Colonia Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3238 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 to reauthorize certain grant programs providing assistance to colonias, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 2021 Ms. ESCOBAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Safe Drink- ing Water Act Amendments of 1996 to reauthorize cer- tain grant programs providing assistance to colonias, 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 ‘‘Colonia Infrastructure 4 Improvement Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3238.IH H3238 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3238 IH SEC. 2. DRINKING WATER ASSISTANCE TO COLONIAS. 1 Section 1456 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 2 U.S.C. 300j–16) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 5 paragraph (3); and 6 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 7 following new paragraph: 8 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en- 9 tity’ means each of the following: 10 ‘‘(A) A border State. 11 ‘‘(B) A local government with jurisdiction 12 over an eligible community.’’; 13 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘border 14 State’’ and inserting ‘‘covered entity’’; 15 (3) by striking subsection (d); 16 (4) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 17 section (d); and 18 (5) in subsection (d), as so redesignated— 19 (A) by striking ‘‘$25,000,000’’ and insert- 20 ing ‘‘$100,000,000’’; and 21 (B) by striking ‘‘1997 through 1999’’ and 22 inserting ‘‘2022 through 2026’’. 23 SEC. 3. WASTEWATER ASSISTANCE TO COLONIAS. 24 Section 307 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amend- 25 ments of 1996 (33 U.S.C. 1281 note) is amended— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3238.IH H3238 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3238 IH (1) in subsection (a)— 1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 2 (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; and 3 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en- 6 tity’ means each of the following: 7 ‘‘(A) A border State. 8 ‘‘(B) A local government with jurisdiction 9 over an eligible community.’’; 10 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘border 11 State’’ and inserting ‘‘covered entity’’; 12 (3) by striking subsection (d); 13 (4) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 14 section (d); and 15 (5) in subsection (d), as so redesignated— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘$25,000,000’’ and insert- 17 ing ‘‘$100,000,000’’; and 18 (B) by striking ‘‘1997 through 1999’’ and 19 inserting ‘‘2022 through 2026’’. 20 SEC. 4. COLONIAS STATE OF GOOD REPAIR GRANT PRO- 21 GRAM. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 23 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3238.IH H3238 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3238 IH tation shall establish a program under which the Secretary 1 may award grants to assist projects that— 2 (1) facilitate the state of good repair of surface 3 infrastructure; and 4 (2) are carried out in, or for the benefit of, a 5 colonia. 6 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Secretary may award 7 a grant under this section to the following: 8 (1) A State. 9 (2) A metropolitan planning organization. 10 (3) A unit of local government. 11 (4) A Federal land management agency. 12 (5) A Tribal Government. 13 (c) COLONIA DEFINED.—In this section, the term 14 ‘‘colonia’’ means a low-income community with economic 15 hardship that— 16 (1) is commonly referred to as a colonia; and 17 (2) is located along the United States-Mexico 18 border (generally in an unincorporated area). 19 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 20 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 21 $125,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:40 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3238.IH H3238 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS