To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide for the assessment and management of the risk of algal toxins in drinking water, and for other purposes.
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 114-45.
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on February 24, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Drinking Water Protection Act
(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and submit to Congress a strategic plan for assessing and managing risks associated with algal toxins in drinking water provided by public water systems. Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, have the ability to produce cyanotoxins, or algal toxins. When certain conditions are favorable, algae can rapidly multiply causing blooms, or dense surface scums, that may be toxic.
The plan must include steps and time lines to:
evaluate the risk to human health from drinking water contaminated with algal toxins;
establish, publish, and update a comprehensive list of algal toxins that may have an adverse effect on human health, taking into account likely exposure levels;
summarize the known adverse human health effects of algal toxins and the factors that cause toxin-producing cyanobacteria and algae to grow rapidly and make toxins;
determine whether to publish health advisories for algal toxins and establish guidance regarding feasible analytical methods to quantify the presence of algal toxins and guidance regarding the frequency of monitoring necessary to determine if the algal toxins are present;
recommend feasible treatment options, including procedures, equipment, and source water protection practices; and
enter into cooperative agreements with, and provide technical assistance to, affected states and public water systems to manage risks associated with algal toxins.
The EPA must update and resubmit the plan as appropriate.
The EPA must identify gaps in its understanding of algal toxins. It must also assemble and publish information from each agency that has examined or analyzed cyanobacteria or algal toxins or addressed public health concerns related to harmful algal blooms. The Government Accountability Office must submit to Congress an inventory of funds expended by the United States for each of FY2010 through 2014 to examine or analyze toxin-producing cyanobacteria and algae or address public health concerns related to harmful algal blooms. The inventory must include the specific purpose for which the funds were made available, the law under which the funds were authorized, and the agency that received or spent the funds.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on August 7, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on August 7, 2015: Became Public Law No: 114-45.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Robert Latta (R-OH) introduced it on January 8, 2015, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 4 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law