Emergency Water is a Human Right Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 616 To prohibit water shutoffs during the COVID–19 emergency period, provide drinking and waste water assistance to households, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 28, 2021 Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BUSH, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. CLARK of Mas- sachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. WATSON COLE- MAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. TRAHAN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. SIRES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. JONES, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. KELLY of Illi- nois, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. SOTO, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. MENG, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. MAT- SUI, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To prohibit water shutoffs during the COVID–19 emergency VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H616.IH H616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 616 IH period, provide drinking and waste water assistance to households, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Water is 4 a Human Right Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. HOME ENERGY AND WATER SERVICE CONTINUITY. 6 Any entity receiving financial assistance pursuant to 7 this Act shall, to the maximum extent practicable, estab- 8 lish or maintain in effect policies to ensure that no home 9 energy service or public water system service to an indi- 10 vidual or household, which is provided or regulated by 11 such entity, is or remains disconnected or interrupted dur- 12 ing the emergency period described in section 13 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act. For purposes 14 of this Act, the term ‘‘home energy service’’ means a serv- 15 ice to provide home energy, as such term is defined in sec- 16 tion 2603 of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 17 Act of 1981, and electric service, as that term is used in 18 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, and 19 the term ‘‘public water system’’ has the meaning given 20 that term in section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. 21 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require forgive- 22 ness of outstanding debt owed to an entity or to absolve 23 an individual of any obligation to an entity for service. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H616.IH H616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 616 IH SEC. 3. LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD DRINKING WATER AND 1 WASTEWATER ASSISTANCE. 2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated $1,500,000,000 to the Sec- 4 retary to carry out this section. Such sums shall remain 5 available until expended. 6 (b) LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD DRINKING WATER 7 AND WASTEWATER ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 8 make grants to States and Indian Tribes to assist low- 9 income households, particularly those with the lowest in- 10 comes, that pay a high proportion of household income 11 for drinking water and wastewater services. 12 (c) USE OF LIHEAP RESOURCES.—In carrying out 13 this section, the Secretary, States, and Indian Tribes, as 14 applicable, shall use the existing processes, procedures, 15 policies, and systems in place to carry out the Low-Income 16 Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981, as the Secretary 17 determines appropriate, including by using the application 18 and approval process under such Act to the maximum ex- 19 tent practicable. 20 (d) ALLOTMENT.— 21 (1) FACTORS.—The Secretary shall allot 22 amounts appropriated pursuant to this section to a 23 State or Indian Tribe taking into account— 24 (A) the percentage of households in the 25 State, or under the jurisdiction of the Indian 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H616.IH H616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 616 IH Tribe, that are low-income, as determined by 1 the Secretary; 2 (B) the average State or Tribal drinking 3 water and wastewater service rates; and 4 (C) the extent to which the State or Indian 5 Tribe has been impacted by the public health 6 emergency. 7 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 8 than 15 days after determining an amount to allot 9 to each State or Indian Tribe pursuant to paragraph 10 (1), and prior to making grants under this section, 11 the Secretary shall notify Congress of such allotment 12 amounts. 13 (e) DETERMINATION OF LOW-INCOME HOUSE- 14 HOLDS.— 15 (1) MINIMUM DEFINITION OF LOW-INCOME.—In 16 determining whether a household is considered low- 17 income for the purposes of this section, a State or 18 Indian Tribe shall— 19 (A) ensure that, at a minimum, all house- 20 holds within 150 percent of the Federal poverty 21 line are included as low-income households; and 22 (B) consider households that have not pre- 23 viously received assistance under the Low-In- 24 come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H616.IH H616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 616 IH the same manner as households that have pre- 1 viously received such assistance. 2 (2) HOUSEHOLD DOCUMENTATION REQUIRE- 3 MENTS.—States and Indian Tribes shall— 4 (A) to the maximum extent practicable, 5 seek to limit the income history documentation 6 requirements for determining whether a house- 7 hold is considered low-income for the purposes 8 of this section; and 9 (B) for the purposes of income eligibility, 10 accept proof of job loss or severe income loss 11 dated after February 29, 2020, such as a layoff 12 or furlough notice or verification of application 13 of unemployment benefits, as sufficient to dem- 14 onstrate lack of income for an individual or 15 household. 16 (f) APPLICATIONS.—Each State or Indian Tribe de- 17 siring to receive a grant under this section shall submit 18 an application to the Secretary, in such form as the Sec- 19 retary shall require. 20 (g) STATE AGREEMENTS WITH DRINKING WATER 21 AND WASTEWATER PROVIDERS.—To the maximum extent 22 practicable, a State that receives a grant under this sec- 23 tion shall enter into agreements with public water systems, 24 municipalities, nonprofit organizations associated with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H616.IH H616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 616 IH providing drinking water and wastewater services to rural 1 and small communities, and Indian Tribes, to assist in 2 identifying low-income households and to carry out this 3 section. 4 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State or Indian 5 Tribe that receives a grant under this section may use up 6 to 15 percent of the granted amounts for administrative 7 costs. 8 (i) FEDERAL AGENCY COORDINATION.—In carrying 9 out this section, the Secretary shall coordinate with the 10 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 11 and consult with other Federal agencies with authority 12 over the provision of drinking water and wastewater serv- 13 ices. 14 (j) AUDITS.—The Secretary shall require each State 15 and Indian Tribe receiving a grant under this section to 16 undertake periodic audits and evaluations of expenditures 17 made by such State or Indian Tribe pursuant to this sec- 18 tion. 19 (k) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 20 submit to Congress a report on the results of activities 21 carried out pursuant to this section— 22 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en- 23 actment of this section; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H616.IH H616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 616 IH (2) upon disbursement of all funds appropriated 1 pursuant to this section. 2 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 4 means any Indian Tribe, band, group, or community 5 recognized by the Secretary of the Interior and exer- 6 cising governmental authority over a Federal Indian 7 reservation. 8 (2) MUNICIPALITY.—The term ‘‘municipality’’ 9 has the meaning given such term in section 502 of 10 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 11 1362). 12 (3) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—The term 13 ‘‘public health emergency’’ means the public health 14 emergency described in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the 15 Social Security Act. 16 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 18 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 19 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 20 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, 21 Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 22 the Northern Mariana Islands. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Feb 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H616.IH H616 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS