Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1417 To establish a trust fund to provide for adequate funding for water and sewer infrastructure, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. POCAN, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. MOORE, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. ROUDA, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. DEAN, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALO- NEY of New York, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. MENG, Ms. BARRAGA´N, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Com- mittees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To establish a trust fund to provide for adequate funding for water and sewer infrastructure, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1417 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reli- 3 ability Act of 2019’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 5 this Act is as follows: 6 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund. Sec. 3. Report on affordability, discrimination and civil rights violations, public participation in regionalization, and data collection. Sec. 4. Technical assistance to rural and small municipalities and tribal govern- ments. Sec. 5. Residential onsite sewage disposal system improvement. Sec. 6. Household water well systems. Sec. 7. State water pollution control revolving funds. Sec. 8. Use of State revolving loan funds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Sec. 9. Drinking water grant programs. Sec. 10. Requirement for the use of American materials in drinking water. Sec. 11. Labor provisions. SEC. 2. WATER AFFORDABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EQUITY, 7 AND RELIABILITY TRUST FUND. 8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 10 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 11 adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘SEC. 9512. WATER AFFORDABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EQ- 13 UITY, AND RELIABILITY TRUST FUND. 14 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab- 15 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 16 to be known as the ‘Water Affordability, Transparency, 17 Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund’ (referred to in this 18 section as the ‘Trust Fund’), consisting of such amounts 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1417 IH as may be appropriated or credited to such Trust Fund 1 as provided in this section or section 9602(b). 2 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO FUND.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are hereby appro- 4 priated to the Trust Fund such amounts as the Sec- 5 retary from time to time estimates are equal to the 6 increase in Federal revenues attributable to the 7 amendment made by section 2(b) of the Water Af- 8 fordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability 9 Act of 2019. 10 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The sum of the amounts 11 appropriated under paragraph (1) during any fiscal 12 year shall not exceed $34,850,000,000. 13 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the Trust Fund 14 are available, without further appropriation and without 15 fiscal year limitation, for the purposes described in section 16 2(c) of the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, 17 and Reliability Act of 2019.’’. 18 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 19 parts for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code 20 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 21 section 9511 the following new item: 22 ‘‘Sec. 9512. Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund.’’. (b) IMPOSITION OF TAX.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1417 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 11(b) of the Internal 1 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘21’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘24.5’’. 3 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 4 by this Act shall apply to taxable years beginning 5 after December 31, 2018. 6 (c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Administrator of 7 the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary 8 of Agriculture shall allocate, for a fiscal year, the funds 9 available, at the beginning of such fiscal year, in the Water 10 Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust 11 Fund, established by section 9512 of the Internal Revenue 12 Code of 1986, as follows: 13 (1) CLEAN WATER PROGRAMS.—Of such 14 amount, the Administrator shall make available— 15 (A) 0.5 percent for making grants under 16 section 104(b)(8) of the Federal Water Pollu- 17 tion Control Act; 18 (B) 1.5 percent for making grants under 19 section 106 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1256); 20 (C) 2.5 percent for making grants under 21 section 222 of such Act; 22 (D) 2.5 percent for making grants under 23 section 319 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1329); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1417 IH (E) 45 percent for making capitalization 1 grants under section 601 of such Act (33 2 U.S.C. 1381). 3 (2) SAFE DRINKING WATER FUNDING.—Of such 4 amount, the Administrator shall make available— 5 (A) 0.5 percent for providing technical as- 6 sistance under section 1442(e) of the Safe 7 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–1(e)); 8 (B) 43.5 percent for making capitalization 9 grants under section 1452 of such Act (42 10 U.S.C. 300j–12); and 11 (C) 3 percent for making grants under sec- 12 tion 1465 of such Act. 13 (3) HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS.—Of 14 such amount, the Secretary shall make available 1 15 percent for making grants under section 306E of the 16 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 17 U.S.C. 1926e). 18 SEC. 3. REPORT ON AFFORDABILITY, DISCRIMINATION AND 19 CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, PUBLIC PARTICI- 20 PATION IN REGIONALIZATION, AND DATA 21 COLLECTION. 22 (a) STUDY.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 24 Environmental Protection Agency shall conduct a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1417 IH study on water and sewer services, in accordance 1 with this subsection. 2 (2) AFFORDABILITY.—In conducting the study 3 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall study 4 water affordability nationwide, including— 5 (A) rates for water and sewer services, in- 6 creases in such rates during the ten-year period 7 preceding such study, and water service dis- 8 connections due to unpaid water service 9 charges; and 10 (B) the effectiveness of funding under sec- 11 tion 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act and 12 under section 601 of the Federal Water Pollu- 13 tion Control Act for promoting affordable, equi- 14 table, transparent, and reliable water and sewer 15 service. 