WASHINGTON — Three US senators are backing a new bill that would relax some enforcement measures of the Safe Drinking Water Act now applied to small public water systems, and give the small systems more treatment options and financing to comply with water quality standards.

A key provision of the bill, S. 2509, would prohibit the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing small-system compliance with a federal drinking water standard unless the small system received enough federal funds to pay for the federal share of the upgrade. The bill would set aside $15 million a year nationally for fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to accomplish this.

Among other provisions, the bill, called the Small System Drinking Water Act of 2007, would:

● Convene a working group — composed of representatives of states, small publicly owned water systems and water treatment manufacturers — to report to Congress within six months on current barriers to the small systems’ use for compliance of point-of-use and point-of-entry (POU/POE) technology, package plants (including bottling), and modular units.

● Order EPA to take into consideration more affordability factors when it enforces small-system compliance. In one key section, the bill would “ensure that the affordability criteria are not more costly, on a per-capital basis, to a small public water system than the cost, on a per-capita basis, to a large water system of acquiring feasible technologies …”

● Provide research and technical assistance to small water systems not currently in compliance with EPA rules, especially those systems out of compliance with the 1998 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule, the 2001 final arsenic rule (implemented in January 2006), the 2006 Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule, and the 2006 final Groundwater Rule.

The key provisions would apply to “each public water system that serves fewer than 10,000 individuals,” according to the bill language. “Extra weight” in applying affordability criteria would also be given to systems with households below the poverty level.

The bill’s principal sponsor is Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK); it is co-sponsored by Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE).

In a statement accompanying the introduction of the bill in mid-December, Inhofe said: “Municipalities in Oklahoma and across the country continue to struggle to meet federal drinking water standards. Numerous small systems face tremendous challenges with the Disinfection Byproducts (DBP) Stage 1 rule and many other small systems — who traditionally buy water — are now struggling with Stage 2 of the rule.”

He added: “If the federal government is going to impose complicated requirements on water systems, we need to provide them with assistance in implementing those requirements.”

The bill has been referred to the Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works, of which Inhofe is ranking member and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is chairman.      

The text of S.2509 may be found by clicking here.

To read the full press release from Sen. Inhofe, click here.

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