Statement of Administration Policy: S. 1316 - Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1995

(Senate)
(Kempthorne (R) ID and 26 others )

The Administration supports S. 1316. The bill is an important step in achieving the Administration's goals of: (1) strengthening public health protections; (2) preventing drinking water contamination at the source; (3) providing for the appropriate use of cost-benefit analysis in standards setting; and (4) providing communities with compliance problems with funds to upgrade their drinking water facilities. S. 1316 could be improved, however, by:

— Ensuring that sound science is used appropriately to improve public health protection. S. 1316 would require peer review of agency actions that are not science related. This requirement could inadvertently impede EPA enforcement and emergency actions and could inappropriately inject the courts into EPA decision making.

— Minimizing the number of earmarks on the State Revolving Fund. The bill's current level of Fund set-asides for designated activities would limit the availability of funds needed for a permanent revolving fund. The Administration recommends that the bill incorporate a fixed cap on set- asides and allow States the flexibility to determine spending within the cap.

— Enhancing source water protection. S. 1316 establishes a program under which States can be petitioned to address source water contamination. The prescriptiveness of the petition program, however, would limit State flexibility to address current problems. In addition, the program is not designed to prevent future problems. The Administration recommends modifying the program to increase State flexibility and to focus on preventing future contamination.

— Transferring ownership of and responsibility for the Washington Aqueduct water treatment system to a non-federal public authority. The Secretary of the Army has formally recommended this change to Congress as consistent with the management of such systems nation-wide.