II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 916 To provide adequate funding for water and sewer infrastructure, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 23, 2021 Mr. SANDERS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To provide 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. Sec. 3. Report on affordability, discrimination and civil rights violations, public participation in regionalization, and data collection. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 916 IS Sec. 4. Technical assistance to rural and small municipalities and Tribal gov- ernments. 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 in- frastructure. Sec. 11. Labor provisions. SEC. 2. WATER AFFORDABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EQUITY, 1 AND RELIABILITY. 2 (a) CLEAN WATER PROGRAMS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each fis- 4 cal year, the Administrator of the Environmental 5 Protection Agency (referred to in this section as the 6 ‘‘Administrator’’) shall obligate, for the fiscal year— 7 (A) not more than $174,250,000 for mak- 8 ing grants under section 104(b)(8) of the Fed- 9 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 10 1254(b)(8)); 11 (B) not more than $522,750,000 for mak- 12 ing grants under section 106 of that Act (33 13 U.S.C. 1256); 14 (C) not more than $871,250,000 for mak- 15 ing grants under section 222 of that Act (as 16 added by section 5); 17 (D) not more than $871,250,000 for mak- 18 ing grants under section 319 of that Act (33 19 U.S.C. 1329); and 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 916 IS (E) not more than $15,682,500,000 for 1 making capitalization grants under section 601 2 of that Act (33 U.S.C. 1381). 3 (2) FUNDING.—On October 1 of each fiscal 4 year, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise 5 appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 6 transfer to the Administrator to carry out this sub- 7 section $18,122,000,000, to remain available until 8 expended. 9 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts trans- 10 ferred to the Administrator under paragraph (2) and 11 obligated by the Administrator under paragraph (1) 12 shall remain available to the Administrator, without 13 further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for 14 the purposes for which the amounts were obligated. 15 (b) SAFE DRINKING WATER FUNDING.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each fis- 17 cal year, the Administrator shall obligate, for the fis- 18 cal year— 19 (A) not more than $174,250,000 for pro- 20 viding technical assistance under section 21 1442(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 22 U.S.C. 300j–1(e)); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 916 IS (B) not more than $15,159,750,000 for 1 making capitalization grants under section 2 1452 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12); and 3 (C) not more than $1,045,500,000 for 4 making grants under section 1465 of that Act 5 (42 U.S.C. 300j–25). 6 (2) FUNDING.—On October 1 of each fiscal 7 year, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise 8 appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 9 transfer to the Administrator to carry out this sub- 10 section $16,379,500,000, to remain available until 11 expended. 12 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts trans- 13 ferred to the Administrator under paragraph (2) and 14 obligated by the Administrator under paragraph (1) 15 shall remain available to the Administrator, without 16 further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for 17 the purposes for which the amounts were obligated. 18 (c) HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each fis- 20 cal year, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in 21 this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall obligate, 22 for the fiscal year, not more than $348,500,000 for 23 making grants under section 306E of the Consoli- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 916 IS dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1 1926e). 2 (2) FUNDING.—On October 1 of each fiscal 3 year, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise 4 appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 5 transfer to the Secretary to carry out this subsection 6 $348,500,000, to remain available until expended. 7 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts trans- 8 ferred to the Secretary under paragraph (2) and ob- 9 ligated by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall 10 remain available to the Secretary, without further 11 appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for the pur- 12 poses for which the amounts were obligated. 13 SEC. 3. REPORT ON AFFORDABILITY, DISCRIMINATION AND 14 CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, PUBLIC PARTICI- 15 PATION IN REGIONALIZATION, AND DATA 16 COLLECTION. 17 (a) STUDY.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 19 Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in 20 this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall conduct a 21 study on water and sewer services. 22 (2) AFFORDABILITY.—In conducting the study 23 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall study 24 water affordability nationwide, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 916 IS (A) rates for water and sewer services, in- 1 creases in those rates during the 10-year period 2 ending on the date on which the Administrator 3 begins to carry out the study, and water service 4 disconnections due to unpaid water service 5 charges; and 6 (B) for promoting affordable, equitable, 7 transparent, and reliable water and sewer serv- 8 ice, the effectiveness of funding under— 9 (i) section 1452 of the Safe Drinking 10 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12); and 11 (ii) section 601 of the Federal Water 12 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1381) 13 (3) DISCRIMINATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS.—In 14 conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Ad- 15 ministrator, in collaboration with the Civil Rights 16 Division of the Department of Justice, shall study— 17 (A) discriminatory practices of water and 18 sewer service providers; and 19 (B) violations by water and sewer service 20 providers that receive Federal assistance of civil 21 rights under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 22 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to 23 equal access to water and sewer services. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 916 IS (4) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN REGIONALIZA- 1 TION.—In conducting the study under paragraph 2 (1), the Administrator shall evaluate efforts to re- 3 gionalize public water systems (as defined in section 4 1401 of the Safe Water Drinking Act (42 U.S.C. 5 300f)) and sewer services with respect to public par- 6 ticipation in— 7 (A) the decision to undergo the regional- 8 ization; and 9 (B) decisionmaking by the board of direc- 10 tors (or other governing body) of the entity that 11 provides, or oversees or coordinates the provi- 12 sion of, water by the public water systems sub- 13 ject to the regionalization. 14 (5) DATA COLLECTION.—In conducting the 15 study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 16 collect information, assess the availability of infor- 17 mation, and evaluate the methodologies used to col- 18 lect information, related to— 19 (A) people living without water or sewer 20 services; 21 (B) water service disconnections due to un- 22 paid water service charges, including disconnec- 23 tions experienced by households containing chil- 24 dren, elderly persons, disabled persons, chron- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 916 IS ically ill persons, or other vulnerable popu- 1 lations; and 2 (C) disparate effects, on the basis of race, 3 gender, or socioeconomic status, of water serv- 4 ice disconnections and the lack of public water 5 service. 6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 7 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 8 to Congress a report that contains— 9 (1) the results of the study under subsection 10 (a)(1); and 11 (2) recommendations for utility companies, 12 Federal agencies, and States with respect to the re- 13 sults of the study. 14 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO RURAL AND SMALL 15 MUNICIPALITIES AND TRIBAL GOVERN- 16 MENTS. 17 Section 104(u)(7) of the Federal Water Pollution 18 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(u)(7)) is amended by strik- 19 ing ‘‘not to exceed $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 20 2019 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$175,000,000 for 21 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 916 IS SEC. 5. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM 1 IMPROVEMENT. 2 Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 3 (33 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 222. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYS- 6 TEMS. 7 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 8 of this section, the Administrator shall establish a grant 9 program to make grants to users of a septic tank and 10 drainage field for costs associated with repairing, replac- 11 ing, or upgrading the septic tank and drainage field.’’. 12 SEC. 6. HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS. 13 Section 306E(d) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 14 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926e(d)) is amended by 15 striking ‘‘$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 16 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$348,500,000 for each fis- 17 cal year’’. 18 SEC. 7. STATE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING 19 FUNDS. 20 (a) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—Section 602(b) of 21 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 22 1382(b)) is amended— 23 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘will be made 24 to the State with funds to be made available’’ and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 916 IS inserting ‘‘were made to the State with funds made 1 available for fiscal year 2021’’; 2 (2) in paragraph (13)(B)(iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 3 at the end; 4 (3) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 5 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 6 (4) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(15) the State will not provide financial assist- 8 ance using amounts from the fund for any project 9 that will provide substantial direct benefits to new 10 communities, lots, or subdivisions, other than a 11 project to construct an advanced decentralized 12 wastewater system; and’’. 13 (b) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR AS- 14 SISTANCE.—Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution 15 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 16 (1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 17 the end; 18 (2) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the period 19 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(13) to any municipality or intermunicipal, 22 interstate, or State agency for— 23 ‘‘(A) purchasing from a willing seller a pri- 24 vately owned treatment works for the purpose 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 916 IS of bringing the treatment works into public 1 ownership; and 2 ‘‘(B) expenses related to canceling a con- 3 tract for the operation or management of a 4 publicly owned treatment works.’’. 5 (c) INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL SUB- 6 SIDIZATION BY THE STATE.—Section 603(i)(3) of the 7 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 8 1383(i)(3)) is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and 9 inserting the following: 10 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION.—A State 11 may use not less than 50 percent of the total 12 amount received by the State in capitalization 13 grants under this title for a fiscal year for pro- 14 viding additional subsidization under this sub- 15 section.’’. 16 SEC. 8. USE OF STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS UNDER 17 THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. 18 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 19 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)— 21 (A) in paragraph (2)— 22 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 23 ‘‘publicly owned, operated, and managed’’ 24 before ‘‘community water systems’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Apr 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S916.IS S916 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 916 IS (ii) by striking subparagraph (E) and 1 inserting the following: 2 ‘‘(E) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.— 3 The funds under this section may be used for— 4 ‘‘(i) purchasing from a willing seller a 5 privately owned community water system 6 for the purpose of bringing the community 7 water system into public ownership; or 8 ‘‘(ii) for the expenses related to can- 9 celing a contract for the operation or man- 10 agement of a community water system.’’; 11 and 12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(6) EXCEPTION TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP, OPER- 14 ATION, AND MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT.—Not- 15 withstanding paragraph (2)(A), a public water sys- 16 tem that regularly serves fewer than 10,000 persons, 17 and that is not owned, operated, or managed by any 18 person who owns, operates, or manages any other 19 public water system, may receive assistance under 20 this section.’’; 21 (2) in subsection (d), by striking paragraph (2) 22 and inserting the following: 23 ‘‘(2) TOTAL AMOUNT OF SUBSIDIES. 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