PRINTER'S NO. 561
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
592
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY ZIMMERMAN, KEEFER, RYAN, GREINER, STAMBAUGH,
PICKETT, JAMES, STRUZZI, ROWE, MOUL AND WEBSTER,
FEBRUARY 24, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY,
FEBRUARY 24, 2021
AN ACT
Amending the act of May 1, 1984 (P.L.206, No.43), entitled "An
act providing for safe drinking water; imposing powers and
duties on the Department of Environmental Resources in
relation thereto; and appropriating certain funds," further
providing for powers and duties of department.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 5(a), (b), (c), (e), (g) and (h) of the
act of May 1, 1984 (P.L.206, No.43), known as the Pennsylvania
Safe Drinking Water Act, are amended to read:
Section 5. Powers and duties of department.
(a) State to assume primary enforcement.--The department
shall adopt and implement a public water supply program which
includes[, but is not limited to,] those program elements
necessary to assume State primary enforcement responsibility
under the Federal act. The public water supply program shall
include[, but not be limited to,] and be limited to maximum
contaminant levels or treatment technique requirements
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
establishing drinking water quality standards, monitoring,
reporting, recordkeeping and analytical requirements,
requirements for public notification, standards for
construction, operation and modifications to public water
systems, emergency procedures, standards for laboratory
certification, and compliance and enforcement procedures as
required to enforce the Federal act.
(b) Department to establish compliance procedures.--The
department shall develop and implement procedures as may be
necessary and appropriate in order to obtain compliance with
[this] the Federal act or the rules and regulations promulgated,
or permits issued hereunder pursuant to the Federal act. Such
procedures shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Monitoring and inspection.
(2) Maintaining an inventory of public water systems in
the Commonwealth.
(3) A systematic program for conducting sanitary surveys
of public water systems throughout the Commonwealth.
(4) The establishment and maintenance of a program for
the certification of laboratories conducting analytical
measurements of drinking water contaminants specified in the
drinking water standards; and the assurance of the
availability to the department of laboratory facilities
certified by the administrator and capable of performing
analytical measurements of all contaminants specified in the
drinking water standards.
(5) The establishment and maintenance of a permit
program concerning plans and specifications for the design
and construction of new or substantially modified public
water systems, which program:
20210HB0592PN0561 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
(i) Requires all such plans and specifications, or
either, to be first approved by the department before any
work thereunder shall be commenced.
(ii) Requires that all such projects are designed to
comply with any rules and regulations [of the department]
under the Federal act concerning their construction and
operation; and once completed will be capable of
compliance with the drinking water standards; and will
deliver water with sufficient volume and pressure to the
users of such systems.
(c) Department to enforce drinking water standards.--The
department shall have the power and its duties shall be to issue
such orders and initiate such proceedings as may be necessary
and appropriate for the enforcement of drinking water standards,
any other provision of law notwithstanding. These actions shall
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) To institute in a court of competent jurisdiction,
proceedings against any person to compel compliance with the
provisions of [this] the Federal act, or the drinking water
standards or conditions of permits issued hereunder pursuant
to this act.
(2) To initiate criminal prosecutions, including
issuance of summary citations by agents of the department.
(3) To do any and all things and actions not
inconsistent with any provision of this act for the effective
enforcement of [this] the Federal act, rules and regulations
or permits issued hereunder pursuant to this act.
* * *
(e) Department may require information from public water
systems.--The department may require any public water system to
20210HB0592PN0561 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
install, use and maintain such monitoring equipment and methods
to perform such sampling, to maintain and retain such records of
information from monitoring and sampling activities, to submit
such reports of monitoring and sampling results and to provide
such other information as may be required to determine
compliance or noncompliance with [this] the Federal act or with
regulations promulgated pursuant to [this] the Federal act.
* * *
(g) Search warrants.--An agent or employee of the department
may apply for a search warrant to any Commonwealth official
authorized to issue a search warrant for the purposes of
inspecting or examining any property, building, premise, place,
book, record or other physical evidence, of conducting tests or
taking samples. Such warrant shall be issued upon probable
cause. It shall be sufficient probable cause to show any of the
following:
(1) the inspection, examination, test or sampling is
pursuant to a general administrative plan to determine
compliance with [this] the Federal act;
(2) the agent or employee has reason to believe that a
violation of [this] the Federal act has occurred [or may
occur]; or
(3) the agent or employee has been refused access to the
property, building, premise, place, book, record or physical
evidence, or has been prevented from conducting tests or
taking samples.
(h) Delegation of functions and fiscal matters.--The
department is authorized to:
(1) Enter into agreements, contracts or cooperative
arrangements under such terms and conditions as may be deemed
20210HB0592PN0561 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
appropriate with other State agencies with approval by an act
of the General Assembly, Federal agencies, interstate compact
agencies, political subdivisions or other persons, including
agreements with local health departments to delegate one or
more of its regulatory functions to inspect, monitor and
enforce [the act and] drinking water standards pursuant to
the Federal act. The department shall monitor and supervise
activities of each local health department conducted pursuant
to such an agreement, for consistency with the department's
rules, regulations and policies. A local health department,
where it exists in each of the counties of the Commonwealth,
may elect to administer and enforce any of the provisions of
this act together with the department in accordance with the
established policies, procedures, guidelines, standards and
rules and regulations of the department. Local health
departments electing to administer and enforce the provisions
of this act shall be funded through contractual agreements
within the department whenever program activity exceeds the
minimum program requirements established under the former act
of April 22, 1905 (P.L.260, No.182), entitled "An act to
preserve the purity of the waters of the State, for the
protection of the public health," adopted by the Advisory
Health Board under the provisions of the act of August 24,
1951 (P.L.1304, No.315), known as the Local Health
Administration Law. The department is authorized to provide
funds to local health departments entering into an agreement
to contract pursuant to this paragraph which shall be
considered to be agents of the department for the purpose of
enforcement of [this] the Federal act.
(2) Notwithstanding the grant of powers in paragraph
20210HB0592PN0561 - 5 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
(1), in any case where administration and enforcement of this
act by a local health department shall conflict with
administration and enforcement by the department, the
department shall so notify the local health department of the
conflict and administration and enforcement by the department
shall take precedence over administration and enforcement by
a local health department.
(3) Receive financial and technical assistance from the
Federal Government and other public or private agencies where
appropriate.
(4) Establish fiscal controls and accounting procedures.
(5) Establish and collect fees for conducting
inspections, laboratory analyses and certifications as may be
necessary.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
20210HB0592PN0561 - 6 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15