Water Justice Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2466 To provide supplemental appropriations for safe and secure water, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 Mr. SCHUMER (for Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To provide supplemental appropriations for safe and secure water, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Water Justice Act’’. 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—DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE EMERGENCY Sec. 101. Findings. Sec. 102. Definitions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2466 IS Sec. 103. Supplemental appropriations for the drinking water infrastructure emergency. TITLE II—WATER ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY Sec. 201. Findings. Sec. 202. Drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services assistance needs-based program. Sec. 203. Establishment of Federal grant program for drinking water treat- ment works operation and maintenance. TITLE III—INVESTMENTS IN NATIONWIDE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY Sec. 301. Findings. Sec. 302. Reclamation infrastructure finance and innovation pilot program. Sec. 303. Water recycling and reuse projects. Sec. 304. Mandatory spending for water infrastructure programs. Sec. 305. Expanding and increasing funding for rural individual and connected water systems programs. Sec. 306. Increased funding for water management improvement. Sec. 307. Water Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program. Sec. 308. Rural water supply program reauthorization. Sec. 309. Combating PFAS. Sec. 310. Multi-benefit projects to improve watershed health. TITLE I—DRINKING WATER 1 INFRASTRUCTURE EMERGENCY 2 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 3 Congress finds that— 4 (1)(A) everyone has the right to clean and safe 5 drinking water and appropriate sanitation services; 6 and 7 (B) the Federal Government has the responsi- 8 bility to ensure that the rights described in subpara- 9 graph (A) are realized; 10 (2) the American Society of Civil Engineers as- 11 signed a ‘‘D’’ grade to the drinking water infrastruc- 12 ture of the United States and the American Water 13 Works Association estimated that 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2466 IS $1,000,000,000,000 is necessary to maintain and ex- 1 pand service during the 25-year period beginning on 2 the date of enactment of this Act; 3 (3) deterioration and aging of the water infra- 4 structure of the United States has resulted in mil- 5 lions of people of the United States being exposed to 6 unsafe drinking water, including lead contamination; 7 (4) exposure to lead can cause serious health 8 problems, especially to young children and pregnant 9 women, including damage to the brain and nervous 10 system, kidney problems, and high blood pressure; 11 (5) the Government Accountability Office esti- 12 mates that 43 percent of school districts, serving 13 35,000,000 students, tested for lead in school drink- 14 ing water in 2016 or 2017; 15 (6) of the schools that tested for lead as de- 16 scribed in paragraph (5), an estimated 37 percent 17 found levels of lead above the threshold of the school 18 district for taking remedial action; 19 (7) according to the American Water Works As- 20 sociation, approximately 30 percent of surveyed com- 21 munity water systems in the United States reported 22 having some lead-containing service lines; 23 (8) the continuing emergency of drinking water 24 contamination in communities like Flint, Michigan, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2466 IS demonstrates the severity of this crisis across the 1 United States; 2 (9) many rural areas across the United States 3 also face severe drinking water challenges, as the 4 community water systems serving small populations 5 in the United States often lack sufficient financial 6 and technical resources; 7 (10) boil water advisories are a daily occurrence 8 in the United States, and those advisories dispropor- 9 tionately impact small drinking water systems, with 10 some advisories in rural areas lasting for years; 11 (11) it is estimated that 13,000,000 households 12 in the United States rely on well water, with no Fed- 13 eral regulation or testing of contaminants; 14 (12) past appropriations for the Environmental 15 Protection Agency grant programs that address 16 school drinking water and drinking water contami- 17 nation in high-risk communities are not sufficient to 18 address the tremendous need throughout the United 19 States; 20 (13) investments in infrastructure create jobs 21 while fulfilling critical needs in communities 22 throughout the United States; 23 (14) it is estimated that nearly 17,200,000 24 workers, about 12 percent of the United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2466 IS workforce, were employed in infrastructure jobs in 1 2018; 2 (15) infrastructure occupations often provide 3 more competitive and equitable wages in comparison 4 to all jobs nationally, consistently paying up to 30 5 percent more to workers at lower ends of the income 6 scale; 7 (16) the sixth national assessment by the Envi- 8 ronmental Protection Agency of drinking water in- 9 frastructure needs shows a total 20-year capital im- 10 provement need of $472,600,000,000 for public 11 water systems; 12 (17) emergency supplemental appropriations for 13 the Environmental Protection Agency, provided in 14 addition to other appropriations and not subject to 15 sequestration, will improve drinking water in schools 16 and high-risk communities and create jobs through- 17 out the United States without reducing funding for 18 other domestic priorities; 19 (18) appropriating $50,000,000,000 in fiscal 20 year 2020 for the Environmental Protection Agency, 21 and allowing the funds to remain available for 5 22 years, will enable States to begin to immediately ex- 23 pand investments in addressing drinking water 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2466 IS needs in schools and in high-risk communities 1 throughout the United States; 2 (19) a $50,000,000,000 investment in drinking 3 water infrastructure could create 1,250,000 jobs; 4 (20) an emergency supplemental appropriation 5 of $50,000,000,000 for the Environmental Protec- 6 tion Agency, to be made available in fiscal year 7 2020, and to remain available for 5 years, will allow 8 States to begin immediately to distribute funds to el- 9 igible schools and high-risk communities to develop 10 and implement plans to improve drinking water in- 11 frastructure, through accelerated and expanded re- 12 placement of lead-based service lines and other crit- 13 ical infrastructure improvements, ensuring an effi- 14 cient use of funds and timely job creation; 15 (21) emergency supplemental appropriations for 16 remediating the drinking water infrastructure emer- 17 gency in the United States can be leveraged— 18 (A) to create high-quality union jobs; and 19 (B) to expand minority-owned businesses 20 to support the next generation of water infra- 21 structure contractors; and 22 (22) an emergency supplemental appropriation 23 of $50,000,000,000 for the Environmental Protec- 24 tion Agency would allow numerous communities to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2466 IS address the water infrastructure needs of those com- 1 munities and begin to combat the crisis in the 2 United States. 3 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this title: 5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 7 mental Protection Agency. 8 (2) DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITY.—The term 9 ‘‘disadvantaged community’’ has the meaning given 10 the term in section 1452(d)(3) of the Safe Drinking 11 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(d)(3)). 12 (3) HIGH-RISK COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘high- 13 risk community’’ means— 14 (A) a disadvantaged community in which 15 drinking water has tested for levels of contami- 16 nants, such as lead, copper, mercury, organic 17 chemicals, and other substances, above the con- 18 taminant levels allowed under the applicable na- 19 tional primary drinking water regulations (as 20 defined in section 1401 of the Safe Drinking 21 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f)); or 22 (B) in States in which State drinking 23 water contaminant requirements are stricter 24 than the applicable national primary drinking 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2466 IS water regulations (as defined in section 1401 of 1 the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 2 300f)), a disadvantaged community in which 3 drinking water has tested for levels of contami- 4 nants at levels higher than allowed under the 5 applicable State contaminant requirement. 6 SEC. 103. SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE 7 DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE EMER- 8 GENCY. 9 Out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise ap- 10 propriated, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, 11 $50,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 12 2024, is appropriated to the Administrator for an addi- 13 tional amount for lead reduction investments through the 14 Environmental Protection Agency (including programs 15 such as the State response to contaminants grant program 16 under section 1459A(j) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 17 (42 U.S.C. 300j–19a(j)), the voluntary school and child 18 care program lead testing grant program under section 19 1464(d) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j– 20 24(d)), and the drinking water fountain replacement for 21 schools program under section 1465 of the Safe Drinking 22 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–25)), or additional grant pro- 23 grams (either in existence or to be developed) for projects 24 that protect high-risk communities from lead contamina- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2466 IS tion in drinking water; provide for technical assistance or 1 mitigation efforts; allow for replacement of lead-tainted in- 2 frastructure; provide funds for the purchase of filters cer- 3 tified by NSF International and the Water Quality Asso- 4 ciation for the removal of contaminants of concern in pub- 5 lic water systems; or address lead testing in school and 6 child care programs for which filtration of water systems 7 in those school and child care programs has already been 8 performed: Provided, That the amount under this heading 9 is designated by the Congress as an emergency require- 10 ment pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced 11 Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 12 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)(i)), except that such amount shall be 13 available only if the President subsequently so designates 14 such amount and transmits such designation to Congress. 15 TITLE II—WATER ACCESSIBILITY 16 AND AFFORDABILITY 17 SEC. 201. FINDINGS. 18 Congress finds the following: 19 (1) Obtaining reliable and affordable water 20 service is becoming increasingly difficult due to 21 aging infrastructure, climate change, and population 22 changes. 23 (2) Household water rates have increased by 24 approximately 41 percent since 2010. Over the last 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2466 IS several decades, the cost for drinking water and 1 wastewater services has risen much more rapidly 2 than other household expenses. 3 (3) According to the Environmental Protection 4 Agency, low-income households are particularly im- 5 pacted by water affordability challenges when drink- 6 ing water, wastewater, and stormwater rates are 7 raised. 8 (4) Across the United States, water and waste- 9 water bills have been increasing at more than twice 10 the rate of inflation for nearly 2 decades. Addition- 11 ally, incomes have barely kept up with inflation over 12 the same period. It is anticipated that rates for 13 water and wastewater services will continue to in- 14 crease to meet the need for billions of dollars of 15 overdue investment in our Nation’s water and waste- 16 water systems. 17 (5) The Environmental Protection Agency re- 18 ports that approximately 15 percent of residential 19 water customers nationally are low-income house- 20 holds that are constantly at risk of being unable to 21 pay their water bills. 22 (6) Low-income households are 3 times more 23 likely than other households to have their utility 24 service disconnected for unpaid or overdue bills. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2466.IS S2466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2466 IS (7) An estimated 15,000,000 people in the 1 United States experienced a water shutoff in 2016 2 with the highest shutoff rates in lower-income cities 3 with higher rates of poverty and unemployment. 4 (8) In 2017, total appropriations to the Envi- 5 ronmental Protection Agency for water infrastruc- 6 ture were 35 percent lower than the corresponding 7 2001 appropriations (adjusted for inflation) despite 8 massive capital investments being needed for drink- 9 ing water and wastewater systems. 10 (9) Water accessibility is a fundamental ele- 11 ment of public health, safety, welfare, and security. 12 SEC. 202. DRINKING WATER, WASTEWATER, AND 13 STORMWATER SERVICES ASSISTANCE NEEDS- 14 BASED PROGRAM. 15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) ENVIRONMENTALLY AT-RISK HOUSE- 17 HOLD.—The term ‘‘environmentally at-risk house- 18 hold’’ means such a household, as defined by the 19 Secretary after consultation with the Administrator 20 of the Environmental Protection Agency, considering 21 factors such as— 22 (A) the proximity of the household to an 23 environmentally hazardous site, including a 24 Superfund [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]