Ensuring Water Investments Benefit Communities Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3668 To require recipients of assistance for certain water infrastructure projects to provide job training, apprenticeships, and other employment opportuni- ties for low-income persons and very low-income persons, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 1, 2021 Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require recipients of assistance for certain water infra- structure projects to provide job training, apprentice- ships, and other employment opportunities for low-in- come persons and very low-income persons, 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 ‘‘Ensuring Water In- 4 vestments Benefit Communities Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3668.IH H3668 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3668 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 The Congress finds that— 2 (1) Federal water infrastructure investments 3 provide State and local governments and other re- 4 cipients of Federal financial assistance with substan- 5 tial support for activities that produce significant 6 employment and other economic opportunities; 7 (2) low-income persons and very low-income 8 persons, who live in the areas in most need of such 9 investments, often have restricted access to employ- 10 ment and other economic opportunities; 11 (3) the employment and other economic oppor- 12 tunities generated by projects and activities that re- 13 ceive Federal water infrastructure investments offer 14 an effective means of empowering low-income per- 15 sons and very low-income persons, particularly those 16 who live in the areas where these funds are being 17 used to improve water infrastructure; and 18 (4) Federal efforts to invest in water infrastruc- 19 ture should also help create employment and other 20 economic opportunities for low-income persons and 21 very low-income persons in areas where these 22 projects are taking place. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3668.IH H3668 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3668 IH SEC. 3. EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT WATER INFRA- 1 STRUCTURE PROJECTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi- 3 ronmental Protection Agency shall require a covered enti- 4 ty, to the greatest extent feasible, and consistent with ex- 5 isting Federal, State, and local laws and regulations, to 6 provide job training, apprenticeships, and other employ- 7 ment opportunities on a covered project for low-income 8 persons and very low-income persons in the area in which 9 the covered project is located, and to business concerns 10 that provide employment opportunities to low-income per- 11 sons and very low-income persons. 12 (b) PRIORITY.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 13 Administrator shall require a covered entity to provide job 14 training, apprenticeships, and other employment opportu- 15 nities in the following order of priority: 16 (1) To low-income persons and very low-income 17 persons residing within the service area of the cov- 18 ered project or the neighborhood in which the cov- 19 ered project is located. 20 (2) To low-income persons and very low-income 21 persons residing within the metropolitan area (or 22 nonmetropolitan county) in which the covered assist- 23 ance is expended. 24 (3) To residents of an area described in para- 25 graph (1) or (2) who are provided any assistance 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3668.IH H3668 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3668 IH under a means-tested program administered by a 1 Federal agency, including housing, supplemental nu- 2 trition, and temporary needy family assistance. 3 (4) To participants in YouthBuild programs 4 under section 171 of the Workforce Innovation and 5 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3226) or the Job Corps 6 program under subtitle C of title I of such Act (29 7 U.S.C. 3191 et seq.). 8 (c) STATE PLANS AND REPORTS.—With respect to 9 a covered entity that is a State, the Administrator shall 10 require the State to— 11 (1) submit to the Administrator for approval a 12 plan for carrying out the requirements of this sec- 13 tion; and 14 (2) annually submit to the Administrator a re- 15 port containing data on job training, apprenticeship, 16 employment, and contract opportunities created in 17 the State pursuant to this section, including, for 18 each covered project carried out by the State or for 19 which covered assistance is provided by the State— 20 (A) how many jobs and other opportunities 21 were created to comply with this section; 22 (B) the total of amount of covered assist- 23 ance used on the covered project; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3668.IH H3668 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3668 IH (C) the amount of covered assistance used 1 to hire low-income persons and very low-income 2 persons to comply with this section. 3 (d) REGULATIONS.— 4 (1) DEADLINE.—Not later than 180 days after 5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 6 shall issue regulations to implement this section. 7 (2) APPLICATION DATE.—The regulations 8 issued under paragraph (1) shall apply to covered 9 assistance made available beginning in the first full 10 fiscal year following the date of enactment of this 11 Act. 12 (3) COMPLAINT PROCESS.—The Administrator 13 shall include in the regulations issued under para- 14 graph (1) a process by which affected persons or en- 15 tities may file a complaint alleging a violation of this 16 section. 17 (e) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, the 18 Administrator shall consult with the Secretary of Labor, 19 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Sec- 20 retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 21 Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Admin- 22 istrator of the Small Business Administration, and such 23 other Federal agencies as the Administrator determines 24 are necessary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3668.IH H3668 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3668 IH (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 3 mental Protection Agency. 4 (2) APPRENTICESHIP.—The term ‘‘apprentice- 5 ship’’ means an apprenticeship registered under the 6 Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as the 7 ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, chap- 8 ter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 9 (3) BUSINESS CONCERN THAT PROVIDES ECO- 10 NOMIC OPPORTUNITIES.—The term ‘‘business con- 11 cern that provides economic opportunities’’ has the 12 meaning given such term in section 3 of the Housing 13 and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 14 1701u). 15 (4) COVERED ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘covered 16 assistance’’ means financial assistance provided 17 under or pursuant to section 1452 of the Safe 18 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12), title VI of 19 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 20 1381 et seq.), or the Water Infrastructure Finance 21 and Innovation Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C. 3901 et 22 seq.). 23 (5) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en- 24 tity’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3668.IH H3668 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3668 IH (A) an entity that receives covered assist- 1 ance; and 2 (B) a contractor or subcontractor of such 3 entity with respect to a covered project. 4 (6) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 5 project’’ means a project for which an entity receives 6 covered assistance. 7 (7) LOW-INCOME PERSON; VERY LOW-INCOME 8 PERSON.—The terms ‘‘low-income person’’ and 9 ‘‘very low-income person’’ have the same meanings 10 given the terms ‘‘low-income families’’ and ‘‘very 11 low-income families’’, respectively, in section 3(b) of 12 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 13 1437a(b)). 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:13 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3668.IH H3668 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS