zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Water in the 21st Century Act or W21 - Establishes within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) a WaterSense program to identify and promote water efficient products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services.

 Requires the EPA to identify other voluntary approaches to encourage recycling and reuse technologies to improve water efficiency or lower water use and to implement those approaches, if appropriate.

Establishes a State Residential Water Efficiency and Conservation Incentives Program to provide financial incentives for consumers to purchase and install products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services labeled under the WaterSense program.

Requires the EPA to make grants to owners or operators of water systems to address, mitigate, and adapt to any ongoing or forecasted impact of climate change on a region's water quality or quantity.

 Authorizes the Department of the Interior to provide financial assistance for water recycling, water infrastructure, enhanced energy efficiency in water systems, desalination projects, permanent water storage, and integrated water management in specified states.

Authorizes the transfer of title to nonfederal entities of reclamation projects in need of rehabilitation that are authorized before enactment of this Act under certain conditions. Requires the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to establish an open water data system.

Reauthorizes the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 and the Water Desalination Act of 1996 through FY2020.

Requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after receiving a request from a nonfederal sponsor, to review the operation of a reservoir and update the water control manual to incorporate improved weather and runoff forecasting methods, if appropriate.

Directs the EPA to develop voluntary national drought resilience guidelines relating to preparedness planning and investments for water users and providers.

Requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a salmon drought plan for California.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Safe and Secure Drinking Water Protection Act of 2014 - Requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and publish within 180 days a health advisory including recommendations on: (1) the level of Microcystins (toxins produced by freshwater cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae) in drinking water that is safe for human consumption; (2) feasible treatment techniques and other means for achieving a safe level; and (3) standardized procedures for testing for Microcystins in drinking water.

Directs the EPA to report with 180 days and every year thereafter on: (1) the status of the determination, (2) the steps taken by the EPA to promote testing of drinking water for Microcystins in areas that have been affected by harmful algal blooms, and (3) an analysis of available treatment techniques and other means for addressing Microcystins in drinking water.

Date: 2014-09-10
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on February 24, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Drinking Water Protection Act 

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and submit to Congress a strategic plan for assessing and managing risks associated with algal toxins in drinking water provided by public water systems. Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, have the ability to produce cyanotoxins, or algal toxins. When certain conditions are favorable, algae can rapidly multiply causing blooms, or dense surface scums, that may be toxic.

The plan must include steps and time lines to:

 evaluate the risk to human health from drinking water contaminated with algal toxins; establish, publish, and update a comprehensive list of algal toxins that may have an adverse effect on human health, taking into account likely exposure levels; summarize the known adverse human health effects of algal toxins and the factors that cause toxin-producing cyanobacteria and algae to grow rapidly and make toxins; determine whether to publish health advisories for algal toxins and establish guidance regarding feasible analytical methods to quantify the presence of algal toxins and guidance regarding the frequency of monitoring necessary to determine if the algal toxins are present; recommend feasible treatment options, including procedures, equipment, and source water protection practices; and enter into cooperative agreements with, and provide technical assistance to, affected states and public water systems to manage risks associated with algal toxins. The EPA must update and resubmit the plan as appropriate.

The EPA must identify gaps in its understanding of algal toxins. It must also assemble and publish information from each agency that has examined or analyzed cyanobacteria or algal toxins or addressed public health concerns related to harmful algal blooms. The Government Accountability Office must submit to Congress an inventory of funds expended by the United States for each of FY2010 through 2014 to examine or analyze toxin-producing cyanobacteria and algae or address public health concerns related to harmful algal blooms. The inventory must include the specific purpose for which the funds were made available, the law under which the funds were authorized, and the agency that received or spent the funds.

Date: 2015-01-08
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Safe and Secure Drinking Water Act of 2015

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and publish within 90 days a health advisory including recommendations on: (1) the level of microcystins (toxins produced by freshwater cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae) in drinking water that is safe for human consumption; (2) feasible treatment techniques and other means for achieving a safe level; and (3) standardized procedures for testing for microcystins in drinking water.

Until the EPA makes a determination on whether to regulate microcystins in drinking water, it must report on: (1) the status of the determination, (2) the steps taken by the EPA to promote testing of drinking water for microcystins in areas that have been affected by harmful algal blooms, and (3) an analysis of available treatment techniques and other means for addressing microcystins in drinking water. The EPA must submit the report within 120 days and every year thereafter.

Date: 2015-01-09
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Water Supply Cost Savings Act or the Savings Act 

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture to: (1) update their programs that provide drinking water technical assistance to include information on cost-effective, innovative, and alternative drinking water delivery systems; and (2) disseminate information on the cost effectiveness of alternative drinking water delivery systems, including wells and well systems, to communities and nonprofit organizations seeking federal funding for drinking water systems serving 500 or fewer persons.

Applicants for funding for drinking water systems serving 500 or fewer persons must consider drinking water delivery systems sourced by publicly owned individual, shared, and community wells.

Date: 2015-02-27
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2015 

This bill repeals the exemption for hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the geological formation.

The chemicals intended for use in underground injections must be disclosed before the hydraulic fracturing operations commence. The chemicals actually used must also be disclosed at the end of the operations. The disclosure must be made to state underground injection programs or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) if the EPA has primary enforcement responsibility in the state. The state or the EPA must make the disclosure available to the public.

When a medical emergency exists and the proprietary chemical formula of a chemical used in the operations is necessary for medical treatment, hydraulic fracturing operations must disclose the formula or the specific chemical identity of a trade secret chemical to the state, the EPA, or the treating physician or nurse upon request, regardless of whether a written statement of need or a confidentiality agreement has been provided. Hydraulic fracturing operations may require a written statement of need and a confidentiality agreement as soon thereafter as circumstances permit.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Safe Hydration is an American Right in Energy Development Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require states, in order to obtain primary enforcement responsibility for a state underground injection control program, to prohibit the underground injection of fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities unless the person proposing to conduct the hydraulic fracturing operations agrees to conduct testing and report data in accordance with this bill.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the geological formation.

Regulations under such Act for state underground injection control programs must require any person conducting such hydraulic fracturing operations to: (1) conduct testing of underground sources of drinking water in accordance with sampling and testing requirements described in this bill, and (2) report to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the results of such testing.

Hydraulic fracturing operations are exempted from those testing and reporting requirements if there is no accessible underground source of drinking water within a radius of one mile of the site where the operations occur.

The EPA must establish and maintain a publicly accessible and searchable database of testing results.

Date: 2015-03-19
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to develop and submit to Congress a strategic plan for assessing and managing risks associated with drought to drinking water provided by public water systems.

The plan must include steps and time lines to:

 evaluate the risks posed by drought to drinking water provided by public water systems; establish a comprehensive list of the effects of drought on drinking water that may have an adverse effect on human health; summarize the known adverse human health effects, factors that cause drought, and factors that exacerbate the effects of drought on drinking water provided by public water systems; determine whether to establish guidance for quantifying the effects of drought on drinking water and for determining the frequency of monitoring necessary to detect the effects; recommend feasible treatment options to mitigate such effects, including procedures, equipment, and source water protection practices; and enter into cooperative agreements with, and provide technical assistance to, affected states and public water systems to manage risks associated with the effects of drought on drinking water.

Date: 2015-03-26
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Defines "water resources project" and "water resources development project" to include water supply and environmental infrastructure projects, including projects designed to reclaim or reuse municipal wastewater or impaired surface or groundwater, for purposes of specified provisions of: (1) the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 concerning feasibility studies and feasibility reports for water resources projects, and (2) the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 concerning the annual Report to Congress on Future Water Resources Development.

Date: 2015-06-09
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Water resources development
Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act 

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize through FY2020 the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) program providing technical assistance to small public water systems in complying with national primary drinking water regulations.

The EPA may use the funds to provide grants or cooperative agreements to nonprofit organizations that provide onsite technical assistance; circuit-rider technical assistance programs; multistate, regional technical assistance programs; onsite and regional training; assistance with implementing source water protection plans; and assistance with implementation monitoring plans, rules, regulations, and water security enhancements.

In order to ensure that technical assistance funding is used in a manner that is most beneficial to the small and rural communities, the EPA must give preference to nonprofit organizations that are the most qualified and experienced and that the small community water systems find to be the most beneficial and effective.

Date: 2015-06-23
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
California Water Recycling and Drought Relief Act

This bill amends the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Department of the Interior to participate in the design, planning, and construction of recycled water system facilities in California in cooperation with:

 the cities of Benicia, Brentwood, Ceres, Fresno, Hayward, Modesto, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Pleasanton, Redwood City, Sunnyvale, and Turlock; the Dublin San Ramon Services District; the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District; the Delta Diablo; the Ironhouse Sanitary District; the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency; the Del Puerto Water District; Stanislaus County; the Santa Clara Valley Water District; the San Jose Water Company; the West Bay Sanitary District; and the town of Yountville. The federal share of each project is limited to 25%. Interior must enter into individual agreements to fund such projects and include in such agreements a provision for the reimbursement of design, planning, and construction costs, but may not provide funds for project operation and maintenance.

The bill increases the authorization of appropriations for the Antioch, California, recycled water system facilities.

Date: 2015-07-13
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Water resources development
Smart Energy and Water Efficiency Act of 2015

 Directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish and carry out a smart energy and water efficiency management pilot program to award grants to three to five eligible entities (authorities that provide water, wastewater, or water reuse services) to demonstrate advanced and innovative technology-based solutions that will: (1) increase and improve the energy efficiency of water, wastewater, and water reuse systems to help communities make significant progress in conserving water, saving energy, and reducing costs; (2) support the implementation of innovative processes and the installation of advanced automated systems that provide real-time data on energy and water; and (3) improve energy and water conservation, water quality, and predictive maintenance of energy and water systems, through the use of Internet-connected technologies, including sensors, intelligent gateways, and security embedded in hardware.

Directs DOE, in selecting grant recipients, to consider:

 energy and cost savings anticipated to result from the project; the innovative nature, commercial viability, and reliability of the technology to be used; the degree to which the project integrates next-generation sensors, software, hardware, analytics, and management tools; the anticipated cost-effectiveness of the pilot project in terms of energy efficiency savings, water savings or reuse, and infrastructure costs averted; whether the technology can be deployed in a variety of geographic regions and the degree to which the technology can be implemented on a smaller or larger scale, including whether the technology can be implemented by each type of eligible entity; whether the technology has been successfully deployed elsewhere; whether the technology is sourced from a manufacturer based in the United States; and whether the project will be completed in five years or less. Requires DOE to evaluate, annually, each project for which a grant is provided and make best practices identified available to the public.

Date: 2015-07-21
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Energy
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shall study the feasibility of constructing an aqueduct using aramid synthetic fiber for the purpose of transporting water from Oregon to California.

Date: 2015-09-16
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Water System Cost Savings Act

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture to: (1) update their programs that provide drinking water technical assistance by including information on cost-effective, innovative, and alternative drinking water delivery systems; and (2) disseminate information on the cost effectiveness of alternative drinking water delivery systems, including wells and well systems, to communities and nonprofit organizations seeking federal funding for drinking water systems serving 500 or fewer persons.

In applications for a grant or loan from the federal government or a state that is using federal assistance for those drinking water systems, applicants must self-certify that they have considered as an alternative drinking water supply, drinking water delivery systems sourced by publicly owned individual, shared, and community wells.

Date: 2015-09-17
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Water Advanced Technologies for Efficient Resource Use Act of 2015

This bill codifies the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) WaterSense program, which identifies, labels, and promotes water efficient products, buildings, landscapes, and services. This bill also establishes a program to provide financial incentives for consumers to purchase and install residential water efficient products and services labeled under the WaterSense program.

In order to meet procurement requirements for a water consuming product or service, federal agencies must purchase a WaterSense product or service, or a Federal Energy Management Program designated product. Agencies do not have to procure those products or services if they are not cost-effective, or not reasonably available.

The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of individual taxpayers any amount received under an incentive program for the purchase and installation of residential water efficient products and services.

Date: 2015-10-08
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Water and Agriculture Tax Reform Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies to earn income from dispositions of certain real property and stock interests without affecting their tax-exempt status, but requires that such income be used to pay the costs of operations, maintenance, and capital improvements of such a company.

The bill also establishes a rule regarding the organizational governance of mutual ditch or irrigation companies. Where state law provides that such a company may be organized in a manner that permits voting on a basis that is pro rata to share ownership on corporate governance matters, an organization's qualification as a mutual ditch or irrigation company must be determined without taking into account whether its member shareholders have one vote on corporate governance matters per share held in the corporation.

Date: 2015-12-10
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Taxation
Improving Notification for Clean and Safe Drinking Water Act of 2016

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require public water systems to notify their customers of lead concentration levels in drinking water that exceed lead limits under national primary drinking water regulations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must notify the public within 15 days of the lead levels exceeding those limits if the public water system or the state does not notify the public.

The EPA may notify the public or the local or state health department of the result of lead monitoring conducted by a public water system.

Date: 2016-02-01
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Drinking Water Contamination Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2016

This bill provides $1 billion in FY2016 supplemental appropriations to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for making a grant to the state of Michigan to replace pipes, pipe fittings, and other drinking water infrastructure that are not lead-free.

The funds are designated as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules. The EPA must report monthly to Congress on the use of the funds.

Date: 2016-02-02
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Water Infrastructure Trust Fund Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury a Water Infrastructure Investment Trust Fund and appropriates to it amounts equivalent to the fees received in the Treasury before January 1, 2022, under this Act.

The bill requires 85% of amounts in the Fund to be available to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for capitalization grants under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act or CWA) and 15% to be available for capitalization grants under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Amounts in the Fund may not be made available for a fiscal year unless the amount of funds appropriated to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund through annual capitalization grants is not less than the average of the annual amounts provided in capitalization grants under the CWA for the immediately preceding five-fiscal-year period.

The Department of the Treasury shall: (1) implement a program under which it provides a label suitable for placement on products (for a fee of three cents per unit) to inform consumers that the manufacturer, producer, or importer of the product and other stakeholders participate in the Fund and are contributing to America's clean water; and (2) deposit amounts received in the Treasury.

The EPA, with participation by the states, shall conduct a study to: (1) assess the affordability gap faced by low-income populations located in urban and rural areas in obtaining services from clean water and drinking water systems; and (2) analyze options for programs to provide incentives for rate adjustments at the local level to achieve full cost or true value pricing for such services, while protecting low-income ratepayers from undue burden.

Date: 2016-02-04
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Safe Drinking Water Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require public water systems to notify their customers when a lead action level under national drinking water regulations is exceeded in more than 10% of customer taps sampled. (An action level is a level of contaminates which triggers a requirement for the public water system to take additional actions to control corrosion.) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must notify customers if the state or the public water system fails to notify the public within 24 hours of receiving notice from the EPA.

Community water systems' consumer confidence reports must include: (1) a definition of "action level," and (2) the action level for contaminants detected in water provided by the public water system.

The EPA must establish a strategic plan for conducting targeted outreach, education, technical assistance, and risk communication to populations affected by lead in the public water system.

EPA employees must forward to the public water system and to the state information indicating that drinking water contains lead that exceeds a lead action level. The public water system must then disseminate this information to its customers along with its potential adverse effects on human health, corrective steps underway, and advice on whether customers should seek alternative water supplies. If the public water system or the state fails to disseminate the information, the EPA must disseminate it as soon as reasonably possible.

(Sec. 3) The EPA must: (1) make information about lead in drinking water available to the public, and (2) carry out targeted outreach strategies that focus on educating groups that are at greater risk than the general population for adverse health effects from exposure to lead in drinking water.

Date: 2016-02-04
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Families of Flint Act

This bill provides support for Flint, Michigan in addressing lead in the city's drinking water and related issues.

The bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act by establishing a 10-year grant program to ensure that Flint's drinking water does not contain: (1) lead levels that threaten public health or the environment, or (2) other drinking water contaminants and pathogens that threaten public health. The bill also establishes specified grant programs for assisting Flint that are established within the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Education, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The bill amends the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, by allowing states to use more than 20% of funds from Drinking Water State Revolving Fund capitalization grants for addressing a threat to public health from heightened exposure to lead in a municipal drinking water supply if a federal or state emergency declaration has been issued for that threat.

HHS must establish in Flint a Center of Excellence on Lead Exposure.

The bill amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase the allowable participation period in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children for children residing in areas that are in a state of emergency. A state may elect to allow those children to participate in the program for a period that ends on the earlier of: (1) the child's tenth birthday (currently fifth), or (2) five years after the emergency (currently children may participate for a one-year period).

