Secure Water Facilities Act

Bill: 113-s-67
Sponsor: Sen. Lautenberg, Frank R. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2013-01-23 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Congressional oversight
Emergency planning and evacuation
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental regulatory procedures
Evidence and witnesses
Fires
Government studies and investigations
Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
Performance measurement
Solid waste and recycling
Water quality
Water use and supply

Summary:
action_date: 2013-01-23
text: 
Secure Water Facilities Act - Secure Drinking Water Facilities Act - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to revise and expand requirements for assessment by covered water systems of their vulnerability to a range of intentional acts. Defines a "covered water system" as a public water system that serves a population of more than 3,300 individuals or that presents a security risk that requires regulation. 
 
Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations to establish: (1) increasingly stringent, risk-based performance standards for the security of such systems; (2) requirements and deadlines for systems to conduct and update assessments, develop and revise security plans and emergency response plans, and provide training to system and contractor employees; and (3) four risk-based tiers for the categorization of systems. Requires the Administrator to assign each system to such tiers.
 
Authorizes the Administrator to designate any chemical substance as a substance of concern and establish the threshold quantity for the release or theft of each such substance. Requires the Administrator to: (1) provide baseline information to systems regarding the types of intentional acts that constitute probable threats, (2) direct systems that possess substances of concern in excess of the release threshold quantity to include in their site security plans assessments of methods to reduce the consequences of chemical releases from intentional acts, (3) determine whether to require systems to implement such methods, (4) develop non-binding guidance to assist systems in assessing and implementing methods to reduce consequences of a chemical release by reducing or eliminating reliance on the use of threshold quantities of such substances, and (5) prohibit the unauthorized disclosure of protected information.
 
Authorizes the Administrator to provide grants to assist states and systems in complying with this Act and to provide for security-related training of system employees and training for emergency response providers. Authorizes appropriations for FY2013-FY2017.
 
Secure Wastewater Treatment Facilities Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to establish the same requirements and set forth analogous provisions with respect to covered treatment works. Defines a "covered treatment works" as a treatment works that has a treatment capacity of no less than 2.5 million gallons per day or that presents a security risk that requires regulation.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-01-23
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2013-01-23
text: Introduced in Senate