II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1137 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal Water Pollution 

Control Act to include provisions relating to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2017 

Mr. CARDIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Federal 

Water Pollution Control Act to include provisions relating to drinking water and wastewater 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 ‘‘Clean Safe Reliable Water Infrastructure Act’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 


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Sec. 101. Sense of Congress on appropriations levels. 

Sec. 102. Other authorized activities. 

Sec. 103. Negotiation of contracts. 

Sec. 104. WaterSense program. 

TITLE II—WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE 

Sec. 201. Sewer overflow control grants. 

1 TITLE I—DRINKING WATER 

2 INFRASTRUCTURE 

3 SEC. 101. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON APPROPRIATIONS LEV4 ELS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that Congress should pro6 vide robust funding of capitalization grants to States to 

7 fund those States’ drinking water treatment revolving loan 

8 funds established under section 1452 of the Safe Drinking 

9 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12) and the State water pollu10 tion control revolving funds established under title VI of 

11 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1381 

12 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 102. OTHER AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES. 

14 Section 1452(k) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 300j–12(k)) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (1)(D), by inserting ‘‘and the 

17 implementation of plans to protect source water 

18 identified in a source water assessment under sec19 tion 1453’’ before the period at the end; and 

20 (2) in paragraph (2)(E), by inserting ‘‘and im21 plement plans to protect source water identified in 


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1 a source water assessment under section 1453’’ after 

2 ‘‘wellhead protection programs’’. 

3 SEC. 103. NEGOTIATION OF CONTRACTS. 

4 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(s) NEGOTIATION OF CONTRACTS.—For commu8 nities with populations of more than 10,000 individuals, 

9 a contract to be carried out using funds directly made 

10 available by a capitalization grant under this section for 

11 program management, construction management, feasi12 bility studies, preliminary engineering, design, engineer13 ing, surveying, mapping, or architectural or related serv14 ices shall be negotiated in the same manner as— 

15 ‘‘(1) a contract for architectural and engineer16 ing services is negotiated under chapter 11 of title 

17 40, United States Code; or 

18 ‘‘(2) an equivalent State qualifications-based re19 quirement (as determined by the Governor of the 

20 State).’’. 

21 SEC. 104. WATERSENSE PROGRAM. 

22 The Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j et 

23 seq.) is amended by adding after part F the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART G—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS 

2 ‘‘SEC. 1471. WATERSENSE PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WATERSENSE PRO4 GRAM.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 

6 the Agency a voluntary WaterSense program to 

7 identify and promote water-efficient products, build8 ings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services 

9 that, through voluntary labeling of, or other forms 

10 of communications regarding, products, buildings, 

11 landscapes, facilities, processes, and services while 

12 meeting strict performance criteria, sensibly— 

13 ‘‘(A) reduce water use; 

14 ‘‘(B) reduce the strain on public and com15 munity water systems and wastewater and 

16 stormwater infrastructure; 

17 ‘‘(C) conserve energy used to pump, heat, 

18 transport, and treat water; and 

19 ‘‘(D) preserve water resources for future 

20 generations. 

21 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—The Administrator shall, 

22 consistent with this section, identify water-efficient 

23 products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, 

24 and services, including categories such as— 

25 ‘‘(A) irrigation technologies and services; 

26 ‘‘(B) point-of-use water treatment devices; 


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1 ‘‘(C) plumbing products; 

2 ‘‘(D) reuse and recycling technologies; 

3 ‘‘(E) landscaping and gardening products, 

4 including moisture control or water enhancing 

5 technologies; 

6 ‘‘(F) xeriscaping and other landscape con7 versions that reduce water use; 

8 ‘‘(G) whole house humidifiers; and 

9 ‘‘(H) water-efficient buildings or facilities. 

10 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Administrator, coordinating as 

11 appropriate with the Secretary of Energy, shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) establish— 

13 ‘‘(A) a WaterSense label to be used for 

14 items meeting the certification criteria estab15 lished in accordance with this section; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the procedure, including the methods 

17 and means, and criteria by which an item may 

18 be certified to display the WaterSense label; 

19 ‘‘(2) enhance public awareness regarding the 

20 WaterSense label through outreach, education, and 

21 other means; 

22 ‘‘(3) preserve the integrity of the WaterSense 

23 label by— 

24 ‘‘(A) establishing and maintaining feasible 

25 performance criteria so that products, buildVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 May 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1137.IS S1137

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1 ings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and serv2 ices labeled with the WaterSense label perform 

3 as well or better than less water-efficient coun4 terparts; 

5 ‘‘(B) overseeing WaterSense certifications 

6 made by third parties, which shall be inde7 pendent third-party product certification bodies 

8 accredited by an accreditation entity domiciled 

9 in the United States, such as the American Na10 tional Standards Institute, as achieving— 

11 ‘‘(i) the requirements described in the 

12 document of the International Organiza13 tion for Standardization and the Inter14 national Electrotechnical Commission enti15 tled ‘ISO/IEC 17065 Conformity assess16 ment—Requirements for bodies certifying 

17 products, processes and services’ and dated 

18 September 2012; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the applicable WaterSense re20 quirements; 

21 ‘‘(C) as determined appropriate by the Ad22 ministrator, using testing protocols, from the 

23 appropriate, applicable, and relevant consensus 

24 standards, for the purpose of determining 

25 standards compliance; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) auditing the use of the WaterSense 

2 label in the marketplace and preventing cases of 

3 misuse; 

4 ‘‘(4) not more than 6 years after adoption or 

5 major revision of any WaterSense specification, re6 view and, if appropriate, revise the specification to 

7 achieve additional water savings; 

8 ‘‘(5) in revising a WaterSense specification— 

9 ‘‘(A) provide reasonable notice to inter10 ested parties and the public of any changes, in11 cluding effective dates, and an explanation of 

12 the changes; 

13 ‘‘(B) solicit comments from interested par14 ties and the public prior to any changes; 

15 ‘‘(C) as appropriate, respond to comments 

16 submitted by interested parties and the public; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(D) provide an appropriate transition 

19 time prior to the applicable effective date of any 

20 changes, taking into account the timing nec21 essary for the manufacture, marketing, train22 ing, and distribution of the specific water-effi23 cient product, building, landscape, process, or 

24 service category being addressed; and 


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1 ‘‘(6) not later than December 31, 2018, con2 sider for review and revision any WaterSense speci3 fication adopted before January 1, 2012. 

4 ‘‘(c) TRANSPARENCY.—The Administrator shall, to 

5 the maximum extent practicable and not less than annu6 ally, regularly estimate and make available to the public 

7 the production and relative market shares and savings of 

8 water, energy, and capital costs of water, wastewater, and 

9 stormwater attributable to the use of WaterSense-labeled 

10 products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and 

11 services. 

12 ‘‘(d) DISTINCTION OF AUTHORITIES.—In setting or 

13 maintaining specifications for Energy Star pursuant to 

14 section 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 

15 (42 U.S.C. 6294a), and WaterSense under this section, 

16 the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator shall co17 ordinate to prevent duplicative or conflicting requirements 

18 among the respective programs. 

19 ‘‘(e) NO WARRANTY.—A WaterSense label shall not 

20 create an express or implied warranty.’’. 

21 TITLE II—WASTEWATER 

22 INFRASTRUCTURE 

23 SEC. 201. SEWER OVERFLOW CONTROL GRANTS. 

24 Section 221 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

25 Act (33 U.S.C. 1301) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking the subsection 

2 designation and heading and all that follows through 

3 ‘‘subject to subsection (g), the Administrator may’’ 

4 in paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator may— 

6 ‘‘(1) make grants to States for the purpose of 

7 providing grants to a municipality or municipal enti8 ty for planning, designing, and constructing— 

9 ‘‘(A) treatment works to intercept, trans10 port, control, or treat municipal combined sewer 

11 overflows and sanitary sewer overflows; and 

12 ‘‘(B) measures to manage, reduce, treat, or 

13 recapture stormwater or subsurface drainage 

14 water; and 

15 ‘‘(2) subject to subsection (g),’’; 

16 (2) in subsection (b)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking the semi18 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 

19 (B) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 

20 and 

21 (C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

22 paragraph (2); 

23 (3) by striking subsections (e) through (g) and 

24 inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS.— 


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

2 project that receives grant assistance under sub3 section (a) shall be carried out subject to the same 

4 requirements as a project that receives assistance 

5 from a State water pollution control revolving fund 

6 established pursuant to title VI. 

7 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF GOVERNOR.—The re8 quirement described in paragraph (1) shall not apply 

9 to a project that receives grant assistance under 

10 subsection (a) to the extent that the Governor of the 

11 State in which the project is located determines that 

12 a requirement described in title VI is inconsistent 

13 with the purposes of this section. 

14 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

16 to remain available until expended— 

17 ‘‘(1) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; 

18 ‘‘(2) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; 

19 ‘‘(3) $350,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; 

20 ‘‘(4) $400,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 

21 ‘‘(5) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2021. 

22 ‘‘(g) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) FISCAL YEAR 2017 AND 2018.—For each of 

24 fiscal years 2017 and 2018, subject to subsection 

25 (h), the Administrator shall use the amounts made 


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1 available to carry out this section to provide grants 

2 to municipalities and municipal entities under sub3 section (a)(2)— 

4 ‘‘(A) in accordance with the priority cri5 teria described in subsection (b); and 

6 ‘‘(B) with additional priority given to pro7 posed projects that involve the use of— 

8 ‘‘(i) nonstructural, low-impact devel9 opment; 

10 ‘‘(ii) water conservation, efficiency, or 

11 reuse; or 

12 ‘‘(iii) other decentralized stormwater 

13 or wastewater approaches to minimize 

14 flows into the sewer systems. 

15 ‘‘(2) FISCAL YEAR 2019 AND THEREAFTER.— 

16 For fiscal year 2019 and each fiscal year thereafter, 

17 subject to subsection (h), the Administrator shall 

18 use the amounts made available to carry out this 

19 section to provide grants to States under subsection 

20 (a)(1) in accordance with a formula that— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall be established by the Adminis22 trator, after providing notice and an oppor23 tunity for public comment; and 

24 ‘‘(B) allocates to each State a proportional 

25 share of the amounts based on the total needs 


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1 of the State for municipal combined sewer over2 flow controls and sanitary sewer overflow con3 trols, as identified in the most recent survey— 

4 ‘‘(i) conducted under section 210; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) included in a report required 

6 under section 516(b)(1).’’; and 

7 (4) by striking subsection (i). 

Æ 


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