Water for Public Health Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7258 To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to ensure that the Federal Emergency Management Agency provides access to potable water for individuals during a public health emergency. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2020 Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mrs. LAWRENCE, and Mrs. DINGELL) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- gency Assistance Act to ensure that the Federal Emer- gency Management Agency provides access to potable water for individuals during a public health emergency. 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 ‘‘Water for Public 4 Health Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7258.IH H7258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7258 IH SEC. 2. ACCESS TO WATER. 1 The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer- 2 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5141 et seq.) is amended: 3 (1) in section 403 by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(e) ACCESS TO WATER AND SANITATION IN A PUB- 6 LIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 8 graph (2), during an emergency period (as defined 9 in section 1135(g)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 10 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1))), the President, acting 11 through the Administrator of the Federal Emer- 12 gency Management Agency, may— 13 ‘‘(A) through the use of Federal depart- 14 ments, agencies, and instrumentalities provide 15 every individual access to potable water and 16 basic sanitation; and 17 ‘‘(B) make grants to States, local govern- 18 ments, Indian tribal governments, and owners 19 or operators of private nonprofit facilities to as- 20 sist in carrying out subparagraph (A), which 21 may include— 22 ‘‘(i) installation of mobile water sta- 23 tions; 24 ‘‘(ii) installation of handwashing fa- 25 cilities; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7258.IH H7258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7258 IH ‘‘(iii) distribution or delivery of emer- 1 gency bottled water and personal and home 2 sanitization products; 3 ‘‘(iv) reconnection of water utility 4 service, regardless of when such service 5 was discontinued or for what reason; and 6 ‘‘(v) moratorium on water utility shut- 7 offs. 8 ‘‘(2) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT CON- 9 TRACTS OR REIMBURSEMENT.—The Administrator 10 shall also provide reimbursement to a State, local 11 government, or Indian tribal government that pro- 12 vided services described in paragraph (1) during the 13 emergency period.’’; and 14 (2) in section 502 by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(d) ACCESS TO WATER AND SANITATION IN A PUB- 17 LIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 19 graph (2), during an emergency period (as defined 20 in section 1135(g)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 21 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1))), the President, acting 22 through the Administrator of the Federal Emer- 23 gency Management Agency may— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7258.IH H7258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7258 IH ‘‘(A) through the use of Federal depart- 1 ments, agencies, and instrumentalities provide 2 every individual access to potable water and 3 basic sanitation; and 4 ‘‘(B) make grants to States, local govern- 5 ments, Indian tribal governments, and owners 6 or operators of private nonprofit facilities to as- 7 sist in carrying out subparagraph (A), which 8 may include— 9 ‘‘(i) installation of mobile water sta- 10 tions; 11 ‘‘(ii) installation of handwashing fa- 12 cilities; 13 ‘‘(iii) distribution or delivery of emer- 14 gency bottled water and personal and home 15 sanitization products; 16 ‘‘(iv) reconnection of water utility 17 service, regardless of when such service 18 was discontinued or for what reason; and 19 ‘‘(v) moratorium on water utility shut- 20 offs. 21 ‘‘(2) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT CON- 22 TRACTS OR REIMBURSEMENT.—The Administrator 23 shall also provide reimbursement to a State, local 24 government, or Indian tribal government that pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7258.IH H7258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7258 IH vided services described in paragraph (1) during the 1 emergency period.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:03 Jul 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7258.IH H7258 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS