Brown hopes to introduce this week

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is working on legislation this week aimed at protecting community water supplies.

Brown’s efforts come following two water crises in Flint, Michigan and Sebring, Ohio, in which city water supplies were contaminated by lead.

“No parent should have to worry that the water coming out of their faucets might be poisoning their children,”

Brown said in a news release. “That’s why I’m introducing legislation to ensure communities have the ability to address threats from lead in an efficient, transparent, and accountable way. But it’s not enough to just react to the crisis at hand — once children have been exposed, the effects can’t be erased.”

Brown’s legislation would direct environmental agencies to notify communities in a timely manner if there is a problem detected with the water supply, change the requirement for a plan to correct the problem from 18 months to six months, require access to safe water in the meantime and require the U.S. environmental protection agency to make available state water quality reports in one place online.

Brown said he is still drafting the legislation and hopes to introduce it this week.