II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2674 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a grant program for improving infrastructure asset management by small public water sys- tems, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mrs. CAPITO (for herself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a grant program for improving infrastructure asset management by small public water systems, 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 ‘‘Assuring Quality 4 Water Infrastructure Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2674.IS S2674 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2674 IS SEC. 2. INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT ASSIST- 1 ANCE FOR SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS. 2 Part E of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 3 300j et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘SEC. 1459E. INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT AS- 6 SISTANCE FOR SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYS- 7 TEMS. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 10 tity’ means— 11 ‘‘(A) a unit of local government; 12 ‘‘(B) a public corporation established by a 13 unit of local government to provide water serv- 14 ice; or 15 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit corporation, public trust, 16 or cooperative association that owns or operates 17 a public water system. 18 ‘‘(2) INFRASTRUCTURE ASSET MANAGEMENT.— 19 The term ‘infrastructure asset management’ means 20 concepts, tools, and techniques that are intended to 21 improve the operation of a small system through the 22 identification and prevention of potable water loss 23 due to leaks, breaks, and other metering or infra- 24 structure failures. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2674.IS S2674 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2674 IS ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 1 the grant program established under subsection (b). 2 ‘‘(4) SMALL SYSTEM.—The term ‘small system’ 3 means a public water system that— 4 ‘‘(A) serves fewer than 10,000 people; and 5 ‘‘(B) is owned or operated by— 6 ‘‘(i) a unit of local government; 7 ‘‘(ii) a public corporation; 8 ‘‘(iii) a nonprofit corporation; 9 ‘‘(iv) a public trust; or 10 ‘‘(v) a cooperative association. 11 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es- 12 tablish a program to award grants to eligible entities for 13 the purpose of improving infrastructure asset management 14 for one or more small systems. 15 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 16 under the program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 17 Administrator an application at such time, in such man- 18 ner, and containing such information as the Administrator 19 may require, including— 20 ‘‘(1) a proposal of the project to be carried out 21 using grant funds under the program; 22 ‘‘(2) documentation prepared by the eligible en- 23 tity describing the deficiencies in infrastructure 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2674.IS S2674 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2674 IS asset management of one or more small systems that 1 are to be addressed through the proposed project; 2 ‘‘(3) a description of how the proposed project 3 will improve infrastructure asset management for 4 one or more small systems; 5 ‘‘(4) a description of how the improvements de- 6 scribed in paragraph (3) will be maintained beyond 7 the life of the proposed project, including a plan to 8 maintain and update any asset data collected as a 9 result of the proposed project; 10 ‘‘(5) a copy of a written agreement between the 11 eligible entity and the State within which the eligible 12 entity is located in which the eligible entity agrees 13 to provide a copy of any data collected under the 14 proposed project to the State agency administering 15 the State drinking water treatment revolving loan 16 fund of the State established under section 1452, or 17 a designee; and 18 ‘‘(6) any additional information the Adminis- 19 trator may require. 20 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 21 a grant under the program shall use the grant funds to 22 carry out projects that improve infrastructure asset man- 23 agement for one or more small systems through— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2674.IS S2674 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2674 IS ‘‘(1) the development of a detailed asset inven- 1 tory, which may include drinking water sources, 2 wells, storage, valves, treatment systems, distribu- 3 tion lines, hydrants, pumps, controls, and other es- 4 sential infrastructure; 5 ‘‘(2) the development of an infrastructure asset 6 map, including a map that uses technology such 7 as— 8 ‘‘(A) geographic information system soft- 9 ware; and 10 ‘‘(B) global positioning system software; 11 ‘‘(3) the deployment of leak detection tech- 12 nology; 13 ‘‘(4) the deployment of metering technology; 14 ‘‘(5) training in asset management concepts, 15 tools, and techniques of appropriate staff employed 16 by— 17 ‘‘(A) the eligible entity; or 18 ‘‘(B) the small systems for which the grant 19 was received; and 20 ‘‘(6) the development or deployment of other 21 concepts, tools, or techniques that the Administrator 22 may determine to be appropriate under the program. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2674.IS S2674 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2674 IS ‘‘(e) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of a project 1 carried out using a grant under the program shall not ex- 2 ceed 75 percent of the total cost of the project. 3 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 4 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 5 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Oct 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2674.IS S2674 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS