SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arsenic Reduction in
Drinking Water Act’’.
SEC. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that:
(1) According to a 1999 study by the National
Academy of Sciences, arsenic in drinking water
causes bladder, lung and skin cancer, and may cause
kidney and liver cancer. The study also found that
arsenic harms the central and peripheral nervous
systems, as well as heart and blood vessels, and
causes serious skin problems. It also may cause
birth defects and reproductive problems.
(2) According to Environmental Protection
Agency data, more than 34 million Americans drink
tap water supplied by systems containing average
levels of arsenic that pose unacceptable cancer risks.
(3) The current national standard of 50 parts
per billion for arsenic in drinking water was estab-
lished in 1942, before health officials knew that ar-
senic causes cancer.
(4) According to National Academy of Sciences
estimates, one out of 100 people who drink water
containing 50 parts per billion of arsenic will get
cancer (based on drinking two liters of water per
day over the course of a lifetime). That’s an unac-
ceptably high cancer risk.
(5) The Environmental Protection Agency,
which sets the arsenic standard, normally assigns
standards for toxins and contaminants that rep-
resent no more than a one-in-10,000 risk factor for
cancer.
(6) The Environmental Protection Agency has
determined that reducing arsenic in drinking water
to 3 parts per billion is feasible.
(7) In 1997, Congress directed the Environ-
mental Protection Agency to set a new arsenic
standard.
(8) Small communities are concerned about im-
proving drinking water quality.
(9) Small communities often struggle to meet
water quality standards because of difficulty in se-
curing funding.
(10) Small public water systems serving fewer
than 10,000 people represent 94 percent of all public
water systems.
(11) Small communities would benefit from a
grant program designed to provide funding for water
quality projects without a substantial matching re-
quirement.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to—
(1) establish drinking water standards for ar-
senic such that—
(A) all drinking water systems in the
United States shall be required to reduce ar-
senic in drinking water to 10 parts per billion
by fiscal year 2003;
(B) all drinking water systems in the
United States shall be required to reduce ar-
senic in drinking water to 3 parts per billion by
fiscal year 2006; and
(2) to provide grants to small public drinking
water systems to assist them in meeting the revised
standards for arsenic in drinking water.
SEC. 3. LOWERING THE LEVELS OF ARSENIC IN DRINKING
WATER.
Section 1412(b)(12)(A) of the Safe Drinking Water
Act is amended by adding the following new clauses at
the end thereof:
‘‘(vii) Effective October 1, 2003, the max-
imum contaminant level for arsenic shall be 10
parts per billion.
‘‘(viii) Effective October 1, 2006, the max-
imum contaminant level for arsenic shall be 3
parts per billion.’’.
SEC. 4. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE PRO-
GRAM FOR ARSENIC.
Part E of the Safe Drinking Water Act is amended
by adding the following new section at the end thereof:
‘‘SEC. 1459. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM FOR ARSENIC.
‘‘(a) ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM.—The Administrator
shall make grants under this section to public water sys-
tems serving fewer than 10,000 people to assist such sys-
tems in meeting the drinking water standards for arsenic
that take effect October 1, 2003, and October 1, 2006.
‘‘(b) MINIMUM STATE ALLOCATION.—The aggregate
of public water systems eligible for grants under this sec-
tion in each State shall not receive less than 1 percent
of the total nationwide appropriation for such grants in
each fiscal year in which such grants are made.
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$800,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through
2006.’’.
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