Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1985

(Measure passed House, amended)

Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1985 - Title I: Public Water Systems - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to make existing national interim primary drinking water regulations final.

Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), within varying time periods for specified contaminants, to simultaneously propose and then publish either maximum contaminant level goals and national primary drinking water regulations or else a determination that such regulations are not justified because the levels of such contaminant in the public water systems do not represent a threat.

Directs the Administrator to publish maximum contaminant level goals and simultaneously promulgate national primary drinking water regulations for each other substance which may have an adverse effect on human health. Requires the Administrator to publish an annual list establishing priorities for the review of such substances, considering substances regulated as toxic water pollutants under the Clean Water Act and substances registered as pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Directs the Administrator, within three years of each contaminant's being listed on such priority list, to simultaneously propose and then publish either maximum contaminant level goals and national primary drinking water regulations or else a determination that such regulations are not justified. Requires that each maximum contaminant level goal allow an adequate margin of safety and that each national primary drinking water regulation specify a maximum level which is as close to the goal as is feasible.

Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation that requires the use of an acceptable treatment technique in lieu of establishing a maximum contaminant level.

Directs the Administrator to propose and promulgate primary drinking water regulations specifying when public water systems using surface water as a source of supply must use filtration.

Directs the Administrator to promulgate disinfection regulations applicable to all public water systems, including variances and technical assistance.

Directs the Administrator to request comments from the Science Advisory Board prior to the proposal of a maximum contaminant level goal and national primary drinking water regulation.

Authorizes the Administrator to take into consideration the size of a public water system and the contaminants likely to be found in its drinking water in requiring a system to monitor for unregulated contaminants.

Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations requiring every public water system to conduct a monitoring program for unregulated contaminants at least once every five years, unless the number of persons served or the likely contaminants require greater frequency. Authorizes the primary State enforcement authority to delete contaminants for an individual system after Administrator approval of the assessment. Permits the waiver of such monitoring requirement for certain systems which have recently concluded such a program and for certain systems supplying fewer than 150 service connections.

Authorizes the Administrator to issue compliance orders as well as bring civil suits to enforce these provisions.

Directs the Administrator to amend regulations to provide for varying types and frequencies of public notice of violations by a public water system, depending upon their frequency and seriousness.

Requires a State to prescribe a schedule of compliance and implementation of control measures at the same time it grants an exemption. Permits the primary enforcing authority (State or Administrator in the case of four States and the District of Columbia) to extend the exemption for up to three years after the issue date if a system in good faith cannot meet the standard without capital improvements or financial assistance or has agreed to become part of a regional public water system. Permits exemption renewals for systems with 500 or fewer service connections.

Establishes criminal and civil penalties for tampering with a public water system.

Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical assistance to small public water systems to enable them to comply with national drinking water standards. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1989.

Title II: Protection of Underground Sources of Drinking Water - Prohibits Federal regulations concerning underground injection control programs from interfering with such injection in connection with natural gas storage operations. Prohibits the disposal of hazardous waste by underground injection above or into a formation which contains an underground source of drinking water unless such injection is part of a required corrective or response action.

Directs the Administrator to require groundwater monitoring at appropriate locations to detect fluid migration into underground drinking water sources from injection wells. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress within nine months of this Act's enactment on State surveys of disposal wells which discharge nonhazardous waste into or above underground sources of drinking water.

Directs the Administrator to issue a compliance order or commence a civil action if a State does not enforce violations of the underground injection control program. Quintuples the maximum per day penalty for violations. Revises other provisions relating to the imposition of civil penalties.

Requires each State to adopt and submit to the Administrator for approval a comprehensive State plan to protect underground sources of drinking water from unhealthful contamination. Requires such plans to: (1) identify the implementing agency; (2) identify each underground water source, its quality, patterns, and contamination potential; (3) identify the types of human development and their effects for each such source; (4) set forth regulations, including establishing best management practices for potential contamination activities; and (5) guarantee alternative drinking water supplies when an underground source becomes unhealthful to persons. Sets forth submission and resubmission procedures. Requires State compliance with these requirements as a condition of receiving funds for a State underground injection program.

Limits the use of funds authorized for these purposes to these purposes.

Requires each State to implement its plan within two years of its adoption if possible, submitting a progress report to the Administrator within that time regarding implementation.

Requires Federal agencies involved in affecting activities in a critical recharge area identified in an approved State plan to act in a manner consistent with such plan.

Authorizes municipalities within a sole source area to petition the Governor to designate part of such area as a "special protection area."

Requires the Governor, if approving the petition, to: (1) designate or establish an entity to develop a comprehensive management plan; (2) assure and encourage public participation; and (3) submit to the Administrator the proposed boundaries of the area and a description of the planning entity.

Authorizes the Administrator, if approving the Governor's submission, to provide such State with a 50 percent matching grant for the costs of preparing the petition and developing and implementing the plan. Increases the Federal share to 60 percent for aquifers serving populations of 10,000 or less.

Requires the plan to maintain the quality of the ground water recharged through the special protection area by maintenance, to the maximum extent possible, of the natural vegetative and hydrological conditions.

Permits the resubmission of modified plans if earlier submissions to the Governor or Administrator are rejected.

Authorizes the Administrator or a State with primary enforcing responsibility to order certain contaminators of a sole or principal source aquifer which supplies a public water system to provide potable water to affected persons. Establishes civil penalties for violations.

Directs the Administrator to establish criteria for sole or principal source areas.

Prohibits the placement of solid waste over the Unconsolidated Quartering Aquifer or the recharge zone of such Aquifer in the Rockaway River Basin, New Jersey.

Title III: General Provisions - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1989.

Directs the Administrator to conduct and report to the Congress on a comparative health effects assessment of the effects on public health associated with water treatment chemicals and those associated with contaminants found in the public water supplies.

Authorizes the Administrator to treat Indian tribes as States for purposes of the SDWA under certain conditions. Directs the Administrator to inventory the program needs of tribes and to report to the Congress on such needs.