Assuring Quality Water Infrastructure Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6622 To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a grant program for improving operational sustainability by small public water systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 24, 2020 Mr. MCKINLEY (for himself and Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a grant program for improving operational sustainability 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 21:52 Apr 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6622.IH H6622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6622 IH SEC. 2. OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY ASSISTANCE FOR 1 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. OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY ASSISTANCE 6 FOR SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 9 tity’ means— 10 ‘‘(A) a unit of local government; 11 ‘‘(B) a public corporation established by a 12 unit of local government to provide water serv- 13 ice; or 14 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit corporation, public trust, 15 or cooperative association that owns or operates 16 a public water system. 17 ‘‘(2) OPERATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY.—The 18 term ‘operational sustainability’ means concepts, 19 tools, and techniques that are intended to improve 20 the operation of a small system through the identi- 21 fication and prevention of potable water loss due to 22 leaks, breaks, and other metering or infrastructure 23 failures. 24 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 25 the grant program established under subsection (b). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Apr 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6622.IH H6622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6622 IH ‘‘(4) SMALL SYSTEM.—The term ‘small system’ 1 means a public water system that— 2 ‘‘(A) serves fewer than 10,000 people; and 3 ‘‘(B) is owned or operated by— 4 ‘‘(i) a unit of local government; 5 ‘‘(ii) a public corporation; 6 ‘‘(iii) a nonprofit corporation; 7 ‘‘(iv) a public trust; or 8 ‘‘(v) a cooperative association. 9 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es- 10 tablish a program to award grants to eligible entities for 11 the purpose of improving operational sustainability for one 12 or more small systems. 13 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 14 under the program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 15 Administrator an application at such time, in such man- 16 ner, and containing such information as the Administrator 17 may require, including— 18 ‘‘(1) a proposal of the project to be carried out 19 using grant funds under the program; 20 ‘‘(2) documentation prepared by the eligible en- 21 tity describing the deficiencies in operational sus- 22 tainability of one or more small systems that are to 23 be addressed through the proposed project; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Apr 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6622.IH H6622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6622 IH ‘‘(3) a description of how the proposed project 1 will improve operational sustainability for one or 2 more small systems; 3 ‘‘(4) a description of how the improvements de- 4 scribed in paragraph (3) will be maintained beyond 5 the life of the proposed project, including a plan to 6 maintain and update any asset data collected as a 7 result of the proposed project; 8 ‘‘(5) a copy of a written agreement between the 9 eligible entity and the State within which the eligible 10 entity is located in which the eligible entity agrees 11 to provide a copy of any data collected under the 12 proposed project to the State agency administering 13 the State drinking water treatment revolving loan 14 fund of the State established under section 1452, or 15 a designee; and 16 ‘‘(6) any additional information the Adminis- 17 trator may require. 18 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 19 a grant under the program shall use the grant funds to 20 carry out projects that improve operational sustainability 21 for one or more small systems through— 22 ‘‘(1) the development of a detailed asset inven- 23 tory, which may include drinking water sources, 24 storage, valves, treatment systems, distribution lines, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Apr 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6622.IH H6622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6622 IH hydrants, pumps, controls, and other essential infra- 1 structure; 2 ‘‘(2) the development of an infrastructure asset 3 map, including a map that uses technology such 4 as— 5 ‘‘(A) geographic information system soft- 6 ware; and 7 ‘‘(B) global positioning system software; 8 ‘‘(3) the deployment of leak detection tech- 9 nology; 10 ‘‘(4) the deployment of metering technology; 11 ‘‘(5) training in asset management concepts, 12 tools, and techniques of appropriate staff employed 13 by— 14 ‘‘(A) the eligible entity; or 15 ‘‘(B) the small systems for which the grant 16 was received; and 17 ‘‘(6) the development or deployment of other 18 concepts, tools, or techniques that the Administrator 19 may determine to be appropriate under the program. 20 ‘‘(e) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of a project 21 carried out using a grant under the program shall not ex- 22 ceed 75 percent of the total cost of the project. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Apr 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6622.IH H6622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6622 IH ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Apr 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6622.IH H6622 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS