‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR MTBE.—Whenever any re-
lease has been detected from an underground storage
tank, the Administrator (or a representative of a State
with an approved program) shall require the owner or op-
erator of the tank to conduct monitoring for methyl ter-
tiary butyl ether (MTBE) and report the results of such
monitoring annually to the Administrator (or such rep-
resentative) for the longer of (1) a period of 10 years fol-
lowing the detection of the first such release, or (2) 3
years after the date on which the last release was de-
tected.’’.
(b) 
UPGRADING
OF
UNDERGROUND
STORAGE
TANKS.—In enforcing the requirement that underground
storage tanks be upgraded in accordance with section
280.21 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, the Ad-
ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall
focus enforcement of the requirement on areas where
MTBE is leaking into ground water or surface water.
(c) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of
Congress that—
(1) the Administrator should prioritize its funds
under the Leaking Underground Storage Tanks
(LUST) program (42 U.S.C. 6991 et seq.) to pro-
vide oversight, enforcement, and grants to States in
which MTBE has been used as a fuel additive; and
(2) the Administrator should accelerate the cur-
rently-planned implementation of testing for and re-
porting of MTBE in public water drinking water
supplies to be completed by December 2001.
(d) FUNDING.—It is the sense of the Congress that
all funds available in the Leaking Underground Storage
Tank Trust Fund established under section 9508 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 should be appropriated an-
nually.
SEC. 3. EMERGENCY DECLARATION AND STUDY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of the Safe Drinking
Water Act is amended by adding the following at the end
thereof:
‘‘SEC. 1459. EMERGENCY DECLARATION; STUDY.
‘‘(a) DECLARATION.—Based on the request of a Gov-
ernor or head of a local government, the Administrator
is authorized to declare that a drinking water emergency
exists in a county or municipality, or any part thereof,
if the drinking water supplies for that county or munici-
pality, or any part thereof, have been contaminated by
methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).
‘‘(b) GRANTS.—Upon making a declaration under
subsection (a), the Administrator is authorized to make,
on an expedited basis—
‘‘(1) grants to local government agencies to
connect persons using private wells that have been
contaminated with MTBE to public water systems
where necessary to assure such persons access to
uncontaminated water;
‘‘(2) grants to local government agencies to
purchase bottled water for residents unable to safely
use the water supply; and
‘‘(3) grants to such agencies to remediate the
municipal water supplies, groundwater and surface
water, and any other natural sources that provide
water to the community.
‘‘(c) STUDY.—The National Institutes of Environ-
mental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Insti-
tutes of Health shall undertake a study of the long-term
health effects of MTBE contamination in drinking water.
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$15,000,000 for the fiscal year 2001 and such sums as
may be necessary for fiscal years 2002 through 2005.’’.
(b) BUDGET OFFSET.—For the fiscal year 2001,
sums otherwise available under other authority of law for
the Army School of the Americas in the Department of
the Army shall be reduced by $15,000,000.
Æ