(1) The safety of drinking water, and the ade-
quacy of water supplies, is a national concern. In the 
29 years since Congress first mandated the estab-
lishment of uniform national minimum drinking 
water standards, national standards have been es-
tablished for more than 100 contaminants and pa-
rameters. 
(2) The States have been authorized to enforce 
those standards, and, in appropriate cases, set 
stricter standards on a statewide basis. 
(3) It is technologically infeasible for a drinking 
water system to provide water with a zero level of 
contaminants, and a determination that drinking 
water must contain no contaminants would threaten 
the adequacy of water supplies. 
(4) The setting of drinking water standards is 
a complex public policy determination requiring a 
careful analysis and balancing of a number of fac-
tors, including—
(A) the maximum safe level for each drink-
ing water contaminant, the technological capa-
bility of removing contaminants from public 
drinking water supplies; and 
(B) the importance of assuring that drink-
ing water is affordable to all Americans.
(5) The setting of these standards is not appro-
priate for individual juries deciding individual cases 
in the separate States, but rather is fundamentally 
a scientific issue to be resolved by the appropriate 
Federal and State agencies in accordance with the 
rulemaking provisions of the Safe Drinking Water 
Act and the applicable State authorities. 
(6) Claims for monetary damages brought 
against public water providers under the common 
law of the various States based on alleged contami-
nation of drinking water threaten to undermine the 
science-based uniform national system of water qual-
ity regulation. 
(7) The States should retain maximum flexi-
bility to handle claims for monetary damages 
brought against public water providers based on al-
leged contamination of drinking water, including the 
authority to decide whether such claims should be 
heard by the courts or an administrative agency. 
(8) The costs of defending against multiple 
legal claims can be financially burdensome to any 
water provider, but especially to small systems, and 
the imposition of such costs cannot be justified when 
a supplier complies with the requirements of the 
Safe Drinking Water Act.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. 
Section 1449 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 
U.S.C. 300j–8) is amended as follows: 
(1) By striking ‘‘Nothing’’ in the first sentence 
of subsection (e) and inserting ‘‘(1) Except as pro-
vided in subsection (f), nothing’’. 
(2) By striking ‘‘or to seek any other relief’’ at 
the end of the first sentence of subsection (e). 
(3) By adding after the first sentence of sub-
section (e) the following: ‘‘Nothing in subsection (f) 
creates a new cause of action, and, except as other-
wise explicitly provided in this title, nothing in this 
title expands liability otherwise imposed or limits 
any defense otherwise available under Federal or 
State law.’’ . 
(4) By striking ‘‘Nothing’’ in the second sen-
tence of subsection (e) and inserting ‘‘Except as pro-
vided in subsection (f), nothing’’. 
(5) By adding the following new subsection at 
the end thereof: 
‘‘(f)(1) No public water system shall be liable in a 
civil suit brought before any Federal or State court for 
damages arising from injury (including personal injury, 
death, or property damage) allegedly caused by delivery 
of contaminated water, unless the court determines that 
the plaintiff has established the following:
‘‘(A) In the case of a regulated contami-
nant, the plaintiff must establish that each of 
the following criteria are met: 
‘‘(i) The substance in the delivered 
water which the plaintiff claims caused the 
injury was subject to a Federal or State 
regulation prescribed under this Act at the 
time of delivery. 
‘‘(ii) There is substantial scientific 
evidence that the substance in the deliv-
ered water which the plaintiff claims 
caused the injury was of such a nature, 
and in such amounts, that it was reason-
ably likely to cause the kind of injury of 
which the plaintiff complains. 
‘‘(iii) The public water system violated 
the regulation referred to in clause (i). 
‘‘(iv) The violation was negligent. 
‘‘(v) The violation caused the injury. 
‘‘(B) In the case of an unregulated con-
taminant, the plaintiff must establish that each 
of the following criteria are met: 
‘‘(i) The substance in the delivered 
water which the plaintiff claims caused the 
injury was not subject to any requirements
prescribed under this Act at the time of 
delivery. 
‘‘(ii) There is substantial scientific 
evidence that the substance in the deliv-
ered water which the plaintiff claims 
caused the injury was of such a nature, 
and in such amounts, that it was reason-
ably likely to cause the kind of injury of 
which the plaintiff complains. 
‘‘(iii) The injury actually was caused 
by delivery of water that contained such a 
substance. 
‘‘(iv) The public water system knew or 
should have known that the substance was 
in the drinking water at such a level and 
was likely to cause the injury. 
‘‘(v) It was feasible for the supplier to 
have removed such contaminant to a level 
below which it was not likely to cause such 
injury. 
‘‘(2) The court shall, in a special pretrial pro-
ceeding, subject to the requirements of paragraph 
(3), determine whether the plaintiff has established 
either that criteria in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of
paragraph (1)(A) or criteria in clauses (i), (ii), and 
(v) in paragraph (1)(B) have been met. 
‘‘(3) The court, in making the determinations 
required in paragraphs (1)(A) and (1)(B), shall 
adopt and give binding effect to any findings of fact, 
conclusions of law, or determination of any agency 
of a State exercising primary enforcement authority 
for purposes of this title. Nothing in this section lim-
its the jurisdiction or authority of any State agency 
to make findings and determinations with respect to 
whether—
‘‘(A) requirements for drinking water qual-
ity adequately protect the public; 
‘‘(B) additional requirements for regulated 
or unregulated contaminants are warranted; 
and 
‘‘(C) public water systems are in compli-
ance with such requirements.’’.
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