Date: 2016-02-04
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
This bill amends the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to participate in projects to benefit eligible communities through projects to:

 capture and treat wastewater and to distribute recycled water from a new mixed-use development that cannot otherwise be economically provided recycled water from one or more existing water reclamation plants and recycled water distribution systems; adjust or forego a portion of facility capacity or connection fees otherwise paid by the property owner to a regional water agency that imports out-of-basin water supplies; and/or extend local recycled water distribution systems to properties adjacent to new mixed-use development. The bill defines "eligible communities" as communities:

 in a state under a drought emergency declared by the governor, where water retailers have been directed by a state water resources control board to reduce consumption or use of potable water usage by 24% to 32%, and whose sanitation district has been directed by a regional water quality control board to reduce the discharge of chloride to comply with basin water quality standards. The Department of the Interior shall give priority to projects that:

 will serve a region that has received federal authorization for projects associated with perchlorate remediation programs under the Bureau of Reclamation or the Army Corps of Engineers, will serve or are located in a region that has completed feasibility studies for perchlorate remediation efforts, and/or will serve a region where the regional water agency that imports out-of-basin water supplies has a wholesale area that includes a population of between 200,000 and 350,000. The federal share of the cost of such a project shall not exceed 25% of the total cost.

Date: 2016-02-24
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Water resources development
Water Conservation Rebate Tax Parity Act 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an exclusion from gross income of the value of any water conservation and efficiency measure or water runoff management improvement (or any subsidy, rebate, or other amount for such a measure or improvement) received from a water department. A "water department" means any entity (including a public or private utility, the federal government, or a state or local government) engaged in the provision of water to the public through pipes or other conveyances or in the collection, treatment, management, or disposal of storm water or waste water generated by the public.

Date: 2016-02-25
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Taxation
Assistance, Quality, and Affordability Act of 2016

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the Act through FY2021.

The bill sets forth requirements concerning Safe Drinking Water Act State Revolving Fund (SRF) projects, including mandates for the use of bond sales, mandates to produce goods in the United States, and mandates to provide prevailing wages to laborers and mechanics.

The bill makes changes to provisions that states must include in their Intended Use Plans, including data on variances, exemptions, and persistent violations.

The bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide additional assistance to public water systems that serve disadvantaged communities.

The bill increases the portion of SRF funds that states may reserve to provide technical assistance to public water systems.Additionally, the bill increases the funds that may be reserved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

The EPAmust:(1)study the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in drinking water sources, (2)establish requirements for electronic submission of compliance monitoring data by public water systems, (3)collect data on best practices for administration of SRF programs, (4)implement a certification program for effective water leak control technology, (5)develop a strategic plan for assessing and managing the risks of drought to drinking water, (6)establish a grant program to assist water systems in improving drinking water resiliency and sustainability, and (7)establish a grant program to remove lead service lines from public water systems.

Date: 2016-02-29
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Grants and Education To Tackle Homeowner Exposure to Lead Ensuring America Drinks Only from Unpolluted Taps Act of 2016 or the GET THE LEAD OUT Act of 2016

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a grant program to provide assistance to eligible entities (i.e., certain water systems, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies) for reducing lead levels in water for human consumption.

Grant funds may be used to assist low-income homeowners in carrying out lead reduction projects, as long as the grant amount does not exceed the cost of replacing the privately owned portion of the service line.

If an eligible entity uses funds for replacing lead service lines, it must: (1) notify customers of the planned replacement of any publicly owned portions of the lead service line; (2) inform each customer that it will replace the public portions of the line only if it obtains the customer's consent to simultaneously replace the privately owned portions of the line; and (3) demonstrate that it has considered multiple options for reducing lead in drinking water, including an evaluation of options for corrosion control.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Copper and Lead Evaluation and Reporting Act of 2016 or the CLEAR Act

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate new lead and copper regulations that would set a health-based, household action level for lead and copper that triggers: (1) a consumer notification of drinking water contamination; (2) a report to the appropriate public health agency; and (3) an examination by the public water system of service line material and, if applicable, the removal of lead portions of the service line.

 That action level must be based on the amount of lead that would result in a blood lead level greater than five micrograms per deciliter in an average, healthy infant who consumes infant formula made with water.

The regulations must also:

 provide outreach about the health risk and protection available to consumers with known or suspected lead service lines, institutions and facilities that serve other vulnerable populations, and the caregivers and health care providers of those consumers or populations; require reporting by public water systems for each monitoring period to the populations they serve on information concerning lead and copper levels; require public water systems to provide a public statement of lead service line ownership where a community has such lines; modify monitoring requirements to provide for voluntary, consumer-requested tap samples for lead; and provide for utilizing the results of those samples.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Sustainable Water Supplies Act

This bill directs the Department of the Interior: (1) in order to determine the feasibility of agreements for long-term use of existing or expanded non-federal storage and conveyance facilities to augment federal water supply, ecosystem, and operational flexibility benefits, to enter into cooperative agreements with non-federal entities to provide replacement water supplies for drought relief for Central Valley Project contractors, units of the National Wildlife Refuge System, state wildlife areas, and private wetland areas; and (2) complete a report (to be made available to the Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System and Central Valley Project contractors) on the feasibility of such agreements within two years of this Act's enactment.

Such agreements must: (1) include the purchase of storage capacity in non-federal facilities from willing sellers; and (2) provide reimbursement for the temporary use of available capacity in existing above-ground, off-stream storage, and associated conveyance facilities owned by local water agencies.

Date: 2016-03-23
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Water resources development
Transparent Environment in School Testing for Lead Act or the TEST for Lead Act 

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to condition a state's receipt of funding from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund on the state establishing a program to test for lead in school drinking water.

Program requirements include testing water from: (1) faucets used for food preparation, (2)sinks in bathrooms, and (3)drinking water coolers.Testing must be conducted at least biannually at schools built prior to 1996 and at least annually at schools built in 1996 or after.

Additionally, local education agencies must notify parents, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state in which they are located within 48 hours if a level of lead exceeds the EPA's lead action level.

Date: 2016-03-23
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2016

The bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to reauthorize through FY2021 and revise specified wastewater infrastructure programs and water pollution control programs, including the clean water state revolving fund program and a grant program for protecting groundwater quality.

Date: 2016-04-15
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Safe Water and Nutrition Access Act

This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take the following actions regarding eligible states (states in which there is a community with respect to which the President has declared an emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act relating to public health threats associated with the presence of lead or other contaminants in a public drinking water supply):

 guarantee loans to entities to process, distribute, aggregate, store, and market locally or regionally produced food under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (CFRDA) for projects in underserved communities in an eligible state, using specified Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds for FY2016; provide grants under the CFRDA's emergency and imminent community water assistance grant program to nonprofit entities in an eligible state, notwithstanding maximum population and income requirements or maximum grant limitations under such Act, using specified CCC funds for FY2016; use specified CCC funds for water and waste disposal technical assistance and training grants, and for the rural water and wastewater circuit rider program, in FY2016-FY2017; and use specified CCC funds for eligible projects or partnerships under USDA's healthy food financing initiative, with priority given to eligible projects and partnerships to be carried out in an eligible state. The bill allows such amounts to be obligated during the five-year period beginning with the date the amount is first made available, after which the provision under which such amount is provided shall expire. No funds may be used to carry out a provision of this bill unless completely offset by a corresponding reduction in mandatory funds available for another program.

Date: 2016-04-20
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Agriculture and food
Lead Testing in School and Child Care Drinking Water Act of 2016

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a voluntary school and child care lead testing program of grants to states to assist local educational agencies in voluntary testing for lead contamination in drinking water at schools and child care programs.

The bill repeals the current program of federal assistance for state programs regarding lead contamination in school drinking water.

Date: 2016-04-26
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Protecting Families from Lead Act of 2016

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Environmental Protection Agency to revise the national primary drinking water regulation by lowering the action level for lead in drinking water to no more than: (1) 10 parts per billion by December 31, 2020; and (2) 5 parts per billion by December 31, 2026.

(An action level for lead is a certain contaminant level that triggers a requirement for the public water system to take additional actions to control corrosion from lead. The current action level for lead is 15 parts per billion.)

Date: 2016-04-28
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Western Water Recycling and Drought Relief Act

This bill amends the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Department of the Interior to participate in the design, planning, and construction of recycled water system facilities in California in cooperation with:

 the cities of Benicia, Brentwood, Redwood City, Pleasanton, Hayward, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale; the cities of Ceres, Modesto, and Turlock, the Del Puerto Water District, and Stanislaus County; the Dublin San Ramon Services District; the Santa Clara Valley Water District; the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District; the Delta Diablo; the Ironhouse Sanitary District; the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency; the San Jose Water Company; and the West Bay Sanitary District. The bill also authorizes Interior to participate in the design, planning, and construction of recycled water system facilities in Hawaii in cooperation with Hawaii Water Service Company, Waikoloa.

