Contaminant and Lead Electronic Accounting and Reporting Requirements for (CLEARR) Drinking Water Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1613 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to update and modernize the report- ing requirements for contaminants, including lead, in drinking water, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 22, 2019 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. CARPER, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. SMITH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to update and mod- ernize the reporting requirements for contaminants, in- cluding lead, in drinking water, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Contaminant and Lead 4 Electronic Accounting and Reporting Requirements for 5 (CLEARR) Drinking Water Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1613 IS SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL AND DISADVANTAGED 1 COMMUNITIES. 2 Section 1459A of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 3 U.S.C. 300j–19a) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)— 5 (A) in paragraph (2)— 6 (i) in subparagraph (B), by redesig- 7 nating clauses (i) through (iii) as sub- 8 clauses (I) through (III), respectively, and 9 indenting appropriately; and 10 (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 11 (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec- 12 tively, and indenting appropriately; 13 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 14 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 15 and indenting appropriately; and 16 (C) by striking the subsection designation 17 and heading and all that follows through ‘‘this 18 section:’’ and inserting the following: 19 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 ‘‘(1) DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITY.—The term 21 ‘disadvantaged community’ has the meaning given 22 the term in section 1452(d)(3). 23 ‘‘(2) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—’’; 24 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1613 IS (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 1 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 2 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 3 period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 4 and 5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(D) the purchase of filters certified by the 7 National Sanitation Foundation and the Water 8 Quality Association for the removal of contami- 9 nants of concern in the public water system; 10 ‘‘(E) providing accurate and current infor- 11 mation about— 12 ‘‘(i) the need for filtration, filter safe- 13 ty, and proper maintenance practices; and 14 ‘‘(ii) options for replacing lead service 15 lines (as defined in section 1459B(a)) and 16 removing other sources of lead in water; 17 ‘‘(F) entering into contracts with nonprofit 18 organizations with water system technical ex- 19 pertise, as determined by the Administrator, to 20 assist disadvantaged communities that are in 21 significant noncompliance with this Act with 22 asset management and mapping activities, if 23 those contracts use not greater than 2 percent 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1613 IS of the funds awarded by a grant under this sec- 1 tion; and 2 ‘‘(G) any other project or activity the Ad- 3 ministrator determines to be necessary and in 4 furtherance of the purpose of assisting public 5 water systems in meeting the requirements of 6 this title.’’; and 7 (3) by striking subsection (k) and inserting the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsections 11 (a) through (j) of this section— 12 ‘‘(1) $230,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 13 ‘‘(2) $300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 14 through 2024.’’. 15 SEC. 3. DRINKING WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FOR MI- 16 NORITY, TRIBAL, AND LOW-INCOME COMMU- 17 NITIES. 18 (a) COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP.—The Administrator 19 of the Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in 20 this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) may make grants to 21 community organizations that represent, operate in, or 22 serve a minority, Tribal, or low-income community, as de- 23 termined by the Administrator, to educate the residents 24 of the community on— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1613 IS (1) contaminants in drinking water that may 1 have an adverse effect on human health; and 2 (2) assistance that the Administrator may pro- 3 vide to residents to identify and address a drinking 4 water contaminant that may have an adverse effect 5 on human health. 6 (b) PUBLIC INTEREST SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS.— 7 The Administrator may create a partnership with an aca- 8 demic or research institution, including another Federal 9 agency, to conduct or promote science that serves the pub- 10 lic interest by sharing data or costs or engaging in any 11 other activity of mutual benefit— 12 (1) to identify— 13 (A) any contaminant in drinking water 14 that may have an adverse effect on human 15 health; and 16 (B) a significant public health crisis caused 17 by any violation or contamination that— 18 (i) has the potential to have a serious 19 adverse effect on human health that re- 20 quires notice under section 1414(c)(2)(C) 21 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 22 300g–3(c)(2)(C)); or 23 (ii) may present an imminent and 24 substantial endangerment to the health of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1613 IS persons (within the meaning of section 1 1431(a) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 2 (42 U.S.C. 300i(a))); and 3 (2) to measure the risk that a minority, Tribal, 4 or low-income community faces from contaminants 5 in drinking water that may have an adverse effect 6 on human health. 7 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 8 are authorized to be appropriated for the period of fiscal 9 years 2020 through 2024— 10 (1) to carry out subsection (a), $5,000,000; and 11 (2) to carry out subsection (b), $10,000,000. 12 SEC. 4. COMPLIANCE AND INSPECTIONS OF PUBLIC WATER 13 SUPPLIES. 14 (a) REPORTING NONCOMPLIANCE.—Section 15 1452(b)(2) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 16 300j–12(b)(2)) is amended— 17 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 18 the end; 19 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(D) a list that includes— 23 ‘‘(i) any public water system in the 24 State that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1613 IS ‘‘(I) has in effect an exemption 1 or variance for any national primary 2 drinking water regulation; 3 ‘‘(II) is in persistent violation of 4 any requirement for a maximum con- 5 taminant level or treatment technique 6 under a national primary drinking 7 water regulation; or 8 ‘‘(III) the State or Administrator 9 determines may present an imminent 10 and substantial endangerment to the 11 health of persons (within the meaning 12 of section 1431(a)); 13 ‘‘(ii) the relevant national primary 14 drinking regulation for the exemption, 15 variance, or violation; and 16 ‘‘(iii)(I) the effective date of the ex- 17 emption or variance; or 18 ‘‘(II) the date on which the persistent 19 violation began.’’