PIPE Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3701 To establish water infrastructure grant programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 4, 2021 Mr. DELGADO (for himself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SEWELL, and Mr. COHEN) 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 de- termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish water infrastructure grant programs. 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 sited as the ‘‘Protecting Infrastruc- 4 ture and Promoting the Economy Act’’ or the ‘‘PIPE 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE DISCRETIONARY 7 GRANT PROGRAM. 8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to the availability of 9 appropriations, not later than 1 year after the date of en- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3701 IH actment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environ- 1 mental Protection Agency (referred to in this section as 2 the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall establish a wastewater discre- 3 tionary grant program (referred to in this section as the 4 ‘‘program’’) to provide grants, on a competitive basis, to 5 eligible entities described in subsection (b) for investments 6 in wastewater infrastructure projects. 7 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to re- 8 ceive a grant under the program is— 9 (1) a Federal, State, interstate, intermunicipal, 10 or local governmental entity, agency, or instrumen- 11 tality; 12 (2) a Tribal government or consortium of Trib- 13 al governments; 14 (3) a State infrastructure financing authority; 15 and 16 (4) a publicly owned treatment works (as de- 17 fined in section 212 of the Federal Water Pollution 18 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1292)). 19 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A project eligible to be car- 21 ried out with funds under the program includes— 22 (A) the construction of publicly owned 23 treatment works; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3701 IH (B) the construction, repair, or replace- 1 ment of decentralized wastewater treatment 2 systems that treat municipal wastewater or do- 3 mestic sewage; 4 (C) measures to manage, reduce, treat, or 5 recapture stormwater of subsurface drainage 6 water; 7 (D) measures to reduce the demand for 8 publicly owned treatment works capacity 9 through water conservation, efficiency, reuse, 10 and green infrastructure; 11 (E) measures to reduce energy consump- 12 tion needs for publicly owned treatment works; 13 (F) measures to improve the resiliency of 14 publicly owned treatment works to climate 15 change, extreme weather, sea-level rise, and 16 other hazards; 17 (G) measures to reduce the discharge of 18 perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances 19 into the environment through publicly owned 20 treatment works; and 21 (H) any other wastewater infrastructure 22 project the administrator determines is appro- 23 priate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3701 IH (2) OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 1 any other provision of law, a project otherwise eligi- 2 ble under paragraph (1) shall not be ineligible for 3 funding because the project also received prior as- 4 sistance— 5 (A) from a State drinking water treatment 6 revolving loan fund established under section 7 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 8 U.S.C. 300j–12); 9 (B) from a State water pollution control 10 revolving fund established under title VI of the 11 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 12 1381 et seq.); or 13 (C) under the Water Infrastructure Fi- 14 nance and Innovation Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C. 15 3901 et seq.). 16 (3) NO INCREASED BONDING AUTHORITY.— 17 Amounts made available under the program may not 18 be used as a source of payment of, or security for 19 (directly or indirectly), in whole or in part, any obli- 20 gation the interest on which is exempt from the tax 21 imposed under chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue 22 Code of 1986. 23 (d) APPLICATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3701 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 1 grant under the program, an eligible entity shall 2 submit to the Administrator an application in such 3 manner and containing such information as the Ad- 4 ministrator may require. 5 (2) BUNDLING OF PROJECTS.—An eligible enti- 6 ty may include more than 1 project in a single appli- 7 cation. 8 (3) DEADLINE.—An application shall be sub- 9 mitted to the Administrator not later than 180 days 10 after the date on which the notice of funding oppor- 11 tunity and the selection criteria are issued under 12 subsection (e)(1)(B). 13 (e) SELECTION.— 14 (1) CRITERIA.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 16 shall establish criteria in accordance with this 17 subsection to use in selecting projects to receive 18 a grant under the program. 19 (B) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 90 20 days after the date on which funds are made 21 available to carry out the program for each fis- 22 cal year, the Administrator shall— 23 (i) issue a notice of funding oppor- 24 tunity for the program; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3701 IH (ii) include in the notice the selection 1 criteria established under subparagraph 2 (A). 3 (2) PRIORITY.—In selecting projects to receive 4 a grant under the program, the Administrator shall 5 give priority to projects— 6 (A) for which a Federal grant would assist 7 in completing an overall financing package for 8 the project; and 9 (B) that would help bring publicly owned 10 treatment works (as defined in section 212 of 11 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 12 U.S.C. 1292)) into compliance with the Federal 13 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et 14 seq.). 15 (3) GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.—For each 16 fiscal year, in providing grants under the program, 17 the Administrator shall ensure that the funds are 18 distributed— 19 (A) on an equitable geographical basis; and 20 (B) in a manner that balances the needs of 21 urban, suburban, and rural communities. 22 (4) DEADLINE.—Not later than 18 months 23 after the date on which funds are made available to 24 carry out the program for each fiscal year, the Ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3701 IH ministrator shall select projects to receive grants 1 under the program. 2 (f) REQUIREMENTS.— 3 (1) TOTAL STATE LIMIT.—For each fiscal year, 4 the total amount provided under the program for 5 projects in a single State shall not exceed 20 percent 6 of the total amount made available to carry out the 7 program. 8 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 10 graph (B), the Federal share of the cost of a 11 project carried out with a grant under the pro- 12 gram shall not exceed 80 percent. 13 (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 14 waive the requirement of subparagraph (A). 15 (g) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator may promul- 16 gate such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 17 this section. 18 (h) LABOR STANDARDS.—Notwithstanding any other 19 provision of law, the Administrator may not provide a 20 grant under the program for a project unless the project 21 meets the requirements described in section 513 of the 22 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1372). 23 (i) REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years after the date 24 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3701 IH to Congress and make publicly available a report on the 1 implementation of the program. 2 (j) FUNDING.— 3 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 5 this section $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 6 2022 through 2031. 7 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Funds made available to 8 carry out this section shall be available until ex- 9 pended. 10 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 2 11 percent of the amount made available for a fiscal 12 year under paragraph (1) may be used by the Ad- 13 ministrator for the administrative costs of carrying 14 out the program. 15 (k) DAVIS-BACON.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 17 provision of law, all laborers and mechanics em- 18 ployed by contractors or subcontractors on projects 19 carried out in whole or in part using a grant under 20 the program shall be paid wages at rates not less 21 than those prevailing on projects of a similar char- 22 acter in the locality as determined by the Secretary 23 of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chap- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3701 IH ter 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly 1 known as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’). 2 (2) AUTHORITY.—With respect to the labor 3 standards specified in paragraph (1), the Secretary 4 of Labor shall have the authority and functions set 5 forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 6 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of 7 title 40, United States Code. 8 (l) BUY AMERICA.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 9 sion of law, the Administrator may not provide a grant 10 under the program for a project unless the project meets 11 the requirements described in section 1452(a)(4) of the 12 Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(a)(4)). 13 SEC. 3. DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE DISCRE- 14 TIONARY GRANT PROGRAM. 15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 17 the Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in this 18 section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall establish a drinking 19 water discretionary grant program (referred to in this sec- 20 tion as the ‘‘program’’) to provide grants, on a competitive 21 basis, to eligible entities described in subsection (b) for 22 investments in drinking water infrastructure projects. 23 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to re- 24 ceive a grant under the program is— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3701 IH (1) a State, interstate, intermunicipal, or local 1 governmental entity, agency, or instrumentality; 2 (2) a Tribal government or consortium of Trib- 3 al governments; 4 (3) a State infrastructure financing authority; 5 and 6 (4) a community water system or nonprofit 7 noncommunity water system (as those terms are de- 8 fined in section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water 9 Act (42 U.S.C. 300f)). 10 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A project eligible to be car- 12 ried out with funds under the program includes— 13 (A) planning, design, siting, 14 preconstruction and construction activities re- 15 lated to replacing or rehabilitating aging treat- 16 ment, storage, or distribution facilities of public 17 water systems; 18 (B) for public water systems for which one 19 or more sources of drinking water is contami- 20 nated with perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub- 21 stances that meet or exceed federal or state 22 drinking water health advisory levels or stand- 23 ards— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3701 IH (i) treatment measures to reduce the 1 detectible levels of perfluoroalkyl or 2 polyfluoroalkyl substances; and 3 (ii) measures to connect the public 4 water system to a new drinking water 5 source; 6 (C) connecting households using well water 7 to a public water system; 8 (D) replacing lead pipes or service lines; 9 (E) measures that would bring public 10 water systems into compliance with the Safe 11 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.); 12 and 13 (F) any other drinking water infrastruc- 14 ture project that the Administrator determines 15 to appropriate. 16 (2) OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 17 any other provision of law, a project otherwise eligi- 18 ble under paragraph (1) shall not be ineligible for 19 funding because the project also received prior as- 20 sistance— 21 (A) from a State drinking water treatment 22 revolving loan fund established under section 23 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 24 U.S.C. 300j–12); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3701 IH (B) from a State water pollution control 1 revolving fund established under title VI of the 2 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 3 1381 et seq.); or 4 (C) under the Water Infrastructure Fi- 5 nance and Innovation Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C. 6 3901 et seq.). 7 (3) NO INCREASED BONDING AUTHORITY.— 8 Amounts made available under the program may not 9 be used as a source of payment of, or security for 10 (directly or indirectly), in whole or in part, any obli- 11 gation the interest on which is exempt from the tax 12 imposed under chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue 13 Code of 1986. 14 (d) APPLICATION.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 16 grant under the program, an eligible entity shall 17 submit to the Administrator an application in such 18 manner and containing such information as the Ad- 19 ministrator may require. 20 (2) BUNDLING OF PROJECTS.—An eligible enti- 21 ty may include more than 1 project in a single appli- 22 cation. 23 (3) DEADLINE.—An application shall be sub- 24 mitted to the Administrator not later than 180 days 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3701.IH H3701 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3701 IH after the date on which the notice of funding oppor- 1 tunity and the selection criteria are issued under 2 subsection (e)(1)(B). 3 (e) SELECTION.— 4 (1) CRITERIA.— 5 [Text truncated for display. 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