The federal share of each project is limited to 25%.

Interior must: (1) enter into individual agreements with the Western Recycled Water Coalition participating agencies to fund such projects (as well as existing projects done in cooperation with the California cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Pittsburg, Antioch, Redwood City, and San Jose and the Delta Diablo Sanitation District, the North Coast County Water District, the South County Regional Wastewater Authority, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District); and (2) include in such agreements a provision for the reimbursement of design, planning, and construction costs, but may not provide funds for project operation and maintenance.

The bill increases the authorization of appropriations for the recycled water system facilities of: (1) Antioch and the Delta Diablo Sanitation District, and (2) the South County Regional Wastewater Authority and the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

Date: 2016-04-29
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Water resources development
Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish a Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund; (2) modify the definition of subpart F income (i.e., income of a controlled foreign corporation earned outside the United States that is not tax-deferred) to include income of a controlled foreign corporation derived from a foreign country; and (3) transfer that income to the fund.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must allocate funds from the trust fund to specified clean water programs and drinking water programs, including the grant programs authorized or established by this bill.

The bill amends Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) by authorizing the EPA to make grants for providing technical assistance concerning water and sanitation infrastructure and drinking water systems to rural and small municipalities and tribal governments. The EPA must establish a grant program for repairing, replacing, or upgrading septic tanks and drainage fields.

The bill revises requirements concerning the clean water state revolving fund (SRF) and the drinking water SRF.

The bill revises the Safe Drinking Water Act by requiring the EPA to establish a program to make grants to local educational agencies for: (1) installing, repairing, or replacing the infrastructure necessary for drinking water coolers, drinking water fountains, or bottle filling station; and (2) testing the quality of drinking water at schools in such local education agency.

Date: 2016-05-24
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Public Water Supply Invasive Species Compliance Act of 2016

This bill amends the Lacey Act and Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 by exempting certain water transfers between public water supplies located on, along, or across the boundaries of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana from prohibitions on illegal trade of plants and wildlife. Specifically, the prohibitions do not apply to covered water transfers containing a prohibited species if: (1) the species are present in both public water supplies before the transfer and the water is transferred directly between them; or (2) the water is transferred in a closed conveyance system (a closed system that collects, contains, and transports the flow of water, e.g., pipe systems) and sent directly to treatment facilities where the species will be destroyed.

Date: 2016-06-09
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
California New River Restoration Act of 2016

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a California New River restoration program for the river that starts in Mexicali, Mexico, flows north into the United States through Calexico, passes through the Imperial Valley, and drains into the Salton Sea.

In carrying out the program, the EPA must: (1) adopt a New River-wide strategy, and (2) provide grants and technical assistance for coordinating restoration and protection activities.

Date: 2016-07-06
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Drinking Water Disaster Act of 2016

This bill authorizes the President, upon request of a governor of a state, to declare that a major disaster exists as a result of contamination of drinking water from a public water system. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) must promulgate regulations to carry out such authority within 60 days of this bill's enactment.

In the case of such a declared major disaster, the federal coordinating officer appointed under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act shall ensure that the coordination of administration of relief required under such Act includes coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, and any other relevant agency.

Date: 2016-07-07
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Emergency management
Get the Lead Out of Schools Act

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation that addresses lead in drinking water in schools and day care facilities. The EPA must also establish a grant program for: (1) testing such drinking water for lead contamination, and (2) replacing lead pipes and certain plumbing materials with lead-free material.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
Federal Partnership for Clean Water Land Acquisition Act of 2016

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a grant program that assists states in acquiring private lands, if the acquisition of the land will substantially improve water quality for an area (including by means of water storage, water treatment, estuary restoration, or ecosystem restoration).

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a grant program that assists local educational agencies in replacing drinking water fountains manufactured prior to 1988 and located in schools. Grant recipients may also use funding for monitoring and reporting lead levels in the drinking water of schools.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection
No Lead in School Water Act

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize through FY2022 a grant program for state programs that test and remediate lead contamination in the drinking water of schools and day care facilities.

Date: 2016-09-15
Topic: Environment (Drinking Water)
Subject: Environmental protection