the State submits the program to the Adminis13 trator) that such program is inconsistent with such regula14 tions. If disapproved it may be resubmitted in accordance

15 with section 1428(c).’’.

16 (c) STUDY OF TRANSIENT SYSTEMS.—The Adminis17 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall survey

18 various categories of transient noncommunity public water

19 systems nationwide to evaluate any potential public health

20 threat posed by any lack of operator certification or train21 ing for such systems, and within 4 years after the date of

22 the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments

23 of 1994, report to Congress with appropriate recommenda24 tions.
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1 SEC. 8. ENFORCEMENT OF DRINKING WATER REGULA2 TIONS.

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

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

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

6 State with an opportunity to confer with the Adminis7 trator, and notify’’.

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

9 as follows:

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

11 ‘‘In the case of a State exercising primary enforce12 ment responsibility for public water systems, an order

13 issued under this subsection to enforce section 1445

14 shall not take effect until after the Administrator has

15 provided such State with an opportunity to confer

16 with the Administrator regarding the order.’’.

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

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

19 as follows:

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

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

22 for more than 15 days or the public water system

23 serves more than 10,000 persons)’’.

24 (2) In subparagraph (C), 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 (d) ENFORCEABILITY OF STATE REQUIREMENTS.—

4 Section 1414 is amended by adding the following at the

5 end thereof:

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

7 primary enforcement responsibility for public water sys8 tems, any violation of a State requirement that implements

9 a national primary drinking water regulation shall be

10 treated as a violation of a national primary drinking water

11 regulation in effect under section 1412, except to the extent

12 that the State requirement includes elements that are more

13 stringent, or broader in scope, than elements of the national

14 primary drinking water regulation.’’.

15 SEC. 9. QUARTERLY NONCOMPLIANCE REPORTING.

16 (a) NONCOMPLIANCE REPORTING.—Section 1413 is

17 amended by inserting the following new subsection after

18 subsection (c):

19 ‘‘(d) QUARTERLY NONCOMPLIANCE REPORTING.—(1)

20 Each State exercising primary enforcement responsibility

21 for public water systems shall submit quarterly reports to

22 the Administrator on a schedule and in a format prescribed

23 by the Administrator, consisting of each of the following

24 items:
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1 ‘‘(A) Violations, during the previous quarter, by

2 public water systems in the State of State regulations

3 adopted to implement the requirements of national

4 primary drinking water regulations.

5 ‘‘(B) Enforcement actions taken, during the pre6 vious quarter, by the State against public water sys7 tems with respect to State regulations adopted to im8 plement the requirements of national primary drink9 ing water regulations.

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

11 granted during the previous quarter. The notice shall

12 include a statement of reasons for the granting of the

13 variance or exemption, including documentation of

14 the need for the variance or exemption and the find15 ing that the granting of the variance or exemption

16 will not result in an unreasonable risk to health. The

17 State may use a single notification statement to re18 port 2 or more similar variances or exemptions.

19 ‘‘(2) The reports under paragraph (1)(A) shall include

20 information specifying the contamination level in the case

21 of any exceedance of any maximum contaminant level in22 cluded in a national primary drinking water regulation.

23 ‘‘(3) The Administrator shall make all information re24 ported to the Administrator under this subsection available
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1 to the public in such manner as will ensure maximum ac2 cessibility and comprehension by the public.’’.

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

4 1413(a)(3) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including reports

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

6 SEC. 10. SMALL SYSTEM ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

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

8 adding the following at the end thereof:

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

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

11 water systems serving 3,300 persons or fewer, a vari12 ance under this section shall be granted by a State

13 which has primary enforcement responsibility for

14 public water systems allowing the use of Best Avail15 able Affordable Technology in lieu of best technology

16 or other means where—

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

18 listed under subparagraph (A)(ii) or subpara19 graph (B) of section 1412(b)(6) for a given con20 taminant for public water systems serving 3,300

21 persons or fewer;

22 ‘‘(B) the Administrator has identified

23 BAAT for that contaminant pursuant to para24 graph (3); and
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1 ‘‘(C) the State finds that the conditions in

2 paragraph (4) are met.

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

4 Available Affordable Technology’ or ‘BAAT’ means

5 the most effective technology or other means for the

6 control of a drinking water contaminant or contami7 nants that is available and affordable to systems serv8 ing fewer than 3,300 persons.

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

10 each national primary drinking water regulation

11 proposed and promulgated after the enactment of the

12 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, the

13 Administrator shall identify BAAT in any case where

14 no ‘best technology or other means’ is listed under

15 subparagraph (A)(ii) or subparagraph (B) of section

16 1412(b)(6) for that contaminant for systems serving

17 fewer than 3,300 persons. No such identified BAAT

18 shall require a technology from specific manufacturer

19 or brand. BAAT need not be adequate to achieve the

20 applicable maximum contaminant level or treatment

21 technique, but shall bring the public water system as

22 close to achievement of such maximum contaminant

23 level as practical or as close to the level of health pro24 tection provided by such treatment technique as prac25 tical, as the case may be. Any technology or other
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1 means identified as BAAT must be determined by the

2 Administrator to be protective of public health. Si3 multaneously with identification of BAAT, the Ad4 ministrator shall list any assumptions underlying the

5 public health determination referred to in the preced6 ing sentence, where such assumptions concern the

7 public water system to which the technology may be

8 applied, or its source waters. The Administrator shall

9 provide the assumptions used in determining afford10 ability, taking into consideration the number of per11 sons served by such systems. Such listing shall pro12 vide as much reliable information as practicable on

13 performance, effectiveness, limitations, costs, and

14 other relevant factors in support of such listing, in15 cluding the applicability of BAAT to surface and un16 derground waters or both.

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

18 months after the date of the enactment of the Safe

19 Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, the Admin20 istrator shall identify BAAT for all national primary

21 drinking water regulations proposed or promulgated

22 prior to such date of enactment where no best tech23 nology or other means is listed under subparagraph

24 (A)(ii) or subparagraph (B) of section 1412(b)(6) for

25 that contaminant for systems serving fewer than
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1 3,300 persons, and where compliance by such small

2 systems is not practical. In identifying BAAT for

3 such national primary drinking water regulations,

4 the Administrator shall give priority to evaluation of

5 atrazine, asbestos, selenium, pentachlorophenol, anti6 mony, and nickel.

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

8 grant a variance under this subsection, the State

9 must determine that—

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

11 ‘best technology or other means’ because of the

12 system’s small size;

13 ‘‘(B) the public water system could not com14 ply with the maximum contaminant level

15 through use of alternate water supplies or

16 through management changes or restructuring,

17 as described in section 1419 (relating to public

18 water system viability);

19 ‘‘(C) the public water system has the capac20 ity to operate and maintain BAAT; and

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

22 system are consistent with the public health as23 sumptions identified by the Administrator under

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

2 State under this subsection shall establish a schedule

3 for the installation and operation of BAAT within a

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

5 variance, except that the State may grant an exten6 sion of 1 additional year upon application by the sys7 tem. The application shall include a showing of fi8 nancial or technical need. Variances under this sub9 section shall be for a term not to exceed 5 years (in10 cluding the period allowed for installation and oper11 ation of BAAT), but may be renewed for such addi12 tional 5-year periods by the State upon a finding

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

14 met.

15 ‘‘(6) MICROBIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS.—No

16 variance may be issued under this subsection for

17 microbiological contaminants.

18 ‘‘(7) REVIEW.—Any review by the Administrator

19 under paragraphs (4) and (5) shall be pursuant to

20 subsection (a)(1)(G)(i).’’.

21 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING CHANGES.—(1) Sec22 tion 1415 is amended by striking ‘‘best technology, treat23 ment techniques, or other means’’ and ‘‘best available tech24 nology, treatment techniques or other means’’ each place
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1 such terms appear and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘best tech2 nology or other means’’.

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

4 third sentence and by striking ‘‘Before a schedule prescribed

5 by a State pursuant to this subparagraph may take effect’’

6 and all that follows down to the beginning of the last sen7 tence.

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

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

10 ‘‘Before a variance is issued and a schedule is pre11 scribed pursuant to this subsection or subsection (e)

12 by a State, the State shall provide notice and an op13 portunity for a public hearing on the proposed vari14 ance and schedule.’’.

15 (B) Insert ‘‘under this section’’ before the period

16 at the end of the third sentence’’.

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

18 (A) Strike ‘‘under subparagraph (A)’’ and insert

19 ‘‘under this section’’.

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

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

22 (C) Strike the last sentence.

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

24 year’’ and inserting ‘‘5-year’’ and by amending the first

25 sentence to read as follows: ‘‘Not later than 5 years after
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1 the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments

2 of 1994, the Administrator shall complete a review of the

3 variances granted under this section (and the schedules pre4 scribed in connection with such variances).’’.

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

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

7 (7) Section 1415(b) is amended by striking ‘‘para8 graph (1)(B) or (2) of subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘this

9 section’’.

10 (8) Section 1415(c) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection

11 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘this section’’.

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

13 ‘‘(d) ƒREPEALED.≈’’.

