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Water Infrastructure Legislation in the 116th Congress: EPA, Reclamation, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Provisions [June 26, 2020]
From the Document: "Legislation in the 116th Congress addresses water infrastructure activities of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This Insight highlights water infrastructure programs and authorities administered by these agencies that are included in three bills: [1] Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2; Rules Committee Print 116-54), [2] Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (DWIA 2020; S. 3590), and [3] America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 (AWIA 2020; S. 3591). The final section of the Insight identifies other water-related topics addressed in the Moving Forward Act and AWIA 2020, including authorities for other agencies."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Carter, Nicole T.; Humphreys, Elena H.; Ramseur, Jonathan L. . . .
2020-06-26
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Regulating Drinking Water Contaminants: EPA PFAS Actions [Updated June 18, 2019]
From the Document: "Detections of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water supplies and uncertainty about potential health effects associated with exposure to PFAS have increased congressional attention to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to address these substances in public water supplies. Over the past decade, EPA has been evaluating several PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to determine whether national drinking water regulations may be warranted. EPA has not issued SDWA regulations for any PFAS but has taken various actions to address PFAS contamination. [...] This In Focus outlines the agency's PFAS-related actions using SDWA authorities, with particular focus on the process for evaluating contaminants for regulation under SDWA."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Tiemann, Mary; Humphreys, Elena H.
2019-06-18
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Regulating Drinking Water Contaminants: EPA PFAS Actions [May 21, 2019]
From the Document: "Detections of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water supplies and uncertainty about potential health effects associated with exposure to PFAS have increased congressional attention to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to address these substances in public water supplies. Over the past decade, EPA has been evaluating several PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to determine whether national drinking water regulations may be warranted. EPA has not issued SDWA regulations for any PFAS but has taken various actions to address PFAS contamination."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Humphreys, Elena H.; Tiemann, Mary
2019-05-21
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Regulating Drinking Water Contaminants: EPA PFAS Actions [Updated July 3, 2019]
From the Document: "Detections of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water supplies and uncertainty about potential health effects associated with exposure to PFAS have increased congressional attention to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to address these substances in public water supplies. Over the past decade, EPA has been evaluating several PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to determine whether national drinking water regulations may be warranted. EPA has not issued SDWA regulations for any PFAS but has taken various actions to address PFAS in drinking water. In the 116th Congress, bills have been introduced to direct EPA to issue drinking water regulations and standards, increase monitoring and research, and take other actions to address these substances. In February 2019, EPA issued a PFAS Action Plan (EPA 823R18004), which discusses EPA's efforts to address PFAS under multiple environmental laws. This In Focus outlines the agency's PFAS-related activities using SDWA authorities, with particular focus on the process for evaluating contaminants for regulation under SDWA."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Humphreys, Elena H.; Tiemann, Mary
2019-07-03
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Regulating Drinking Water Contaminants: EPA PFAS Actions [Updated August 6, 2019]
From the Document: "Detections of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water supplies and uncertainty about potential health effects associated with exposure to PFAS have increased congressional attention to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to address these substances in public water supplies. Over the past decade, EPA has been evaluating several PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to determine whether national drinking water regulations may be warranted. EPA has not issued SDWA regulations for any PFAS but has taken various actions to address PFAS in drinking water."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Tiemann, Mary; Humphreys, Elena H.
2019-08-06
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP): Status and Issues [January 14, 2021]
From the Document: "In the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA 2014, P.L. 113-121), Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to provide credit assistance, in the form of secured or direct loans, for a range of water resource projects. This authority was provided in the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA 2014, Title V, Subtitle C of P.L. 113-121; 33 U.S.C. §§3901-3914, as amended). WIFIA 2014 authorized an analogous program for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for water projects outside of USACE mission areas [...]. While Congress has appropriated funding since FY2017 for EPA's WIFIA program to provide assistance to projects, it first funded USACE's program in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, FY2021 (P.L. 116- 260). In Division D of that act, Congress created a WIFIA account for USACE and provided appropriations to support credit assistance for nonfederal dam safety projects. Recently, USACE has referred to its program as the Civil Works Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP)."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Normand, Anna E.; Humphreys, Elena H.
2021-01-14
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Controlling Lead in Public Drinking Water Supplies [Updated June 22, 2021]
From the Document: "Communities may face a range of issues associated with aging water infrastructure, including elevated lead levels in tap water. Because of lead's toxicity, even at low levels, reducing lead exposures from drinking water and other sources remains a public health priority. Other sources of lead exposure include lead-based paint and contaminated soil and dust from deteriorated lead-based paint. Nationally, the phaseouts of leaded gasoline and lead-based paint, along with regulatory controls and technical changes, have reduced lead exposures. Since the late 1970s, overall blood lead levels in children (ages one to five) have declined an estimated 94%."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Humphreys, Elena H.
2021-06-22
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Addressing Lead in Drinking Water: The Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) [Updated June 22, 2021]
From the Summary: "Lead's adverse health effects--especially for children, even at low levels of exposure--have driven continuing efforts to reduce lead exposure through drinking water. Primarily, lead enters drinking water after leaving the treatment plant, when lead may leach into water from plumbing materials or pipes. Accordingly, controlling corrosion of plumbing and pipes has been the principal method used to keep lead from entering public water supplies. Congress has used several approaches under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to limit lead in drinking water. These approaches include limiting the lead content of plumbing materials and fixtures; establishing public notification and education requirements; authorizing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate contaminants in public water supplies; and authorizing grant programs for lead reduction projects, testing for lead in water at schools and child care programs, and removing lead-lined drinking water coolers from schools. Using SDWA authorities, EPA developed the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule (LCR). The LCR is unlike most drinking water regulations. It does not include a health-based standard (i.e., maximum contaminant level [MCL]); rather, the rule established a treatment technique and 'action' levels."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Humphreys, Elena H.
2021-06-22
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Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA): A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements [Updated July 1, 2021]
From the Summary: "This report provides a summary of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and its major programs and regulatory requirements. It reviews revisions to the act since its enactment in 1974, including the drinking water security provisions added to SDWA by the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-188), and provisions to further reduce lead in plumbing materials and drinking water (P.L. 111-380, P.L. 113-64, and P.L. 114- 322). It also identifies changes made to the act in P.L. 114-45, regarding algal toxins in public water supplies; the Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act (P.L. 114-98); the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act (P.L. 114-322); and America's Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA; P.L. 115-270), which constituted the most comprehensive revisions to SDWA since 1996. It also discusses SDWA-related provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 (P.L. 116-92) regarding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Tiemann, Mary; Humphreys, Elena H.
2021-07-01
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Drought in the United States: Science, Policy, and Selected Federal Authorities [September 16, 2021]
From the Document: "Drought―a deficiency of moisture that results in adverse effects―occurs to some extent almost every year in areas of the United States. Droughts can simultaneously reduce available water supplies and increase demands for water. Drought has the potential to affect economic and environmental conditions on local, regional, and national scales, as well as to cause disruptions in water supplies for households and communities. Droughts are a component of climate variability and may be seasonal, multiyear, or multi-decadal in duration. According to an August 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the physical science of climate change, variable precipitation and rising temperatures are intensifying droughts in some U.S. regions. According to the report, certain types of droughts, such as those causing agricultural impacts, are expected to be more likely in the western and central regions of the United States in the future."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Stern, Charles V.; Lipiec, Eva; Benson, Lisa S. . . .
2021-09-16
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PFAS and Drinking Water: Selected EPA and Congressional Actions [Updated September 27, 2021]
From the Introduction: "The detection of certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in some public water supplies has generated public concern and increased congressional attention to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) efforts to address these substances. Over the past decade, EPA has been evaluating several PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to determine whether national drinking water regulations may be warranted. Using SDWA authorities, EPA issued nonenforceable health advisories for two PFAS--perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)--in drinking water in 2016. In March 2021, EPA made a determination to issue drinking water regulations for PFOA and PFOS. [...] This report provides an overview of EPA's actions to address PFAS under SDWA authorities, with particular focus on the statutory process for evaluating and regulating two PFAS--PFOA and PFOS--in drinking water. This report does not address the status of scientific research on health effects that may be associated with exposure to one or more PFAS, nor does it discuss federal actions regarding other environmental statutes[.]"
