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A P P E N D I X
A
Legislation and
Terms of Reference
of the Stucly
THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT OF
1 9 74 AND THE NAS STUDY
(Public Law 93-523)
PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION
The purpose of the legislation is to assure that the public is provided
with an adequate quantity of safe drinking water. It is to assure that
water supply systems serving the public meet minimum national stan-
dards for protection of public health.
Until passage of the Act, the Federal Government was authorized to
prescribe drinking water standards only for water supplies used by
interstate carriers, and they were enforceable only with respect to
contaminants capable of causing communicable diseases. Public Law
93-523 authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to establish
Federal standards for protection from all harmful contaminants and
established a joint Federal-State system for assuring compliance with
these standards and for protecting underground sources of drinking
water.
ABRIDGED SUMMARY OF THE LEGISLATION
a. Required the Administrator of EPA to prescribe national drink-
ing water regulations for contaminants that may adversely affect health.
b. Provided that such regulations apply to public water systems and
protect health to the maximum extent feasible.
c. Provided that interim primary regulations be prescribed initially
905
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906 Appendix A
and that, after a study by the National Academy of Sciences, health
goals were to be established and revised primary regulations promul-
gated. That portion of the Act pertaining to the NAS study and the
scope of work is detailed below.
d. Provided for a number of other requirements and administrative
authorizations not directly related to the NAS study.
NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Congressional hearings, EPA studies, and evidence from a number of
sources found that Federal legislative authority prior to passage of the
Act was inadequate to assure that water supplied to the public was safe
to drink.
This conclusion was based on evidence that waterborne disease out-
breaks still occur in this country. Examples include an epidemic at
Riverside, California, in 1965 that affected 18,000 people, an outbreak
of gastroenteritis in Angola, New York, in 1968 affecting 30% of the
population, and an epidemic of giardiasis in Rome, New York, in
1974 affecting almost 5,000 people. According to a 1970 EPA survey
of 969 drinking water supply systems, approximately 8 million people
in this country are served water that is potentially dangerous in that
it failed to meet the mandatory standards set by the Federal Govern-
ment with respect to interstate carrier systems. The deficiencies in the
majority of cases were in smaller systems.
Until passage of the Act there was no provision in Federal law to
protect the public from toxic chemicals, and none to protect those
not traveling on interstate conveyances from being supplied with drink-
ing water that might cause communicable or noncommunicable illness.
Several extensive surveys have shown serious deficiencies in the
number of water samples examined and in the bacteriological and
chemical quality of drinking water. Many systems had physical deficien-
cies, including poorly protected groundwater sources, inadequate disin-
fection and clarification capacity. In addition, plant operators were
inadequately trained. Plants were not being inspected by State or local
authorities. In one survey, 50% of plant officials did not remember
when, if ever, they had been surveyed by a State or local health depart-
ment.
House of Representatives Report No. 93-1185 and Senate Report
No. 93-231 and Public Law 93-523 are the sources of information for
the foregoing.
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Appendix A 907
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY
Public Law 93-523 ISection 1412(eyl mandated the NAS study as
follows:
1. The Administrator shall enter into appropriate arrangements with
the National Academy of Sciences (or with another independent scien-
tific organization if appropriate arrangements cannot be made with such
Academy) to conduct a study to determine:
A. The maximum contaminant levels which should be recom-
mended in order to protect the health of persons from any known or
anticipated adverse effects, and
B. The existence of any contaminants the levels of which in
drinking water cannot be determined but which may have an adverse
effect on the health of persons.
2. The result of the study shall be reported to Congress no later
than 2 years after the date of enactment of this title. The report shall
contain:
A. A summary and evaluation of relevant publications and un-
published studies;
B. A statement of methodologies and assumptions for estimat-
ing the levels at which adverse health effects may occur;
C. A statement of methodologies and assumptions for estimating
the margin of safety that should be incorporated in the national pri-
mary drinking water regulations;
D. Proposals for recommended maximum contaminant levels for
national primary drinking water regulations;
E. A list of contaminants the level of which in drinking water
cannot be determined but which may have an adverse effect on the
health of persons; and
F. Recommended studies and test protocols for future research
on the health effects of drinking water contaminants, including a list
of the major research priorities and estimated costs necessary to con-
duct such priority research.
3. In developing its proposals for recommended maximum con-
taminants levels, the National Academy of Sciences shall evaluate and
explain the impact of the following considerations:
A. The existence of groups or individuals in the population that
are more susceptible to adverse effects than the normal healthy adult.
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908 Appendix A
B. The exposure to contaminants in other media than drinking
water (including exposures in food, in the ambient air, and in occupa-
tional settings) and the resulting body burden of contaminants.
C. Synergistic effects resulting from exposure to or interaction
by two or more contaminants.
D. The contaminant exposure and body burden levels that alter
physiological function or structure in a manner reasonably suspected
of increasing the risk of illness.
4. In making the study under this subsection, the National Academy
of Sciences (or other organization) shall collect and correlate:
A. Morbidity and mortality data and
B. Monitored data on the quality of drinking water. Any con-
clusions based on such correlation shall be included in the report of the
study.
5. Neither the report of the study under this subsection nor any draft
of such report shall be submitted to the Office of Management and
Budget or to any other Federal agency (other than the Environmental
Protection Agency) prior to its submission to Congress.
6. Of the funds authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator
by this title, such amounts as may be required shall be available to carry
out the study and make the report.
SCOPE OF WORK
The following definition of the scope of the study was elaborated
jointly by the National Academy of Sciences and the Environmental
Protection Agency.
The Academy will undertake to complete the study and report de-
scribed in Section 1412(e) of the Public Health Service Act, as
amended by the Safe Drinking Water Act, with the following under-
standing: The Academy considers that the intent of Congress in using
the phrase "maximum contaminant levels which should be recom-
mended . . . in order to protect the health of persons from any known
or anticipated adverse effects" is to provide for recommendations that
are consistent with the best scientific knowledge. It is the Academy's
judgment that from a scientific point of view, the absolute guarantee of
safety implied by this language cannot be made for most or all of the
contaminants to be studied. The Academy report will explain and dis
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Appendix A 909
cuss this point. Accordingly, with respect to recommended levels,
taking only health effects into account, the Academy's report will pro-
vide the following:
( 1 ) Where there are sufficient data from which a human dose-
response relationship can be projected with some degree of precision,
a projection will be made. The projection will be explained and its
qualifications will be made explicit.
(2) For contaminants for which the data are of sufficient quantity
and quality, the Academy will exercise its scientific judgment and
identify and propose contaminant levels for which it anticipates the
risk of adverse health effects to be specifiable and very small. The
risks at the proposed levels will be described, with an explanation as
to why no "safe" level has been identified.
(3) For contaminants for which the evidence provides no scientific
basis or methodology for recommending levels, the Academy will de-
scribe the available data, and its significance in terms of known or
anticipated adverse health effects.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
contaminant levels