14 SEC. 11. EXEMPTIONS.

15 (a) SYSTEMS SERVING FEWER THAN 3,300 PER16 SONS.—Section 1416 is amended by adding the following

17 at the end thereof:

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

19 serving fewer than 3,300 persons, the maximum exemption

20 period shall be 4 years if the State is exercising primary

21 enforcement responsibility for public water systems and de22 termines that—

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

24 maximum contaminant level or install Best Available

25 Affordable Technology (‘BAAT’) due in either case to
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1 compelling economic circumstances (taking into con2 sideration the availability of financial assistance

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

4 Funds) or other compelling circumstances;

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

6 with the maximum contaminant level through the use

7 of alternate water supplies;

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

9 a drinking water supply that protects public health

10 given the duration of exemption; and

11 ‘‘(D) the State has met the requirements of para12 graph (2).

13 ‘‘(2)(A) Before issuing an exemption under this section

14 or an extension thereof for a small public water system de15 scribed in paragraph (1), the State shall—

16 ‘‘(i) examine the public water system’s technical,

17 financial, and managerial capability (taking into

18 consideration any available financial assistance) to

19 operate in, and maintain compliance with, this title,

20 and

21 ‘‘(ii) determine if management or restructuring

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

23 result in compliance with this title or, if compliance

24 cannot be achieved, improve the quality of the drink25 ing water.
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1 ‘‘(B) Management changes referred to in subparagraph

2 (A) may include rate increases, accounting changes, the hir3 ing of consultants, the appointment of a technician with

4 expertise in operating such systems, contractual arrange5 ments for a more efficient and capable system for joint oper6 ation, or other reasonable strategies to improve viability.

7 ‘‘(C) Restructuring changes referred to in subpara8 graph (A) may include ownership change, physical consoli9 dation with another system, or other measures to otherwise

10 improve customer base and gain economies of scale.

11 ‘‘(D) If the State determines that management or re12 structuring changes referred to in subparagraph (A) can

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

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

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

16 the exemption. The decision of the State under this subpara17 graph shall not be subject to review by the Administrator,

18 except as provided in subsection (d).

19 ‘‘(3) Paragraphs (1) and (3) of subsection (a) shall not

20 apply to an exemption issued under this subsection. Sub21 paragraph (B) of subsection (b)(2) shall not apply to an

22 exemption issued under this subsection, but any exemption

23 granted to such a system may be renewed for additional

24 4-year periods upon application of the public water system
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1 and after a determination that the criteria of paragraphs

2 (1) and (2) of this subsection continue to be met.

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

4 for microbiological contaminants.’’.

5 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—(1)

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

7 a State pursuant to this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘pre8 scribed by a State pursuant to this subsection or subsection

9 (h)’’.

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

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

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

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

14 (a),’’.

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

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

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

18 the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

19 Amendments of 1994, the Administrator shall complete a

20 comprehensive review of the exemptions granted (and sched21 ules prescribed pursuant thereto) by the States during the

22 4-year period beginning on such date.’’.

23 (4) Section 1416(b)(2)(C) is repealed.

24 (c) SYSTEMS SERVING MORE THAN 3,300 PERSONS.—

25 Section 1416(b)(2)(A)(ii) is amended by striking ‘‘12
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1 months’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years’’ and section 1416(b)(2)(B)

2 is amended by striking ‘‘3 years after the date of the issu3 ance of the exemption’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years after the ex4 piration of the initial exemption’’.

5 SEC. 12. PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM VIABILITY.

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

7 thereof:

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

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

10 enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

11 1994, the Administrator shall issue guidelines for purposes

12 of subsection (b) for State programs to bring public water

13 systems into compliance with this title and to maintain

14 such compliance. The guidelines shall be developed in con15 sultation with the States.

16 ‘‘(b) STATE PROGRAMS TO ASSURE VIABILITY.—With17 in 2 years after issuance of guidelines under subsection (a),

18 each State exercising primary enforcement responsibility

19 for public water systems shall develop and implement a

20 comprehensive program to assure the viability of commu21 nity and noncommunity nontransient public water systems

22 within that State which are subject to the provisions of sub23 section (e). The program shall be treated as approved by

24 the Administrator unless disapproved by the Administrator

25 within 6 months after the date of its submittal. If dis-
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1 approved it may be resubmitted in accordance with section

2 1428(c).

3 ‘‘(c) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL SYSTEMS.—

4 (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no financial as5 sistance may be provided from funds made available under

6 section 1443(c) to any public water system in operation on

7 the date of enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

8 Amendments of 1994 that—

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

10 ‘‘(B) has a history of violations of monitoring re11 quirements or violations of national primary drink12 ing water regulations,

13 unless the State determines whether the public water system

14 has, or will have, the technical, managerial, and financial

15 capability to operate in compliance, and maintain compli16 ance, with this title. Such determination shall be based on

17 such information as the public water system may provide

18 to the State and such other information as may be available

19 to the State. In making such determination the State shall

20 take into consideration the financial assistance which may

21 be available to the public water system.

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

23 that a public water system lacks the capability referred to

24 in paragraph (1), the State shall require adoption by the

25 system of management or restructuring changes or both be-
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1 fore providing funding to the system under section 1443(c),

2 except as provided in subparagraph (B). Management

3 changes may include rate increases, accounting changes, the

4 hiring of consultants, the appointment of a technician with

5 expertise in operating such systems, contractual arrange6 ments for a more efficient and capable system for joint oper7 ation, or other reasonable strategies to improve viability.

8 Restructuring changes may include ownership change,

9 physical consolidation with another system, or other meas10 ures to otherwise improve customer base and gain economies

11 of scale.

12 ‘‘(B) If the State determines under paragraph (1) that

13 a system lacks the capability referred to in paragraph (1),

14 funds provided under section 1443(c) (relating to State Re15 volving Funds) shall be available only to support such phys16 ical consolidation.

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

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

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

20 State after the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

21 Amendments of 1994, unless the Administrator determines

22 that the State has an effective operating permit program

23 or other means to ensure, before commencing operation, that

24 the system has the management and technical capacity and

25 financial capability, taking into account its customer base
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1 and other relevant factors, to comply and maintain compli2 ance with the applicable requirements of this title. No

3 change in the ownership of a public water system shall re4 sult in the application of the prohibition contained in this

5 subsection to such system.

6 ‘‘(e) STATE VIABILITY ASSESSMENTS.—(1) Before the

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

8 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, each State

9 shall establish a program for assessing, over a 5-year pe10 riod, the long-term technical, managerial, and financial ca11 pability of community and nontransient noncommunity

12 public water systems serving fewer than 10,000 persons that

13 are in violation of this title or may be in jeopardy of not

14 maintaining compliance with this title. The State shall es15 tablish a schedule for determining which systems to include

16 in the assessment program.

17 ‘‘(2) The assessment program referred to in paragraph

18 (1) shall include any public water system that has been in

19 significant noncompliance (as defined in guidelines issued

20 prior to the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

21 Amendments of 1994 or any revisions thereof and in na22 tional primary drinking water regulations promulgated

23 after such date of enactment) or violated any maximum

24 contaminant level or treatment technique, any variance, or

25 any exemption under this title during the 2 years prior
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1 to the date on which the State makes a determination (in

2 accordance with the schedule under in paragraph (1)) re3 garding whether to include such system in the assessment

4 program.

5 ‘‘(3) For all public water systems referred to in para6 graph (1) (other than those referred to in paragraph (2)),

7 the State shall establish, in consultation with the Adminis8 trator, a system of priorities, as part of the program for

9 conducting assessments, where there has been other non10 compliance during such 2-year period which the State con11 siders serious. The State shall publish such priorities and

12 file them with the Administrator. The State, in its discre13 tion and considering its resources, may, but is not required

14 to, conduct assessments of public water systems which are

15 in compliance during such period.

16 ‘‘(f) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive any re17 quirements of this section in the case of a State viability

18 program adopted before the enactment of this section if the

19 Administrator finds that such State viability program is

20 fully achieving the objectives of this section.

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

22 has—

23 ‘‘(1) prior to the end of the first full fiscal year

24 after the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act
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1 Amendments of 1994, established a program meeting

2 the requirements of subsection (e), and

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

4 the Administrator issues guidelines under subsection

5 (a), developed and implemented an approved program

6 under subsection (b),

7 only 50 percent of the funds that would otherwise be allo8 cated to that State under section 1443(c) (relating to State

9 Revolving Funds) may be made available to the State.

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

11 this section regarding any particular public water system

12 are not subject to review by the Administrator.’’.

13 SEC. 13. SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT AND PETITION PRO14 GRAM.

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

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

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

18 end thereof the following:

19 ‘‘(l) SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT.—

20 ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE.—Within 12 months after enact21 ment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

22 1994, after notice and comment, the Administrator

23 shall publish guidance for States exercising primary

24 enforcement responsibility for public water systems to

25 carry out directly or through delegation (for the pro-
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1 tection and benefit of public water systems and for

2 the support of monitoring flexibility) a source water

3 assessment program within the State’s boundaries.

4 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—A source water

5 assessment program under this subsection shall—

6 ‘‘(A) delineate the boundaries of the assess7 ment areas in such State from which one or

8 more public water systems in the State receive

9 supplies of drinking water, using all reasonably

10 available hydrogeologic information on the

11 sources of the supply of drinking water in the

12 State and the water flow, recharge, and dis13 charge and any other reliable information as the

14 State deems necessary to adequately determine

15 such areas; and

16 ‘‘(B) identify for contaminants regulated

17 under this title for which monitoring is required

18 under this title (or any unregulated contami19 nants which the State, for the purposes of this

20 subsection, has determined to present an urgent

21 threat to public health), to the extent practical,

22 the origins within each delineated area of such

23 contaminants to determine the susceptibility of

24 the public water systems in the delineated area

25 to such contaminants.
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1 ‘‘(3) APPROVAL, IMPLEMENTATION, AND MON2 ITORING RELIEF.—A State source water assessment

3 program under this subsection shall be submitted to

4 the Administrator within 18 months after the Admin5 istrator’s guidance is issued under this subsection and

6 shall be deemed approved 9 months after the date of

7 such submittal unless the Administrator disapproves

8 the program as provided in subsection (c). States

9 shall begin implementation of the program imme10 diately after its approval. The Administrator’s ap11 proval of a State program under this subsection shall

12 include a timetable, established in consultation with

13 the State, allowing not more than 2 years for comple14 tion after approval of the program. Public water sys15 tems seeking monitoring relief in addition to the in16 terim relief provided under section 1418(a) shall be

17 eligible for monitoring relief, consistent with section

18 1418(b), upon completion of the assessment in the de19 lineated source water assessment area or areas con20 cerned.

21 ‘‘(4) TIMETABLE.—The timetable referred to in

22 paragraph (3) shall take into consideration the avail23 ability to the State of funds under section 1443(c) (re24 lating to State Revolving Funds) for assessments and

25 other relevant factors. The Administrator may extend
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1 any timetable included in a State program approved

2 under paragraph (3) to extend the period for comple3 tion by an additional 18 months. The timetable shall

4 be deemed to be part of the guidance published under

5 paragraph (1) and shall be subject to section 1450(j).

6 Compliance with subsection (g) shall not affect any

7 State permanent monitoring flexibility program ap8 proved under section 1418(b). To avoid duplication

9 and to encourage efficiency, the program shall, to the

10 extent practicable, be coordinated with other existing

11 programs and mechanisms, including the wellhead

12 protection program, vulnerability assessments, sani13 tary surveys, and monitoring programs.

14 ‘‘(5) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—The Adminis15 trator shall, as soon as practicable, conduct a dem16 onstration project, in consultation with other Federal

17 agencies, to demonstrate the most effective and protec18 tive means of assessing and protecting source waters

19 serving large metropolitan areas and located on Fed20 eral lands.

21 ‘‘(m) PETITION PROGRAM.—

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

23 months after publication by the Administrator of

24 guidance under subsection (l), each State exercising

25 primary enforcement responsibility shall adopt and
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1 submit to the Administrator a source water petition

2 program. A petition under such program may request

3 that the State assist in addressing the origins of con4 taminants regulated under this title (or unregulated

5 contaminants for which the State has determined, for

6 purposes of this section, that there is an urgent threat

7 to public health) and that are not adequately ad8 dressed by the wellhead protection program or other

9 programs. The origins of such contaminants may in10 clude, to the extent practicable, the specific activities

11 that affect the drinking water supply of a community.

12 Such program shall also include provisions for vol13 untary partnerships, including those in which public

14 water systems and local governments participate and

15 submit petitions. The program shall provide for pub16 lic notice of petitions.

17 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF PETITIONS.—Petitions sub18 mitted to the State under this subsection may seek as19 sistance in directing, or redirecting, consistent with

20 applicable program authorities administrative, tech21 nical, or financial resources to address the origins of

22 drinking water contaminants regulated under this

23 title (or unregulated contaminants for which the State

24 has determined, for purposes of this section, that there

25 is an urgent threat to public health) and that are not
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1 adequately addressed by the wellhead protection pro2 gram or other programs. Any such petition shall, at

3 a minimum—

4 ‘‘(A) include delineation of the source water

5 area covered by the petition, based on the source

6 water assessment delineation areas set forth in

7 subsection (l)(2)(A);

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

9 identify the nature of the problem that is the

10 basis for the petition;

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

12 origins of such drinking water contaminants;

13 and

14 ‘‘(D) identify any missing data necessary to

15 adequately characterize the problem that is the

16 basis of the petition.

17 Identification of a contaminant or contaminants in a

18 petition shall be contaminant specific. Contaminants

19 may be combined in a single petition. The State may

20 elect to waive the requirement for the petitioner to

21 meet subparagraph (D).

22 ‘‘(3) RESPONSE TO PETITIONS.—Each State re23 ceiving a petition under this subsection shall respond

24 to the petition in an expeditious manner unless the

25 State determines, in its discretion, that the petition
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1 is frivolous. The State response may include, as ap2 propriate, utilization and coordination of programs,

3 technical assistance, financial assistance, education,

4 training, contingency plans and demonstration

5 projects for the delineated areas to protect the drink6 ing water supply of systems within those areas from

7 such contaminants. Nothing in this paragraph is in8 tended or shall be interpreted to create or convey any

9 new authority in any State, political subdivision of

10 a State, or public water system for any control meas11 ure or limit in any way any authority of a State, po12 litical subdivision of a State, or water system.

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

14 Administrator’s approval of a State source water pe15 tition program under this subsection is not required

16 unless the State uses grant funds under section

17 1443(c) (relating to State Revolving Funds) to adopt

18 and implement the program. The State may use

19 grants allotted to the State under section 1443(c) for

20 such purposes only with the approval of the Adminis21 trator. If adopted with the use of funds made avail22 able under section 1443(c) by a State exercising pri23 mary enforcement responsibility for public water sys24 tems, the State shall comply with the delineation re25 quirements set forth in subsection (l)(2)(A) and the
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1 program shall contain, as appropriate, one or more

2 of the elements referred to in section 1428(a)(4).’’.

3 (b) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Subsection (b) of section

4 1428 is amended by adding the following at the end thereof:

5 ‘‘No funds shall be available to the State under section

6 1443(c) (relating to State Revolving Funds) for the purpose

7 of carrying out a State source water petition program un8 less the State procedures referred to in this section also

9 apply to any State source water petition program adopted

10 under subsection (m).’’.

11 (c) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF STATE PRO12 GRAMS.—Section 1428 is amended as follows:

13 (1) Amend the first sentence of subsection (c)(1)

14 to read as follows: ‘‘If, in the judgment of the Admin15 istrator, a State program or portion thereof under

16 subsection (a) is not adequate to protect public water

17 systems as required by subsection (a) or a State pro18 gram under subsection (l) or (m) or section 1418(b)

19 does not meet the applicable requirements of sub20 section (l), (m) or section 1418(b), the Administrator

21 shall disapprove such program or portion thereof.’’.

22 (2) Add after the second sentence of subsection

23 (c)(1) the following: ‘‘A State program developed pur24 suant to subsection (l) or (m) or section 1418(b) shall

25 be deemed to meet the applicable requirements of sub-
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1 section (l), (m) or section 1418(b) unless the Adminis2 trator determines within 9 months of the receipt of

3 the program that such program (or portion thereof)

4 does not meet such requirements.’’.

5 (3) In the third sentence of subsection (c)(1) and

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

7 ‘‘is disapproved’’.

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

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

10 subsection, the provisions of this subsection shall

11 apply to source water petition programs under sub12 section (m) only if the State uses grants under section

13 1443(c) (relating to State Revolving Funds) for such

14 program.’’.

15 (5) In subsection (b), add the following before the

16 period at the end of the first sentence: ‘‘and source

17 water assessment programs under subsection (l)’’.

18 (6) In subsection (g)—

19 (A) insert after ‘‘under this section’’ the fol20 lowing: ‘‘, State source water assessment pro21 grams under subsection (l) and State petition

22 programs under subsection (m) for which the

23 State uses grants under section 1443(c) (relating

24 to State Revolving Funds)’’; and
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1 (B) strike ‘‘Such’’ in the last sentence and

2 inserting ‘‘In the case of wellhead protection pro3 grams, such’’.

4 SEC. 14. MONITORING OF REGULATED CONTAMINANTS.

5 Part B is amended by adding the following after sec6 tion 1417:

7 ‘‘SEC. 1418. MONITORING OF CONTAMINANTS.

