A bill to amend title XIV of the Public Health Service Act (commonly known as the "Safe Drinking Water Act") to redirect and extend Federal and State activities to protect public water supplies in the United States, and for other purposes.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Title I: Definitions
Title II: Public Water Systems
Title III: Protection of Underground Sources of Drinking Water
Title IV: General Provisions
Water Supply Protection Act of 1993 - Title I: Definitions - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to revise definitions.
Title II: Public Water Systems - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, if a contaminant occurs in drinking water at a level posing an unacceptable risk to public health or welfare, to promulgate national primary drinking water regulations that establish maximum contaminant levels or drinking water source protection or treatment requirements.
Sets forth conditions under which a maximum contaminant level will be applied to a public water system.
Authorizes each regulation that includes a standard for a chronic contaminant or requires treatment or source protection to include requirements for risk vulnerability assessments of such systems.
Provides for treatment and source protection requirements if: (1) water treatment technology cannot reduce ambient levels of a contaminant to the maximum contaminant level that would otherwise be promulgated; or (2) commercially available water quality analytical methods are not capable of reliable quantification at the maximum level that would otherwise be promulgated.
Continues the implementation of existing regulations for contaminants that meet criteria for regulation under this Act.
Revises provisions that currently set forth requirements for national drinking water regulations to require the Administrator to establish a National Water Contaminant Health and Aesthetic Quality Advisory Program. Establishes a repository of information concerning contaminants in drinking water and protective exposure levels as part of the Program.
Provides for the incorporation of data associated with existing national primary and secondary drinking water regulations into the repository and rescinds such regulations on inclusion of such data.
Directs the Administrator to list triennially at least 15 contaminants for which there is insufficient scientific data that may have entered into drinking water. Provides for data collection on such contaminants.
Directs the Administrator to establish a National Water Treatment Technology Advisory Program and a National Drinking Water Source Protection Management Practices Advisory Program. Provides for data repositories as part of such Programs. Requires the Administrator to: (1) develop model curricula for institutions of higher education concerning the design and packaging of small flow treatment trains and drinking water source management and protection; and (2) establish annual contests to demonstrate innovative solutions to water treatment and source protection problems.
Removes certain conditions on State authority to grant variances or exemptions to national primary drinking water regulations. Provides that no notice or hearing shall be required if a representative of a public water system provides documentation that the system is eligible for a variance or exemption.
Directs the Administrator to prescribe regulations to ensure the national certification of public water systems operators and analytical laboratories.
Title III: Protection of Underground Sources of Drinking Water - Conditions Federal funding for State wellhead protection areas on a State filling a position for a groundwater protection source coordinator.
Title IV: General Provisions - Directs the Administrator to establish a partnership to demonstrate low-cost small flow water treatment technologies that can be used by very small public water systems to meet primary drinking water standards and develop means to simplify State approvals of such technologies.
Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress on: (1) steps taken to coordinate potable groundwater protection; and (2) recommendations on alternative Federal legislation to simplify the cost-effective consolidation of small public water systems.
Authorizes the Administrator to establish, and award grants for, a technical assistance program for rural and small public water systems. Authorizes appropriations.
Extends the authorization of appropriations for specified State public water supervision and protection programs.
Authorizes appropriations for grants to States to adopt uniform data repository, collection, and reporting systems for a water supply supervision program.
Directs the Administrator to suspend regulations requiring monitoring for unregulated contaminants until the regulations are modified to ensure that: (1) the annual household cost of monitoring is reasonable in light of other needs for public health protection; (2) the requirements reflect one-time sampling and the maximum use of pooled samples; (3) the use of certain analytical and screening methods are fully exploited; and (4) liberal exceptions are provided for in cases where the probability of contamination is low.
Authorizes appropriations.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment.
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4423-4424)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S12161-12162)
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