I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1974 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to improve transparency under 

the national primary drinking water regulations for lead and copper, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

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

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to improve transparency under the national primary drinking water regulations for lead and copper, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘National Opportunity 

5 for Lead Exposure Accountability and Deterrence Act of 

6 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PRIMARY DRINKING WATER REGULA2 TIONS FOR LEAD AND COPPER. 

3 The Safe Drinking Water Act is amended by insert4 ing after section 1417 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–6) 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1417A. NATIONAL PRIMARY DRINKING WATER REGU7 LATIONS FOR LEAD AND COPPER. 

8 ‘‘(a) LEAD AND COPPER RULE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The national primary 

10 drinking water regulations for lead and copper (in 

11 this section referred to as the ‘lead and copper rule’) 

12 shall include each of the requirements described in 

13 this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) REVISION.—The Administrator shall revise 

15 the lead and copper rule in accordance with this sec16 tion— 

17 ‘‘(A) not later than 9 months after the 

18 date of enactment of the National Opportunity 

19 for Lead Exposure Accountability and Deter20 rence Act of 2017; and 

21 ‘‘(B) thereafter, in accordance with section 

22 1412(b). 

23 ‘‘(b) SAMPLING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection applies 

25 with respect to sampling by a public water system 


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1 of lead or copper in drinking water, irrespective of 

2 whether such sampling— 

3 ‘‘(A) is required by the lead and copper 

4 rule; or 

5 ‘‘(B) is voluntary sampling initiated by 

6 customers of the public water system. 

7 ‘‘(2) REPORTING.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

8 not less than once every 3 months, a public water 

9 system shall report the results of sampling to the 

10 Administrator or the State exercising primary en11 forcement responsibility, as applicable, and shall in12 clude in such reporting— 

13 ‘‘(A) the number of residential and non14 residential facilities at which the sampling was 

15 conducted; 

16 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (4), the address 

17 of such residential and nonresidential facilities; 

18 ‘‘(C) previous samples taken at such resi19 dential and nonresidential facilities and the re20 sults of those samples; 

21 ‘‘(D) where such information exists, the 

22 material composition of the service lines at such 

23 residential and nonresidential facilities; 

24 ‘‘(E) the dates on which the respective 

25 sampling occurred; 


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1 ‘‘(F) the highest and median lead and cop2 per levels detected; 

3 ‘‘(G) the 90th percentile lead and copper 

4 levels (as such percentile is calculated under 

5 section 141.80 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg6 ulations, and any successor regulations) de7 tected; 

8 ‘‘(H) the number and value of all samples 

9 pursuant to sampling described in subpara10 graph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) above the 

11 lead or copper action levels; 

12 ‘‘(I) the disinfectants and corrosion inhibi13 tors being used and the target doses at the 

14 water treatment plant; 

15 ‘‘(J) any changes since the previous report 

16 under this section in the type, method, or quan17 tity of treatments being used in the water sam18 pled; 

19 ‘‘(K) the history of violations, and fines re20 ceived, by the system; 

21 ‘‘(L) the number of samples invalidated 

22 and the reason for their invalidation; and 

23 ‘‘(M) if sampling is conducted at residen24 tial facilities other than those with lead service 


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1 lines, an explanation of why such sampling was 

2 conducted. 

3 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—A 

4 public water system shall make publicly available 

5 any report that is required by this section or by the 

6 lead and copper rule. 

7 ‘‘(4) PRIVACY.—A public water system shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) give the owner of each residential and 

9 nonresidential facility at which sampling data is 

10 collected, at the written request of such owner, 

11 the option be identified only by block number 

12 and street name, unless the facility includes a 

13 child care center; and 

14 ‘‘(B) keep each such request on file. 

15 ‘‘(5) SAMPLING PROTOCOL; INSTRUCTIONS.— 

16 The Administrator shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) develop a protocol for sampling for 

18 compliance with the lead and copper rule; 

19 ‘‘(B) in such protocol— 

20 ‘‘(i) prohibit the use of techniques 

21 that minimize the detection of lead or cop22 per in drinking water; 

23 ‘‘(ii) require sampling under this sec24 tion to occur not less than once per year; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) include criteria for site selection 

2 that prioritize testing at high-risk build3 ings (as defined in subsection (g)); 

4 ‘‘(iv) require sampling in all schools 

5 and child care centers served by the public 

6 water system at all designated drinking 

7 water taps, to be designated by the respec8 tive schools and child care centers; and 

9 ‘‘(v) require the sampling methodology 

10 to be scientifically based; and 

11 ‘‘(C) develop instructions for compliance 

12 with such protocol for dissemination to public 

13 water systems and customers thereof. 

14 ‘‘(c) ACTION LEVEL EXCEEDED.— 

15 ‘‘(1) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Administrator (or 

16 the State exercising primary enforcement responsi17 bility) shall require on-site investigations to identify 

18 the source of lead in all residential or nonresidential 

19 facilities with individual samples with a lead or cop20 per concentration above the action level, which inves21 tigations shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (3), be com23 pleted by the public water system or local 

24 health department within 10 business days of 

25 the sample result; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) include additional samples at addi2 tional locations outside of the facility sampled 

3 to identify the potential scope of elevated lead 

4 or copper levels. 

