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Summary

Much progress has been made in assuring the quality of public water supplies since the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was first enacted in 1974. Public water systems must meet extensive regulations, and public water system management has become a much more complex and professional endeavor. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has regulated some 91 drinking water contaminants, and more regulations are pending. In 2005, EPA reported that the number of systems reporting no violations of drinking water standards reached a new high of 94% in 2003. Despite such progress, however, an array of issues and challenges remain. In the 110th Congress, key issues have involved infrastructure funding needs, related compliance issues, and concerns caused by detections of unregulated contaminants in drinking water, such as perchlorate and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Another issue involves the adequacy of existing regulations (such as trichloroethylene (TCE)) and EPA's pace in reviewing and potentially revising older standards. Congress last reauthorized SDWA in 1996. Although funding authority for most SDWA programs expired in FY2003, Congress continues to appropriate funds annually for these programs. No broad reauthorization bills have been proposed, as EPA, states, and water systems continue efforts to implement and comply with the requirements of the 1996 law and new regulations. A long-standing and overarching SDWA issue concerns the cumulative cost and complexity of drinking water standards and the ability of water systems, especially small systems, to comply with standards. The issue of the affordability of drinking water regulations, such as those for arsenic, radium, and disinfection by-products, has merged with the larger debate over what is the appropriate federal role in assisting communities with financing drinking water infrastructure. Water infrastructure financing legislation has been offered in recent Congresses to authorize increased funding for the DWSRF program and to provide grant assistance for small communities. In the 110th Congress, bills were offered to provide technical, financial, and other compliance assistance to small communities. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reported several drinking water bills, including a broad water infrastructure financing bill, S. 3617. None of the legislation was enacted, and the debate continues over the federal role in the funding of projects needed for SDWA compliance, and for water infrastructure improvement in general. Several bills have been introduced to address the underground injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) for long-term sequestration as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. P.L. 110-140 (H.R. 6), the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, includes carbon sequestration research and development provisions, and specifies that geologic sequestration (GS) activities will be subject to SDWA provision related to protecting underground drinking water sources. In July 2008, EPA proposed regulations under SDWA to provide a national permitting framework for managing the underground injection of CO2 for commercial-scale GS projects.

Related Legislation:
• S.3617
• H.R.6

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