Great Lakes Article:

New Bill Would Help Clean Up Lead-in-Drinking-Water Problem, Says NRDC
Statement by Erik Olson, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council
Posted May 4, 2004

WASHINGTON - Today, Jim Jeffords (I-VT) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) introduced a bill in the Senate that would help clean up lead contamination in the nation's drinking water. At the same time, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Albert Wynn (D-MD) Jim Moran (D-VA), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced a companion bill in the House. The legislation, "Lead Free Drinking Water Act of 2004," would require the Environmental Protection Agency to review and strengthen the rules for lead in drinking water within 18 months, speed up the replacement of lead service lines, overhaul and strengthen public notice and public education requirements, and require water systems with lead problems to provide certified water filters to remove high lead levels while they work on long-term solutions. The bill also would tighten water testing and treatment requirements, clamp down on lead-containing faucets and fixtures (dropping allowable lead levels from 8 percent to 0.2 percent), strengthen lead testing in schools, and authorize $200 million per year to help cities replace lead service lines.

Below is a statement by NRDC Senior Attorney Erik Olson, the author of "What's On Tap?," a June 2003 study of drinking water safety in 19 U.S. cities:

"This bill would go a long way to protect our children from the scourge of lead contamination, which can damage their developing brains and lead to lower intelligence and other health problems. Given the extent of lead contamination in Washington, Boston and other cities, and the slow and woefully inadequate EPA response, it is time for Congress to step forward to safeguard our children."