II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 611 

To provide adequate funding for water and sewer infrastructure, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To provide adequate funding for water and sewer 

infrastructure, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reli6 ability Act of 2019’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Water affordability, transparency, equity, and reliability. 

Sec. 3. Report on affordability, discrimination and civil rights violations, public 

participation in regionalization, and data collection. 


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Sec. 4. Technical assistance to rural and small municipalities and Tribal governments. 

Sec. 5. Residential onsite sewage disposal system improvement. 

Sec. 6. Household water well systems. 

Sec. 7. State water pollution control revolving funds. 

Sec. 8. Use of State revolving loan funds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

Sec. 9. Drinking water grant programs. 

Sec. 10. Requirement for the use of American materials in drinking water infrastructure. 

Sec. 11. Labor provisions. 

1 SEC. 2. WATER AFFORDABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EQUITY, 

2 AND RELIABILITY. 

3 (a) CLEAN WATER PROGRAMS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each fis5 cal year, the Administrator of the Environmental 

6 Protection Agency (referred to in this section as the 

7 ‘‘Administrator’’) shall obligate, for the fiscal year— 

8 (A) not more than $174,250,000 for mak9 ing grants under section 104(b)(8) of the Fed10 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

11 1254(b)(8)); 

12 (B) not more than $522,750,000 for mak13 ing grants under section 106 of that Act (33 

14 U.S.C. 1256); 

15 (C) not more than $871,250,000 for mak16 ing grants under section 222 of that Act (as 

17 added by section 5); 

18 (D) not more than $871,250,000 for mak19 ing grants under section 319 of that Act (33 

20 U.S.C. 1329); and 


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1 (E) not more than $15,682,500,000 for 

2 making capitalization grants under section 601 

3 of that Act (33 U.S.C. 1381). 

4 (2) FUNDING.—On October 1 of each fiscal 

5 year, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise 

6 appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

7 transfer to the Administrator to carry out this sub8 section $18,122,000,000, to remain available until 

9 expended. 

10 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts trans11 ferred to the Administrator under paragraph (2) and 

12 obligated by the Administrator under paragraph (1) 

13 shall remain available to the Administrator, without 

14 further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for 

15 the purposes for which the amounts were obligated. 

16 (b) SAFE DRINKING WATER FUNDING.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each fis18 cal year, the Administrator shall obligate, for the fis19 cal year— 

20 (A) not more than $174,250,000 for pro21 viding technical assistance under section 

22 1442(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 300j–1(e)); 


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1 (B) not more than $15,159,750,000 for 

2 making capitalization grants under section 

3 1452 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12); and 

4 (C) not more than $1,045,500,000 for 

5 making grants under section 1465 of that Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 300j–25). 

7 (2) FUNDING.—On October 1 of each fiscal 

8 year, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise 

9 appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

10 transfer to the Administrator to carry out this sub11 section $16,379,500,000, to remain available until 

12 expended. 

13 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts trans14 ferred to the Administrator under paragraph (2) and 

15 obligated by the Administrator under paragraph (1) 

16 shall remain available to the Administrator, without 

17 further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for 

18 the purposes for which the amounts were obligated. 

19 (c) HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of each fis21 cal year, the Secretary of Agriculture (referred to in 

22 this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall obligate, 

23 for the fiscal year, not more than $348,500,000 for 

24 making grants under section 306E of the ConsoliVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S611.IS S611

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1 dated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

2 1926e). 

3 (2) FUNDING.—On October 1 of each fiscal 

4 year, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise 

5 appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

6 transfer to the Secretary to carry out this subsection 

7 $348,500,000, to remain available until expended. 

8 (3) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts trans9 ferred to the Secretary under paragraph (2) and ob10 ligated by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall 

11 remain available to the Secretary, without further 

12 appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for the pur13 poses for which the amounts were obligated. 

14 SEC. 3. REPORT ON AFFORDABILITY, DISCRIMINATION AND 

15 CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, PUBLIC PARTICI16 PATION IN REGIONALIZATION, AND DATA 

17 COLLECTION. 

18 (a) STUDY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

20 Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in 

21 this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall conduct a 

22 study on water and sewer services. 

23 (2) AFFORDABILITY.—In conducting the study 

24 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall study 

25 water affordability nationwide, including— 


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1 (A) rates for water and sewer services, in2 creases in those rates during the 10-year period 

3 ending on the date on which the Administrator 

4 begins to carry out the study under paragraph 

5 (1), and water service disconnections due to un6 paid water service charges; and 

7 (B) for promoting affordable, equitable, 

8 transparent, and reliable water and sewer serv9 ice, the effectiveness of funding under— 

10 (i) section 1452 of the Safe Drinking 

11 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12); and 

12 (ii) section 601 of the Federal Water 

13 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1381). 

14 (3) DISCRIMINATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS.—In 

15 conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Ad16 ministrator, in collaboration with the Civil Rights 

17 Division of the Department of Justice, shall study— 

18 (A) discriminatory practices of water and 

19 sewer service providers; and 

20 (B) violations by water and sewer service 

21 providers that receive Federal assistance of civil 

22 rights under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

23 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) with respect to 

24 equal access to water and sewer services. 


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1 (4) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN REGIONALIZA2 TION.—In conducting the study under paragraph 

3 (1), the Administrator shall evaluate efforts to re4 gionalize public water systems, as defined in section 

5 1401 of the Safe Water Drinking Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 300f), and sewer services with respect to public par7 ticipation in— 

8 (A) the decision to undergo the regional9 ization; and 

10 (B) decision making by the board of direc11 tors (or other governing body) of the entity that 

12 provides, or oversees or coordinates the provi13 sion of, water by the public water systems sub14 ject to the regionalization. 

15 (5) DATA COLLECTION.—In conducting the 

16 study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 

17 collect information, assess the availability of infor18 mation, and evaluate the methodologies used to col19 lect information, related to— 

20 (A) people living without water or sewer 

21 services; 

22 (B) water service disconnections due to un23 paid water service charges, including disconnec24 tions experienced by households containing chil25 dren, elderly persons, disabled persons, chronVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S611.IS S611

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1 ically ill persons, or other vulnerable popu2 lations; and 

3 (C) disparate effects, on the basis of race, 

4 gender, or socioeconomic status, of water serv5 ice disconnections and the lack of public water 

6 service. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

9 to Congress a report that contains— 

10 (1) the results of the study under subsection 

11 (a)(1); and 

12 (2) recommendations for utility companies, 

13 Federal agencies, and States with respect to the re14 sults of the study. 

15 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO RURAL AND SMALL 

16 MUNICIPALITIES AND TRIBAL GOVERN17 MENTS. 

18 Section 104(u)(7) of the Federal Water Pollution 

19 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(u)(7)) is amended by strik20 ing ‘‘not to exceed $25,000,000’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘$175,000,000’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM 

2 IMPROVEMENT. 

3 Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

4 (33 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 222. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYS7 TEMS. 

8 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

9 of this section, the Administrator shall establish a grant 

10 program to make grants to users of a septic tank and 

11 drainage field for costs associated with repairing, replac12 ing, or upgrading the septic tank and drainage field.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS. 

14 Section 306E(d) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

15 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926e(d)) is amended by 

16 striking ‘‘$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 

17 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$348,500,000 for each fis18 cal year’’. 

19 SEC. 7. STATE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING 

20 FUNDS. 

21 (a) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—Section 602(b) of 

22 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

23 1382(b)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘will be made 

25 to the State with funds to be made available’’ and 


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1 inserting ‘‘were made to the State with funds made 

2 available for fiscal year 2019’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (13)(B)(iii), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

4 at the end; 

5 (3) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 

6 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

7 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(15) the State will not provide financial assist9 ance using amounts from the fund for any project 

10 that will provide substantial direct benefits to new 

11 communities, lots, or subdivisions, other than a 

12 project to construct an advanced decentralized 

13 wastewater system; and’’. 

14 (b) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR AS15 SISTANCE.—Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution 

16 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (2) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the period 

20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(13) to any municipality or intermunicipal, 

23 interstate, or State agency for— 

24 ‘‘(A) purchasing from a willing seller a pri25 vately owned treatment works for the purpose 


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1 of bringing the treatment works into public 

2 ownership; and 

3 ‘‘(B) expenses related to canceling a con4 tract for the operation or management of a 

5 publicly owned treatment works.’’. 

6 (c) INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL SUB7 SIDIZATION BY THE STATE.—Section 603(i)(3) of the 

8 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

9 1383(i)(3)) is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and 

10 inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION.—A State 

12 may use not less than 50 percent of the total 

13 amount received by the State in capitalization 

14 grants under this title for a fiscal year for pro15 viding additional subsidization under this sub16 section.’’. 

17 SEC. 8. USE OF STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS UNDER 

18 THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. 

19 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

23 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

24 ‘‘publicly owned, operated, and managed’’ 

25 before ‘‘community water systems’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking subparagraph (E) and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(E) ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY.— 

4 The funds under this section may be used for— 

5 ‘‘(i) purchasing from a willing seller a 

6 privately owned community water system 

7 for the purpose of bringing the community 

8 water system into public ownership; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) for the expenses related to can10 celing a contract for the operation or man11 agement of a community water system.’’; 

12 and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(6) EXCEPTION TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP, OPER15 ATION, AND MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT.—Not16 withstanding paragraph (2)(A), a public water sys17 tem that regularly serves fewer than 10,000 persons, 

18 and that is not owned, operated, or managed by any 

19 person who owns, operates, or manages any other 

20 public water system, may receive assistance under 

21 this section.’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (d), by striking paragraph (2) 

23 and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(2) TOTAL AMOUNT OF SUBSIDIES.—To the 

25 extent that there are sufficient applications for loans 


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1 to the communities described in paragraph (1), of 

2 the amount of the capitalization grant received by a 

3 State for a fiscal year, the total amount of loan sub4 sidies made by the State for the fiscal year pursuant 

5 to paragraph (1) may not be less than 50 percent.’’; 

6 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘to be made 

7 to the State’’ and inserting ‘‘that was made to the 

8 State in fiscal year 2019’’; 

9 (4) in subsection (g)(3)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

13 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(D) guidance— 

17 ‘‘(i) to ensure affordable, equitable, 

18 transparent and reliable water service pro19 vision; 

20 ‘‘(ii) to provide protections for house21 holds facing service disconnection due to 

22 unpaid water service charges; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) to promote universal equal ac24 cess to water services.’’; and 


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1 (5) in subsection (k)(1), by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(E) Provide assistance in the form of a 

4 grant to owners of private property on which a 

5 lead service line (as defined in section 

6 1459B(a)) is or may be located, for the purpose 

7 of replacing the lead service line with a service 

8 line that is lead free (as defined in section 

9 1417(d)). 

10 ‘‘(F) Provide assistance to a publicly 

11 owned, operated, and managed community 

12 water system for the purpose of updating a 

13 treatment plant or switching water sources due 

14 to contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl 

15 substances (commonly referred to as ‘PFAS’) 

16 (as defined by the State in which the commu17 nity water system is located). 

18 ‘‘(G) Provide assistance in the form of a 

19 grant to an owner of a household water well 

20 that has been contaminated by per- and 

21 polyfluoroalkyl substances (commonly referred 

22 to as ‘PFAS’) (as defined by the State in which 

23 the household well is located) for the purpose of 

24 purchasing and installing a household filtration 

25 system.’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. DRINKING WATER GRANT PROGRAMS. 

2 (a) SCHOOL DRINKING WATER IMPROVEMENT.— 

3 Section 1465 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 300j–25) is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘FOUN6 TAIN’’ and inserting ‘‘INFRASTRUCTURE’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘fountains 

8 manufactured prior to 1988’’ and inserting ‘‘infra9 structure’’; 

10 (3) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under the 

13 grant program may be used to pay costs associated with— 

14 ‘‘(1) installing, repairing, or replacing the infra15 structure necessary to ensure that drinking water 

16 fountains, drinking water coolers, and bottle filling 

17 stations at schools are lead free (as defined in sec18 tion 1417(d)); and 

19 ‘‘(2) monitoring and reporting of lead levels in 

20 the drinking water of schools, as determined appro21 priate by the Administrator.’’; and 

22 (4) in subsection (d)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘$5,000,000’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘$1,050,000,000’’; and 

25 (B) by striking ‘‘2021’’ and inserting 

26 ‘‘2022’’. 


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1 (b) TRIBAL DRINKING WATER.—Section 1452(i)(1) 

2 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(i)(1)) 

3 is amended, in the first sentence— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘1 1/2’’ and inserting ‘‘3’’; and 

5 (2) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

6 SEC. 10. REQUIREMENT FOR THE USE OF AMERICAN MATE7 RIALS IN DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUC8 TURE. 

9 Section 1452(a)(4)(A) of the Safe Drinking Water 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(a)(4)(A)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘During fiscal years 2019 through 2023, funds’’ and in12 serting ‘‘Funds’’. 

13 SEC. 11. LABOR PROVISIONS. 

14 (a) PREVAILING RATE OF WAGE.—Nothing in this 

15 Act or an amendment made by this Act affects the appli16 cability of the requirements relating to labor standards of 

17 sections 513 and 602(b)(6) of the Federal Water Pollution 

18 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1372, 1382(b)(6)) and section 

19 1450(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j– 

20 9(e)) to projects carried out under those Acts. 

21 (b) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.— 

22 (1) CLEAN WATER REVOLVING FUNDS.—Sec23 tion 602(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

24 Act (33 U.S.C. 1382(b)) (as amended by section 

25 7(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(16) the State will— 

2 ‘‘(A) permit recipients of assistance under 

3 this title to enter into agreements authorized 

4 under section 8(f) of the National Labor Rela5 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f)) (commonly known 

6 as ‘project labor agreements’) with respect to 

7 projects for building or construction carried out 

8 with that assistance; and 

9 ‘‘(B) ensure that, to the maximum extent 

10 practicable, recipients of assistance under this 

11 title carry out the projects through the use of 

12 the agreements described in subparagraph 

13 (A).’’. 

14 (2) DRINKING WATER REVOLVING FUNDS.— 

15 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 

17 (A) in subsection (a) (as amended by sec18 tion 8(1)), by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(7) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.—Each 

20 agreement under this subsection shall require that 

21 the State permit recipients of assistance under this 

22 section to enter into an agreement authorized under 

23 section 8(f) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 

24 U.S.C. 158(f)) (commonly known as a ‘project labor 


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1 agreement’) with respect to projects for building or 

2 construction carried out with that assistance.’’; and 

3 (B) in subsection (b)(3)(A)— 

4 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

5 and inserting a semicolon; 

6 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking the pe7 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (iii) by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(iv) with respect to projects for 

11 building or construction, will be carried out 

12 through the use of agreements authorized 

13 under section 8(f) of the National Labor 

14 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(f)).’’. 

Æ 


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