Only six days after it was introduced, the Safe Drinking Water Act Improved Compliance Awareness Act, H.R. 4470, passed the House by an almost unanimous vote of 416–2.

The two votes against were cast by Representatives Todd Rokita (IN-4) and Thomas Massie (KY-4).

H.R. 4470 would require public water service operators to appropriately notify all customers if more than ten percent of customers have more than 15 parts per billion of lead their water. The bill would also require the EPA to develop a strategy for outreach to people affected by lead in their water, and to inform water operators and states if a water system in their control contains excessive amounts of lead.

The Flint Crisis

The bill is a response to the water safety issues of Flint, Michigan, where on March 3, 2015, one household was determined to have 397 parts per billion of lead in their drinking water. According to the New York Times, tests of Flint water from January to June showed levels of only 11 parts per billion for the city as a whole. Yet a group of doctors found high levels of lead in the blood of Flint children. On January 16, 2016, President Obama declared a state of emergency for the area to allow for $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency aid.

Bill sponsor Rep. Dan Kildee (MI5) issued this press release about H.R. 4470.