I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 852 

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

school drinking water. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2019 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. DEMINGS, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. RYAN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 

Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BRENDAN F. 

BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. MOORE, Mr. RUSH, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, 

Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. MENG, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. 

COHEN, Ms. OMAR, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of 

New York, Ms. HILL of California, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SOTO, 

Mr. POCAN, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

SERRANO, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. RASKIN, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to address lead 

contamination in school drinking water. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Schools Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL TESTING AND NOTIFICATION; GRANT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 Section 1464 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 300j–24) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(e) TESTING AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

7 FOR PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS THAT SERVE SCHOOLS.— 

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

9 subsection, the Administrator shall promulgate a national 

10 primary drinking water regulation for school drinking 

11 water that— 

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

13 more than the lead action level established by the 

14 Administrator under section 1412(b); 

15 ‘‘(2) requires each public water system to sam16 ple for lead in the drinking water at such schools as 

17 the Administrator determines to have a risk of lead 

18 in the drinking water at a level that meets or ex19 ceeds the lead action level established under para20 graph (1); and 

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

22 paragraph (2) that indicate that the drinking water 

23 of a school contains lead that meets or exceeds the 

24 lead action level established under paragraph (1), re25 quires the public water system that serves the school 

26 to notify the local educational agency that has jurisVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H852.IH H852

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1 diction over the school, the relevant local health 

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

3 practicable, but not later than 24 hours after the 

4 public water system receives the sampling results. 

5 ‘‘(f) SCHOOL LEAD TESTING AND REMEDIATION

6 GRANT PROGRAM.— 

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

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

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

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

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

12 statewide program to test for, or remediate, 

13 lead contamination in drinking water. 

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

15 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

16 the Administrator shall establish a grant program to 

17 make grants available to eligible entities to test for, 

18 and remediate, lead contamination in school drinking 

19 water. 

20 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 

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

22 receives a grant under this subsection may use 

23 grant funds— 

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

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1 tamination in school drinking water con2 ducted by an entity approved by the Ad3 ministrator or the State to conduct the 

4 testing; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) to replace lead pipes, pipe fit6 tings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures of 

7 any school with drinking water that con8 tains a level of lead that meets or exceeds 

9 the action level established by the Adminis10 trator under subsection (e)(1) with lead 

11 free (as defined in section 1417) pipes, 

12 pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and fix13 tures. 

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 5 per15 cent of grant funds accepted under this sub16 section shall be used to pay the administrative 

17 costs of testing for, or remediation of, lead con18 tamination. 

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

20 condition of receiving a grant under this subsection, 

21 an eligible entity shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) expend grant funds in accordance 

23 with— 

24 ‘‘(i) the guidance of the Environ25 mental Protection Agency entitled ‘3Ts for 


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1 Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in 

2 Schools: Revised Technical Guidance’ and 

3 dated October 2006 (or any successor 

4 guidance); or 

5 ‘‘(ii) applicable State regulations or 

6 guidance regarding the reduction of lead in 

7 drinking water in schools that is not less 

8 stringent than the guidance referred to in 

9 clause (i), as determined by the Adminis10 trator; 

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

12 the maximum extent practicable, on the Inter13 net website of the eligible entity, a copy of the 

14 results of any testing for lead contamination in 

15 school drinking water that is carried out with 

16 funds under this subsection; and 

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

18 organizations of the availability of the results 

19 described in subparagraph (B).’’. 

Æ 


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