I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3328

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a program to provide 

assistance to small communities for use in carrying out projects and 

activities necessary to achieve or maintain compliance with drinking 

water standards. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 16, 2003

Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a program to provide assistance to small communities for use 

in carrying out projects and activities necessary to 

achieve or maintain compliance with drinking water 

standards.

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 ‘‘Community Drinking 

5 Water Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) drinking water standards proposed and in 

2 effect as of the date of the enactment of this Act will 

3 place a large financial burden on many public water 

4 systems, especially those public water systems in 

5 rural communities serving small populations; 

6 (2) the limited scientific, technical, and profes7 sional resources available in small communities com8 plicate the implementation of regulatory require9 ments; 

10 (3) small communities often cannot afford to 

11 meet water quality standards because of the ex12 penses associated with upgrading public water sys13 tems and training personnel to operate and maintain 

14 the public water systems; 

15 (4) small communities do not have a tax base 

16 for dealing with the costs of upgrading their public 

17 water systems; 

18 (5) small communities face high per capita 

19 costs in improving drinking water quality; 

20 (6) small communities would greatly benefit 

21 from a grant program designed to provide funding 

22 for water quality projects; 

23 (7) as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 

24 there is no Federal program in effect that ade25 quately meets the needs of small, primarily rural 
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1 communities with respect to public water systems; 

2 and 

3 (8) since new, more protective arsenic drinking 

4 water standards proposed by the Clinton and Bush 

5 administrations, respectively, are expected to be im6 plemented in 2006, the grant program established 

7 by the amendment made by this Act should be im8 plemented in a manner that ensures that the imple9 mentation of those new standards is not delayed. 

10 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS. 

11 (a) DEFINITION OF INDIAN TRIBE.—Section 

12 1401(14) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 300f(14)) is amended in the second sentence by striking 

14 ‘‘1452,’’ and inserting ‘‘1452 and part G,’’. 

15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Safe 

16 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.) is amended 

17 by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘PART G—ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL PUBLIC 

19 WATER SYSTEMS 

20 ‘‘SEC. 1471. DEFINITIONS. 

21 ‘‘In this part: 

22 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible ac24 tivity’ means a project or activity concerning a 

25 small public water system that is carried out by 
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1 an eligible entity to comply with drinking water 

2 standards. 

3 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible ac4 tivity’ includes—

5 ‘‘(i) obtaining technical assistance; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) training and certifying operators 

8 of small public water systems. 

9 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘eligible ac10 tivity’ does not include any project or activity to 

11 increase the population served by a small public 

12 water system, except to the extent that the Ad13 ministrator determines such a project or activ14 ity to be necessary to—

15 ‘‘(i) achieve compliance with a na16 tional primary drinking water regulation; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) provide a water supply to a pop19 ulation that, as of the date of the enact20 ment of this part, is not served by a safe 

21 public water system. 

22 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en23 tity’ means a small public water system that—

24 ‘‘(A) is located in a State or an area gov25 erned by an Indian Tribe; and 
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1 ‘‘(B)(i) if located in a State, serves a com2 munity that, under affordability criteria estab3 lished by the State under section 1452(d)(3), is 

4 determined by the State to be—

5 ‘‘(I) a disadvantaged community; or 

6 ‘‘(II) a community that may become a 

7 disadvantaged community as a result of 

8 carrying out an eligible activity; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) if located in an area governed by an 

10 Indian Tribe, serves a community that, under 

11 affordability criteria published by the Adminis12 trator under section 1452(d)(3), is determined 

13 by the Administrator in consultation with the 

14 Secretary to be—

15 ‘‘(I) a disadvantaged community; or 

16 ‘‘(II) a community that may become a 

17 disadvantaged community as a result of 

18 carrying out an eligible activity. 

19 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 

20 the small public water system assistance program es21 tablished under section 1472(a). 

22 ‘‘(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

23 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 

24 through the Director of the Indian Health Service. 
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1 ‘‘(5) SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM.—The 

2 term ‘small public water system’ means a public 

3 water system (whether a community water system or 

4 a noncommunity water system) that serves—

5 ‘‘(A) a community with a population of not 

6 more than 200,000 individuals; or 

7 ‘‘(B) a public water system located in—

8 ‘‘(i) Bernalillo or Sandoval County, 

9 New Mexico; 

10 ‘‘(ii) Scottsdale, Arizona; 

11 ‘‘(iii) Mesquite or Washoe County, 

12 Nevada; or 

13 ‘‘(iv) El Paso County, Texas. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 1472. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE 

15 PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of the enactment of this part, the Adminis19 trator shall establish a program to provide grants to 

20 eligible entities for use in carrying out eligible activi21 ties to comply with drinking water standards. 

22 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—Subject to paragraph (3), the 

23 Administrator shall award grants under the Pro24 gram to eligible entities based on—
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1 ‘‘(A) first, the financial need of the com2 munity for the grant assistance, as determined 

3 by the Administrator; and 

4 ‘‘(B) second, with respect to the commu5 nity in which the eligible entity is located, the 

6 per capita cost of complying with drinking 

7 water standards, as determined by the Adminis8 trator. 

9 ‘‘(3) SMALL COMMUNITIES.—In making grants 

10 under this section, the Administrator shall ensure 

11 that not less 20 percent of grant funds provided for 

12 each fiscal year are used to carry out eligible activi13 ties in communities with a population of less than 

14 50,000 individuals. 

15 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

17 seeks to receive a grant under the Program shall 

18 submit to the Administrator, on such form as the 

19 Administrator shall prescribe (not to exceed 3 pages 

20 in length), an application to receive the grant. 

21 ‘‘(2) COMPONENTS.—The application shall in22 clude—

23 ‘‘(A) a description of the eligible activities 

24 for which the grant is needed; 
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1 ‘‘(B) a description of the efforts made by 

2 the eligible entity, as of the date of submission 

3 of the application, to comply with drinking 

4 water standards; and 

5 ‘‘(C) any other information required to be 

6 included by the Administrator. 

7 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF APPLICA8 TIONS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of an ap10 plication under paragraph (1), the Adminis11 trator shall forward the application to the 

12 Council. 

13 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.—Not 

14 later than 90 days after receiving the rec15 ommendations of the Council under subsection 

16 (e) concerning an application, after taking into 

17 consideration the recommendations, the Admin18 istrator shall—

19 ‘‘(i) approve the application and 

20 award a grant to the applicant; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) disapprove the application. 

22 ‘‘(C) RESUBMISSION.—If the Adminis23 trator disapproves an application under sub24 paragraph (B)(ii), the Administrator shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) inform the applicant in writing of 

2 the disapproval (including the reasons for 

3 the disapproval); and 

4 ‘‘(ii) provide to the applicant a dead5 line by which the applicant may revise and 

6 resubmit the application. 

7 ‘‘(c) COST SHARING.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of carrying 

10 out an eligible activity using funds from a grant pro11 vided under the Program shall not exceed 90 per12 cent. 

13 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive 

14 the requirement to pay the non-Federal share of the 

15 cost of carrying out an eligible activity using funds 

16 from a grant provided under the Program if the Ad17 ministrator determines that an eligible entity is un18 able to pay, or would experience significant financial 

19 hardship if required to pay, the non-Federal share. 

20 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF

21 STANDARDS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

23 the Administrator shall not enforce any standard for 

24 drinking water under this Act that takes effect after 

25 the date of the enactment of this part (including any 
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1 regulation promulgated under this Act that takes ef2 fect after such date) against an eligible entity during 

3 the period beginning on the date on which the eligi4 ble entity submits an application for a grant under 

5 the Program and ending, as applicable, on—

6 ‘‘(A) the deadline specified in subsection 

7 (b)(3)(C)(ii), if the application is disapproved 

8 and not resubmitted; or 

9 ‘‘(B) the date that is 3 years after the date 

10 on which the eligible entity receives a grant 

11 under this part, if the application is approved. 

12 ‘‘(2) ARSENIC STANDARDS.—No standard for 

13 arsenic in drinking water promulgated under this 

14 Act (including a standard in any regulation promul15 gated before the date of enactment of this part) 

16 shall be implemented or enforced by the Adminis17 trator in any State until the earlier of January 1, 

18 2006, or such date as the Administrator certifies to 

19 the Congress that—

20 ‘‘(A) the Program has been implemented 

21 in the State; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the State has made substantial 

23 progress, as determined by the Administrator in 

24 consultation with the Governor of the State, in 
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1 complying with drinking water standards under 

2 this Act. 

3 ‘‘(e) ROLE OF COUNCIL.—The Council shall—

4 ‘‘(1) review applications for grants from eligible 

5 entities received by the Administrator under sub6 section (b); 

7 ‘‘(2) for each application, recommend to the 

8 Administrator whether the application should be ap9 proved or disapproved; and 

10 ‘‘(3) take into consideration priority lists devel11 oped by States for the use of drinking water treat12 ment revolving loan funds under section 1452. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1473. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this part $1,900,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 

16 through 2009.’’.

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