Drinking Water Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 212, the Drinking Water
Protection Act, which I reintroduced from last Congress in January.
This important, bipartisan legislation requires the EPA to develop and
submit a strategic plan to Congress for assessing and managing risks
associated with algal toxins in drinking water provided by public water
systems.

Unfortunately, from the Great Lakes to other surface freshwaters
across the country, algal toxins, produced by harmful algal blooms, are
presenting a serious concern to human health and safety.

Last August, half a million people in the Toledo, Ohio, area,
including many of my constituents, weren't able to utilize their public
drinking water for over 2 days without risking potentially negative
health effects due to a high level of algal toxins detected in the
city's public water supply. During that time, concerns and questions
were and have since been raised about health effects data, testing
protocols, treatment processes, and appropriate short- and long-term
responses. Furthermore, during hearings in the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, witnesses testified about the further complexity of
this issue due to the numerous other algal toxins and variants that may
have potential negative health effects when present in public drinking
water.

I commend the work that the U.S. EPA, the State of Ohio, and others
have done since the Toledo water emergency to ensure public safety;
however, the situation demonstrated the need for a more strategic,
comprehensive, and strong scientific approach to protect our citizens'
public drinking water. I believe H.R. 212 does just this.

Specifically, the legislation calls for the EPA's strategic plan to
include steps and timelines to: evaluate the risk to human health from
drinking water provided by public water systems contaminated with algal
toxins; establish, publish, and update a comprehensive list of algal
toxins which the administrator determines may have an adverse effect on
human health when present in public drinking water and provide a
summary of those known adverse effects; publish health advisories and
testing methods if the EPA determines it is warranted based on the
published list; recommend feasible treatment options; enter into
cooperative agreements and provide technical assistance to affected
States and public water systems to manage risks associated with algal
toxins; and identify gaps in the EPA's understanding of algal toxins.

I want to thank all the cosponsors of this bill as well as Chairman
Upton, Subcommittee Chairman Shimkus, and all the other staff and stakeholders who have worked diligently on this important legislation.

I urge the full support of my colleagues for H.R. 212.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. LATTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I, too, would ask that the House pass H.R. 212.

I appreciate, again, all of the work from all the members and the
staff in putting this bill together and getting it on the floor, and
also Chairman Upton for his work on the legislation as well as Chairman
Shimkus.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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