Safe Drinking Water Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. TROTT. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank Chairman Upton and Representative Kildee for their important, bipartisan work on this issue.

I rise today in support of the Safe Drinking Water Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act. This bill is a step in the right direction to preserve and protect the health of our citizens.

The legislation requires the EPA administrator to work with States and local water authorities to develop a strategic plan for addressing lead contaminants in drinking water. This important legislation will ensure that the complete failure to notify people of a health risk, which occurred in Flint, does not happen again.

This is an issue that many communities across our country will have to deal with as our water system infrastructure ages. We must ensure that the public is aware, our citizens are informed, and that our water authorities and agencies identify and take steps to prevent this level of failure from happening again.

Mr. Speaker, on the Federal level, it is unacceptable that the EPA, an agency with a budget of over $8 billion, did not escalate its concerns over the presence of lead contaminants.

This is an agency that is literally paid to protect the public health and environment, and it failed. This failure may not happen again. All Americans should feel safe drinking water from their kitchen sink.

This legislation is a commonsense solution. I urge its immediate passage.

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