I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4978 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require bottled 

water manufacturers and distributors to disclose bottled water quality 

information, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2014 

Mrs. ELLMERS (for herself, Mr. MATHESON, and Mr. NUGENT) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 

require bottled water manufacturers and distributors to 

disclose bottled water quality information, 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 ‘‘Bottled Water Quality 

5 Information Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BOTTLED WATER QUALITY REPORTS AND LABEL2 ING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 410 of the Federal Food, 

4 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 349) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) BOTTLED WATER QUALITY REPORTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, by 

8 regulation, require bottled water quality reports in 

9 accordance with paragraph (3). 

10 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—In carrying out para11 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) issue proposed regulations not later 

13 than 18 months after the date of enactment of 

14 this subsection; and 

15 ‘‘(B) issue final regulations not later than 

16 18 months after the period for public comment 

17 on such proposed regulations has ended. 

18 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations promul19 gated under paragraph (1) shall require that each 

20 bottled water manufacturer or distributor annually 

21 prepare, and make available upon request, a bottled 

22 water quality report for each bottled water product 

23 that includes— 

24 ‘‘(A) the name and contact information of 

25 the bottled water manufacturer or distributor; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the type of water source (such as a 

2 spring, an artesian well, or a public water sys3 tem); 

4 ‘‘(C) a brief and plainly worded definition 

5 of the terms ‘Standard of Identity (SOI)’ as de6 scribed in section 165.110(a) of the Code of 

7 Federal Regulations, title 21 (or any successor 

8 regulations) and ‘Standard of Quality (SOQ)’ 

9 as defined in section 165.110(b) of the Code of 

10 Federal Regulations, title 21 (or any successor 

11 regulations) and as applied to bottled water 

12 under this Act and applicable regulations; 

13 ‘‘(D) a brief description of the primary 

14 processing (treatment) methods used by the 

15 bottled water manufacturer (such as reverse os16 mosis, ozonation, ultraviolet light, and micron 

17 filtration); and 

18 ‘‘(E) test results for the microbiological, 

19 physical, chemical, and radiological quality of 

20 bottled water, as prescribed by section 

21 165.110(b) of the Code of Federal Regulations, 

22 title 21 (or any successor regulation). 

23 ‘‘(d) BOTTLED WATER LABELING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, by 

25 regulation, require each bottled water label to inVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:20 Jul 02, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4978.IH H4978

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1 clude the information prescribed under paragraph 

2 (3). 

3 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—In carrying out para4 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) issue proposed regulations not later 

6 than 18 months after the date of enactment of 

7 this subsection; and 

8 ‘‘(B) issue final regulations not later than 

9 18 months after the period for public comment 

10 on such proposed regulations has ended. 

11 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations promul12 gated under paragraph (1) shall require that each 

13 bottled water label include— 

14 ‘‘(A) the name and contact information of 

15 the bottled water manufacturer or distributor; 

16 ‘‘(B) a statement on how consumers may 

17 obtain, upon request, a bottled water quality re18 port as described in subsection (c)(3); and 

19 ‘‘(C) the type of water source (such as a 

20 spring, artesian well, or public water system). 

21 ‘‘(4) MULTISERVICE CONTAINERS.—For refill22 able and reusable multiservice containers, the re23 quirements in paragraph (3) may be satisfied by in24 cluding the required information on one or more of 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The container label. 

2 ‘‘(B) The cap label. 

3 ‘‘(C) An electronic or manual billing state4 ment provided to the consumer. 

5 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL UNIFORM LABELING.—No State or 

6 political subdivision of a State may directly or indirectly 

7 establish or continue in effect any requirement with re8 spect to a bottled water quality report of the type required 

9 under subsection (c), or with respect to bottled water la10 beling of the type required under subsection (d), that is 

11 not identical to the requirements of subsection (c) or (d), 

12 respectively.’’. 

13 (b) PROHIBITED ACT.—Section 301 of the Federal 

14 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 331) is amend15 ed by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(ddd) The failure by a bottled water manufacturer 

17 or distributor to maintain an annual bottled water quality 

18 report in accordance with section 410(c).’’. 

19 (c) MISBRANDING.—Section 403 of the Federal 

20 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343) is amend21 ed by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(z) If it is bottled water and its label fails to include 

23 the information required by section 410(d).’’. 

Æ 


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