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Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988

Public Law 100-572 · H.R. 4939 · 100th Congress · began in the House

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 31, 1988 · Environmental Protection

Sponsor: Rep. Gerald Sikorski (D-MN-6)

Cosponsors (1): Rep. Henry Waxman

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider drinking water coolers with lead-lined tanks as imminently hazardous consumer products which must be repaired, replaced, recalled, or refunded by their manufacturers and importers within one year of this Act's enactment.

Requires the EPA to publish and distribute to the States: (1) a list identifying each brand and model of drinking water cooler which is not lead free, including each cooler which has a lead-lined tank; and (2) a guidance document and testing protocol to assist schools in determining the source and degree of lead contamination in school drinking water supplies and in remedying such contamination. Bans the manufacture or sale of listed drinking water coolers and any other drinking water cooler which is not lead free. Establishes criminal and civil penalties for violation of such ban. Requires the States to disseminate the water cooler list and the guidance document and testing protocol to local education agencies (LEAs), private nonprofit elementary or secondary schools, and day care centers.

Directs each State to establish a program, within nine months of this Act's enactment, to assist LEAs in testing for, and remedying, lead contamination in school drinking water from coolers and from other sources of lead contamination. Requires that testing results be made available for public inspection in LEA administrative offices. Requires that listed coolers be repaired, removed, or rendered inoperable within 15 months of this Act's enactment, unless they are tested and found not to contribute lead to drinking water. Directs the EPA to make grants to States for such programs. Authorizes appropriations for such grant program through FY 1991.

Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to State and local governments for the initiation and expansion of community programs designed to: (1) screen infants and children for elevated blood lead levels; (2) assure referral for treatment of, and environmental intervention for, infants and children with such blood lead levels; and (3) provide education about childhood lead poisoning. Requires that grant priority be given to programs which will serve areas with a high incidence of elevated blood levels in infants and children. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on the effectiveness of such programs. Authorizes appropriations for such grant program through FY 1991.

Directs the EPA to: (1) assure that drinking water testing laboratory certification programs certify only those laboratories which provide reliable accurate testing; and (2) publish a list of certified laboratories.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 15 actions.

  1. Oct 31, 1988Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 100-572.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 21, 1988PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 14, 1988FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
  5. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
  6. Oct 6, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
  7. Oct 5, 1988FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  8. Oct 3, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Energy and Commerce Committee
  9. Sep 29, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Energy and Commerce Committee
  10. Aug 3, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Health and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
  11. CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Health and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
  12. Jul 13, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Health and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
  13. Jul 12, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Health and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
  14. Jun 29, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
  15. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.