Septic Upgrade Grant Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4069 To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide for additional subsidization assistance to a municipality to carry out on-site wastewater treatment system projects, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 22, 2021 Mr. SUOZZI (for himself and Mr. GARBARINO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to pro- vide for additional subsidization assistance to a munici- pality to carry out on-site wastewater treatment system projects, 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 ‘‘Septic Upgrade Grant 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4069.IH H4069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4069 IH SEC. 2. WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING LOAN 1 FUNDS. 2 Section 603(i) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 3 Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(i)) is amended— 4 (1) by striking paragraph (1)(B) and inserting 5 the following: 6 ‘‘(B) to implement a program, process, 7 material, technique, or technology to— 8 ‘‘(i) address water-efficiency goals; 9 ‘‘(ii) address energy-efficiency goals; 10 ‘‘(iii) mitigate stormwater runoff; 11 ‘‘(iv) mitigate pollution from from on- 12 site wastewater treatment systems; or 13 ‘‘(v) encourage sustainable project 14 planning, design, and construction.’’; 15 (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 16 following: 17 ‘‘(3) SUBSIDIZATION AMOUNTS.—A State may 18 use for providing additional subsidization in a fiscal 19 year under this subsection an amount that does not 20 exceed the greater of— 21 ‘‘(A) 30 percent of the total amount re- 22 ceived by the State in capitalization grants 23 under this title for the fiscal year; or 24 ‘‘(B) the annual average over the previous 25 10 fiscal years of the amounts deposited by the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4069.IH H4069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4069 IH State in the State water pollution control re- 1 volving fund from State moneys that exceed the 2 amounts required to be so deposited under sec- 3 tion 602(b)(2).’’; and 4 (3) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL SUBSIDIZATION FOR ON-SITE 6 WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM PROGRAMS.— 7 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for 9 additional subsidization for an on-site 10 wastewater treatment system program 11 under paragraph (1)(B)(iv), a municipality 12 shall ensure that such program is included 13 in a conservation management plan ap- 14 proved pursuant to any State or local law 15 or in a conservation and management plan 16 approved pursuant to section 320. 17 ‘‘(ii) PLAN CONTENTS.—A plan de- 18 scribed in clause (i) shall— 19 ‘‘(I) identify any pollutants of 20 concern or water pollution problems 21 that threaten public health, drinking 22 water, natural resources, or fresh- 23 water or marine ecosystem recovery; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4069.IH H4069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4069 IH ‘‘(II) address how the on-site 1 wastewater treatment system program 2 described in clause (i) will abate the 3 pollutants or water pollution problems 4 identified in subclause (I). 5 ‘‘(iii) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—An 6 on-site wastewater treatment system pro- 7 gram carried out using funds provided 8 under this subsection shall be managed by 9 a municipality and have enforceable pro- 10 gram requirements to ensure the long-term 11 sustainability of an on-site wastewater 12 treatment system, including proper oper- 13 ation and maintenance of such system. 14 ‘‘(B) NEW CONSTRUCTION NOT ELIGI- 15 BLE.—Any on-site wastewater treatment system 16 project proposed to be carried out on a new 17 construction site shall not be eligible for addi- 18 tional subsidization pursuant to this subsection. 19 ‘‘(C) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non- 20 Federal share of the cost of an on-site waste- 21 water treatment system project carried out 22 under this subsection shall be not more than 20 23 percent. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4069.IH H4069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4069 IH ‘‘(D) PRIORITY.—A State shall prioritize 1 awarding additional subsidization under para- 2 graph (1)(B)(iv) for on-site wastewater treat- 3 ment system programs that— 4 ‘‘(i) benefit a financially distressed 5 community (as such term is defined in sec- 6 tion 221(c)); or 7 ‘‘(ii) are carried out in an area that— 8 ‘‘(I) is in close proximity to 9 threatened or impaired water bodies 10 or groundwater; or 11 ‘‘(II) has groundwater, or surface 12 waters used as drinking water where a 13 septic system or cesspool is known or 14 suspected to be a major source of pol- 15 lutants. 16 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 17 ‘‘(A) NEW CONSTRUCTION.—The term 18 ‘new construction’ means the preparation for 19 and construction of— 20 ‘‘(i) a new housing structure on a site; 21 or 22 ‘‘(ii) a significant extension to an ex- 23 isting housing structure on a site. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4069.IH H4069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4069 IH ‘‘(B) ON-SITE WASTEWATER TREATMENT 1 SYSTEM PROGRAM.—The term ‘on-site waste- 2 water treatment system program’ means a pro- 3 gram to carry out more than 1 on-site waste- 4 water treatment system project in a munici- 5 pality that meets the eligibility criteria under 6 paragraph (4)(A). 7 ‘‘(C) ON-SITE WASTEWATER TREATMENT 8 SYSTEM PROJECT.—The term ‘on-site waste- 9 water treatment system project’ means a 10 project that replaces a septic system or cesspool 11 serving a single dwelling or small business with 12 a wastewater treatment system that reduces ni- 13 trogen pollution by at least 50 percent, in ac- 14 cordance with standard 245 developed by the 15 National Sanitation Foundation.’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4069.IH H4069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS