By Nixon                                             S.C.R. No. 161
       74R13381 MPC-D
                                 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, The reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act
    1-2  in 1986 marked a renewed commitment and resolve by the federal
    1-3  government to protect human health by ensuring the purification and
    1-4  protection of our nation's drinking water; and
    1-5        WHEREAS, While the goals of the federal Safe Drinking Water
    1-6  Act are shared by the citizens of this country, state and local
    1-7  governments must have greater flexibility and discretion in
    1-8  determining the most appropriate steps to take to reduce drinking
    1-9  water contamination; and
   1-10        WHEREAS, Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, strict
   1-11  water sampling regulations were adopted that specify the number and
   1-12  frequency of water samples to be collected from all public water
   1-13  systems; and
   1-14        WHEREAS, Sampling may be required for as many as 11 different
   1-15  groups of chemicals, each group requiring a separate sample;
   1-16  consequently, 11 separate samples per quarter may be required at
   1-17  each location where treated water enters the system; and
   1-18        WHEREAS, This unfunded federal mandate to require increased
   1-19  sampling will have a financial impact on all public water systems,
   1-20  especially the smaller systems, which have limited resources and
   1-21  staff; and
   1-22        WHEREAS, State and local efforts to focus limited resources
   1-23  on specific Texas issues will be undermined; and
   1-24        WHEREAS, The failure of the United States Congress to provide
    2-1  adequate funding to implement the Safe Drinking Water Act and other
    2-2  federal legislation has placed state and local governments in the
    2-3  untenable position of attempting to fund the federal requirements
    2-4  with diminishing amounts of available revenue or, by failing to do
    2-5  so, jeopardizing state and local eligibility for certain federal
    2-6  funds; now, therefore, be it
    2-7        RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas
    2-8  hereby strongly urge the Congress of the United States to amend the
    2-9  Safe Drinking Water Act to allow cities to exercise greater
   2-10  discretion and flexibility concerning the number and frequency of
   2-11  water samples required to ensure safe drinking water; and, be it
   2-12  further
   2-13        RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward official copies
   2-14  of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the
   2-15  speaker of the house of representatives and president of the senate
   2-16  of the United States Congress, and to all members of the Texas
   2-17  delegation to the congress with the request that it be officially
   2-18  entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress
   2-19  of the United States of America.