Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021

IB Union Calendar No. 48 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1915 [Report No. 117–69] To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize certain water pollution control programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 16, 2021 Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Trans- portation and Infrastructure JUNE 22, 2021 Additional sponsors: Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. NORTON, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. CARSON, Ms. TITUS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. COHEN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. VAN DREW, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi- nois, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. HARDER of California, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. SIRES, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. BOURDEAUX, Mr. TONKO, Ms. CHU, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. COSTA, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. STANTON, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. COOPER, Mr. LAMB, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. BEYER, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, and Ms. SCANLON VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1915 RH JUNE 22, 2021 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 16, 2021] A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reau- thorize certain water pollution control programs, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1915 RH 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 Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 2021’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Wastewater infrastructure workforce investment. Sec. 3. Technical assistance to rural, small, and Tribal municipalities. Sec. 4. State management assistance. Sec. 5. Watershed, wet weather, and resiliency projects. Sec. 6. Waiver of matching requirement for grants to District of Columbia. Sec. 7. Pilot program for alternative water source projects. Sec. 8. Sewer overflow and stormwater reuse municipal grants. Sec. 9. Grants for the treatment of emerging contaminants. Sec. 10. Household wastewater grant program. Sec. 11. Smart wastewater infrastructure technology grant program. Sec. 12. Reports to Congress. Sec. 13. Indian Tribes. Sec. 14. Capitalization grants. Sec. 15. Water pollution control revolving loan funds. Sec. 16. Allotment of funds. Sec. 17. Reservation of funds for territories of the United States. Sec. 18. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 19. Technical assistance by Municipal Ombudsman. Sec. 20. Report on wastewater infrastructure funding for rural, economically dis- advantaged, and Tribal communities. Sec. 21. Water Reuse Interagency Working Group. SEC. 2. WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE WORKFORCE IN- 8 VESTMENT. 9 Section 104(g) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 10 Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(g)) is amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘manpower’’ 12 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘workforce’’; and 13 (2) by amending paragraph (4) to read as fol- 14 lows: 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1915 RH ‘‘(4) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON PUBLICLY OWNED 1 TREATMENT WORKS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.—Not 2 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the 3 Water Quality Protection and Job Creation Act of 4 2021, the Administrator, in consultation with the 5 Secretary of Labor, shall submit to the Committee on 6 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 7 Representatives and the Committee on Environment 8 and Public Works of the Senate a report containing— 9 ‘‘(A) an assessment of the current and fu- 10 ture workforce needs for publicly owned treat- 11 ment works, including an estimate of the number 12 of future positions needed for such treatment 13 works and the technical skills and education 14 needed for such positions; 15 ‘‘(B) a summary of actions taken by the 16 Administrator, including Federal investments 17 under this chapter, that promote workforce devel- 18 opment to address such needs; and 19 ‘‘(C) any recommendations of the Adminis- 20 trator to address such needs.’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1915 RH SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO RURAL, SMALL, AND 1 TRIBAL MUNICIPALITIES. 2 (a) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 104(u) of the Fed- 3 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(u)) is 4 amended— 5 (1) by striking ‘‘and (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘(7)’’; 6 (2) by striking ‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2021’’; 7 and 8 (3) by inserting ‘‘; and (8) not to exceed 9 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 10 2026 for carrying out subsections (b)(3), (b)(8), and 11 (g), except that not less than half of the amounts so 12 appropriated to carry out such subsections in each 13 such fiscal year shall be used for carrying out sub- 14 section (b)(8)’’ before the period at the end. 15 (b) COMMUNICATION.—A nonprofit organization re- 16 ceiving a grant under section 104(b)(8) of the Federal 17 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(b)(8)) shall, 18 prior to carrying out an activity using such grant funds, 19 consult with the State in which such activity is to be carried 20 out. 21 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date of 22 enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environ- 23 mental Protection Agency shall submit to Congress a report 24 that describes the implementation of the grants made under 25 subsections (b)(3), (b)(8), and (g) of section 104 of the Fed- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1915 RH eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1254) during 1 the 2 fiscal years preceding the date of the report, including 2 a description of the recipients and amounts of such grants. 3 SEC. 4. STATE MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE. 4 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 5 106(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 6 U.S.C. 1256(a)) is amended— 7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 8 (1); and 9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(3) such sums as may be necessary for each of 12 fiscal years 1991 through 2021; and 13 ‘‘(4) $500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 14 through 2026;’’. 15 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 106(e) of the 16 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1256(e)) 17 is amended by striking ‘‘Beginning in fiscal year 1974 the’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘The’’. 19 SEC. 5. WATERSHED, WET WEATHER, AND RESILIENCY 20 PROJECTS. 21 (a) INCREASED RESILIENCE OF TREATMENT 22 WORKS.—Section 122(a)(6) of the Federal Water Pollution 23 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1274(a)(6)) is amended to read as 24 follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1915 RH ‘‘(6) INCREASED RESILIENCE OF TREATMENT 1 WORKS.—Efforts— 2 ‘‘(A) to assess future risks and 3 vulnerabilities of publicly owned treatment 4 works to manmade or natural disasters, includ- 5 ing extreme weather events, drought, and sea 6 level rise; and 7 ‘‘(B) to carry out the planning, design, or 8 construction of projects, on a systemwide or 9 areawide basis, to increase the resilience of pub- 10 licly owned treatment works through— 11 ‘‘(i) the conservation of water or the 12 enhancement of water use efficiency; 13 ‘‘(ii) the enhancement of wastewater 14 (including stormwater) management by in- 15 creasing watershed preservation and protec- 16 tion, including through— 17 ‘‘(I) the use of green infrastruc- 18 ture; or 19 ‘‘(II) the reclamation and reuse of 20 wastewater (including stormwater), 21 such as through aquifer recharge zones; 22 ‘‘(iii) the modification or relocation of 23 an existing publicly owned treatment works 24 at risk of being significantly impaired or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1915 RH damaged by a manmade or natural dis- 1 aster; 2 ‘‘(iv) the enhancement of energy effi- 3 ciency, or the use or generation of recovered 4 or renewable energy, in the management, 5 treatment, or conveyance of wastewater (in- 6 cluding stormwater); or 7 ‘‘(v) other activities that the Adminis- 8 trator determines will address identified 9 vulnerabilities to manmade or natural dis- 10 asters, including activities to address cyber- 11 security vulnerabilities of publicly owned 12 treatment works.’’. 13 (b) REQUIREMENTS; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 14 TIONS.—Section 122 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 15 Act (33 U.S.C. 1274) is amended by striking subsection (c) 16 and inserting the following: 17 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of section 18 608 shall apply to any construction, alteration, mainte- 19 nance, or repair of treatment works carried out using a 20 grant under this section. 21 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator shall use not 22 less than 15 percent of the amounts appropriated pursuant 23 to this section in a fiscal year to provide assistance to mu- 24 nicipalities with a population of less than 10,000, or for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1915 RH economically disadvantaged communities (as defined in sec- 1 tion 20 of the Water Quality Protection and Job Creation 2 Act of 2021), to the extent there are sufficient eligible appli- 3 cations. 4 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 6 $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.’’. 7 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 8 (1) WATERSHED PILOT PROJECTS.—Section 122 9 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 10 1274) is amended— 11 (A) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘WA- 12 TERSHED PILOT PROJECTS’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘WATERSHED, WET WEATHER, AND RESIL- 14 IENCY PROJECTS’’; and 15 (B) by striking ‘‘pilot’’ each place it ap- 16 pears. 17 (2) WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING 18 LOAN FUNDS.—Section 603(c)(7) of the Federal Water 19 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)(7)) is 20 amended by striking ‘‘watershed’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1915 RH SEC. 6. WAIVER OF MATCHING REQUIREMENT FOR GRANTS 1 TO DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 2 Section 202(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 3 Act (33 U.S.C. 1282(a)) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub- 6 section, in the case of a project for a treatment works in 7 the District of Columbia, such a project shall be eligible for 8 grants at 100 percent of the cost of construction thereof.’’. 9 SEC. 7. PILOT PROGRAM FOR ALTERNATIVE WATER 10 SOURCE PROJECTS. 11 (a) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—Section 220(d) of the 12 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1300(d)) 13 is amended— 14 (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol- 15 lows: 16 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY.—A project 17 that has received construction funds under the Rec- 18 lamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act 19 of 1992 shall not be eligible for grant assistance under 20 this section.’’; and 21 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating 22 paragraph (3) as paragraph (2). 23 (b) COMMITTEE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE; ASSIST- 24 ANCE.—Section 220 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1915 RH Act (33 U.S.C. 1300) is amended by striking subsection (e) 1 and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator shall use not 3 less than 15 percent of the amounts appropriated pursuant 4 to this section in a fiscal year to provide assistance to eligi- 5 ble entities for projects designed to serve fewer than 10,000 6 individuals, to the extent there are sufficient eligible appli- 7 cations.’’. 8 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 220 of the Federal 9 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1300) is amended 10 by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as subsections (j) 11 and (k), respectively, and inserting after subsection (h) the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of section 14 608 shall apply to any construction of an alternative water 15 source project carried out using assistance made available 16 under this section.’’. 17 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 220(j)(1) of the Federal 18 Water Pollution Control Act (as redesignated by subsection 19 (c) of this section) is amended by striking ‘‘or by treating 20 wastewater’’ and inserting ‘‘(including stormwater), or by 21 treating wastewater (including stormwater) for ground- 22 water recharge, potable reuse, or other purposes’’. 23 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 24 220(k) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (as redes- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:54 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1915.RH H1915 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1915 RH ignated by subsection (c) of this section) is amended by 1 striking ‘‘a total of $75,000,000 for fiscal years 2002 2 through 2004’’ and inserting ‘‘$200,000,000 for each of fis- 3 cal years 2022 through 2026’’. 4 SEC. 8. SEWER OVERFLOW AND STORMWATER REUSE MU- 5 NICIPAL GRANTS. 6 Section [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]