Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988

Lead Contamination Control Act of 1988 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to direct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify and notify each manufacturer or importer of drinking water coolers with lead-lined tanks. Requires such manufacturer or importer to publish public notice of the potential health hazards associated with such coolers and offer to replace them. Provides that if such manufacturers or importers have not made an adequate effort to repair or replace the coolers, within six months of this Act's enactment, the EPA shall make offers to cooler owners to repair or replace such coolers at the expense of such manufacturers or owners. 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 or which, upon corrosion, will cause drinking water to be in contact with lead; 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 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. Requires the EPA, within six months of this Act's enactment, to revise the national primary drinking water regulation for lead to prohibit concentrations of lead in drinking water from exceeding ten parts per billion, beginning one year after such revision. Requires a public water system which is not in compliance with such regulation to: (1) install optimal treatment to reduce corrosivity of drinking water; and (2) reduce the lead content of water at the entry point to the distribution system to five parts per billion. Provides that, if, after taking such measures, the system is still not in compliance with such regulation, the system must: (1) replace its lead service lines, goosenecks, and pigtails, unless they contribute less than ten parts per billion of lead to the water; (2) sample, upon request, drinking water supplies in homes and businesses for lead levels; (3) assist persons served by the system to identify, reduce their exposure to, and remove sources of lead in drinking water; and (4) retest, at least annually, targeted samples of drinking water outlets supplied by the system. Deems a public water system which has less than 500 service connections to be in compliance with lead regulation requirements (except for requirements regarding periodic testing and monitoring) if it: (1) gives its customers notice of lead levels in the drinking water and the potential health effects of such lead contamination; and (2) uses limestone contactors ("calcite filters") or treats the water with soda ash. Authorizes the EPA to require such systems to adopt other lead contamination reduction measures. Directs the EPA to establish a toll free telephone hotline to provide information to drinking water consumers regarding lead contamination in drinking water and methods of remedying such contamination. Requires the owner or operator of a public water system to give customers notice of violations concerning lead in drinking water. 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 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.