II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2086 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) 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 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 2019’’. 


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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 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 2019; 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), a 

8 public water system shall report the results of sam9 pling to the Administrator or the State exercising 

10 primary enforcement responsibility, as applicable, 

11 and shall include in such reporting— 

12 ‘‘(A) the number of residential and non13 residential facilities at which the sampling was 

14 conducted; 

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

16 of such residential and nonresidential facilities; 

17 ‘‘(C) previous samples taken at such resi18 dential and nonresidential facilities and the re19 sults of those samples; 

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

21 material composition of the service lines at such 

22 residential and nonresidential facilities; 

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

24 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 above the lead or copper action levels; 

10 ‘‘(I) the disinfectants and corrosion inhibi11 tors being used and the target doses at the 

12 water treatment plant; 

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

14 under this section in the type, method, or quan15 tity of treatments being used in the water sam16 pled; 

17 ‘‘(K) the history of violations, and fines re18 ceived, by the system; 

19 ‘‘(L) the number of samples invalidated 

20 and the reason for their invalidation; and 

21 ‘‘(M) if sampling is conducted at residen22 tial facilities other than those with lead service 

23 lines, an explanation of why such sampling was 

24 conducted. 


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

2 public water system shall make publicly available 

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

4 lead and copper rule. 

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

6 give the owner of each residential and nonresidential 

7 facility at which sampling data is collected the op8 tion to be identified only by block number and street 

9 name. 

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

11 The Administrator shall— 

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

13 compliance with the lead and copper rule; 

14 ‘‘(B) in such protocol— 

15 ‘‘(i) prohibit the use of techniques 

16 that minimize the detection of lead or cop17 per in drinking water; 

18 ‘‘(ii) require sampling under this sec19 tion to occur not less than once per year; 

20 ‘‘(iii) include criteria for site selection 

21 that prioritize testing at high-risk build22 ings; 

23 ‘‘(iv) require sampling at all drinking 

24 water taps in all schools served by the pub25 lic water system; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) require the sampling methodology 

2 to be scientifically based; and 

3 ‘‘(C) develop instructions for compliance 

4 with such protocol for dissemination to public 

5 water systems and customers thereof. 

6 ‘‘(c) ACTION LEVEL EXCEEDED.— 

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

8 the State exercising primary enforcement responsi9 bility) shall require on-site investigations on where 

10 the source of lead is for all individual samples with 

11 a lead or copper concentration above the action 

12 level— 

13 ‘‘(A) to be completed by the public water 

14 system or local health department within 10 

15 business days of the sample result; and 

16 ‘‘(B) to include additional samples at addi17 tional locations to identify the potential scope of 

18 elevated lead or copper levels. 

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

20 system detects a lead or copper concentration level 

21 above the action level, the system shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) within 2 calendar days of detecting 

23 such an exceedance that is specific to one or 

24 more facilities, notify the persons at such facili25 ties; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) within 10 calendar days of completion 

2 of sampling for a monitoring period applicable 

3 under section 141.86 of title 40, Code of Fed4 eral Regulations (or any successor regulation), 

5 make a report on any exceedance detected pur6 suant to such sampling publicly available. 

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

8 shall require testing results— 

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

10 ‘‘(2) to be posted on the website of the Admin11 istrator, the State exercising primary enforcement 

12 responsibility, and the public water system; and 

13 ‘‘(3) to include— 

14 ‘‘(A) the provisions of consumer confidence 

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

16 lead and copper; 

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

18 the results of sampling; 

19 ‘‘(C) lead service line replacement mate20 rials and financial assistance forms; and 

21 ‘‘(D) how a consumer can request a water 

22 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 2019 make publicly accessible 

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) give the owners of such residential and 

14 nonresidential facilities the option to be identified 

15 only by block number and street name; and 

16 ‘‘(3) in developing such inventory, take meas17 ures to minimize any disturbance to service lines 

18 that might release contaminants. 

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

20 system shall collect, maintain, and beginning not later 

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

22 Opportunity for Lead Exposure Accountability and Deter23 rence Act of 2019 make publicly accessible all legal docu24 ments establishing the ownership of service lines at resi25 dential and nonresidential facilities. 


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1 ‘‘(g) SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever a public water 

3 system replaces a lead service line, the lead and cop4 per rule shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) require the system to replace the line 

6 from the transmission line to where the line en7 ters the facility; and 

8 ‘‘(B) prohibit partial replacement. 

9 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIZATION.—The lead and copper 

10 rule shall require any public water system engaged 

11 in replacing lead service lines to prioritize such re12 placement at high-risk buildings. 

13 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

15 ‘‘(A) residential and nonresidential facili16 ties with lead service lines— 

17 ‘‘(i) that have galvanized pipes; 

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

19 ‘‘(iii) whose lead service lines are 

20 among the longest served by the public 

21 water system; and 

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

23 more pregnant women or children reside. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘lead service line’ means a serv2 ice line that is not lead free (within the meaning of 

3 section 1417). 

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

5 report is— 

6 ‘‘(A) written in plain language that is cul7 turally and linguistically appropriate; and 

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

9 website of the public water system; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) if the system does not maintain a 

11 publicly accessible website, distributed by car12 rier route to the persons served by the sys13 tem.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. TO LOWER THE ACTION LEVEL FOR LEAD IN DRINK15 ING WATER. 

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

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

18 following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(16) LEAD IN DRINKING WATER.—The Ad20 ministrator shall revise the national primary drink21 ing water regulation for lead to ensure that— 

22 ‘‘(A) not later than December 31, 2022, 

23 the action level for lead in drinking water is not 

24 more than 10 parts per billion; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) not later than December 31, 2028, 

2 the action level for lead in drinking water is not 

3 more than 5 parts per billion.’’. 

Æ 


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