Get the Lead Out of Schools Act

Get the Lead Out of Schools Act

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to (1) test for lead in drinking water at schools and day care facilities, and (2) create a grant program for lead testing and remediation efforts in schools and day care facilities.

Specifically, the EPA must promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation for schools and day care facilities that

• establishes a lead action level (a level of lead in drinking water that triggers additional actions to control lead contamination) that is no more than 15 parts per billion;
• directs each public water system to sample for lead in the drinking water at schools and day care facilities if the EPA determines there is a risk that the lead in the drinking water will meet or exceed the action level; and
• requires public water systems that serve schools or day cares that meet or exceed the action level to notify the local educational agency, the relevant local health agencies, the municipality, and the state as soon as practicable, but no later than 24 hours after the system receives the sampling results.

The EPA must also establish a grant program for (1) testing drinking water in schools and day care facilities for lead contamination, and (2) remediating lead contamination in such drinking water by replacing lead pipes and certain plumbing materials with lead-free material.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 852 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 852

 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to address lead contamination in 
                         school drinking water.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 29, 2019

Mrs. Lawrence (for herself, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Moulton, Mrs. Demings, Mr. 
Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Bustos, 
      Ms. Norton, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Clay, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of 
  Pennsylvania, Ms. Moore, Mr. Rush, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Carson of 
  Indiana, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. 
   Wexton, Ms. Meng, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Omar, Mr. 
Richmond, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Ms. Hill of California, 
Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Soto, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Clarke of 
  New York, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Mr. 
Engel, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Raskin, and Mr. Johnson of Georgia) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to address lead contamination in 
                         school drinking water.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Get the Lead Out of Schools Act''.

SEC. 2. SCHOOL TESTING AND NOTIFICATION; GRANT PROGRAM.

    Section 1464 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-24) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Testing and Notification Requirements for Public Water 
Systems That Serve Schools.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall promulgate a 
national primary drinking water regulation for school drinking water 
that--
            ``(1) establishes a lead action level that is not more than 
        the lead action level established by the Administrator under 
        section 1412(b);
            ``(2) requires each public water system to sample for lead 
        in the drinking water at such schools as the Administrator 
        determines to have a risk of lead in the drinking water at a 
        level that meets or exceeds the lead action level established 
        under paragraph (1); and
            ``(3) in the case of results of sampling under paragraph 
        (2) that indicate that the drinking water of a school contains 
        lead that meets or exceeds the lead action level established 
        under paragraph (1), requires the public water system that 
        serves the school to notify the local educational agency that 
        has jurisdiction over the school, the relevant local health 
        agencies, the municipality, and the State as soon as 
        practicable, but not later than 24 hours after the public water 
        system receives the sampling results.
    ``(f) School Lead Testing and Remediation Grant Program.--
            ``(1) Definition of eligible entity.--In this subsection, 
        the term `eligible entity' means--
                    ``(A) a local educational agency (as defined in 
                subsection (d)(1)); or
                    ``(B) a State agency that administers a statewide 
                program to test for, or remediate, lead contamination 
                in drinking water.
            ``(2) Grants authorized.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall 
        establish a grant program to make grants available to eligible 
        entities to test for, and remediate, lead contamination in 
        school drinking water.
            ``(3) Use of funds.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An eligible entity that receives 
                a grant under this subsection may use grant funds--
                            ``(i) to recover the costs incurred by the 
                        eligible entity for testing for lead 
                        contamination in school drinking water 
                        conducted by an entity approved by the 
                        Administrator or the State to conduct the 
                        testing; or
                            ``(ii) to replace lead pipes, pipe 
                        fittings, plumbing fittings, and fixtures of 
                        any school with drinking water that contains a 
                        level of lead that meets or exceeds the action 
                        level established by the Administrator under 
                        subsection (e)(1) with lead free (as defined in 
                        section 1417) pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing 
                        fittings, and fixtures.
                    ``(B) Limitation.--Not more than 5 percent of grant 
                funds accepted under this subsection shall be used to 
                pay the administrative costs of testing for, or 
                remediation of, lead contamination.
            ``(4) Guidance; public availability.--As a condition of 
        receiving a grant under this subsection, an eligible entity 
        shall--
                    ``(A) expend grant funds in accordance with--
                            ``(i) the guidance of the Environmental 
                        Protection Agency entitled `3Ts for Reducing 
                        Lead in Drinking Water in Schools: Revised 
                        Technical Guidance' and dated October 2006 (or 
                        any successor guidance); or
                            ``(ii) applicable State regulations or 
                        guidance regarding the reduction of lead in 
                        drinking water in schools that is not less 
                        stringent than the guidance referred to in 
                        clause (i), as determined by the Administrator;
                    ``(B) make publicly available, including, to the 
                maximum extent practicable, on the Internet website of 
                the eligible entity, a copy of the results of any 
                testing for lead contamination in school drinking water 
                that is carried out with funds under this subsection; 
                and
                    ``(C) notify parent, teacher, and employee 
                organizations of the availability of the results 
                described in subparagraph (B).''.
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