Get the Lead Out of Schools Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 852 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to address lead contamination in school drinking water. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 29, 2019 Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. RYAN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. MOORE, Mr. RUSH, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. WEXTON, Ms. MENG, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. COHEN, Ms. OMAR, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. HILL of California, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SOTO, Mr. POCAN, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RASKIN, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to address lead contamination in school drinking water. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Get the Lead Out of 4 Schools Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H852.IH H852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 852 IH SEC. 2. SCHOOL TESTING AND NOTIFICATION; GRANT PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 Section 1464 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 3 U.S.C. 300j–24) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(e) TESTING AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 6 FOR PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS THAT SERVE SCHOOLS.— 7 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 8 subsection, the Administrator shall promulgate a national 9 primary drinking water regulation for school drinking 10 water that— 11 ‘‘(1) establishes a lead action level that is not 12 more than the lead action level established by the 13 Administrator under section 1412(b); 14 ‘‘(2) requires each public water system to sam- 15 ple for lead in the drinking water at such schools as 16 the Administrator determines to have a risk of lead 17 in the drinking water at a level that meets or ex- 18 ceeds the lead action level established under para- 19 graph (1); and 20 ‘‘(3) in the case of results of sampling under 21 paragraph (2) that indicate that the drinking water 22 of a school contains lead that meets or exceeds the 23 lead action level established under paragraph (1), re- 24 quires the public water system that serves the school 25 to notify the local educational agency that has juris- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H852.IH H852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 852 IH diction over the school, the relevant local health 1 agencies, the municipality, and the State as soon as 2 practicable, but not later than 24 hours after the 3 public water system receives the sampling results. 4 ‘‘(f) SCHOOL LEAD TESTING AND REMEDIATION 5 GRANT PROGRAM.— 6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In 7 this subsection, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 8 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency (as defined 9 in subsection (d)(1)); or 10 ‘‘(B) a State agency that administers a 11 statewide program to test for, or remediate, 12 lead contamination in drinking water. 13 ‘‘(2) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Not later than 1 14 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 15 the Administrator shall establish a grant program to 16 make grants available to eligible entities to test for, 17 and remediate, lead contamination in school drinking 18 water. 19 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 21 receives a grant under this subsection may use 22 grant funds— 23 ‘‘(i) to recover the costs incurred by 24 the eligible entity for testing for lead con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H852.IH H852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 852 IH tamination in school drinking water con- 1 ducted by an entity approved by the Ad- 2 ministrator or the State to conduct the 3 testing; or 4 ‘‘(ii) to replace lead pipes, pipe fit- 5 tings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures of 6 any school with drinking water that con- 7 tains a level of lead that meets or exceeds 8 the action level established by the Adminis- 9 trator under subsection (e)(1) with lead 10 free (as defined in section 1417) pipes, 11 pipe fittings, plumbing fittings, and fix- 12 tures. 13 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 5 per- 14 cent of grant funds accepted under this sub- 15 section shall be used to pay the administrative 16 costs of testing for, or remediation of, lead con- 17 tamination. 18 ‘‘(4) GUIDANCE; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—As a 19 condition of receiving a grant under this subsection, 20 an eligible entity shall— 21 ‘‘(A) expend grant funds in accordance 22 with— 23 ‘‘(i) the guidance of the Environ- 24 mental Protection Agency entitled ‘3Ts for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H852.IH H852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 852 IH Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in 1 Schools: Revised Technical Guidance’ and 2 dated October 2006 (or any successor 3 guidance); or 4 ‘‘(ii) applicable State regulations or 5 guidance regarding the reduction of lead in 6 drinking water in schools that is not less 7 stringent than the guidance referred to in 8 clause (i), as determined by the Adminis- 9 trator; 10 ‘‘(B) make publicly available, including, to 11 the maximum extent practicable, on the Inter- 12 net website of the eligible entity, a copy of the 13 results of any testing for lead contamination in 14 school drinking water that is carried out with 15 funds under this subsection; and 16 ‘‘(C) notify parent, teacher, and employee 17 organizations of the availability of the results 18 described in subparagraph (B).’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Feb 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H852.IH H852 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS