An Act amending the act of May 1, 1984 (P.L.206, No.43), known as the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act, further providing for powers and duties of department.

PRINTER'S NO. 727
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 708
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY ZIMMERMAN, HAMM, PICKETT, KRUPA, GROVE AND
T. JONES, FEBRUARY 24, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCE
PROTECTION, FEBRUARY 24, 2025
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) introductory paragraph and (5)
(ii), (c), (e), (g) and (h)(1) 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
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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:
* * *
(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:
* * *
(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,
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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
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
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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
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
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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.
* * *
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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