16 (3) DISCRIMINATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS.—In 17 conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Ad- 18 ministrator, in collaboration with the Civil Rights 19 Division of the United States Department of Justice, 20 shall study— 21 (A) discriminatory practices of water and 22 sewer service providers; and 23 (B) violations by such service providers 24 that receive Federal assistance of civil rights 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1417 IH under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 1 with regard to equal access to water and sewer 2 services. 3 (4) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN REGIONALIZA- 4 TION.—In conducting the study under paragraph 5 (1), the Administrator shall evaluate efforts to re- 6 gionalize public water systems, as defined in section 7 1401 of the Safe Water Drinking Act, and sewer 8 services with respect to public participation in— 9 (A) the decision to undergo such regional- 10 ization; and 11 (B) decisionmaking by the board of direc- 12 tors (or other governing body) of the entity that 13 provides, or oversees or coordinates the provi- 14 sion of, water by the public water systems sub- 15 ject to such regionalization. 16 (5) DATA COLLECTION.—In conducting the 17 study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 18 collect information, assess the availability of infor- 19 mation, and evaluate the methodologies used to col- 20 lect information, related to— 21 (A) people living without water or sewer 22 services; 23 (B) water service disconnections due to un- 24 paid water service charges, including disconnec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1417 IH tions experienced by households containing chil- 1 dren, elderly persons, disabled persons, chron- 2 ically ill persons, or other vulnerable popu- 3 lations; and 4 (C) disparate effects, on the basis of race, 5 gender, or socioeconomic status, of water serv- 6 ice disconnections and the lack of public water 7 service. 8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 9 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the En- 10 vironmental Protection Agency shall submit to Congress 11 a report that contains— 12 (1) the results of the study conducted under 13 subsection (a)(1); and 14 (2) recommendations for utility companies, 15 Federal agencies, and States relating to such results. 16 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO RURAL AND SMALL 17 MUNICIPALITIES AND TRIBAL GOVERN- 18 MENTS. 19 Section 104(u) of the Federal Water Pollution Con- 20 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(u)) is amended by striking ‘‘not 21 to exceed $25,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$175,000,000’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1417 IH SEC. 5. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM 1 IMPROVEMENT. 2 Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 3 (33 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 222. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYS- 6 TEMS. 7 ‘‘Not later than the date that is 1 year after the date 8 of the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 9 establish a grant program to make grants to users of a 10 septic tank and drainage field for costs associated with 11 repairing, replacing, or upgrading such tank and such 12 field.’’. 13 SEC. 6. HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS. 14 Section 306E(d) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 15 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926e(d)) is amended by 16 striking ‘‘$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 17 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$348,500,000 for each fis- 18 cal year’’. 19 SEC. 7. STATE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING 20 FUNDS. 21 (a) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—Section 602(b) of 22 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 23 1382(b)) is amended— 24 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘will be made 25 to the State with funds to be made available’’ and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1417 IH inserting ‘‘were made to the State with funds made 1 available for fiscal year 2019’’; 2 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 3 end; 4 (3) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 5 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 6 (4) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(15) the State will not provide financial assist- 8 ance using amounts from the fund for any project 9 that will provide substantial direct benefits to new 10 communities, lots, or subdivisions, other than a 11 project to construct an advanced decentralized 12 wastewater system; and’’. 13 (b) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR AS- 14 SISTANCE.—Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution 15 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 16 (1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 17 the end; 18 (2) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the period 19 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(13) to any municipality or intermunicipal, 22 interstate, or State agency for— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1417 IH ‘‘(A) purchasing from a willing or unwill- 1 ing seller a privately owned treatment works; 2 and 3 ‘‘(B) expenses related to canceling a con- 4 tract for the operation or management of a 5 publicly owned treatment works.’’. 6 (c) INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL SUB- 7 SIDIZATION BY THE STATE.—Section 603(i)(3)(B) of the 8 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 9 1383(i)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION.—A State 11 may use not less than 50 percent of the total 12 amount received by the State in capitalization 13 grants under this title for a fiscal year for pro- 14 viding additional subsidization under this sub- 15 section.’’. 16 SEC. 8. USE OF STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS UNDER 17 THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. 18 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 19 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)— 21 (A) in paragraph (2)— 22 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 23 ‘‘publicly owned, operated, and managed’’ 24 before ‘‘community water systems’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1417 IH (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 1 ‘‘The funds under this section shall not be 2 used for the acquisition of real property or 3 interests therein, unless the acquisition is 4 integral to a project authorized by this 5 paragraph and the purchase is from a will- 6 ing [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]