II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 212 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2015 

Received 

AN ACT 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide for the 

assessment and management of the risk of algal toxins 

in drinking water, 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, 


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HR 212 RDS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drinking Water Pro3 tection Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. 

5 (a) AMENDMENT.—Part E of the Safe Drinking 

6 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j et seq.) is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1459. ALGAL TOXIN RISK ASSESSMENT AND MANAGE9 MENT. 

10 ‘‘(a) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad13 ministrator shall develop and submit to Congress a 

14 strategic plan for assessing and managing risks as15 sociated with algal toxins in drinking water provided 

16 by public water systems. The strategic plan shall in17 clude steps and timelines to— 

18 ‘‘(A) evaluate the risk to human health 

19 from drinking water provided by public water 

20 systems contaminated with algal toxins; 

21 ‘‘(B) establish, publish, and update a com22 prehensive list of algal toxins which the Admin23 istrator determines may have an adverse effect 

24 on human health when present in drinking 

25 water provided by public water systems, taking 

26 into account likely exposure levels; 


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HR 212 RDS

1 ‘‘(C) summarize— 

2 ‘‘(i) the known adverse human health 

3 effects of algal toxins included on the list 

4 published under subparagraph (B) when 

5 present in drinking water provided by pub6 lic water systems; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) factors that cause toxin-pro8 ducing cyanobacteria and algae to pro9 liferate and express toxins; 

10 ‘‘(D) with respect to algal toxins included 

11 on the list published under subparagraph (B), 

12 determine whether to— 

13 ‘‘(i) publish health advisories pursuant 

14 to section 1412(b)(1)(F) for such algal 

15 toxins in drinking water provided by public 

16 water systems; 

17 ‘‘(ii) establish guidance regarding fea18 sible analytical methods to quantify the 

19 presence of algal toxins; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) establish guidance regarding the 

21 frequency of monitoring necessary to deter22 mine if such algal toxins are present in 

23 drinking water provided by public water 

24 systems; 


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HR 212 RDS

1 ‘‘(E) recommend feasible treatment op2 tions, including procedures, equipment, and 

3 source water protection practices, to mitigate 

4 any adverse public health effects of algal toxins 

5 included on the list published under subpara6 graph (B); and 

7 ‘‘(F) enter into cooperative agreements 

8 with, and provide technical assistance to, af9 fected States and public water systems, as iden10 tified by the Administrator, for the purpose of 

11 managing risks associated with algal toxins in12 cluded on the list published under subpara13 graph (B). 

14 ‘‘(2) UPDATES.—The Administrator shall, as 

15 appropriate, update and submit to Congress the 

16 strategic plan developed under paragraph (1). 

17 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION COORDINATION.—In carrying out 

18 this section the Administrator shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) identify gaps in the Agency’s under20 standing of algal toxins, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) the human health effects of algal tox22 ins included on the list published under sub23 section (a)(1)(B); and 

24 ‘‘(B) methods and means of testing and 

25 monitoring for the presence of harmful algal 


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1 toxins in source water of, or drinking water 

2 provided by, public water systems; 

3 ‘‘(2) as appropriate, consult with— 

4 ‘‘(A) other Federal agencies that— 

5 ‘‘(i) examine or analyze cyanobacteria 

6 or algal toxins; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) address public health concerns 

8 related to harmful algal blooms; 

9 ‘‘(B) States; 

10 ‘‘(C) operators of public water systems; 

11 ‘‘(D) multinational agencies; 

12 ‘‘(E) foreign governments; 

13 ‘‘(F) research and academic institutions; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(G) companies that provide relevant 

16 drinking water treatment options; and 

17 ‘‘(3) assemble and publish information from 

18 each Federal agency that has— 

19 ‘‘(A) examined or analyzed cyanobacteria 

20 or algal toxins; or 

21 ‘‘(B) addressed public health concerns re22 lated to harmful algal blooms. 

23 ‘‘(c) USE OF SCIENCE.—The Administrator shall 

24 carry out this section in accordance with the requirements 

25 described in section 1412(b)(3)(A), as applicable. 


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1 ‘‘(d) FEASIBLE.—For purposes of this section, the 

2 term ‘feasible’ has the meaning given such term in section 

3 1412(b)(4)(D).’’. 

4 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

6 General of the United States shall prepare and submit to 

7 Congress a report that includes— 

8 (1) an inventory of funds— 

9 (A) expended by the United States, for 

10 each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014, to ex11 amine or analyze toxin-producing cyanobacteria 

12 and algae or address public health concerns re13 lated to harmful algal blooms; and 

14 (B) that includes the specific purpose for 

15 which the funds were made available, the law 

16 under which the funds were authorized, and the 

17 Federal agency that received or spent the 

18 funds; and 


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1 (2) recommended steps to reduce any duplica2 tion, and improve interagency coordination, of such 

3 expenditures. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 24, 

2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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