Congress 114 - HR 6116 - Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 2016

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Administrative law and regulatory procedures Alternative and renewable resources American Samoa Atmospheric science and weather Business records Buy American requirements Child health Civil actions and liability Climate change and greenhouse gases Consumer affairs Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation Educational facilities and institutions Elementary and secondary education Emergency medical services and trauma care Environmental assessment, monitoring, research Environmental health Environmental Protection Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental regulatory procedures Environmental technology Floods and storm protection Government information and archives Government lending and loan guarantees Government studies and investigations Guam Hazardous wastes and toxic substances Hydrology and hydrography Infrastructure development Labor standards Low- and moderate-income housing Northern Mariana Islands Oil and gas Pollution liability Public contracts and procurement Public utilities and utility rates Residential rehabilitation and home repair State and local finance State and local government operations U.S. territories and protectorates Virgin Islands Wages and earnings Water quality Water resources funding Water storage Water use and supply

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Summary

Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 2016

This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to revise regulations for drinking water contaminants, including by:

requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine whether or not to regulate no fewer than 10 contaminants every 3 years (current law requires 5 contaminants every 5 years);
revising the process and requirements for setting maximum containment levels in national primary drinking water regulations;
directing the EPA to revise national primary drinking water regulations for lead and copper;
setting deadlines for the EPA to publish maximum contaminant level goals and promulgate national drinking water regulations for perchlorate, perfluorinated compounds, and microcystin (algal) toxin;
establishing grant programs for reducing lead in drinking water in schools;
requiring community water systems to assess their vulnerabilities to contamination, including vulnerabilities from climate change or sabotage, and develop plans for addressing those vulnerabilities;
establishing the Drinking Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Program, under which the EPA may award grants for community water systems to increase their resiliency to those threats;
removing a regulatory exemption for hydraulic fracturing;
requiring the EPA to develop a strategic plan for assessing and managing the risks of drought to drinking water provided by public water systems;
revising requirements for the drinking water state revolving fund (SRF);
creating a process for consolidating water systems that repeatedly fail to comply with drinking water standards;
requiring the EPA to create an inventory of data about drinking water violations;
directing the EPA to revise regulations for consumer confidence reports;
establishing research grants for monitoring technology; and
requiring the EPA to study the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in drinking water sources.

The bill reauthorizes specified programs under the Act, including reauthorizing through FY2021 the SRF.

Actions

Sep 22, 2016

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Sep 22, 2016

Introduced in House

Amendments

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