5 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Whenever a public water 

6 system detects a lead or copper concentration level 

7 above the action level, the system shall, within 2 cal8 endar days of detecting such an exceedance that is 

9 specific to one or more facilities, notify the persons 

10 at such facilities. 

11 ‘‘(3) NO RESPONSE FROM OWNER OF FACIL12 ITY.—The requirement of paragraph (1)(A) to com13 plete an investigation concerning a facility is deemed 

14 to be satisfied if— 

15 ‘‘(A) within the period of 10 business days 

16 described in such paragraph, the public water 

17 system or local health department makes at 

18 least 3 attempts to contact the owners of the 

19 facility, including— 

20 ‘‘(i) at least once in person; 

21 ‘‘(ii) at least once by letter or email; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(iii) at least once in person or by 

24 phone call, letter, or email; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the public water system or local 

2 health department maintains documentation of 

3 such attempts; and 

4 ‘‘(C) such owners fail to respond. 

5 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The lead and copper rule 

6 shall require testing results— 

7 ‘‘(1) to be in a standardized format; 

8 ‘‘(2) to be posted on the website of the Admin9 istrator, the State exercising primary enforcement 

10 responsibility, and the public water system; and 

11 ‘‘(3) to include— 

12 ‘‘(A) the provisions of consumer confidence 

13 reports under section 1414(c)(4) relating to 

14 lead and copper; 

15 ‘‘(B) reports under subsection (b)(2) on 

16 the results of sampling; 

17 ‘‘(C) educational materials on lead service 

18 line replacement and financial assistance, in19 cluding forms for applying for such financial as20 sistance; and 

21 ‘‘(D) instructions on how a consumer can 

22 request a water test. 

23 ‘‘(e) SERVICE LINE INVENTORY.—A public water 

24 system shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) develop, maintain, and beginning not later 

2 than 3 years after the date of enactment of the Na3 tional Opportunity for Lead Exposure Accountability 

4 and Deterrence Act of 2017 make publicly available 

5 an inventory of the material composition of the serv6 ice lines at all residential and nonresidential facili7 ties, including— 

8 ‘‘(A) online maps showing the locations of 

9 lead service lines; and 

10 ‘‘(B) where information is available, a his11 tory of services performed on such lines, includ12 ing partial line replacement; 

13 ‘‘(2)(A) give the owner of each residential and 

14 nonresidential facility at which sampling data is col15 lected, at the written request of such owner, the op16 tion be identified only by block number and street 

17 name, unless the facility includes a child care center; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) keep each such request on file; and 

20 ‘‘(3) in developing such inventory, take meas21 ures to minimize any disturbance to service lines 

22 that might release contaminants. 

23 ‘‘(f) SERVICE LINE OWNERSHIP.—A public water 

24 system shall collect, maintain, and beginning not later 

25 than 3 years after the date of enactment of the National 


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1 Opportunity for Lead Exposure Accountability and Deter2 rence Act of 2017 make publicly available all legal docu3 ments establishing the ownership of service lines at resi4 dential and nonresidential facilities. 

5 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘high-risk buildings’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) residential and nonresidential facili8 ties with lead service lines— 

9 ‘‘(i) that have galvanized pipes; 

10 ‘‘(ii) that have low water use; or 

11 ‘‘(iii) whose lead service lines are 

12 among the longest served by the public 

13 water system; and 

14 ‘‘(B) residential facilities at which one or 

15 more pregnant women or children reside or 

16 where in-home childcare occurs. 

17 ‘‘(2) The term ‘lead service line’ means a pipe 

18 and its fittings, which are not lead free (as defined 

19 under section 1417 of the Safe Drinking Water Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 300g–6)), that connect the drinking 

21 water main to the building inlet. 

22 ‘‘(3) The term ‘publicly available’ means that a 

23 report is— 

24 ‘‘(A) written in plain language that is cul25 turally and linguistically appropriate; and 


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1 ‘‘(B)(i) published on a publicly accessible 

2 website of the public water system; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) with respect to any person who is 

4 served by the system and gives notice to the 

5 system of not having access to a publicly avail6 able website, distributed by carrier route.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. TO LOWER THE ACTION LEVEL FOR LEAD IN DRINK8 ING WATER. 

9 Section 1412(b) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 300g–1(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(16) LEAD IN DRINKING WATER.—The Ad13 ministrator shall revise the national primary drink14 ing water regulation for lead to ensure that— 

15 ‘‘(A) not later than December 31, 2020, 

16 the action level for lead in drinking water is not 

17 more than 10 parts per billion; and 

18 ‘‘(B) not later than December 31, 2026, 

19 the action level for lead in drinking water is not 

20 more than 5 parts per billion.’’. 

Æ 


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