I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6311 
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to improve transparency under 
the national primary drinking water regulations for lead and copper, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 14, 2016 
Mr. KILDEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to improve trans-
parency under the national primary drinking water regu-
lations for lead and copper, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Opportunity 
for Lead Exposure Accountability and Deterrence Act of 
2016’’. 
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SEC. 2. NATIONAL PRIMARY DRINKING WATER REGULA-
TIONS FOR LEAD AND COPPER. 
The Safe Drinking Water Act is amended by insert-
ing after section 1417 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–6) 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1417A. NATIONAL PRIMARY DRINKING WATER REGU-
LATIONS FOR LEAD AND COPPER. 
‘‘(a) LEAD AND COPPER RULE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The national primary 
drinking water regulations for lead and copper (in 
this section referred to as the ‘lead and copper rule’) 
shall include each of the requirements described in 
this section. 
‘‘(2) REVISION.—The Administrator shall revise 
the lead and copper in accordance with this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(A) not later than 9 months after the 
date of enactment of the National Opportunity 
for Lead Exposure Accountability and Deter-
rence Act of 2016; and 
‘‘(B) thereafter, in accordance with section 
1412(b). 
‘‘(b) SAMPLING.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection applies 
with respect to sampling by a public water system 
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of lead or copper in drinking water, irrespective of 
whether such sampling— 
‘‘(A) is required by the lead and copper 
rule; or 
‘‘(B) is voluntary sampling initiated by 
customers of the public water system. 
‘‘(2) REPORTING.—Subject to paragraph (3), a 
public water system shall report the results of sam-
pling to the Administrator or the State exercising 
primary enforcement responsibility, as applicable, 
and shall include in such reporting— 
‘‘(A) the number of residential and non-
residential facilities at which the sampling was 
conducted; 
‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (4), the address 
of such residential and nonresidential facilities; 
‘‘(C) previous samples taken at such resi-
dential and nonresidential facilities and the re-
sults of those samples; 
‘‘(D) where such information exists, the 
material composition of the service lines at such 
residential and nonresidential facilities; 
‘‘(E) the dates on which the respective 
sampling occurred; 
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‘‘(3) PUBLIC
AVAILABILITY
OF
REPORTS.—A 
public water system shall make publicly available 
any report that is required by this section or by the 
lead and copper rule. 
‘‘(4) PRIVACY.—A public water system shall 
give the owner of each residential and nonresidential 
facility at which sampling data is collected the op-
tion to be identified only by block number and street 
name. 
‘‘(5) SAMPLING
PROTOCOL; INSTRUCTIONS.— 
The Administrator shall— 
‘‘(A) develop a protocol for sampling for 
compliance with the lead and copper rule; 
‘‘(B) in such protocol— 
‘‘(i) prohibit the use of techniques 
that minimize the detection of lead or cop-
per in drinking water; 
‘‘(ii) require sampling under this sec-
tion to occur not less than once per year; 
‘‘(iii) include criteria for site selection 
that prioritize testing at high-risk build-
ings; 
‘‘(iv) require sampling at all drinking 
water taps in all schools served by the pub-
lic water system; and 
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‘‘(v) require the sampling methodology 
to be scientifically based; and 
‘‘(C) develop instructions for compliance 
with such protocol for dissemination to public 
water systems and customers thereof. 
‘‘(c) ACTION LEVEL EXCEEDED.— 
‘‘(1) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Administrator (or 
the State exercising primary enforcement responsi-
bility) shall require on-site investigations on where 
the source of lead is for all individual samples with 
a lead or copper concentration above the action 
level— 
‘‘(A) to be completed by the public water 
system or local health department within 10 
business days of the sample result; and 
‘‘(B) to include additional samples at addi-
tional locations to identify the potential scope of 
elevated lead or copper levels. 
