Community water systems would be required to assess risks they face from threats such as drought, industrial pollution, and terrorist attacks under new legislation introduced March 16 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Sponsored by Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), the Secure and Resilient Water Systems Act (H.R. 1579) would give drinking water utilities two years to evaluate risks arising from these threats. As part of this assessment, utilities would also be required to evaluate their disinfection chemicals against so-called "inherently safer technologies" (IST), and make a determination of whether adopting an alternate disinfection method could reduce the utility's vulnerability to its identified threats. Water systems would further be required to complete emergency response plans to outline how the utility would respond to a threat incident, and both the vulnerability assessment and the emergency response plan would have to be updated and resubmitted to EPA every five years.
These components of the legislation largely mirror IST mandate legislation that has drawn opposition from the water sector and congressional Republicans in the past.
Other parts of the bill would authorize $250 million over five years for a new EPA grant program that would help communities address their identified risks, with priority awarded to communities facing the most significant challenges. A statement from Rep. Peters’ office said the bill would also encourage communities to adopt innovative approaches including water efficiency and water recycling.
“This bill would give local communities the guidance and resources they need to innovate and address weaknesses in their own drinking water systems,” Rep. Peters said. “As the climate continues to change and new threats emerge, it is important that we help communities make these investments now to ensure their water systems are dependent and secure.”
H.R. 1579 is not expected to advance, as Republicans on Capitol Hill are unlikely to embrace any sort of proposal that would place new regulatory mandates or risk evaluation responsibilities on public water systems.