IB 

Union Calendar No. 555 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5347 

[Report No. 116–671, Part I] 

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 

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee 

of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on December 6, 2019] 


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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. 


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•HR 5347 RH

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disadvantaged Commu5 nity Drinking Water Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) many areas in the State of California, par9 ticularly in the San Joaquin Valley region, are dis10 proportionately impacted by drought because the 

11 areas are heavily dependent or completely reliant on 

12 groundwater supplies to meet domestic drinking 

13 water needs; and 

14 (2) those communities throughout the State of 

15 California have been impacted by the presence of nat16 urally occurring and human-caused constituents in17 cluding arsenic, 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP), 

18 hexavalent chromium, Dibromochloropropane 

19 (DBCP), uranium, and nitrates in local groundwater 

20 supplies. 

21 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Interior 

23 shall establish and carry out a grant program to be known 

24 as the ‘‘Disadvantaged Community Drinking Water Assist25 ance Program’’ to provide financial assistance to disadvanVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5347.RH H5347

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1 taged communities that have experienced a significant de2 cline in quantity or quality of drinking water, and to ob3 tain or maintain adequate quantities of water that meet 

4 the standards set by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act 

5 (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.). Grants under this section may be 

6 provided to communities within a Reclamation State, as 

7 defined by the Reclamation Act of 1902 (43 U.S.C. 391)— 

8 (1) that are unable to meet the primary drinking 

9 water quality standards under that Act; or 

10 (2) the local private or public water supply of 

11 which has been lost or severely diminished due to 

12 drought conditions, groundwater overdraft conditions, 

13 or climate change conditions. 

14 (b) ELIGIBLE COMMUNITIES.—Grants provided under 

15 this section shall be used to benefit communities— 

16 (1) located in a city, town, or special district 

17 with a population of not more than 60,000 of resi18 dents; and 

19 (2) that have a median household income of less 

20 than 100 percent of the nonmetropolitan median 

21 household income of the State in which the commu22 nity is located. 

23 (c) ELIGIBLE USES.—Grants provided under this sec24 tion may be used for the following: 


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1 (1) Point of use treatment and point of entry 

2 systems. 

3 (2) Wellhead treatment and distributed treat4 ment facilities. 

5 (3) Blending systems in compliance with State 

6 regulations. 

7 (4) Costs related to the consolidation of multiple 

8 small rural water systems or a small rural water sys9 tem with a larger system. 

10 (5) Construction of new water source facilities 

11 including wells and connections to existing systems. 

12 (6) Water distribution facilities. 

13 (7) Water capacity fees, water supply develop14 ment fees, water connections fees, and similar fees 

15 that are assessed when a new connection is added to 

16 an existing water system as part of a consolidation. 

17 (8) Assistance to households to connect to water 

18 facilities. 

19 (9) Emergency water supplies. 

20 (10) A combination of activities described in 

21 paragraphs (1) through (9). 

22 (11) Application and technical assistance costs 

23 associated with the activities described in paragraphs 

24 (1) through (9). 


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1 (d) PRIORITIZATION.—In determining priorities for 

2 funding projects, the Secretary of the Interior shall take into 

3 consideration— 

4 (1) communities that are currently operating 

5 under a notice of violation for failing to provide pota6 ble water that meets primary drinking water stand7 ards; 

8 (2) whether the applicant has the ability to qual9 ify for alternative funding sources that do not result 

10 in water rate increases unable to be absorbed by the 

11 residential ratepayers; 

12 (3) communities deemed vulnerable to water 

13 shortage conditions because the system is located in a 

14 critically overdrafted groundwater basin, and the sys15 tem has only a single water supply source; 

16 (4) rural communities served by individual, on17 site domestic wells that have documented dry well 

18 conditions or contaminated well conditions; and 

19 (5) public water systems that desire to consoli20 date with each other, or with a larger urban system, 

21 to increase economies-of-scale to reduce cost of service, 

22 and increase the level and quality of water service de23 livery. 

24 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant pro25 vided under this section may be used to fund— 


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1 (1) not more than 100 percent of costs for activi2 ties, including— 

3 (A) technical assistance and other costs as4 sociated with application for assistance through 

5 the Disadvantaged Community Drinking Water 

6 Assistance Program; 

7 (B) initial operating costs incurred to start 

8 up, test, and place into service project facilities 

9 and components; and 

10 (C) capital costs of construction or compo11 nents to ensure such facilities and components 

12 are properly operational; and 

13 (2) not more than 25 percent of costs for assist14 ance with operation and maintenance costs incurred 

15 subsequent to placing the facilities or components into 

16 service to ensure service remains efficient and effec17 tive. 

18 (f) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—Not more than 

19 25 percent of funds made available in any fiscal year for 

20 grants under this section shall be used for operations and 

21 maintenance costs. States may use a State circuit riding 

22 operations assistance team to identify applicants approved 

23 for operations and maintenance assistance. 

24 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the InteVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5347.RH H5347

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1 rior to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal 

2 years 2021 through 2025, to remain available until ex3 pended. 


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pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 555 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5347 

[Report No. 116–671, Part I] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish 

and for other purposes. drinking water in disadvantaged communities, a grant program to close gaps in access to safe 

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with 

an amendment 

DECEMBER 18, 2020 

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS