I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4806 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of 

the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate national primary 

drinking water regulations regarding lead and copper. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2016 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mrs. BUSTOS) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

promulgate national primary drinking water regulations 

regarding lead and copper. 

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 ‘‘Copper and Lead Eval5 uation and Reporting Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘CLEAR Act 

6 of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LEAD AND COPPER IN DRINKING WATER. 

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

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

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(16) LEAD AND COPPER IN DRINKING

6 WATER.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

7 enactment of the CLEAR Act of 2016, the Adminis8 trator shall promulgate national primary drinking 

9 water regulations regarding lead and copper that— 

10 ‘‘(A) based on the amount of lead that 

11 would result in a blood lead level greater than 

12 5 micrograms per deciliter in an average, 

13 healthy infant who consumes infant formula 

14 made with water, establish a health-based 

15 household action level for lead and copper that 

16 triggers— 

17 ‘‘(i) not later than 28 days after the 

18 date on which the household action level is 

19 reached, plain-language consumer notifica20 tion that is culturally and linguistically ap21 propriate; 

22 ‘‘(ii) a report to the appropriate public 

23 health agency; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) an examination by the public 

25 water system of service line material and, 

26 if applicable, the initiation of the removal 


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1 by the public water system of any lead por2 tion of the service line; 

3 ‘‘(B) provide for frequent and culturally 

4 and linguistically appropriate multimedia out5 reach in plain language about the health risk 

6 and protection available to— 

7 ‘‘(i) consumers with known or sus8 pected full or partial lead service lines; 

9 ‘‘(ii) public and private institutions 

10 and facilities that serve individuals of any 

11 other vulnerable population, including— 

12 ‘‘(I) children; 

13 ‘‘(II) pregnant women; and 

14 ‘‘(III) an immunocompromised 

15 population, such as— 

16 ‘‘(aa) individuals living with 

17 auto immune deficiency syndrome 

18 or human immunodeficiency 

19 virus; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) the elderly; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) caregivers and healthcare pro22 viders for any individual described in 

23 clause (i) or (ii); 

24 ‘‘(C) require, for each monitoring period, 

25 each public water system to publish on a pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Mar 19, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4806.IH H4806

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1 licly accessible website of the public water sys2 tem, or distribute by carrier route presort if the 

3 public water system does not maintain a pub4 licly accessible website, or distribute door-to5 door if a substantial portion of the population 

6 served by the public water system does not have 

7 access to the Internet or is elderly— 

8 ‘‘(i) the number of households served 

9 by the public water system that have a 

10 household action level that is greater than 

11 the household action level established by 

12 the Administrator under subparagraph 

13 (A); 

14 ‘‘(ii) all levels of lead and copper 

15 found in each monitoring period; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) the most recent 90th percentile 

17 levels for lead and copper, as compared to 

18 the system action levels for lead and cop19 per; 

20 ‘‘(D) in the case of a community that has 

21 a lead service line, require the public water sys22 tem to provide a public statement of lead serv23 ice line ownership that includes the legal basis 

24 of that determination of ownership; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) modify lead monitoring requirements 

2 to provide for— 

3 ‘‘(i) voluntary consumer-requested tap 

4 sampling for lead; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the use of any result of a tap 

6 sample described in clause (i)— 

7 ‘‘(I) to inform— 

8 ‘‘(aa) consumer action to re9 duce the risk of lead in the home 

10 of the consumer; and 

11 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a tap 

12 sample that is higher than the 

13 household action level established 

14 in subparagraph (A), the con15 sumer and the appropriate public 

16 health agency; and 

17 ‘‘(II) to assess— 

18 ‘‘(aa) if the tap sample 

19 meets the site selection criteria 

20 described in the national primary 

21 drinking water regulations issued 

22 by the Administrator regarding 

23 lead and copper, the effectiveness 

24 of corrosion control treatment; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) any other potential 

2 cause of an elevated lead level.’’. 

Æ 


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