Water Bill Addresses Lessons Learned From D.C. Lead Crisis (4/26/07)

Norton - Waxman Safe Drinking Water Bill Addresses
Lessons Learned From D.C. Lead Crisis and Bush Administration Failures
April 26, 2007

Washington, DC-Amid continuing concerns about elevated lead in drinking water in D.C. public school fountains and the failure of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue new regulations for similar concerns throughout the country promised three years ago, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee today introduced the Lead-Free Drinking Water Act of 2007. "Years after lead was found in the drinking water of the nation's capital and was not timely discovered, it is too long to still be awaiting a federal response. There is well-placed anxiety about lead in drinking water, not only in the schools but wherever water is flowing here and nationwide," Norton said.

"Three years after the lead crisis in the District, communities across the country still have high lead levels in their drinking water. Despite promises to address the problem, the Bush Administration has failed to require any changes, leaving children exposed to toxic lead in their drinking water. We need this legislation to keep our children healthy and safe," Waxman said.

The bill revises parts of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act which governs the country's public drinking water systems. The provisions, particularly the Lead and Copper Rule, were put under a microscope after the District's problems in 2004. Congresswoman Norton got multiple hearings about the lead water crisis and has closely monitored the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority's (WASA) progress towards compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. But then last year, as confidence was slowly being restored in the District's drinking water, WASA was cited for testing violations. Now recent reports of elevated lead at five District of Columbia schools, once again, highlight the strong need for this legislation, Norton said.

The bill incorporates what was learned from hearings on the D.C. water crisis and conforms to current science. During that period Norton expressed particular concern for vulnerable populations such as young children, pregnant women, people with HIV/AIDS, and the elderly. As a result, among other important provisions, the bill requires that certified water filters be provided to all homes, schools and day care facilities where excessive lead is found and the repair or replacement of school water coolers found to have excessive lead. The bill also closes a loophole that allowed WASA to dilute its testing results during the crisis, requires total replacement of lead service lines instead of only publicly owned pipes, and mandates that residents be informed when higher than acceptable levels are found through clear and timely materials as opposed to delayed, buried or nonspecific notification in mailings.

The full text of Norton's statement of introduction follows.

Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman and I re-introduce the "Lead-Free Drinking Water Act of 2007". This bill today was virtually summoned by the District's lead water crisis in 2004. The national attention our crisis generated for the likely presence of lead in the water supply drew many jurisdictions to do their own investigations, uncovering similar problems. When former Senator James Jeffords, Representative Waxman, and I looked at the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the Lead and Copper Rule, it was clear that even the revision of the Rule in 1991 did not meet standards that should have been adopted at that time. Our bill incorporates what we learned from hearings on the D.C. water crisis and from the state of the current science.

This bill is necessary because at a recent hearing for the Subcommittee on Water Resources, Benjamin H. Grumbles, Assistant Administrator for Water in the EPA, promised that new rules on lead and copper in water would be promulgated at the level mandated in this legislation. However, details of the rule have not been shared with the subcommittee, and the rule is not scheduled to be released until the fall of this year. We have heard this same excuse since 2004, illustrating the continuing need for Congress to act. In 2006, as confidence was slowly being restored in our drinking water, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority was cited for violations of SDWA consent order due to a failure in testing procedures. Most especially, recent reports have documented elevated levels of lead in drinking water in five District of Columbia public school water fountains, even though the children are most vulnerable to lead, thus the important reasons for this legislation remain strong after three years. This bill directly addresses the concerns that also vulnerable are pregnant and nursing women and District of Columbia parents have with lead in the water at schools and would lay to rest well-placed anxiety about lead in the drinking water here and nationwide.

The District of Columbia provided us with a virtual case study in why SWDA must be revised again in 2007. Here are some of the most important provisions taken from the D.C. experience:

1) Valid Testing. This bill eliminates the giant loophole that allowed the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) to continue testing once it exceeded the 15 parts per billion (ppb) action level, in order to dilute its findings, reduce the percentage of homes to less than 10%, and thus relieve WASA of the requirement to replace lead service lines. Instead, 10% of lead pipes must be replaced until all are eliminated.

2) Total Lead Service Line Replacement. Instead of replacing only publicly owned lead service lines, this bill requires total replacement, including the portion owned by the homeowner. Our hearings showed that partial replacement can actually increase the amount of lead in drinking water, because the new metal, such as brass or copper, can interact with the remaining lead pipe and accelerate lead leaching into the drinking water.

3) Individual Notice From Detection to Correction. Instead of allowing public notices to be delayed or buried, using generic language deep in a brochure or water bill, as WASA did, our bill requires notice to all customers, individually within 30 days of lead exceedence, stating the scope of testing, results and corrective actions.

4) Alternative Water Supply. Where excessive lead is found, the bill requires that certified water filters be provided to each residence, school and day care facility, a measure that was delayed in the District despite the danger to pregnant women and children under six.

5) Testing Water Treatment Chemicals. The Army Corps of Engineers switched chemicals at the Washington Aqueduct from chlorine to chloramines without conducting a corrosion control test. The evidence is that the new chemical was the likely cause of the spike in lead levels here, but only now are phosphates being tested to counter lead corrosion in the water supply. This bill requires water systems to have corrosion control plans within one year of switching chemical treatment or a finding of excessive lead in the water.

6) Lead Free Plumbing. "Lead free" in this bill is defined as 0.2%, the standard already used in Los Angeles, down from the current 8%. We heard testimony at our hearings that most brass and copper plumbing contains 8% lead.

7) Lead Testing In Schools. This bill requires the repair or replacement of school water coolers found to have excessive lead. Annual testing of water coolers in schools is also required.

The District of Columbia experience has opened the nation's eyes to lead in the water that millions of Americans may be drinking. Our bill will reduce the well-earned fears of residents here and across the country.