I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 873 

To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

award grants and contracts for projects that use emerging technologies 

to address threats to water quality, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2023 

Mr. DONALDS (for himself and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, 

and Science, Space, and Technology, 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 authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to award grants and contracts for projects 

that use emerging technologies to address threats to 

water quality, 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 ‘‘Water Quality and En5 vironmental Innovation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Science, technology, and innovation are 

4 major cornerstones of the economy of the United 

5 States. 

6 (2) Throughout the United States, there is a 

7 growing momentum to address traditional and 

8 emerging threats to the Nation’s water resources 

9 through innovative technological approaches. 

10 (3) Water quality continues to negatively im11 pact communities in the United States in a variety 

12 of ways. 

13 (4) Water quality improvement and protection 

14 efforts pose a unique opportunity for private and 

15 public innovators to develop lasting market-based so16 lutions. 

17 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that— 

19 (1) the Federal Government should support in20 novative solutions to address water quality in the 

21 United States; 

22 (2) forward-thinking applications of new and 

23 existing technologies will be vital for the ability of 

24 communities in the United States to treat and mon25 itor vital aquatic and environmental resources; 


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1 (3) supporting an innovative approach to ad2 dressing or avoiding water quality degradation will 

3 ultimately result in positive changes pertaining to 

4 water quality and environmental well-being; 

5 (4) utilizing emerging technologies will spur 

6 market-based innovation and will further amplify the 

7 ongoing efforts to resolve water quality degradation; 

8 and 

9 (5) the Environmental Protection Agency and 

10 State environmental agencies should prioritize the 

11 use of emerging technologies, including artificial in12 telligence, quantum information science, distributed 

13 ledger technology, mechanical harvesting, aquatic 

14 muck dredging, living shorelines, living seawalls, ro15 botics, nanotechnology, environmental DNA 

16 (eDNA), and cultivation of aquatic species, such as 

17 seaweed, seagrass, kelp, clams, oysters, and mussels, 

18 when creating programs and solutions to address 

19 water quality. 

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WATER QUALITY AND EN21 VIRONMENTAL INNOVATION FUND. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a fund, to be 

23 known as the Water Quality and Environmental Innova24 tion Fund. 


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1 (b) TRANSFERS TO THE FUND.—On October 1 of 

2 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, there shall be 

3 transferred from the special account described in section 

4 6501(e) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 

5 1990 (42 U.S.C. 4370c(e)) to the Water Quality and En6 vironmental Innovation Fund, an amount that is equal to 

7 the amount that the Administrator of the Environmental 

8 Protection Agency determines will be collected in such fis9 cal year from fees and charges under the Motor Vehicle 

10 and Engine Compliance Program of the Environmental 

11 Protection Agency. 

12 (c) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the Water Quality 

13 and Environmental Innovation Fund— 

14 (1) shall be available, as provided in appropria15 tions Acts, for awarding grants and contracts, and 

16 for other expenses associated with administering 

17 such awards, under section 5; and 

18 (2) shall remain available until September 30, 

19 2028. 

20 SEC. 5. AWARDS FOR PROJECTS THAT USE EMERGING 

21 TECHNOLOGIES TO ADDRESS THREATS TO 

22 WATER QUALITY. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may award 

24 grants and contracts to eligible entities in accordance with 

25 this section. 


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1 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may use a 

3 grant or contract awarded under this section to 

4 carry out a project— 

5 (A) that uses an emerging technology, in6 cluding artificial intelligence, quantum informa7 tion science, distributed ledger technology, me8 chanical harvesting, aquatic muck dredging, liv9 ing shorelines, living seawalls, robotics, nano10 technology, environmental DNA (eDNA), and 

11 cultivation of aquatic species, such as seaweed, 

12 seagrass, kelp, clams, oysters, and mussels, to 

13 address threats to water quality; or 

14 (B) for the research, development, or de15 sign of such an emerging technology to be used 

16 to address threats to water quality. 

17 (2) WATER QUALITY THREATS.—Threats to 

18 water quality that may be addressed under a project 

19 carried out using a grant or contract awarded under 

20 this section include— 

21 (A) acidification; 

22 (B) the accumulation of plastics, trash, 

23 and microplastics; 

24 (C) hydrologic alterations, such as restrict25 ing tidal flow; 


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1 (D) nutrient release and eutrophication, 

2 including harmful algal blooms; 

3 (E) sea-level rise; 

4 (F) waste carbon dioxide accumulations; 

5 (G) adverse soil health conditions; 

6 (H) erosion and sedimentation; and 

7 (I) karst, sinkholes, and land subsidence. 

8 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Administrator may— 

9 (1) award grants under this section to any in10 stitution of higher education, nonprofit organization, 

11 or any other entity located or headquartered in the 

12 United States that the Administrator determines ap13 propriate; and 

14 (2) award contracts under this section to indi15 viduals or private for-profit companies that the Ad16 ministrator determines appropriate. 

17 (d) REQUIREMENT.—Any results, including data and 

18 statistics, from a project carried out using a grant or con19 tract awarded under this section shall be freely accessible 

20 and useable by the public, including local, State, and Fed21 eral government entities. 

22 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

23 Not later than one year after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Adminis25 trator shall submit to the Committee on Environment and 


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1 Public Works of the Senate, the Committee on Commerce, 

2 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee 

3 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representa4 tives, the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc5 ture of the House of Representatives, and the Committee 

6 on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep7 resentatives a report describing— 

8 (1) additional benefits that may result from the 

9 use of emerging technologies, including emerging 

10 technologies described in section 5(b)(1)(A), to ad11 dress threats to water quality, compared to use of 

12 existing technologies to address threats to water 

13 quality; 

14 (2) the recipients of the grants and contracts 

15 awarded under this Act; 

16 (3) the types and goals of projects carried out 

17 using the grants and contracts awarded under this 

18 Act; 

19 (4) the effectiveness of such projects in achiev20 ing such goals; and 

21 (5) any other information that the Adminis22 trator determines necessary. 

23 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency. 

4 (2) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘ar5 tificial intelligence’’ has the meaning given such 

6 term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intel7 ligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401). 

8 (3) DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY.—The 

9 term ‘‘distributed ledger technology’’ means tech10 nology that enables the operation and use of distrib11 uted ledgers that— 

12 (A) are shared across a set of distributed 

13 nodes, including devices or processes, that par14 ticipate in a network and store a complete or 

15 partial replica of the ledger; 

16 (B) are synchronized between the nodes; 

17 (C) have data appended to it by following 

18 the ledger’s specified consensus mechanism; 

19 (D) may be accessible to anyone (public) 

20 or restricted to a subset of participants (pri21 vate); and 

22 (E) may require participants to have au23 thorization to perform certain actions 

24 (permissioned) or require no authorization 

25 (permissionless). 


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1 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means an entity described in section 5(c). 

3 (5) QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE.—The 

4 term ‘‘quantum information science’’ has the mean5 ing given such term in section 2 of the National 

6 Quantum Initiative Act (15 U.S.C. 8801). 

Æ 


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