Drinking Water Infrastructure for Job Creation Act

Summary: Drinking Water Infrastructure for Job Creation Act  This bill provides $7.5 billion in supplemental FY2017 appropriations to the Environmental Protection Agency to remain available through FY2022 for capitalization grants to the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds. (The program assists public water systems in financing infrastructure projects needed to comply with federal drinking water regulations and meet health objectives under the Safe Drinking Water Act.)  The funding provided by this bill is designated as an emergency requirement pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. The emergency funding is exempt from discretionary spending limits and is only available if the President subsequently designates the amounts as an emergency and submits the designation to Congress.  The bill also exempts the funding from sequestration. (Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.) 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Drinking Water Infrastructure for 
Job Creation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Investments in infrastructure create jobs while 
        fulfilling critical needs in communities throughout the United 
        States.
            (2) According to the Brookings Institution, nearly 14.5 
        million workers--11 percent of the U.S. workforce--were 
        employed in infrastructure jobs in 2013.
            (3) According to data from the Brookings Institution, 
        infrastructure occupations often provide more competitive and 
        equitable wages in comparison to all jobs nationally, 
        consistently paying up to 30 percent more to low-income workers 
        over the past decade.
            (4) The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the 
        infrastructure of the United States an overall grade of ``D+'' 
        in 2017 and estimated that the United States will need to 
        invest $4.59 trillion by 2025 in order to improve the condition 
        of the Nation's infrastructure and bring it to a state of good 
        repair.
            (5) The American Society of Civil Engineers assigned a 
        ``D'' grade to the Nation's drinking water infrastructure and a 
        ``D+'' grade to the Nation's wastewater infrastructure and 
        estimated that the United States will need to invest $150 
        billion by 2025 to bring them to a state of good repair.
            (6) According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 
        there are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year in 
        the United States, wasting over two trillion gallons of treated 
        drinking water.
            (7) In 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
        reported that although exposure to lead can cause serious 
        health problems, including damage to the brain and nervous 
        system in children and kidney problems and high blood pressure 
        in adults, an estimated 6.5 to 10 million homes nationwide 
        receive drinking water through lead service lines.
            (8) Congress created the Drinking Water State Revolving 
        Funds in 1996 to help eligible public water systems finance 
        infrastructure projects in order to comply with Federal 
        drinking water regulations and meet the health objectives of 
        the Safe Drinking Water Act.
            (9) The EPA is required periodically to conduct a survey of 
        the capital improvement needs of eligible public water systems 
        and distribute funding appropriated for the Drinking Water 
        State Revolving Funds among the States based on the results of 
        the most recent survey.
            (10) In 2013, the EPA completed the most recent survey of 
        the capital improvement needs of eligible public water systems 
        and estimated that $384 billion in improvements are needed for 
        the Nation's drinking water infrastructure over 20 years in 
        order to ensure the safety of drinking water.
            (11) The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
        (Public Law 111-5) included $2 billion in emergency 
        supplemental appropriations for the Drinking Water State 
        Revolving Funds to enable States to provide grants and 
        financing assistance to eligible public water systems in order 
        to improve drinking water infrastructure in communities 
        throughout the United States.
            (12) Past appropriations for the Drinking Water State 
        Revolving Funds are not sufficient to address the tremendous 
        need for investments in drinking water infrastructure in 
        communities throughout the United States.
            (13) Appropriating $7.5 billion in fiscal year 2017 for the 
        Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, and allowing the funds to 
        remain available for 6 years, will enable States to begin 
        immediately to expand investments in drinking water 
        infrastructure in communities throughout the United States.
            (14) Restricting appropriations for the Drinking Water 
        State Revolving Funds through the use of arbitrary budget caps 
        or sequestration undermines economic recovery and job creation 
        efforts; disrupts planning by States, local communities, and 
        eligible public water systems; and leaves critical 
        infrastructure needs unmet.
            (15) Emergency supplemental appropriations for the Drinking 
        Water State Revolving Funds, provided in addition to other 
        appropriations and not subject to sequestration, will improve 
        drinking water infrastructure and create jobs throughout the 
        United States without reducing funding for other domestic 
        priorities.
            (16) An emergency supplemental appropriation of $7.5 
        billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds to be made 
        available in fiscal year 2017, and to remain available for 6 
        years, will allow States to begin immediately to distribute 
        funds to eligible public water systems and allow local 
        communities and eligible public water systems to develop and 
        implement plans to improve drinking water infrastructure, thus 
        ensuring an efficient use of funds and timely job creation.

SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DRINKING WATER STATE 
              REVOLVING FUNDS.

    The following sums are appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for fiscal year 2017:

                    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

                   State and Tribal Assistance Grants

    For an additional amount for capitalization grants under section 
1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act in accordance with the provisions 
under this heading in title VII of division A of Public Law 111-5, 
$7,500,000,000, to remain available through September 30, 2022: 
Provided, That the amount under this heading is designated by the 
Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) 
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, 
except that such amount shall be available only if the President 
subsequently so designates such amount and transmits such designation 
to the Congress.

SEC. 4. EXEMPTION FROM SEQUESTRATION.

    The appropriation in section 3 shall be exempt from sequestration 
under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.