Assistance, Quality, and Affordability Act of 2021

IB Union Calendar No. 52 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3291 [Report No. 117–76] To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide assistance for States, territories, areas affected by natural disasters, and water systems and schools affected by PFAS or lead, and to require the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate national primary drinking water regula- tions for PFAS, microcystin toxin, and 1,4-dioxane, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2021 Mr. TONKO (for himself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce JUNE 29, 2021 Additional sponsor: Mr. HORSFORD JUNE 29, 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 May 18, 2021] VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3291 RH A BILL To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide assistance for States, territories, areas affected by natural disasters, and water systems and schools affected by PFAS or lead, and to require the Environmental Protection Agen- cy to promulgate national primary drinking water regula- tions for PFAS, microcystin toxin, and 1,4-dioxane, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3291 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 ‘‘As- 4 sistance, Quality, and Affordability 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. TITLE I—INFRASTRUCTURE Sec. 101. Drinking water system resilience funding. Sec. 102. Grants for State programs. Sec. 103. American iron and steel products. Sec. 104. Assistance for disadvantaged communities. Sec. 105. Allotments for territories. Sec. 106. Drinking water SRF funding. Sec. 107. Lead service line replacement. Sec. 108. Drinking water assistance to colonias. Sec. 109. PFAS treatment grants. Sec. 110. Voluntary school and child care program lead testing grant program. Sec. 111. Grant program for installation of filtration stations at schools and child care programs. Sec. 112. Drinking water fountain replacement for schools. Sec. 113. Indian reservation drinking water program. Sec. 114. Assistance for areas affected by natural disasters. TITLE II—SAFETY Sec. 201. Enabling EPA to set standards for new drinking water contaminants. Sec. 202. National primary drinking water regulations for PFAS. Sec. 203. National primary drinking water regulations for microcystin toxin. Sec. 204. National primary drinking water regulations for 1,4–dioxane. Sec. 205. Elimination of small system variances. TITLE III—AFFORDABILITY Sec. 301. Emergency relief program. TITLE IV—OTHER MATTERS Sec. 401. Small urban and rural water system consolidation report. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6213 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3291 RH TITLE I—INFRASTRUCTURE 1 SEC. 101. DRINKING WATER SYSTEM RESILIENCE FUNDING. 2 Section 1433(g) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 3 U.S.C. 300i–2(g)) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and 2021’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘through 2031’’; and 6 (2) in paragraph (6)— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘25,000,000’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘50,000,000’’; and 9 (B) by striking ‘‘2020 and 2021’’ and in- 10 serting ‘‘2022 through 2031’’. 11 SEC. 102. GRANTS FOR STATE PROGRAMS. 12 Section 1443(a)(7) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 13 U.S.C. 300j–2(a)(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘and 2021’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘through 2031’’. 15 SEC. 103. AMERICAN IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTS. 16 Section 1452(a)(4)(A) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 17 (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(a)(4)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘Dur- 18 ing fiscal years 2019 through 2023, funds’’ and inserting 19 ‘‘Funds’’. 20 SEC. 104. ASSISTANCE FOR DISADVANTAGED COMMU- 21 NITIES. 22 Section 1452(d)(2)(A) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 23 (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(d)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘35 24 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘40 percent’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3291 RH SEC. 105. ALLOTMENTS FOR TERRITORIES. 1 Section 1452(j) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 2 U.S.C. 300j–12(j)) is amended by striking ‘‘0.33 percent’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘1.5 percent’’. 4 SEC. 106. DRINKING WATER SRF FUNDING. 5 Section 1452(m)(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 6 (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(m)(1)) is amended— 7 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’; 8 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘2021.’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘2021;’’; and 10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(D) $4,140,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 12 ‘‘(E) $4,800,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 13 and 14 ‘‘(F) $5,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 15 2024 through 2031.’’. 16 SEC. 107. LEAD SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking 18 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended by adding at 19 the end the following: 20 ‘‘(u) LEAD SERVICE LINE REPLACEMENT.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the capital- 22 ization grants to eligible States under subsection 23 (a)(1), the Administrator shall offer to enter into 24 agreements with States, Indian Tribes, and the terri- 25 tories described in subsection (j) to make grants, in- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3291 RH cluding letters of credit, to such States, Indian Tribes, 1 and territories under this subsection to fund the re- 2 placement of lead service lines. 3 ‘‘(2) ALLOTMENTS.— 4 ‘‘(A) STATES.—Funds made available to 5 carry out this subsection shall be— 6 ‘‘(i) allotted and reallotted to the extent 7 practicable to States as if allotted or reallot- 8 ted under subsection (a)(1) as a capitaliza- 9 tion grant under such subsection; and 10 ‘‘(ii) deposited into the State loan fund 11 of a State receiving such funds pursuant to 12 an agreement entered into pursuant to this 13 subsection. 14 ‘‘(B) INDIAN TRIBES.—The Administrator 15 shall set aside 11⁄2 percent of the amounts made 16 available each fiscal year to carry out this sub- 17 section to make grants to Indian Tribes. 18 ‘‘(C) OTHER AREAS.—Funds made avail- 19 able to carry out this subsection shall be allotted 20 to territories described in subsection (j) in ac- 21 cordance with such subsection. 22 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 23 vision of this section, funds made available under this 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3291 RH subsection shall be used only for providing grants for 1 the replacement of lead service lines. 2 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—Each State, Indian Tribe, and 3 territory that has entered into an agreement pursuant 4 to this subsection shall annually prepare a plan that 5 identifies the intended uses of the amounts made 6 available to such State, Indian Tribe, or territory 7 under this subsection, and any such plan shall— 8 ‘‘(A) not be required to comply with sub- 9 section (b)(3); and 10 ‘‘(B) provide, to the maximum extent prac- 11 ticable, that priority for the use of funds be given 12 to projects that replace lead service lines serving 13 disadvantaged communities and environmental 14 justice communities. 15 ‘‘(5) PLAN FOR REPLACEMENT.—Each State, In- 16 dian Tribe, and territory that has entered into an 17 agreement pursuant to this subsection shall require 18 each recipient of funds made available pursuant to 19 this subsection to submit to the State, Indian Tribe, 20 or territory a plan to replace all lead service lines in 21 the applicable public water system within 10 years of 22 receiving such funds. 23 ‘‘(6) AMERICAN MADE IRON AND STEEL AND 24 PREVAILING WAGES.—The requirements of paragraphs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3291 RH (4) and (5) of subsection (a) shall apply to any 1 project carried out in whole or in part with funds 2 made available under or pursuant to this subsection. 3 ‘‘(7) LIMITATION.— 4 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON PARTIAL LINE RE- 5 PLACEMENT.—No funds made available pursuant 6 to this subsection may be used for partial lead 7 service line replacement if, at the conclusion of 8 the service line replacement, drinking water is 9 delivered through a publicly or privately owned 10 portion of a lead service line. 11 ‘‘(B) NO PRIVATE OWNER CONTRIBUTION.— 12 Any recipient of funds made available pursuant 13 to this subsection for lead service line replace- 14 ment shall offer to replace any privately owned 15 portion of any lead service line with respect to 16 which such funds are used at no cost to the pri- 17 vate owner. 18 ‘‘(8) DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITY ASSIST- 19 ANCE.—All funds made available pursuant to this 20 subsection to fund the replacement of lead service 21 lines may be used to replace lead service lines serving 22 disadvantaged communities. 23 ‘‘(9) STATE CONTRIBUTION NOT REQUIRED.—No 24 agreement entered into pursuant to paragraph (1) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3291 RH shall require that a State deposit, at any time, in the 1 applicable State loan fund from State moneys any 2 contribution in order to receive funds under this sub- 3 section. 4 ‘‘(10) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to 6 be appropriated to carry out this subsection 7 $4,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 8 through 2031. Such sums shall remain available 9 until expended. 10 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—To the extent 11 amounts authorized to be appropriated under 12 this subsection in any fiscal year are not appro- 13 priated in that fiscal year, such amounts are au- 14 thorized to be appropriated in a subsequent fis- 15 cal year. Such sums shall remain available until 16 expended. 17 ‘‘(11) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub- 18 section: 19 ‘‘(A) DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITY.—The 20 term ‘disadvantaged community’ has the mean- 21 ing given such term in subsection (d)(3). 22 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMU- 23 NITY.—The term ‘environmental justice commu- 24 nity’ means any population of color, community 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3291 RH of color, indigenous community, or low-income 1 community that experiences a disproportionate 2 burden of the negative human health and envi- 3 ronmental impacts of pollution or other environ- 4 mental hazards. 5 ‘‘(C) LEAD SERVICE LINE.—The term ‘lead 6 service line’ means a pipe and its fittings, which 7 are not lead free (as defined in section 1417(d)), 8 that connect the drinking water main to the 9 building inlet.’’. 10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1452(m)(1) 11 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(m)(1)) 12 is amended by striking ‘‘(a)(2)(G) and (t)’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘(a)(2)(G), (t), and (u)’’. 14 SEC. 108. DRINKING WATER ASSISTANCE TO COLONIAS. 15 Section 1456 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 16 U.S.C. 300j–16) is amended— 17 (1) in subsection (a)— 18 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 19 paragraph (3); and 20 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 21 lowing new paragraph: 22 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered enti- 23 ty’ means each of the following: 24 ‘‘(A) A border State. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3291 RH ‘‘(B) A local government with jurisdiction 1 over an eligible community.’’; 2 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘border State’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘covered entity’’; 4 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘shall not ex- 5 ceed 50 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘may not be less than 6 80 percent’’; and 7 (4) in subsection (e)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘$25,000,000’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘$100,000,000’’; and 10 (B) by striking ‘‘1997 through 1999’’ and 11 inserting ‘‘2022 through 2026’’. 12 SEC. 109. PFAS TREATMENT GRANTS. 13 Part E of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j 14 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 15 section: 16 ‘‘SEC. 1459E. ASSISTANCE FOR COMMUNITY WATER SYS- 17 TEMS AFFECTED BY PFAS. 18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 19 the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 20 shall establish a program to award grants to affected com- 21 munity water systems to pay for capital costs associated 22 with the implementation of eligible treatment technologies. 23 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3291.RH H3291 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3291 RH ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 12 months after 1 the date of enactment of this section, the Adminis- 2 trator shall publish guidance describing the form and 3 timing for community water systems to apply for 4 grants under this section. 5 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The Adminis- 6 trator shall require a community water system apply- 7 ing for a grant under this section to submit— 8 ‘‘(A) information showing the presence of a 9 perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance in 10 water of the community water system; and 11 ‘‘(B) a certification that the treatment tech- 12 nology in use by the community water system at 13 the time of application is not sufficient to meet 14 all applicable standards, and all applicable 15 health advisories published pursuant to section 16 1412(b)(1)(F), for perfluoroalkyl and 17 polyfluoroalkyl substances. 18 ‘‘(c) LIST OF ELIGIBLE TREATMENT TECH- 19 NOLOGIES.—Not later than 150 days after the date of enact- 20 ment of this section, and every 2 years thereafter, the Ad- 21 ministrator shall publish a list of treatment technologies 22 that the Administrator determines are the most effective at 23 removing perfl [Text truncated for display. 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