I 

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. 

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 Com5 munity Drinking Water Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) many areas in the State of California, par2 ticularly in the San Joaquin Valley region, are dis3 proportionately impacted by drought because the 

4 areas are heavily dependent or completely reliant on 

5 groundwater supplies to meet domestic drinking 

6 water needs; and 

7 (2) those communities throughout the State of 

8 California have been impacted by the presence of 

9 naturally occurring and human-caused constituents 

10 including arsenic, 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3- 

11 TCP), hexavalent chromium, Dibromochloropropane 

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

13 supplies. 

14 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

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

17 as the ‘‘Disadvantaged Community Drinking Water As18 sistance Program’’ to provide financial assistance to dis19 advantaged communities that have experienced a signifi20 cant decline in quantity or quality of drinking water, and 

21 to obtain or maintain adequate quantities of water that 

22 meet the standards set by the Federal Safe Drinking 

23 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.). Grants under this 

24 section may be provided to communities— 


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1 (1) that are unable to meet the primary drink2 ing water quality standards under that Act; or 

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

4 which has been lost or severely diminished due to 

5 drought conditions, groundwater overdraft condi6 tions, or climate change conditions. 

7 (b) ELIGIBLE COMMUNITIES.—Grants provided 

8 under this section shall be used to benefit communities— 

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

10 with a population of not more than 60,000 of resi11 dents; and 

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

13 than 100 percent of the nonmetropolitan median 

14 household income of the State in which the commu15 nity is located. 

16 (c) ELIGIBLE USES.—Grants provided under this 

17 section may be used for the following: 

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

19 systems. 

20 (2) Wellhead treatment and distributed treat21 ment facilities. 

22 (3) Blending systems in compliance with State 

23 regulations. 


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1 (4) Costs related to the consolidation of mul2 tiple small rural water systems or a small rural 

3 water system with a larger system. 

4 (5) Construction of new water source facilities 

5 including wells and connections to existing systems. 

6 (6) Water distribution facilities. 

7 (7) Water capacity fees, water supply develop8 ment fees, water connections fees, and similar fees 

9 that are assessed when a new connection is added to 

10 an existing water system as part of a consolidation. 

11 (8) Assistance to households to connect to 

12 water facilities. 

13 (9) Emergency water supplies. 

14 (10) A combination of activities described in 

15 paragraphs (1) through (9). 

16 (11) Application and technical assistance costs 

17 associated with the activities described in para18 graphs (1) through (9). 

19 (d) PRIORITIZATION.—In determining priorities for 

20 funding projects, the Secretary of the Interior shall take 

21 into consideration— 

22 (1) communities that are currently operating 

23 under a notice of violation for failing to provide po24 table water that meets primary drinking water 

25 standards; 


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1 (2) whether the applicant has the ability to 

2 qualify for alternative funding sources that do not 

3 result in water rate increases unable to be absorbed 

4 by the residential ratepayers; 

5 (3) communities deemed vulnerable to water 

6 shortage conditions because the system is located in 

7 a critically overdrafted groundwater basin, and the 

8 system has only a single water supply source; 

9 (4) rural communities served by individual, on10 site domestic wells that have documented dry well 

11 conditions or contaminated well conditions; and 

12 (5) public water systems that desire to consoli13 date with each other, or with a larger urban system, 

14 to increase economies-of-scale to reduce cost of serv15 ice, and increase the level and quality of water serv16 ice delivery. 

17 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant pro18 vided under this section may be used to fund— 

19 (1) not more than 100 percent of costs for ac20 tivities, including— 

21 (A) technical assistance and other costs as22 sociated with application for assistance through 

23 the Disadvantaged Community Drinking Water 

24 Assistance Program; 


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1 (B) initial operating costs incurred to start 

2 up, test, and place into service project facilities 

3 and components; and 

4 (C) capital costs of construction or compo5 nents to ensure such facilities and components 

6 are properly operational; and 

7 (2) not more than 25 percent of costs for as8 sistance with operation and maintenance costs in9 curred subsequent to placing the facilities or compo10 nents into service to ensure service remains efficient 

11 and effective. 

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

13 25 percent of funds made available in any fiscal year for 

14 grants under this section shall be used for operations and 

15 maintenance costs. States may use a State circuit riding 

16 operations assistance team to identify applicants approved 

17 for operations and maintenance assistance. 

18 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Inte20 rior to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal 

21 years 2021 through 2025, to remain available until ex22 pended. 

Æ 


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