I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1252

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to change the drinking water standard for arsenic from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion by

fiscal year 2003 and to 3 parts per billion by fiscal year 2006 and

to authorize an $800 million to provide grants to small public drinking

water systems to assist them in meeting these standards.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 28, 2001

Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. BONIOR, Ms. LEE, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.

GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr.

PAYNE, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.

HOEFFEL, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to change the drinking water standard for arsenic from 50 parts per billion

to 10 parts per billion by fiscal year 2003 and to 3

parts per billion by fiscal year 2006 and to authorize

an $800 million to provide grants to small public drinking water systems to assist them in meeting these standards.

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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arsenic Reduction in

3 Drinking Water Act’’.

4 SEC. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that:

6 (1) According to a 1999 study by the National

7 Academy of Sciences, arsenic in drinking water

8 causes bladder, lung and skin cancer, and may cause

9 kidney and liver cancer. The study also found that

10 arsenic harms the central and peripheral nervous

11 systems, as well as heart and blood vessels, and

12 causes serious skin problems. It also may cause

13 birth defects and reproductive problems.

14 (2) According to Environmental Protection

15 Agency data, more than 34 million Americans drink

16 tap water supplied by systems containing average

17 levels of arsenic that pose unacceptable cancer risks.

18 (3) The current national standard of 50 parts

19 per billion for arsenic in drinking water was estab20 lished in 1942, before health officials knew that ar21 senic causes cancer.

22 (4) According to National Academy of Sciences

23 estimates, one out of 100 people who drink water

24 containing 50 parts per billion of arsenic will get

25 cancer (based on drinking two liters of water per
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1 day over the course of a lifetime). That’s an unac2 ceptably high cancer risk.

3 (5) The Environmental Protection Agency,

4 which sets the arsenic standard, normally assigns

5 standards for toxins and contaminants that rep6 resent no more than a one-in-10,000 risk factor for

7 cancer.

8 (6) The Environmental Protection Agency has

9 determined that reducing arsenic in drinking water

10 to 3 parts per billion is feasible.

11 (7) In 1997, Congress directed the Environ12 mental Protection Agency to set a new arsenic

13 standard.

14 (8) Small communities are concerned about im15 proving drinking water quality.

16 (9) Small communities often struggle to meet

17 water quality standards because of difficulty in se18 curing funding.

19 (10) Small public water systems serving fewer

20 than 10,000 people represent 94 percent of all public

21 water systems.

22 (11) Small communities would benefit from a

23 grant program designed to provide funding for water

24 quality projects without a substantial matching re25 quirement.
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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to—

2 (1) establish drinking water standards for ar3 senic such that—

4 (A) all drinking water systems in the

5 United States shall be required to reduce ar6 senic in drinking water to 10 parts per billion

7 by fiscal year 2003;

8 (B) all drinking water systems in the

9 United States shall be required to reduce ar10 senic in drinking water to 3 parts per billion by

11 fiscal year 2006; and

12 (2) to provide grants to small public drinking

13 water systems to assist them in meeting the revised

14 standards for arsenic in drinking water.

15 SEC. 3. LOWERING THE LEVELS OF ARSENIC IN DRINKING

16 WATER.

17 Section 1412(b)(12)(A) of the Safe Drinking Water

18 Act is amended by adding the following new clauses at

19 the end thereof:

20 ‘‘(vii) Effective October 1, 2003, the max21 imum contaminant level for arsenic shall be 10

22 parts per billion.

23 ‘‘(viii) Effective October 1, 2006, the max24 imum contaminant level for arsenic shall be 3

25 parts per billion.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE PRO2 GRAM FOR ARSENIC.

3 Part E of the Safe Drinking Water Act is amended

4 by adding the following new section at the end thereof:

5 ‘‘SEC. 1459. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE

6 PROGRAM FOR ARSENIC.

7 ‘‘(a) ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—The Administrator

8 shall make grants under this section to public water sys9 tems serving fewer than 10,000 people to assist such sys10 tems in meeting the drinking water standards for arsenic

11 that take effect October 1, 2003, and October 1, 2006.

12 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM STATE ALLOCATION.—The aggregate

13 of public water systems eligible for grants under this sec14 tion in each State shall not receive less than 1 percent

15 of the total nationwide appropriation for such grants in

16 each fiscal year in which such grants are made.

17 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

18 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

19 $800,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through

20 2006.’’.

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