Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1352 To establish a trust fund to provide for adequate funding for water and sewer infrastructure, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Penn- sylvania, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. PINGREE, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JONES, Ms. HOULAHAN, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CARSON, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CASTEN, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. MOORE of Wis- consin, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. NEAL, Ms. MENG, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. WELCH, Mr. SIRES, Mr. LAWSON of Flor- ida, Ms. CHU, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. RUSH, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. BUSH, Mr. MFUME, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. DEAN, Ms. OMAR, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. LIEU, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. BASS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1352 IH A BILL To establish a trust fund to provide for adequate funding for water and sewer infrastructure, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reli- 5 ability Act of 2021’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund. Sec. 3. Report on affordability, discrimination and civil rights violations, public participation in regionalization, and data collection. Sec. 4. Technical assistance to rural and small municipalities and tribal govern- ments. Sec. 5. Residential onsite sewage disposal system improvement. Sec. 6. Household water well systems. Sec. 7. State water pollution control revolving funds. Sec. 8. Use of State revolving loan funds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Sec. 9. Drinking water grant programs. Sec. 10. Requirement for the use of American materials in drinking water. Sec. 11. Labor provisions. SEC. 2. WATER AFFORDABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EQUITY, 9 AND RELIABILITY TRUST FUND. 10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 12 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 13 adding at the end the following: 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1352 IH ‘‘SEC. 9512. WATER AFFORDABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EQ- 1 UITY, AND RELIABILITY TRUST FUND. 2 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab- 3 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 4 to be known as the ‘Water Affordability, Transparency, 5 Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund’ (referred to in this 6 section as the ‘Trust Fund’), consisting of such amounts 7 as may be appropriated or credited to such Trust Fund 8 as provided in this section or section 9602(b). 9 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO FUND.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are hereby appro- 11 priated to the Trust Fund such amounts as the Sec- 12 retary from time to time estimates are equal to the 13 increase in Federal revenues attributable to the 14 amendment made by section 2(b) of the Water Af- 15 fordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability 16 Act of 2021. 17 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The sum of the amounts 18 appropriated under paragraph (1) during any fiscal 19 year shall not exceed $34,850,000,000. 20 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the Trust Fund 21 are available, without further appropriation and without 22 fiscal year limitation, for the purposes described in section 23 2(c) of the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, 24 and Reliability Act of 2021.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1352 IH (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 1 parts for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code 2 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 3 section 9511 the following new item: 4 ‘‘Sec. 9512. Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund.’’. (b) IMPOSITION OF TAX.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 11(b) of the Internal 6 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘21’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘24.5’’. 8 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 9 by this Act shall apply to taxable years beginning 10 after December 31, 2020. 11 (c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Administrator of 12 the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary 13 of Agriculture shall allocate, for a fiscal year, the funds 14 available, at the beginning of such fiscal year, in the Water 15 Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust 16 Fund, established by section 9512 of the Internal Revenue 17 Code of 1986, as follows: 18 (1) CLEAN WATER PROGRAMS.—Of such 19 amount, the Administrator shall make available— 20 (A) 0.5 percent for making grants under 21 section 104(b)(8) of the Federal Water Pollu- 22 tion Control Act; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1352 IH (B) 1.5 percent for making grants under 1 section 106 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1256); 2 (C) 2.5 percent for making grants under 3 section 222 of such Act; 4 (D) 2.5 percent for making grants under 5 section 319 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1329); and 6 (E) 45 percent for making capitalization 7 grants under section 601 of such Act (33 8 U.S.C. 1381). 9 (2) SAFE DRINKING WATER FUNDING.—Of such 10 amount, the Administrator shall make available— 11 (A) 0.5 percent for providing technical as- 12 sistance under section 1442(e) of the Safe 13 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–1(e)); 14 (B) 43.5 percent for making capitalization 15 grants under section 1452 of such Act (42 16 U.S.C. 300j–12); and 17 (C) 3 percent for making grants under sec- 18 tion 1465 of such Act. 19 (3) HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS.—Of 20 such amount, the Secretary shall make available 1 21 percent for making grants under section 306E of the 22 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 23 U.S.C. 1926e). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1352 IH SEC. 3. REPORT ON AFFORDABILITY, DISCRIMINATION AND 1 CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, PUBLIC PARTICI- 2 PATION IN REGIONALIZATION, AND DATA 3 COLLECTION. 4 (a) STUDY.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 6 Environmental Protection Agency shall conduct a 7 study on water and sewer services, in accordance 8 with this subsection. 9 (2) AFFORDABILITY.—In conducting the study 10 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall study 11 water affordability nationwide, including— 12 (A) rates for water and sewer services, in- 13 creases in such rates during the ten-year period 14 preceding such study, and water service dis- 15 connections due to unpaid water service 16 charges; and 17 (B) the effectiveness of funding under sec- 18 tion 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act and 19 under section 601 of the Federal Water Pollu- 20 tion Control Act for promoting affordable, equi- 21 table, transparent, and reliable water and sewer 22 service. 23 (3) DISCRIMINATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS.—In 24 conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Ad- 25 ministrator, in collaboration with the Civil Rights 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1352 IH Division of the United States Department of Justice, 1 shall study— 2 (A) discriminatory practices of water and 3 sewer service providers; and 4 (B) violations by such service providers 5 that receive Federal assistance of civil rights 6 under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 7 with regard to equal access to water and sewer 8 services. 9 (4) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN REGIONALIZA- 10 TION.—In conducting the study under paragraph 11 (1), the Administrator shall evaluate efforts to re- 12 gionalize public water systems, as defined in section 13 1401 of the Safe Water Drinking Act, and sewer 14 services with respect to public participation in— 15 (A) the decision to undergo such regional- 16 ization; and 17 (B) decision making by the board of direc- 18 tors (or other governing body) of the entity that 19 provides, or oversees or coordinates the provi- 20 sion of, water by the public water systems sub- 21 ject to such regionalization. 22 (5) DATA COLLECTION.—In conducting the 23 study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 24 collect information, assess the availability of infor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Mar 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1352 IH mation, and evaluate the methodologies used to col- 1 lect information, related to— 2 (A) people living without water or sewer 3 services; 4 (B) water service disconnections due to un- 5 paid water service charges, including disconnec- 6 tions experienced by households containing chil- 7 dren, elderly persons, disabled persons, chron- 8 ically ill persons, or other vulnerable popu- 9 lations; and 10 (C) disparate effects, on the basis of race, 11 gender, or socioeconomic status, of water serv- 12 ice disconnections and the lack of public water 13 service. 14 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 15 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the En- 16 vironmental Protection Agency shall submit to Congress 17 a report that contains— 18 (1) the results of the study conducted under 19 subsection (a)(1); and 20 (2) recommendations for utility companies, 21 Federal agencies, and States relating to such results. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1352 IH SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO RURAL AND SMALL 1 MUNICIPALITIES AND TRIBAL GOVERN- 2 MENTS. 3 Section 104(u) of the Federal Water Pollution Con- 4 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(u)) is amended by striking ‘‘not 5 to exceed $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 6 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$175,000,000 for each of 7 fiscal years 2021 through 2026’’. 8 SEC. 5. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM 9 IMPROVEMENT. 10 Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 11 (33 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 12 the following: 13 ‘‘SEC. 222. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYS- 14 TEMS. 15 ‘‘Not later than the date that is 1 year after the date 16 of the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 17 establish a grant program to make grants to users of a 18 septic tank and drainage field for costs associated with 19 repairing, replacing, or upgrading such tank and such 20 field.’’. 21 SEC. 6. HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS. 22 Section 306E(d) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 23 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926e(d)) is amended by 24 striking ‘‘$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1352 IH through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$348,500,000 for each fis- 1 cal year’’. 2 SEC. 7. STATE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING 3 FUNDS. 4 (a) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—Section 602(b) of 5 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 6 1382(b)) is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘will be made 8 to the State with funds to be made available’’ and 9 inserting ‘‘were made to the State with funds made 10 available for fiscal year 2019’’; 11 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 12 end; 13 (3) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 14 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 15 (4) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(15) the State will not provide financial assist- 17 ance using amounts from the fund for any project 18 that will provide substantial direct benefits to new 19 communities, lots, or subdivisions, other than a 20 project to construct an advanced decentralized 21 wastewater system; and’’. 22 (b) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR AS- 23 SISTANCE.—Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution 24 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1352 IH (1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1 the end; 2 (2) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the period 3 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(13) to any municipality or intermunicipal, 6 interstate, or State agency for— 7 ‘‘(A) purchasing from a willing or unwill- 8 ing seller a privately owned treatment works; 9 and 10 ‘‘(B) expenses related to canceling a con- 11 tract for the operation or management of a 12 publicly owned treatment works.’’. 13 (c) INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL SUB- 14 SIDIZATION BY THE STATE.—Section 603(i)(3)(B) of the 15 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 16 1383(i)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 17 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION.—A State 18 may use not less than 50 percent of the total 19 amount received by the State in capitalization 20 grants under this title for a fiscal year for pro- 21 viding additional subsidization under this sub- 22 section.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1352.IH H1352 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1352 IH SEC. 8. USE OF STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]