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Humphreys, Elena H.
2021-09-27
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Controlling Lead in Public Drinking Water Supplies [Updated June 1, 2021]
From the Document: "Communities may face a range of issues associated with aging water infrastructure, including elevated lead levels in tap water. Because of lead's toxicity, even at low levels, reducing lead exposures from drinking water and other sources remains a public health priority. Other sources of lead exposure include lead-based paint and contaminated soil and dust from deteriorated lead-based paint. [...] In 2015, EPA received recommendations for LCR [Lead and Copper Rule] revisions from the National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC). NDWAC recommendations included requiring all water systems to establish a proactive LSL [lead service lines] replacement program, noting that it would be costly and likely take decades to fully remove all LSLs. As such, NDWAC recognized corrosion control's importance and recommended that EPA revise the rule's action level and requirements for corrosion control treatment and monitoring, among other revisions. EPA published final Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, or LCRR, in the 'Federal Register' on January 15, 2021, with an effective date of March 16, 2021, which was extended until June 17, 2021. EPA also proposed to delay the rule's effective date to December 16, 2021. The LCRR revises the 1991 LCR, and retains for certain purposes the 1991 LCR's 15 ppb [parts per billion] lead action level. Among other changes, the LCRR also establishes a new lead 'trigger level' at 10 ppb, based on the 90th percentile of tap water samples."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Humphreys, Elena H.
2021-06-01
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WaterSense® Program: Congressional Authorization [Updated June 3, 2021]
From the Document: "WaterSense is a voluntary labeling program created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to encourage the development and use of water-efficient products and services. Through WaterSense, EPA develops water efficiency specifications for products, certain services, and homes; licenses third-party certification bodies; and maintains a registry of WaterSense-labeled products and certified services. [...] Funding levels for WaterSense have remained consistent for several years, notwithstanding the Trump Administration's FY2018 through FY2021 proposals to eliminate such funding. The Biden Administration does not propose an elimination for WaterSense funding in FY2022. FY2021 funding for WaterSense is the same as the FY2020 and FY2019 enacted funding levels of $4.5 million, according to the joint explanatory statement that accompanied the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260)."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Humphreys, Elena H.
2021-06-03
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Controlling Lead in Public Drinking Water Supplies [Updated February 3, 2022]
From the Document: "Communities may face a range of issues associated with aging water infrastructure, including elevated lead levels in tap water. Because of lead's toxicity, even at low levels, reducing lead exposures from drinking water and other sources remains a public health priority. Other sources of lead exposure include lead-based paint and contaminated soil and dust from deteriorated lead-based paint. Nationally, the phaseouts of leaded gasoline and lead-based paint, along with regulatory controls and technical changes, have reduced lead exposures. Since the late 1970s, overall blood lead levels in children (ages one to five) have declined an estimated 94%."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Humphreys, Elena H.
2022-02-03
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP): Status and Issues [Updated May 3, 2022]
Form the Document: "In the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA 2014, Title V, Subtitle C of P.L. 113-121; 33 U.S.C. §§3901-3914, as amended [hyperlink]), Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to provide credit assistance to specified eligible entities, in the form of secured or direct loans, for water resource projects. WIFIA 2014 authorized an analogous program for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [hyperlink] for water projects outside of USACE mission areas (see CRS [Congressional Research Service] In Focus IF11193, 'WIFIA Program: Background and Recent Developments'). This Insight focuses on the USACE program, which USACE refers to as the Civil Works Infrastructure Financing Program [hyperlink] (CWIFP)."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Carter, Nicole T.; Humphreys, Elena H.; Normand, Anna E.
2022-05-03
