II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2272 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to increase funding for lead reduction 

projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to increase funding 

for lead reduction projects, 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 ‘‘Lead-Free Drinking 

5 Water for All Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REDUCING LEAD IN DRINKING WATER. 

7 Section 1459B of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 300j–19b) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2272 IS

1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara2 graph (D) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(D) a qualified nonprofit organization 

4 with experience in lead reduction, as determined 

5 by the Administrator; and’’; 

6 (B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

7 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘publicly 

8 owned’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking clause (iii) and insert10 ing the following: 

11 ‘‘(iii) providing assistance to eligible 

12 entities to inventory and replace lead serv13 ice lines, with priority for disadvantaged 

14 communities based on the affordability cri15 teria established by the applicable State 

16 under section 1452(d)(3), low-income 

17 homeowners, and landlords or property 

18 owners providing housing to low-income 

19 renters.’’; and 

20 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘an indi21 vidual provided’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (b)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (5)— 

24 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

25 ‘‘to provide assistance’’ and all that follows 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2272 IS

1 through the period at the end and insert2 ing ‘‘to inventory and replace lead service 

3 lines, with first priority given to assisting 

4 disadvantaged communities based on the 

5 affordability criteria established by the ap6 plicable State under section 1452(d)(3), 

7 low-income homeowners, and landlords or 

8 property owners providing housing to low9 income renters.’’; and 

10 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

11 (I) by striking ‘‘to a low-income 

12 homeowner’’; 

13 (II) by striking ‘‘privately owned 

14 portion of the’’; and 

15 (III) by striking ‘‘line’’ and in16 serting ‘‘lines’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (6)— 

18 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

19 ‘‘any publicly owned portion of’’; and 

20 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (B) 

21 through (E) and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(B) shall offer to replace the full lead 

23 service line at no cost to the property owner; 

24 and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2272 IS

1 ‘‘(C) shall notify relevant State and local 

2 authorities of any planned replacement of lead 

3 service lines under this subsection and coordi4 nate, where practicable, with other relevant in5 frastructure projects.’’; 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(7) PREVAILING WAGES.—In carrying out lead 

8 service line replacement using amounts made avail9 able under this section, section 1452(a)(5) shall 

10 apply. 

11 ‘‘(8) TIMELY COMPLETION OF PROJECTS.— 

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

13 receives assistance under this section shall en14 sure that all lead service lines being serviced by 

15 the eligible entity are fully replaced not later 

16 than the date that is 10 years after the date on 

17 which the eligible entity first receives funding 

18 for a lead reduction project for which assistance 

19 is provided under this section after the date of 

20 enactment of this paragraph. 

21 ‘‘(B) PLAN REQUIRED.—An eligible entity 

22 that receives assistance under this section shall 

23 submit to the Administrator a plan that de24 scribes how the eligible entity intends to meet 

25 the requirement under subparagraph (A).’’; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2272 IS

1 (3) in subsection (d)— 

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘(except for subsection 

3 (e))’’ after ‘‘this section’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘$60,000,000 for each of 

5 fiscal years 2017 through 2021’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘$4,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 

7 through 2031’’; 

8 (4) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

9 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 

10 (5) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(d) DELEGATION TO AND COORDINATION WITH

13 STATES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator— 

15 ‘‘(A) shall, in carrying out this section, co16 ordinate with each State that has established a 

17 State drinking water treatment revolving loan 

18 fund under section 1452; and 

19 ‘‘(B) may delegate the implementation of 

20 this section to any State described in subpara21 graph (A). 

22 ‘‘(2) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS TO DELEGATED

23 STATES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator 

25 delegates implementation of this section to a 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2272 IS

1 State under paragraph (1)(B), the Adminis2 trator shall, for each fiscal year, allot to the 

3 State an amount equal to the product obtained 

4 by multiplying— 

5 ‘‘(i) the total amount made available 

6 to carry out this section (except for sub7 section (e)) for the fiscal year; by 

8 ‘‘(ii)(I) for fiscal years 2022 and 

9 2023, the proportion that— 

10 ‘‘(aa) the amount allotted to the 

11 State under section 1452(a)(1)(D) for 

12 the fiscal year; bears to 

13 ‘‘(bb) the amount allotted to all 

14 States under section 1452(a)(1)(D) 

15 for the fiscal year; and 

16 ‘‘(II) for each of fiscal years 2024 

17 through 2031, the proportion that— 

18 ‘‘(aa) the need for lead service 

19 line replacement within the State, as 

20 documented in the most recent needs 

21 assessment under section 1452(h)(2); 

22 bears to 

23 ‘‘(bb) the need for lead service 

24 line replacement within all States, as 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2272 IS

1 documented in the most recent needs 

2 assessment under section 1452(h)(2). 

3 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Amounts allotted 

5 to a State under subparagraph (A) shall be 

6 used by the State only to make grants for 

7 inventorying or replacing lead service lines 

8 in accordance with this section. 

9 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—Of the amounts 

10 allotted to a State under subparagraph 

11 (A), not more than 4 percent may be used 

12 to pay the administrative costs of the 

13 State. 

14 ‘‘(iii) NO STATE CONTRIBUTION.— 

15 Notwithstanding any other provision of 

16 law, including section 1452(e), no State 

17 contribution requirement may be imposed 

18 on amounts allotted to a State under sub19 paragraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(e) LEAD INVENTORYING UTILIZATION GRANT

21 PILOT PROGRAM.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

23 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi24 ble entity’ means a municipality that is served 

25 by a community water system or a nontransient 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 2272 IS

1 noncommunity water system in which not less 

2 than 30 percent of the service lines are known, 

3 or suspected, to contain lead, based on available 

4 data, information, or resources, including exist5 ing lead inventorying. 

6 ‘‘(B) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘pilot 

7 program’ means the pilot program established 

8 under paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 

10 shall establish a pilot program under which the Ad11 ministrator shall provide grants to eligible entities to 

12 carry out lead reduction projects that are dem13 onstrated to exist or are suspected to exist, based on 

14 available data, information, or resources, including 

15 existing lead inventorying of those eligible entities. 

16 ‘‘(3) SELECTION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to re18 ceive a grant under the pilot program, an eligi19 ble entity shall submit to the Administrator an 

20 application at such time, in such manner, and 

21 containing such information as the Adminis22 trator may require. 

23 ‘‘(B) PRIORITIZATION.—In selecting recipi24 ents under the pilot program, the Administrator 

25 shall give priority to— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 2272 IS

1 ‘‘(i) an eligible entity that meets the 

2 affordability criteria of the applicable State 

3 established under section 1452(d)(3); and 

4 ‘‘(ii) an eligible entity that is located 

5 in an area other than a State that has es6 tablished affordability criteria under sec7 tion 1452(d)(3). 

8 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later 2 years after the Ad9 ministrator first awards a grant under the pilot pro10 gram, the Administrator shall submit to the Com11 mittee on Environment and Public Works of the 

12 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Com13 merce of the House of Representatives a report de14 scribing— 

15 ‘‘(A) the recipients of grants under the 

16 pilot program; 

17 ‘‘(B) the existing lead inventorying that 

18 was available to recipients of grants under the 

19 pilot program; and 

20 ‘‘(C) how useful and accurate the lead 

21 inventorying described in subparagraph (B) was 

22 in locating lead service lines of the eligible enti23 ty. 

24 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

25 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 2272 IS

1 the pilot program $10,000,000, to remain available 

2 until expended.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS