I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4542 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a low-income 

sewer and water assistance pilot program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2016 

Ms. FUDGE (for herself, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. 

CONYERS, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, and Ms. KAPTUR) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a low-income sewer and water assistance pilot program. 

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 ‘‘Low Income Sewer 

5 and Water Assistance Program Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LOW-INCOME SEWER AND WATER ASSISTANCE 

2 PILOT PROGRAM. 

3 Title I of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

4 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 123. LOW-INCOME SEWER AND WATER ASSISTANCE 

7 PILOT PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es9 tablish a pilot program to award grants to not fewer than 

10 10 eligible entities to assist low-income households in 

11 maintaining access to sanitation services. 

12 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

13 date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 

14 submit to Congress a report on the results of the program 

15 established under this section. 

16 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en18 tity’ means a municipality, or a public entity that 

19 owns or operates a public water system, that is af20 fected by a consent decree relating to compliance 

21 with this Act. 

22 ‘‘(2) HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘household’ 

23 means any individual or group of individuals who 

24 are living together as one economic unit. 

25 ‘‘(3) LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘low-income 

2 household’ means a household— 

3 ‘‘(i) in which 1 or more individuals 

4 are receiving— 

5 ‘‘(I) assistance under a State 

6 program funded under part A of title 

7 IV of the Social Security Act; 

8 ‘‘(II) supplemental security in9 come payments under title XVI of the 

10 Social Security Act; 

11 ‘‘(III) supplemental nutrition as12 sistance program benefits under the 

13 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008; or 

14 ‘‘(IV) payments under section 

15 1315, 1521, 1541, or 1542 of title 38, 

16 United States Code, or under section 

17 306 of the Veterans’ and Survivors’ 

18 Pension Improvement Act of 1978; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) that has an income determined 

20 by the State in which the eligible entity is 

21 located to not exceed the greater of— 

22 ‘‘(I) an amount equal to 150 per23 cent of the poverty level for the State; 

24 or 


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1 ‘‘(II) an amount equal to 60 per2 cent of the State median income; and 

3 ‘‘(B) LOWER INCOME LIMIT.—For pur4 poses of this section, a State may adopt an in5 come limit that is lower than the limit described 

6 in subparagraph (A)(ii), except that the State 

7 may not exclude a household from eligibility in 

8 a fiscal year solely on the basis of household in9 come if such income is less than 110 percent of 

10 the poverty level for such State. 

11 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘pub12 lic water system’ has the meaning given that term 

13 in section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 300f). 

15 ‘‘(5) SANITATION SERVICES.—The term ‘sanita16 tion services’ has the meaning given that term in 

17 section 113(g).’’. 

Æ 


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