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Whenever a public water 
system detects a lead or copper concentration level 
above the action level, the system shall— 
‘‘(A) within 2 calendar days of detecting 
such an exceedance that is specific to one or 
more facilities, notify the persons at such facili-
ties; and 
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‘‘(B) within 10 calendar days of completion 
of sampling for a monitoring period applicable 
under section 141.86 of title 40, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations (or any successor regulation) 
make a report on any exceedance detected pur-
suant to such sampling publicly available. 
‘‘(d) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The lead and copper rule 
shall require testing results— 
‘‘(1) to be in a standardized format; 
‘‘(2) to be posted on the website of the Admin-
istrator, the State exercising primary enforcement 
responsibility, and the public water system; and 
‘‘(3) to include— 
‘‘(A) the provisions of consumer confidence 
reports under section 1414(c)(4) relating to 
lead and copper; 
‘‘(B) reports under subsection (b)(2) on 
the results of sampling; 
‘‘(C) lead service line replacement mate-
rials and financial assistance forms; and 
‘‘(D) how a consumer can request a water 
test. 
‘‘(e) SERVICE LINE INVENTORY.—A public water 
system shall— 
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‘‘(1) develop, maintain, and beginning not later 
than 3 years after the date of enactment of the Na-
tional Opportunity for Lead Exposure Accountability 
and Deterrence Act of 2016 make publicly accessible 
an inventory of the material composition of the serv-
ice lines at all residential and nonresidential facili-
ties, including— 
‘‘(A) online maps showing the locations of 
lead service lines; and 
‘‘(B) where information is available, a his-
tory of services performed on such lines, includ-
ing partial line replacement; 
‘‘(2) give the owners of such residential and 
nonresidential facilities the option to be identified 
only by block number and street name; and 
‘‘(3) in developing such inventory, take meas-
ures to minimize any disturbance to service lines 
that might release contaminants. 
‘‘(f) SERVICE LINE OWNERSHIP.—A public water 
system shall collect, maintain, and beginning not later 
than 3 years after the date of enactment of the National 
Opportunity for Lead Exposure Accountability and Deter-
rence Act of 2016 make publicly accessible all legal docu-
ments establishing the ownership of service lines at resi-
dential and nonresidential facilities. 
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‘‘(g) SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever a public water 
system replaces a lead service line, the lead and cop-
per rule shall— 
‘‘(A) require the system to replace the line 
from the transmission line to where the line en-
ters the facility; and 
‘‘(B) prohibit partial replacement. 
‘‘(2) PRIORITIZATION.—The lead and copper 
rule shall require any public water system engaged 
in replacing lead service lines to prioritize such re-
placement at high-risk buildings. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘high-risk buildings’ means— 
‘‘(A) residential and nonresidential facili-
ties with lead service lines— 
‘‘(i) that have galvanized pipes; 
‘‘(ii) that have low water use; or 
‘‘(iii) whose lead service lines are 
among the longest served by the public 
water system; and 
‘‘(B) residential facilities at which one or 
more pregnant women or children reside. 
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‘‘(2) The term ‘lead service line’ means a serv-
ice line that is not lead free (within the meaning of 
section 1417). 
‘‘(3) The term ‘publicly available’ means that a 
report is— 
‘‘(A) written in plain language that is cul-
turally and linguistically appropriate; and 
‘‘(B)(i) published on a publicly accessible 
website of the public water system; or 
‘‘(ii) if the system does not maintain a 
publicly accessible website, distributed by car-
rier route to the persons served by the sys-
tem.’’. 
SEC. 3. TO LOWER THE ACTION LEVEL FOR LEAD IN DRINK-
ING WATER. 
Section 1412(b) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 
U.S.C. 300g–1(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(16) LEAD
IN
DRINKING
WATER.—The Ad-
ministrator shall revise the national primary drink-
ing water regulation for lead to ensure that— 
‘‘(A) not later than December 31, 2020, 
the action level for lead in drinking water is not 
more than 10 parts per billion; and 
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