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SJM105................................................by HEALTH AND WELFARE
SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT - Stating findings of the Legislature and asking
the Congress of the United States to enact appropriate legislation to
authorize the individual states to autonomously implement the Safe Drinking
Water Act in their respective states and to provide federal funds to the
states via block grants to be used for the implementation of the Act.
02/14 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/15 Rpt prt - to Health/Wel
02/22 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
02/23 10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsor - Brandt
Title apvd - to House
02/24 House intro - 1st rdg - to Env
03/01 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/02 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/09 3rd rdg - ADOPTED - voice vote
Floor Sponsors - Smylie & Harwood
Title apvd - to Senate
03/10 To enrol
03/11 Rpt enrol - Pres signed
03/14 Sp signed
03/15 To Secretary of State
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-eighth Legislature First Regular Session - 2005
IN THE SENATE
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 105
BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
1 A JOINT MEMORIAL
2 TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS
3 ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION REPRESENTING THE STATE OF
4 IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
5 We, your Memorialists, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the
6 State of Idaho assembled in the First Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth
7 Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
8 WHEREAS, the Safe Drinking Water Act was originally passed by the United
9 States Congress in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation's
10 public drinking water supply and was thereafter amended in 1986 and 1996; and
11 WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
12 charged with the administration of the Safe Drinking Water Act and is autho-
13 rized to mandate certain priorities relating to the Act. Individual states
14 play a central role in the implementation of the Act through the use of fed-
15 eral grants provided by the EPA; and
16 WHEREAS, in addition to the protection of public health, the Safe Drinking
17 Water Act was intended to improve partnerships between the individual states
18 in the administration and implementation of the Act; and
19 WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that cer-
20 tain rights shall be reserved to the states and the individual states are best
21 equipped to determine their respective needs, including those relating to
22 drinking water protection programs; and
23 WHEREAS, the state of Idaho is rural in nature and many of the drinking
24 water systems within the state are small and cannot afford to comply with
25 nonessential rules and regulations; and
26 WHEREAS, the drinking water system operators in the state of Idaho desire
27 to protect the waters of Idaho for its citizens and visitors to the best of
28 their abilities; and
29 WHEREAS, in order to address issues relevant to the state of Idaho and
30 make decisions in the best interest of the most citizens of the state of
31 Idaho, including the financing of infrastructure projects, the state of Idaho
32 must have autonomous management of its drinking water programs, free from fed-
33 eral mandates relating to priorities of the Safe Drinking Water Act; and
34 WHEREAS, the state of Idaho is best equipped to design and develop innova-
35 tive, efficient and productive safe drinking water protection and quality pro-
36 grams that will meet the needs of the residents of the state of Idaho within
37 the budget and capacity of the state of Idaho; and
38 WHEREAS, the state of Idaho has the ability to improve drinking water pro-
39 tection outcomes in a cost-effective manner with statewide implementation
40 driven by citizen needs, directed by the citizens, and under the review of the
41 citizens through the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
42 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session
43 of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of Representa-
44 tives concurring therein, that we urge the Congress of the United States to
2
1 enact the appropriate legislation to authorize the individual states to
2 autonomously implement the Safe Drinking Water Act in their respective states,
3 and to provide federal funds to the states via block grants to be used for the
4 implementation of the Act, in accordance with the determination of best use by
5 each state, to protect the public health and environment of the people of each
6 state.
7 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate be, and she is
8 hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to the Pres-
9 ident of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Con-
10 gress, and the congressional delegation representing the State of Idaho in the
11 Congress of the United States.