. 20 (b) ADVICE AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 21 1414(a)(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 22 300g–3(a)(1)) is amended— 23 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1613 IS (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 1 striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting ‘‘The Ad- 2 ministrator shall notify the State and the public 3 water system of noncompliance by the public 4 water system if’’; 5 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘pursuant 6 thereto,’’ and inserting ‘‘in accordance with 7 that variance or exemption.’’; and 8 (C) by striking the undesignated matter 9 following clause (ii); and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(C) ADVICE AND TECHNICAL ASSIST- 12 ANCE.— 13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After providing 14 notice of noncompliance to the State and 15 the public water system under subpara- 16 graph (A), the Administrator may provide 17 such advice and technical assistance to the 18 State and public water system as the Ad- 19 ministrator determines appropriate to 20 bring the public water system into compli- 21 ance with the variance or exemption by the 22 earliest date feasible. 23 ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a 24 determination to provide advice and tech- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1613 IS nical assistance under clause (i), the Ad- 1 ministrator may consider— 2 ‘‘(I) the potential for the non- 3 compliance to result in a serious ad- 4 verse effect to human health; 5 ‘‘(II) whether the noncompliance 6 has occurred continuously or fre- 7 quently; and 8 ‘‘(III) the effectiveness of any 9 past technical assistance effort.’’. 10 (c) ADDITIONAL INSPECTIONS.—Section 1414 of the 11 Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–3) is amend- 12 ed— 13 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) through (j) 14 as subsections (e) through (k), respectively; and 15 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL INSPECTIONS AFTER A VIOLA- 18 TION.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After consultation with the 20 States, the Administrator shall, by regulation, pre- 21 scribe the number, frequency, and type of additional 22 inspections that shall be carried out after any viola- 23 tion that requires notice under subsection (c). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1613 IS ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The regulations issued 1 under paragraph (1) shall— 2 ‘‘(A) take into account— 3 ‘‘(i) the difference between— 4 ‘‘(I) intermittent or infrequent 5 violations; and 6 ‘‘(II) continuous or frequent vio- 7 lations; 8 ‘‘(ii) the seriousness of any potential 9 adverse health effect that may be related 10 to a violation; and 11 ‘‘(iii) the number and severity of a 12 past violation by a public water system; 13 and 14 ‘‘(B) specify the procedure for an inspec- 15 tion after a violation by a public water system 16 that has the potential to cause a serious adverse 17 effect on human health due to short-term expo- 18 sure to a contaminant.’’. 19 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 20 (A) Section 1414 of the Safe Drinking 21 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–3) is amended— 22 (i) in subsection (a)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1613 IS (I) in paragraph (1)(B), by strik- 1 ing ‘‘subsection (g)’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘subsection (h)’’; and 3 (II) in paragraph (2)(A), in the 4 undesignated matter following clause 5 (ii), by striking ‘‘subsection (g)’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘subsection (h)’’; and 7 (ii) in subsection (b), in the matter 8 preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub- 9 section (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 10 (h)’’. 11 (B) Section 1448(a) of the Safe Drinking 12 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–7(a)) is amended in 13 the third sentence of the undesignated matter 14 following paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘section 15 1414(g)(3)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 16 1414(h)(3)(B)’’. 17 SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC REPORTING OF TEST RESULTS. 18 Section 1414 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 19 U.S.C. 300g–3) (as amended by section 4(c)(1)) is amend- 20 ed by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(l) ELECTRONIC REPORTING OF COMPLIANCE MON- 22 ITORING DATA.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 23 enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall issue 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1613 IS a final rule that establishes requirements for electronic 1 submission— 2 ‘‘(1) by public water systems of all compliance 3 monitoring data— 4 ‘‘(A) to the Administrator; or 5 ‘‘(B) with respect to a public water system 6 in a State that has primary enforcement re- 7 sponsibility under section 1413, to that State; 8 and 9 ‘‘(2) by each State that has primary enforce- 10 ment responsibility under section 1413 to the Ad- 11 ministrator of all compliance monitoring data sub- 12 mitted by a public water system to the State under 13 paragraph (1)(B).’’. 14 SEC. 6. NOTIFICATION TO THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE 15 CONTROL AND PREVENTION AND STATE 16 HEALTH AGENCIES. 17 Section 1414(c)(2)(C) of the Safe Drinking Water 18 Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–3(c)(2)(C)) is amended— 19 (1) in clause (iii)— 20 (A) by striking ‘‘Administrator and’’ and 21 inserting ‘‘Administrator, the Director of the 22 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 and’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1613.IS S1613 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 1613 IS (B) by inserting ‘‘and the appropriate 1 State and county health agencies’’ after ‘‘as ap- 2 plicable,’’; 3 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 4 (2) by redesignating clause (iv) as clause (v); 5 and 6 (3) by inserting after clause (iii) the following: 7 ‘‘(iv) be provided to each person 8 served by the public water system— 9 ‘‘(I) in the first billing statement 10 that the public water system prepares 11 after the date on which the violation 12 occurs; and 13 ‘‘(II) in a manner consistent with 14 clause (ii); and’’. 15 SEC. 7. NO IMPACT ON OTHER FEDERAL FUNDING. 16 Except for existing funds made available to carry out 17 subsections (a) through (j) of section 1459A of the Safe 18 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–19a), no funds shall 19 be made available— 20 (1) to carry out this Act or the amendments 21 made by this Act if the total amount made available 22 for a fiscal year for the State drinking water treat- 23 ment revolving loan funds established under section 24 1452 of the Safe Dri [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]