House backs bill requiring EPA notification in lead cases

WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday approved legislation to clarify the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to notify the public about danger from lead in their drinking water — the first action by Congress to respond to the water crisis in Flint, Mich.

The bill, approved 416-2, would direct the EPA to notify residents and health departments if the amount of lead found in a public water system requires action, in the absence of notification by the state.

Flint stopped using treated water from Detroit and switched to the Flint River in 2014 to save money. Regulators failed to ensure the water was treated and lead from aging pipes leached into the water supply, contributing to a spike in child lead exposure.

The EPA did not notify the public for months after learning that state officials were not treating Flint’s water.

Rep. Dan Kildee, D- Mich., said the notification bill would not have prevented the crisis in his hometown, but called it a necessary first step to preventing a similar crisis in other cities.

Kildee urged lawmakers to consider comprehensive legislation he has introduced in addition to spend $ 765 million to help solve the water crisis in Flint.

The bill would help Flint fix and replace l e ad- contaminated pipes and provide health and educational support for children poisoned by lead- contaminated water.

Kildee and other House Democrats said White House budget director Shaun Donovan signaled support for the measure at a closed-door meeting Wednesday. Kildee said Donovan “likes the direction” of the bill “but has some suggestions” on how it could be improved.

Money for Flint may be included in a $1.8 billion spending request President Barack Obama has made to combat the Zika virus, but no decisions have been made, Kildee said.

Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., called the EPA notification bill a first step to help Flint and prevent similar crises in the future.

“Government officials knew there was serious cause for concern and failed to inform the people of Flint,” Upton said. “And many of those officials did not even seem to be effectively communicating and sharing data among themselves.”

State officials in Michigan did not tell the EPA’s Midwest regional everything they knew about Flint, and the regional office did not share everything it knew with EPA headquarters in Washington, Upton said.

“And we don’t yet know what the city of Flint was telling the state or EPA. That must be fixed and it must be fixed now,” Upton said.