Disadvantaged Community Drinking Water Assistance Act

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5347 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5347

 To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a grant program 
    to close gaps in access to safe drinking water in disadvantaged 
                  communities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 6, 2019

     Mr. Cox of California (for himself, Mr. Costa, Mr. Harder of 
 California, and Mr. Huffman) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a grant program 
    to close gaps in access to safe drinking water in disadvantaged 
                  communities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Disadvantaged Community Drinking 
Water Assistance Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) many areas in the State of California, particularly in 
        the San Joaquin Valley region, are disproportionately impacted 
        by drought because the areas are heavily dependent or 
        completely reliant on groundwater supplies to meet domestic 
        drinking water needs; and
            (2) those communities throughout the State of California 
        have been impacted by the presence of naturally occurring and 
        human-caused constituents including arsenic, 1,2,3-
        Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP), hexavalent chromium, 
        Dibromochloropropane (DBCP), uranium, and nitrates in local 
        groundwater supplies.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of the Interior shall establish 
and carry out a grant program to be known as the ``Disadvantaged 
Community Drinking Water Assistance Program'' to provide financial 
assistance to disadvantaged communities that have experienced a 
significant decline in quantity or quality of drinking water, and to 
obtain or maintain adequate quantities of water that meet the standards 
set by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.). 
Grants under this section may be provided to communities--
            (1) that are unable to meet the primary drinking water 
        quality standards under that Act; or
            (2) the local private or public water supply of which has 
        been lost or severely diminished due to drought conditions, 
        groundwater overdraft conditions, or climate change conditions.
    (b) Eligible Communities.--Grants provided under this section shall 
be used to benefit communities--
            (1) located in a city, town, or special district with a 
        population of not more than 60,000 of residents; and
            (2) that have a median household income of less than 100 
        percent of the nonmetropolitan median household income of the 
        State in which the community is located.
    (c) Eligible Uses.--Grants provided under this section may be used 
for the following:
            (1) Point of use treatment and point of entry systems.
            (2) Wellhead treatment and distributed treatment 
        facilities.
            (3) Blending systems in compliance with State regulations.
            (4) Costs related to the consolidation of multiple small 
        rural water systems or a small rural water system with a larger 
        system.
            (5) Construction of new water source facilities including 
        wells and connections to existing systems.
            (6) Water distribution facilities.
            (7) Water capacity fees, water supply development fees, 
        water connections fees, and similar fees that are assessed when 
        a new connection is added to an existing water system as part 
        of a consolidation.
            (8) Assistance to households to connect to water 
        facilities.
            (9) Emergency water supplies.
            (10) A combination of activities described in paragraphs 
        (1) through (9).
            (11) Application and technical assistance costs associated 
        with the activities described in paragraphs (1) through (9).
    (d) Prioritization.--In determining priorities for funding 
projects, the Secretary of the Interior shall take into consideration--
            (1) communities that are currently operating under a notice 
        of violation for failing to provide potable water that meets 
        primary drinking water standards;
            (2) whether the applicant has the ability to qualify for 
        alternative funding sources that do not result in water rate 
        increases unable to be absorbed by the residential ratepayers;
            (3) communities deemed vulnerable to water shortage 
        conditions because the system is located in a critically 
        overdrafted groundwater basin, and the system has only a single 
        water supply source;
            (4) rural communities served by individual, onsite domestic 
        wells that have documented dry well conditions or contaminated 
        well conditions; and
            (5) public water systems that desire to consolidate with 
        each other, or with a larger urban system, to increase 
        economies-of-scale to reduce cost of service, and increase the 
        level and quality of water service delivery.
    (e) Maximum Amount.--The amount of a grant provided under this 
section may be used to fund--
            (1) not more than 100 percent of costs for activities, 
        including--
                    (A) technical assistance and other costs associated 
                with application for assistance through the 
                Disadvantaged Community Drinking Water Assistance 
                Program;
                    (B) initial operating costs incurred to start up, 
                test, and place into service project facilities and 
                components; and
                    (C) capital costs of construction or components to 
                ensure such facilities and components are properly 
                operational; and
            (2) not more than 25 percent of costs for assistance with 
        operation and maintenance costs incurred subsequent to placing 
        the facilities or components into service to ensure service 
        remains efficient and effective.
    (f) Operation and Maintenance.--Not more than 25 percent of funds 
made available in any fiscal year for grants under this section shall 
be used for operations and maintenance costs. States may use a State 
circuit riding operations assistance team to identify applicants 
approved for operations and maintenance assistance.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this section 
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, to remain 
available until expended.
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