8 ‘‘(a) INTERIM MONITORING RELIEF AUTHORITY.—(1)

9 A State exercising primary enforcement responsibility for

10 public water systems may modify the monitoring require11 ments for—

12 ‘‘(A) regulated chemical pesticide contaminants,

13 ‘‘(B) polychlorinated byphenyls,

14 ‘‘(C) dioxin, and

15 ‘‘(D) unregulated contaminants for which mon16 itoring is required under phase II as set forth on Jan17 uary 30, 1991, in volume 56 of the Federal Register,

18 page 3526 and phase V as set forth on July 17, 1992,

19 in volume 57 of the Federal Register, page 31776

20 for an interim period to provide that any public water sys21 tem serving 3,300 persons or fewer shall not be required

22 to conduct additional quarterly monitoring during an in23 terim relief period for such contaminants if—

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

25 the period for the contaminant concerned and cer-
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1 tified to the State by the public water system, fails to

2 detect the presence of the contaminant in the ground

3 or surface water supplying the public water system,

4 and

5 ‘‘(ii) the State, (considering the hydrogeology of

6 the area and other relevant factors), determines in

7 writing that the contaminant is unlikely to be de8 tected by further monitoring during such period.

9 ‘‘(2) The interim relief period referred to in paragraph

10 (1) shall terminate when permanent monitoring relief is

11 adopted and approved for such State, or at the end of 36

12 months after the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

13 Amendments of 1994, whichever comes first. In order to

14 serve as a basis for interim relief, the monitoring conducted

15 at the beginning of the period must occur at the time deter16 mined by the State to be the time of the public water sys17 tem’s greatest vulnerability to the contaminant concerned

18 in the relevant ground or surface water, taking into account

19 in the case of pesticides the time of application of the pes20 ticide for the source water area and the travel time for the

21 pesticide to reach such waters and taking into account, in

22 the case of other contaminants, seasonality of precipitation

23 and contaminant travel time.

24 ‘‘(b) PERMANENT MONITORING RELIEF AUTHORITY.—

25 (1) Each State exercising primary enforcement responsibil-
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1 ity for public water systems under this title and having

2 an approved wellhead protection program and a source

3 water assessment program may adopt, in accordance with

4 guidance published by the Administrator, and submit to the

5 Administrator as provided in section 1428(c), tailored al6 ternative monitoring requirements for public water systems

7 in such State (as an alternative to the monitoring require8 ments specified in the Administrator’s standardized mon9 itoring framework for chemical contaminants and the ap10 plicable national primary drinking water regulations)

11 where the State concludes that (based on data available at

12 the time of adoption concerning susceptibility, use, occur13 rence, wellhead protection, or from the State’s drinking

14 water source water assessment program) such alternative

15 monitoring would provide assurance that it complies with

16 the Administrator’s guidelines. The State program must be

17 adequate to assure compliance with, and enforcement of, ap18 plicable national primary drinking water regulations. Al19 ternative monitoring shall not apply to regulated

20 microbiological contaminants, disinfectants and disinfec21 tion by-products, or corrosion by-products. The preceding

22 sentence is not intended to limit other authority of the Ad23 ministrator under other provisions of this title to grant

24 monitoring flexibility.
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1 ‘‘(2)(A) The Administrator shall issue, after notice and

2 comment and at the same time as guidelines are issued for

3 source water assessment under section 1428(l), guidelines

4 for States to follow in proposing alternative requirements

5 to the standardized monitoring framework for chemical con6 taminants. The Administrator shall publish such frame7 work in the Federal Register. The guidelines shall assure

8 that the public health will be protected from drinking water

9 contamination. The guidelines shall require that a State al10 ternative monitoring program apply on a contaminant-by11 contaminant basis and that, to be eligible for such alter12 native monitoring program, a public water system must

13 show the State that the contaminant is not present in the

14 drinking water supply or, if present, it is reliably and con15 sistently below the maximum contaminant level.

16 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the phrase ‘re17 liably and consistently below the maximum contaminant

18 level’ means that, although contaminants have been detected

19 in a water supply, the State has sufficient knowledge of the

20 contamination source and extent of contamination to pre21 dict that the maximum contaminant level will not be ex22 ceeded. In determining that a contaminant is reliably and

23 consistently below the maximum contaminant level, States

24 shall consider the quality and completeness of data, the

25 length of time covered and the volatility or stability of mon-
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1 itoring results during that time, and the proximity of such

2 results to the maximum contaminant level. Wide variations

3 in the analytical results, or analytical results close to the

4 maximum contaminant level, shall not be considered to be

5 reliably and consistently below the maximum contaminant

6 level.

7 ‘‘(3) The guidelines issued by the Administrator under

8 paragraph (2) shall require that if, after the monitoring

9 program is in effect and operating, a contaminant covered

10 by the alternative monitoring program is detected at levels

11 at or above the maximum contaminant level or is no longer

12 reliably or consistently below the maximum contaminant

13 level, the public water system must either—

14 ‘‘(A) demonstrate that the contamination source

15 has been removed or that other action has been taken

16 to eliminate the contamination problem, or

17 ‘‘(B) test for the detected contaminant pursuant

18 to the applicable national primary drinking water

19 regulation.

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

21 granted by a State to a public water system for a regulated

22 contaminant under subsection (a) or (b) shall be treated

23 as part of the national primary drinking water regulation

24 for that contaminant.
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1 ‘‘(d) OTHER MONITORING RELIEF.—Nothing in this

2 section shall be construed to affect the authority of the

3 States under the standard monitoring framework for chemi4 cal contaminants and under applicable national primary

5 drinking water regulations to alter monitoring require6 ments through waivers in effect at the time of the enactment

7 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994. States

8 are encouraged to use such authority.’’.

9 SEC. 15. FEDERAL FACILITIES.

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

11 the end thereof the following new section:

12 ‘‘SEC. 1429. FEDERAL FACILITIES.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each department, agency, and in14 strumentality of the executive, legislative, and judicial

15 branches of the Federal Government—

16 ‘‘(1) owning or operating any facility in a well17 head protection area,

18 ‘‘(2) engaged in any activity at such facility re19 sulting, or which may result, in the contamination of

20 water supplies in any such area, or

21 ‘‘(3) owning or operating any public water sys22 tem

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

24 interstate, and local requirements, both substantive and

25 procedural (including any requirement for permits or re-
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1 porting or any provisions for injunctive relief and such

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

3 relief), respecting the protection of such wellhead areas and

4 respecting such public water systems in the same manner

5 and to the same extent as any person is subject to such re6 quirements, including the payment of reasonable service

7 charges. The Federal, State, interstate, and local substantive

8 and procedural requirements referred to in this subsection

9 include, but are not limited to, all administrative orders

10 and all civil and administrative penalties and fines, re11 gardless of whether such penalties or fines are punitive or

12 coercive in nature or are imposed for isolated, intermittent,

13 or continuing violations. The United States hereby ex14 pressly waives any immunity otherwise applicable to the

15 United States with respect to any such substantive or proce16 dural requirement (including, but not limited to, any in17 junctive relief, administrative order or civil or administra18 tive penalty or fine referred to in the preceding sentence,

19 or reasonable service charge). The reasonable service charges

20 referred to in this subsection include, but are not limited

21 to, fees or charges assessed in connection with the processing

22 and issuance of permits, renewal of permits, amendments

23 to permits, review of plans, studies, and other documents,

24 and inspection and monitoring of facilities, as well as any

25 other nondiscriminatory charges that are assessed in con-
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1 nection with a Federal, State, interstate, or local regulatory

2 program respecting the protection of wellhead areas or pub3 lic water systems. Neither the United States, nor any agent,

4 employee, or officer thereof, shall be immune or exempt from

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

6 respect to the enforcement of any such injunctive relief. No

7 agent, employee, or officer of the United States shall be per8 sonally liable for any civil penalty under any Federal,

9 State, interstate, or local law concerning the protection of

10 wellhead areas or public water systems with respect to any

11 act or omission within the scope of the official duties of

12 the agent, employee, or officer. An agent, employee, or offi13 cer of the United States shall be subject to any criminal

14 sanction (including, but not limited to, any fine or impris15 onment) under any Federal or State requirement adopted

16 pursuant to this title, but no department, agency, or instru17 mentality of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of

18 the Federal Government shall be subject to any such sanc19 tion. The President may exempt any facility of any depart20 ment, agency, or instrumentality in the executive branch

21 from compliance with such a requirement if he determines

22 it to be in the paramount interest of the United States to

23 do so. No such exemption shall be granted due to lack of

24 appropriation unless the President shall have specifically

25 requested such appropriation as a part of the budgetary
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1 process and the Congress shall have failed to make available

2 such requested appropriation. Any exemption shall be for

3 a period not in excess of 1 year, but additional exemptions

4 may be granted for periods not to exceed 1 year upon the

5 President’s making a new determination. The President

6 shall report each January to the Congress all exemptions

7 from the requirements of this section granted during the

8 preceding calendar year, together with his reason for grant9 ing each such exemption.

10 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—(1)

11 The Administrator may commence an administrative en12 forcement action against any department, agency, or in13 strumentality of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch

14 of the Federal Government subject to the provisions of sub15 section (a) pursuant to the enforcement authorities con16 tained in this title. The Administrator shall initiate an ad17 ministrative enforcement action against such a department,

18 agency, or instrumentality in the same manner and under

19 the same circumstances as an action would be initiated

20 against another person. Any voluntary resolution or settle21 ment of such an action shall be set forth in a consent order.

22 ‘‘(2) No administrative order issued to such a depart23 ment, agency, or instrumentality shall become final until

24 such department, agency, or instrumentality has had the

25 opportunity to confer with the Administrator.
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1 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON STATE USE OF FUNDS COL2 LECTED FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—Unless a State

3 law in effect on the date of the enactment of the Safe Drink4 ing Water Act Amendments of 1994 or a State constitution

5 requires the funds to be used in a different manner, all

6 funds collected by a State from the Federal Government

7 from penalties and fines imposed for violation of any sub8 stantive or procedural requirement referred to in subsection

9 (a) shall be used by the State only for projects designed to

10 improve or protect the environment or to defray the costs

11 of environmental protection or enforcement.’’.

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

13 amended as follows:

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

15 any federally owned or maintained public water sys16 tem or (2)’’.

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

18 safe drinking water and’’.

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

20 ‘‘the Safe Drinking Water Amendments of 1977’’ and

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

22 inserting ‘‘this title’’.

23 SEC. 16. EMERGENCY POWERS.

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

25 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘$15,000’’.
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1 SEC. 17. TAMPERING.

2 Section 1432 is amended as follows:

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

4 of paragraph (1) and by striking paragraph (2) and

5 inserting the following:

6 ‘‘(2) to knowingly and deliberately interfere with

7 the operation of a public water system with the intent

8 to cause economic harm to the system or cause the

9 system to violate this title; or

10 ‘‘(3) to knowingly and deliberately render inac11 curate a monitoring device with the intent to falsify

12 monitoring results.’’.

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

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

15 of a public water system who knowingly and deliberately

16 fails to report for more than 90 days to the State with pri17 mary enforcement responsibility for public water systems,

18 or to the public as required by this title, or to the Adminis19 trator, a violation of a maximum contaminant level or

20 treatment technique shall be subject to a fine of not more

21 than $10,000, imprisonment for not more than 2 years, or

22 both, except that failure to comply with the exact form and

23 contents of a notice shall not be considered a failure to re24 port which is subject to enforcement under this subsection.

25 ‘‘(f) FALSE STATEMENTS.—State requirements appli26 cable to public water systems in States with primary en-
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1 forcement responsibility for public water systems under this

2 title, or requirements of the Administrator under this title,

3 respecting statements, representations, writings, or docu4 ments shall be construed to be subject to the provisions of

5 section 1001 of title 18 of the United States Code and for

6 such purposes such requirements shall be treated as a mat7 ter within the jurisdiction of a department or agency of

8 the United States and solely for that purpose such State

9 shall be treated as a Federal department or agency.’’.

10 SEC. 18. FUNDS FOR SAFE DRINKING WATER.

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

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

13 and by adding the following new subsection after subsection

14 (b):

15 ‘‘(c) STATE REVOLVING FUNDS.—

16 ‘‘(1) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—

17 ‘‘(A) GRANTS TO STATES TO ESTABLISH RE18 VOLVING FUNDS.—The Administrator shall enter

19 into agreements with States to make capitaliza20 tion grants, including letters of credit, to the

21 States under this subsection solely to further the

22 health protection objectives of this title, promote

23 the efficient use of fund resources, and for such

24 other purposes as specified in this title. The

25 grants shall be deposited in drinking water treat-
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1 ment revolving funds established by the State, ex2 cept as otherwise provided in this subsection and

3 in other provisions of this title. No portion of

4 any specific percentage amount of such grants

5 referred to in paragraph (5), (8), or (9) or au6 thorized by other provisions of this title to be

7 used for other purposes specified in this title

8 shall be deposited in any State revolving fund.

9 All such grants shall be allotted to the States in

10 the same manner as funds are allotted to States

11 under subsection (a)(4), except as provided in

12 paragraph (8) and except that the State allot13 ment for a State not exercising primary enforce14 ment responsibility for public water systems

15 shall not be deposited in any such fund but shall

16 be allotted by the Administrator as follows: 30

17 percent of such allotment shall be available to the

18 Administrator as needed to exercise primary en19 forcement responsibility under this title in such

20 State and the remainder shall be reallotted to

21 States exercising primary enforcement respon22 sibility for public water systems for deposit in

23 such funds. Whenever the Administrator makes a

24 final determination pursuant to section 1413(b)

25 that the requirements of section 1413(a) are no
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1 longer being met by a State, additional grants

2 for such State under this title shall be imme3 diately terminated by the Administrator.

4 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—Except as otherwise

5 authorized by this title, amounts deposited in

6 such revolving funds, including loan repayments

7 and interest earned on such amounts, shall be

8 used only for providing loans or other financial

9 assistance of any kind or nature that the State

10 deems appropriate to public water systems. Such

11 financial assistance may be used by a public

12 water system only for expenditures (not includ13 ing monitoring, operation, and maintenance ex14 penditures) of a type or category which the Ad15 ministrator has determined, through guidance,

16 will facilitate compliance with national primary

17 drinking water regulations applicable to such

18 system under section 1412 or otherwise signifi19 cantly further the health protection objectives of

20 this title. Such financial assistance may be used

21 for acquisition from willing sellers, at fair mar22 ket value, of real property or interests therein

23 which are integral to such systems. 15 percent of

24 the amount credited to any revolving fund estab25 lished under this section in any fiscal year shall
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1 be available solely for providing loan assistance

2 to public water systems which regularly serve

3 fewer than 10,000 persons.

4 ‘‘(C) FUND MANAGEMENT.—Each State re5 volving fund under this subsection shall be estab6 lished, maintained, and credited with repay7 ments and interest. The fund corpus shall be

8 available in perpetuity for providing financial

9 assistance under this section. To the extent

10 amounts in each such fund are not required for

11 current obligation or expenditure, such amounts

12 shall be invested in interest bearing obligations

13 of the State or of the United States.

14 ‘‘(D) GRANTS FROM REVOLVING FUNDS.—A

15 State may not provide assistance in the form of

16 grants from a State revolving fund established

17 under this subsection in an aggregate amount

18 which exceeds the sum of the interest collected on

19 deposits in such State revolving fund plus

20 amounts deposited in such fund by the State

21 pursuant to paragraph (3). Such grants may

22 only be made to public water systems owned by

23 a governmental or inter-governmental agency, a

24 non-profit organization, an Indian tribe, or any
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1 combination thereof which the State finds to be

2 experiencing financial hardship.

3 ‘‘(E) INVESTOR-OWNED PUBLIC WATER SYS4 TEMS.—In the case of any public water system

5 not owned by a governmental or inter-govern6 mental agency, a non-profit organization, an In7 dian tribe, or any combination thereof, the State

8 may provide assistance from a State revolving

9 fund under this subsection according to priorities

10 established by the State based on the greatest

11 public health needs and financial need. The

12 State may provide loan assistance to any such

13 system from such a State revolving fund only

14 after making a determination that the system

15 has the ability to repay the loan according to its

16 terms and conditions. States are authorized to

17 require such systems to identify a dedicated

18 source for repayment of the loans and to impose

19 such other requirements as may be necessary to

20 assure loan repayment.

21 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT.—No loan or other

22 financial assistance may be provided to a public

23 water system from a revolving fund established under

24 this subsection to be used for any expenditure that

25 could be avoided or significantly reduced by appro-
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1 priate consolidation of that public water system with

2 any other public water system, except that in such

3 cases such assistance may be provided from the re4 volving fund for such consolidation.

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

6 grants made after fiscal year 1995, each agreement

7 under this subsection shall require that the State de8 posit in the fund from State moneys an amount equal

9 to at least 20 percent of the total amount of the grant

10 to be made to the State on or before the date on which

11 the grant payment is made to the State.

12 ‘‘(4) COMBINED FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION.—

13 Notwithstanding subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1),

14 a State may (as a convenience and to avoid unneces15 sary administrative costs) combine, in accordance

16 with State law, the financial administration of a re17 volving fund established under this subsection with

18 the financial administration of any other revolving

19 fund established by the State if otherwise not prohib20 ited by the law under which such revolving fund was

21 established and if the Administrator determines

22 that—

23 ‘‘(A) the grants under this subsection, to24 gether with loan repayments and interest, will be
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1 separately accounted for and used solely for the

2 purposes specified in paragraph (1); and

3 ‘‘(B) the authority to establish assistance

4 priorities and carry out oversight and related ac5 tivities (other than financial administration)

6 with respect to such assistance remains with the

7 State agency having primary responsibility for

8 administration of the State program under this

9 part.

10 ‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATION.—(A) Each State may an11 nually use up to 4 percent of the funds allotted to the

12 State under this subsection to cover the reasonable

13 costs of administration of the assistance program

14 under this subsection and of providing technical as15 sistance to public water systems within the State. For

16 fiscal year 1995 and each fiscal year thereafter, each

17 State may use up to an additional 5 percent of the

18 funds allotted to the State under this subsection for

19 public water system supervision if the State matches

20 such expenditures with at least an equal amount of

21 non-Federal funds. At least half of such match must

22 be additional to the amount expended by the State for

23 public water supervision in fiscal year 1993. An ad24 ditional 1 percent of the funds annually allotted to

25 the State under this subsection shall be used by each
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1 State to provide technical assistance to public water

2 systems in such State.

3 ‘‘(B) The Administrator shall publish such guid4 ance and promulgate such regulations as may be nec5 essary to carry out the provisions of this section, in6 cluding—

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

8 commits and expends funds allotted to the State

9 under this subsection as efficiently as possible in

10 accordance with this title and applicable State

11 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 assist20 ance under this subsection, use accounting, audit, and

21 fiscal procedures that conform to generally accepted

22 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 the

3 fund and the entire State allotment. The Adminis4 trator shall periodically audit all revolving funds es5 tablished by, and all other amounts allotted to, the

6 States pursuant to this subsection in accordance with

7 procedures established by the Comptroller General.

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

9 conduct an assessment of financial needs of all public

10 water systems in the United States and submit a re11 port to the Congress containing the results of such as12 sessment within 2 years after the date of the enact13 ment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

14 1994. The Administrator shall revise such report peri15 odically as appropriate.

‘‘(7) INDIAN TRIBES.—11 16 ⁄2 percent of the

17 amounts appropriated annually to carry out this sub18 section may be used by the Administrator to make

19 grants to Indian Tribes and Alaskan Native Villages

20 which are not otherwise eligible to receive either

21 grants from the Administrator under this subsection

22 or assistance from State revolving funds established

23 under this subsection. Such grants may only be used

24 for expenditures by such tribes and villages for public
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1 water system expenditures referred to in paragraph

2 (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 Northern

8 Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the

9 Republic of Palau. The grants allotted as provided in

10 this paragraph may be provided by the Administrator

11 to the governments of such areas, to public water sys12 tems in such areas, or to both, to be used for the pub13 lic water system expenditures referred to in para14 graph (1)(B). Such grants shall not be deposited in

15 revolving funds. The total allotment of grants under

16 this subsection for all areas described in this para17 graph in any fiscal year shall not exceed 1 percent of

18 the aggregate amount made available to carry out

19 this subsection in that fiscal year.

20 ‘‘(9) ADDITIONAL SET-ASIDES.—Any State exer21 cising primary enforcement responsibility for public

22 water systems may use up to 4 percent of the annual

23 grants under this subsection allotted to that State for

24 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 water

6 assessment programs under section 1428.

7 ‘‘(C) For a 7-fiscal year period after guide8 lines are issued under section 1419(a), to develop

9 and implement a viability program under sec10 tion 1419(b) and assess viability under section

11 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 the

22 State fails to implement the program.

23 ‘‘(10) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR STATE OF

24 VIRGINIA.—Notwithstanding the other provisions of

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

2 State of Virginia may, as a single demonstration and

3 with the approval of the Virginia General Assembly

4 and the Administrator, conduct a program to dem5 onstrate alternative approaches to intergovernmental

6 coordination to assist in the financing of new drink7 ing water facilities in the following rural commu8 nities in southwestern Virginia where none exists on

9 the date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water

10 Act Amendments of 1994 and where such commu11 nities are experiencing economic hardship: Lee Coun12 ty, Wise County, Scott County, Dickenson County,

13 Russell County, Buchanan County, Tazewell County,

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

15 to that State and deposited in the State revolving

16 fund may be loaned to a regional endowment fund for

17 the purpose set forth in this paragraph under a plan

18 to be approved by the Administrator. The plan may

19 include an advisory group that includes representa20 tives 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 as
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1 may be necessary thereafter. Sums shall remain avail2 able until expended.’’.

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

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Envi5 ronmental Protection Agency shall report to the Congress,

6 after notice and public comment, on the appropriateness of

7 using State revolving funds under section 1443(c) of the

8 Public Health Service Act for acquisition of real property

9 or interests therein from willing sellers where such acquisi10 tion is undertaken in addition to, or as an alternative to,

11 system development as a means of complying with national

12 primary drinking water regulations. The review of the use

13 of such funds shall examine any cost savings and environ14 mental benefits for safe drinking water and any problems

15 related thereto.

16 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—(1) The Administrator

17 of the Environmental Protection Agency may provide tech18 nical assistance to small public water systems to enable

19 such systems to achieve and maintain compliance with ap20 plicable national primary drinking water regulations. Such

21 assistance may include circuit-rider programs, training,

22 and preliminary engineering evaluations. There is author23 ized to be appropriated to the Administrator to be used for

24 such technical assistance $15,000,000 for the fiscal year

25 1994, and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years
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1 thereafter. No portion of any State revolving fund estab2 lished under section 1443(c) of the Public Health Service

3 Act and no portion of any funds made available under this

4 subsection may be used either directly or indirectly for lob5 bying expenses. Of the total amount appropriated under

6 this subsection, 3 percent shall be used for technical assist7 ance to public water systems owned or operated by Indian

8 tribes. Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this

9 Act authorizes scientific or environmental research and de10 velopment.

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

12 ‘‘(g) ƒRESERVED≈.’’.

13 (d) PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS SUPERVISION

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

15 (1) Paragraph (4) is amended by adding the fol16 lowing 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 shall

20 be available to the Administrator for the costs of ad21 ministering 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 to

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

12 records, reports, and information as the Administrator may

13 reasonably require in determining whether such system has

14 acted or is acting in compliance with this title. The Admin15 istrator shall provide the State exercising primary enforce16 ment responsibility for public water systems a copy of such

17 certified mail. This subparagraph shall not be construed to

18 change any requirements of other applicable laws, such as

19 the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. Nothing in this sub20 paragraph shall be construed to affect the authority of the

21 Administrator to use the authority of subsection (b) to de22 termine compliance with this title.’’.

23 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 1445(c) is amended by add24 ing at the end the following: ‘‘Such penalty may be assessed

25 by the Administrator after notice and opportunity for a
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1 public hearing on the record in accordance with section 554

2 of title 5 of the United States Code.’’.

3 SEC. 20. MONITORING FOR UNREGULATED CONTAMINANTS.

4 Section 1445(a) is amended as follows:

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

6 following sentence: ‘‘Within 24 months after the enact7 ment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of

8 1994 and every 5 years thereafter, the Administrator

9 shall review and, if necessary, revise the list of un10 regulated contaminants for which monitoring is re11 quired.’’.

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

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

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

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

16 under subsection (g), the State, where it is exercising

17 primary enforcement responsibility for public water

18 systems under this title, shall provide the results of

19 such monitoring to the Administrator for inclusion in

20 the occurrence data base under subsection (g).’’.

21 SEC. 21. OCCURRENCE DATA BASE.

22 Section 1445 is amended by adding the following new

23 subsection at the end thereof:

24 ‘‘(g) OCCURRENCE DATA BASE.—Not later than 24

25 months after enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act
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1 Amendments of 1994, the Administrator shall assemble and

2 maintain a national drinking water occurrence data base,

3 using monitoring data on the occurrence of both regulated

4 and unregulated contaminants in public water supply sys5 tems obtained under subsection (a) of this section, and in6 formation from other public and private sources.’’.

7 SEC. 22. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

8 (a) GUIDELINES.—Section 1450 is amended by adding

9 the following at the end thereof:

10 ‘‘(j) GUIDELINES.—(1) All guidelines issued by the Ad11 ministrator for States exercising primary enforcement re12 sponsibility for public water systems for any purpose pur13 suant to any requirement established by the Safe Drinking

14 Water Act Amendments of 1994 shall be published in the

15 Federal Register and shall remain in effect until changed

16 by the Administrator in accordance with the same proce17 dure as they were established. Such guidelines shall not be

18 considered to be rules and shall not be enforceable as rules.

19 Adoption by a State of a program covered by such guide20 lines and approval of the program by the Administrator

21 shall be treated as an agreement by the State with, and

22 acceptance of, the guidelines.

23 ‘‘(2) Except as otherwise provided in this title, failure

24 of a State to abide by a guideline referred to in paragraph
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1 (1) shall not be a basis for the State’s loss of primary en2 forcement responsibility for public water systems.

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

4 of a monitoring relief program under section 1418 to which

5 any guideline referred to in paragraph (1) applies if the

6 Administrator makes a finding, in writing, after notice to

7 the State, that the State has failed to comply with such

8 guideline and gives the State at least 90 days to correct

9 the alleged problem.

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

11 discretion, reduce by 50 percent the amount of grants other12 wise made available to the State in any fiscal year under

13 section 1443(c) (relating to State revolving funds) if the Ad14 ministrator makes a finding in writing, after notice to the

15 State, that the State has failed to comply with any guide16 line referred to in paragraph (1) and gives the State at

17 least 90 days to correct the alleged problem.’’.

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

19 as follows:

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

21 days’’ and inserting ‘‘180 days’’ and by inserting be22 fore the period at the end ‘‘and the Environmental

23 Protection Agency’’.

24 (2) Amend paragraph (2)(B)(i) by inserting be25 fore the last sentence the following: ‘‘Upon conclusion
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1 of such hearing and the issuance of a recommended

2 decision that the complaint has merit, the Secretary

3 shall issue a preliminary order providing the relief

4 prescribed in clause (ii), but may not order compen5 satory damages pending a final order.’’.

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

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

8 damages, and (IV) where appropriate, exemplary

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

10 order such person to provide compensatory damages

11 to the complainant’’.

12 (4) Redesignate paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6)

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

14 insert after paragraph (2) the following:

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

16 under paragraph (1), and shall not conduct the investiga17 tion required under paragraph (2), unless the complainant

18 has made a prima facie showing that any behavior de19 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1)

20 was a contributing factor in the unfavorable personnel ac21 tion alleged in the complaint.

22 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding a finding by the Secretary that

23 the complaint has made the showing required by paragraph

24 (1)(A), no investigation required under paragraph (2) shall

25 be conducted if the employer demonstrates, by clear and
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1 convincing evidence, that it would have taken the same un2 favorable personnel action in the absence of such behavior.

3 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may determine that a violation of

4 paragraph (1) has occurred only if the complainant has

5 demonstrated that any behavior described in subparagraphs

6 (A) through (C) of paragraph (1) was a contributing factor

7 in the unfavorable personnel action alleged in the com8 plaint.

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

10 if the employer demonstrates clear and convincing evidence

11 that it would have taken the same unfavorable personnel

12 action in the absence of such behavior.’’.

13 (5) Add at the end the following:

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

15 diminish, or otherwise affect any right otherwise available

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

17 employee’s discharge or other discriminatory action taken

18 by the employer against the employee. The provisions of this

19 subsection shall be prominently posted in any place of em20 ployment to which this subsection applies.’’.

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub22 section (b) shall apply to claims filed under section 1450(i)

23 of the Public Health Service Act on or after the date of the

24 enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 23. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.

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

3 new section:

4 ‘‘SEC. 1452. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.

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

6 administrative penalty for violations of section 1412, 1415,

7 1416, or 1442(h). Such a penalty may only be assessed—

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

9 section 1414(a)(1)(A)) of at least 45 days of the Ad10 ministrator’s intention to assess such penalty to the

11 State exercising primary enforcement responsibility

12 for public water systems and to the public water sys13 tem in violation of such section, and

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

15 record in accordance with section 554 of title 5, Unit16 ed States Code.

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

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

19 total penalty under such subsection shall not exceed—

20 ‘‘(1) $50,000 for violation of section 1442(h) (re21 lating to minimum standards for certification of op22 erators and laboratories), or

23 ‘‘(2) $90,000 in the case of violations of sections

24 1412, 1415, and 1416.

25 In assessing such penalties, the Administrator shall con26 sider the size of the public water system, the ability of the
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1 system to operate in compliance with this title, the serious2 ness of the violation, the economic impact of such violation,

3 and history of violations.’’.

4 SEC. 24. WATER RETURN.

5 Part E is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 1453. WATER RETURN.

7 ‘‘Not later than 18 months after the date of the enact8 ment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994,

9 the Administrator shall issue, after public notice, guidelines

10 to assist public water systems in assessing the conditions,

11 when it is consistent with the requirements and public

12 health objectives of this title, to return water from the public

13 water system used for heat pumps and similar devices to

14 the distribution system of the public water system.’’.

15 SEC. 25. WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.

16 Part E is amended by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘SEC. 1454. WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.

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

19 date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act

20 Amendments of 1994, the Administrator shall publish in

21 the Federal Register guidelines for water conservation plans

22 for public water systems serving fewer than 3,300 persons,

23 public water systems serving between 3,300 and 10,000 per24 sons, and public water systems serving more than 10,000
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1 persons, taking into consideration such factors as water

2 availability and climate.

3 ‘‘(b) SRF LOANS OR GRANTS.—Within 1 year after

4 publication of the guidelines under subsection (a), a State

5 exercising primary enforcement responsibility for public

6 water systems may require a public water system, as a con7 dition of receiving a loan or grant from a State revolving

8 fund under section 1443(c), to submit with its application

9 for such loan or grant a water conservation plan consistent

10 with such guidelines.’’.

11 SEC. 26. SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS; FITTINGS; AND RESIDEN12 TIAL WATER TREATMENT UNITS.

13 Part F is amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘SEC. 1466. SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Except as provided in sub16 section (b), within 3 years after the date of the enactment

17 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994 the

18 Administrator shall promulgate regulations containing a

19 health effects based performance standard establishing

20 minimal leaching levels of lead from new submersible

21 pumps reasonably anticipated to be used in domestic water

22 wells, taking into account marketing and sales information

23 and other relevant factors. Such standard shall apply to

24 new pumps manufactured for, or first introduced into,
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1 interstate commerce after the effective date of the regulation

2 promulgating the standard.

3 ‘‘(2) At a minimum, the standard under this section

4 shall not allow lead concentration in drinking water to in5 crease by more than 15 parts per billion (ppb) when in

6 prolonged contact with the pump. Such standard shall be

7 effective 3 years after the date of its promulgation or at

8 such earlier time as the Administrator determines that

9 pumps subject to paragraph (1) can reasonably be antici10 pated to be in compliance with such standards.

11 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—(1) If the Administrator deter12 mines, after notice and opportunity for public comment,

13 that—

14 ‘‘(A) voluntary standards have been developed

15 that are at least as protective as the minimum stand16 ard described in subsection (a)(2), and

17 ‘‘(B) pumps subject to paragraph (1) of sub18 section (a) can reasonably be anticipated to be in

19 compliance with such voluntary standards within 6

20 years after the date of the enactment of the Safe

21 Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994,

22 the Administrator shall not promulgate regulations estab23 lishing the standard under subsection (a) or, if such regula24 tions have been promulgated, provide that such regulations

25 shall not take effect or be enforced.
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1 ‘‘(2) Within 2 years after the date of the enactment

2 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, the

3 Administrator shall determine, after notice and oppor4 tunity for public comment, whether new submersible pumps

5 which convey drinking water and which contain brass al6 loys containing 0.2 percent lead or more are being manufac7 tured for, or first introduced into, interstate commerce. If

8 the Administrator determines, at that time, that such

9 pumps are not being manufactured for, or first introduced

10 into, interstate commerce, the Administrator shall not pro11 mulgate regulations establishing the standard under sub12 section (a) or make a determination under subsection (b)(1)

13 or if such regulations have been promulgated, provided that

14 such regulations shall not take effect or be enforced.

15 ‘‘SEC. 1467. FITTINGS.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 1 year after the date of

17 the enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments

18 of 1994, the Administrator shall determine if—

19 ‘‘(1) voluntary standards for new plumbing fit20 tings manufactured for or introduced into interstate

21 commerce which convey drinking water have been de22 veloped that are at least as protective of human health

23 as the minimum performance standard promulgated

24 under subsection (b), and
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1 ‘‘(2) such fittings can reasonably be anticipated

2 to comply with such standards within 5 years after

3 such date of enactment.

4 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—If the Administrator determines

5 that such voluntary standards for new plumbing fittings

6 which convey drinking water have not been developed or

7 that such fittings cannot reasonably be anticipated to com8 ply, within 5 years of such date of enactment, with such

9 voluntary standards, the Administrator shall, within 2

10 years after the date of such determination, promulgate regu11 lations setting a health effects based performance standard

12 establishing minimal leaching levels of lead from such new

13 plumbing fittings. Such regulation shall take effect 3 years

14 after the date of such promulgation. Under such regulation,

15 such fittings shall not cause lead concentration in drinking

16 water to increase by more than 15 parts per billion when

17 in prolonged contact with such fitting.

18 ‘‘SEC. 1468. ENFORCEMENT OF SECTIONS 1466 AND 1467.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who manufactures or

20 first introduces in interstate commerce any new submersible

21 pump or new plumbing fitting which violates any require22 ment established by the Administrator by regulation under

23 section 1466 or 1467, shall be liable to the United States

24 for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for

25 each such violation. To assess such civil penalty, the Ad-
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1 ministrator shall, after notice and opportunity for hearing

2 on the record in accordance with sections 554 and 556 of

3 title 5, United States Code, issue an order assessing such

4 civil penalty.

5 ‘‘(b) ACTIONS.—The Administrator may commence a

6 civil action to enjoin any violation of section 1466 or 1467

7 or to assess and recover any civil penalty under subsection

8 (a). Any such action may be brought in the district court

9 of the United States for the district in which the violation

10 is alleged to have occurred or in which the defendant resides

11 or has the defendant’s principal place of business. Such a

12 court shall have jurisdiction to issue injunctive relief and

13 to assess a civil penalty.

14 ‘‘(c) ORDER.—The Administrator may issue an order

15 to require any person to comply with any requirement of

16 section 1466 or 1467.

17 ‘‘(d) FUTURE COMPLIANCE.—The Administrator shall

18 periodically evaluate compliance with the standards under

19 sections 1466 and 1467.

20 ‘‘SEC. 1469. RESIDENTIAL WATER TREATMENT UNITS.

21 ‘‘(a) FTC INVESTIGATION.—The Federal Trade Com22 mission, in consultation with the Administrator of the En23 vironmental Protection Agency, shall conduct an investiga24 tion, pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission Act, into

25 the veracity of claims that devices manufactured, sold, or
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1 distributed in interstate commerce for use in single and

2 multi-family residences will improve the quality of drink3 ing water or eliminate or reduce the level of 1 or more

4 drinking water contaminants (for which a national pri5 mary drinking water regulation is promulgated under the

6 Safe Drinking Water Act) and shall take such action pursu7 ant to section 5 of such Act against any person who intro8 duces, delivers for introduction, sells, advertises, or offers

9 for sale, in interstate commerce, such devices as the Com10 mission deems appropriate to ensure that such claims are

11 consistent with the requirements of that Act and any appli12 cable decisions and orders of the Commission under section

13 5 of that Act. The Commission shall, consistent with the

14 requirements of such Act, report the results of its investiga15 tion and the actions it takes to the Congress within 2 years

16 after enactment of this Act. The Commission may, from

17 time to time, issue rules (pursuant to section 553 of title

18 5 of the United States Code) and any violation of such rules

19 shall be treated by the Commission as a violation of a rule

20 under section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15

21 U.S.C. 57a) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

22 ‘‘(b) EPA REPORT.—The Administrator, taking into

23 account any available results of such study, shall, within

24 3 years after the date of the enactment of the Safe Drinking

25 Water Act Amendments of 1994, submit a report to Con-
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1 gress containing recommendations regarding the effective2 ness of such devices, and recommendations for legislation,

3 to the extent necessary to assure the effectiveness of such

4 devices in reducing the level of drinking water contami5 nants.’’.

6 SEC. 27. BOTTLED DRINKING WATER STANDARDS.

7 Section 410 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic

8 Act (21 U.S.C. 349) is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)

10 Except as provided in subsection (b), whenever’’; and

11 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

12 new subsection:

13 ‘‘(b) BOTTLED DRINKING WATER STANDARDS.—(1)

14 Not later than 180 days after the Administrator of the En15 vironmental Protection Agency promulgates a national pri16 mary drinking water regulation for a contaminant under

17 section 1412 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.

18 300g–1), the Secretary, after public notice and comment,

19 shall issue a regulation under this subsection for that con20 taminant in bottled water or make a finding that such a

21 regulation is not necessary to protect the public health be22 cause the contaminant is contained in water in public

23 water systems (as defined under section 1401(4) of such Act

24 (42 U.S.C. 300f(4)) but not in water used for bottled drink25 ing water. In the case of contaminants for which national
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1 primary drinking water regulations were promulgated

2 under such section 1412 before the date of enactment of the

3 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, the Sec4 retary shall issue such regulation within 1 year after such

5 date of enactment.

6 ‘‘(2) A regulation issued by the Secretary as provided

7 in this subsection shall include any monitoring require8 ments that the Secretary determines appropriate for bottled

9 water.

10 ‘‘(3) A regulation issued by the Secretary as provided

11 in this subsection shall require the following:

12 ‘‘(A) In the case of contaminants for which a

13 maximum contaminant level is established in a na14 tional primary drinking water regulation under sec15 tion 1412 of the Public Health Service Act, the regu16 lation under this subsection shall establish a maxi17 mum contaminant level for the contaminant in bot18 tled water which is at least as stringent as the maxi19 mum contaminant level provided in the national pri20 mary drinking water regulation.

21 ‘‘(B) In the case of contaminants for which a

22 treatment technique is established in a national pri23 mary drinking water regulation under section 1412 of

24 the Public Health Service Act, the regulation under

25 this subsection shall require that bottled water be sub-
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1 ject to requirements no less protective of the public

2 health than those applicable to water provided by

3 public water systems using the treatment technique

4 required by the national primary drinking water reg5 ulation.

6 ‘‘(4)(A) If the Secretary fails to establish a regulation

7 under this subsection within the 180-day period described

8 in paragraph (1), the national primary drinking water reg9 ulation referred to in paragraph (1) shall be considered, as

10 of the date on which the Secretary is required to establish

11 a regulation under paragraph (1), as the regulation appli12 cable under this subsection to bottled water.

13 ‘‘(B) Not later than 30 days after the end of the 180-

14 day period, or the 1-year period if applicable, described in

15 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, with respect to a na16 tional primary drinking water regulation that is considered

17 applicable to bottled water as provided in subparagraph

18 (A), publish a notice in the Federal Register that—

19 ‘‘(i) sets forth the requirements of the national

20 primary drinking water regulation, including mon21 itoring requirements, which shall be applicable to bot22 tled water, and

23 ‘‘(ii) provides that such requirements shall take

24 effect on the date on which the national primary

25 drinking water regulation for the contaminant takes
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1 effect under section 1412 of the Public Health Service

2 Act (or in the case of national primary drinking

3 water regulations promulgated before the enactment of

4 the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994, on

5 the date 18 months after the enactment of such Act).’’.

6 SEC. 28. ARSENIC.

7 (a) STUDY.—Subject to availability of appropriations,

8 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

9 shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy

10 of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study of the human

11 health effects of arsenic (which is subject to regulation as

12 a contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act), taking

13 into consideration the fact that arsenic occurs naturally.

14 Such study shall be completed within 2 years of the date

15 the agreement is entered into. A report shall be transmitted

16 to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen17 cy for purposes of subsection (b).

18 (b) REGULATION.—

19 (1) PROPOSED REGULATION.—Not later than De20 cember 31, 1996, the Administrator of the Environ21 mental Protection Agency shall propose a national

22 primary drinking water regulation for arsenic. If the

23 study under subsection (a) is begun before May 31,

24 1996, the Administrator may not, except as provided

25 in paragraph (2), promulgate such regulation until
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1 the National Academy of Sciences has issued a report

2 under such subsection. When the National Academy of

3 Sciences issues such report, the Administrator shall

4 reopen the comment period on the proposed regulation

5 for 60 days.

6 (2) REGULATION.—The Administrator shall pro7 mulgate a national primary drinking water regula8 tion for arsenic not later than December 31, 1999, ex9 cept that the Administrator may extend such date for

10 1 year if the Administrator has issued a new pro11 posed regulation for arsenic. The Administrator may

12 promulgate such regulation prior to such date if the

13 Administrator finds that arsenic in drinking water is

14 associated with an imminent and substantial

15 endangerment to the health of persons and publishes

16 such determination in the Federal Register.

17 (3) STANDARD SETTING PROCESS.—In issuing

18 the national primary drinking water regulation for

19 arsenic, the Administrator may promulgate a na20 tional primary drinking water regulation pursuant

21 to section 1412(b)(5)(A) and (B) of the Safe Drinking

22 Water Act.

23 SEC. 29. DEFINITIONS.

24 (a) PIPED WATER.—Section 1401 is amended by add25 ing at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(15) The term ‘piped water’ means, in addition

2 to water carried in pipes, water carried in culverts,

3 canals, or similar conveyances. Such term does not

4 include irrigation water provided to incidental non5 agricultural users if the Administrator or State (in

6 the case of a State exercising primary enforcement re7 sponsibility for public water systems) determines that

8 alternative drinking water to achieve the equivalent

9 level of health protection provided by the applicable

10 national primary drinking water regulations is pro11 vided for drinking, cooking, and bathing, or where the

12 Administrator or State (in the case of a State exercis13 ing primary enforcement responsibility for public

14 water systems) determines that the water provided for

15 drinking, cooking, and bathing is treated by the pro16 vider of such irrigation water, or a pass-through en17 tity providing water for drinking, cooking, and bath18 ing, to achieve the equivalent level of health protection

19 provided by the applicable national primary drinking

20 water regulations. This paragraph shall not be con21 strued to affect the meaning of the term ‘human con22 sumption’ as used in any other provision of this title.

23 As used in this paragraph, the term ‘conveyance’ does

24 not include rivers, streams, lakes, or ponds. Nothing
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1 in this paragraph shall create new or additional re2 quirements for public water system.’’.

3 (b) ALTERNATIVE QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING

4 PROCEDURES.—Section 1401(1)(D) is amended by adding

5 the following at the end thereof: ‘‘At any time after promul6 gation of a regulation referred to in this paragraph, the

7 Administrator may add equally effective quality control

8 and testing procedures by guidance published in the Federal

9 Register. Such procedures shall be treated as an alternative

10 for public water systems to the quality control and testing

11 procedures listed in the regulation.’’.

12 SEC. 30. REPORTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

13 AGENCY ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS.

14 For States and Indian Tribes in which the Adminis15 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency has revoked

16 primary enforcement responsibility under part B of title

17 XIV of the Public Health Service Act (the Safe Drinking

18 Water Act) or is otherwise administering such title, the Ad19 ministrator shall provide every 2 years, a report to Con20 gress on the implementation by the Administrator of all ap21 plicable requirements of that title in such States.

22 SEC. 31. GENERAL AUTHORIZATION.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A is amended by adding the

24 following new section after section 1401:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1402. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

3 as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this title

4 for the first 8 fiscal years following the enactment of the

5 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1994.’’.

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The heading for

7 part A is amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS’’.

9 SEC. 32. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

10 Section 1421(b)(3)(B)(i) is amended by striking

11 ‘‘number or States’’ and inserting ‘‘number of States’’.

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