II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2917 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to establish 

an emergency preparedness and response technical assistance program 

to assist entities that operate rural water or wastewater systems in 

preparing for and responding to natural or man-made disasters. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2023 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself and Mrs. HYDE-SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 

Act to establish an emergency preparedness and response 

technical assistance program to assist entities that operate rural water or wastewater systems in preparing for 

and responding to natural or man-made disasters. 

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 ‘‘Rural Water System 

5 Disaster Preparedness and Assistance Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE 

2 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

3 Section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

4 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(27) EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RE7 SPONSE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

9 establish an emergency preparedness and re10 sponse technical assistance program to provide 

11 grants to eligible entities to assist associations 

12 described in paragraph (1) that operate rural 

13 water or wastewater systems in preparing for 

14 and responding to natural or man-made disas15 ters, as determined by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligi17 ble to receive a grant under subparagraph (A) 

18 is a nonprofit organization that— 

19 ‘‘(i) has demonstrated experience pro20 viding emergency technical assistance for 

21 disaster preparation, recovery, and re22 sponse activities to water and wastewater 

23 utilities nationwide; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) has the capacity to deploy per25 sonnel that possess— 


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1 ‘‘(I) an active water or waste2 water system operators’ license; or 

3 ‘‘(II) knowledge of water and 

4 wastewater utilities necessary to carry 

5 out activities described in subpara6 graph (C). 

7 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible 

8 entity that receives a grant under subparagraph 

9 (A) shall use the grant— 

10 ‘‘(i) to provide on-site personnel and 

11 equipment to assist with water and waste12 water systems in the event of a disaster; 

13 ‘‘(ii) to coordinate with statewide 

14 emergency response networks to assist with 

15 water and wastewater systems; 

16 ‘‘(iii) to facilitate the development of 

17 disaster action plans between associations 

18 described in subparagraph (A), units of 

19 local government, the Federal Emergency 

20 Management Agency, and State emergency 

21 management agencies; 

22 ‘‘(iv) to improve resiliency and mitiga23 tion planning with respect to water or 

24 wastewater systems; 


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1 ‘‘(v) to provide geographic information 

2 system mapping of water and wastewater 

3 systems; 

4 ‘‘(vi) to prepare or update predisaster 

5 vulnerability assessments, emergency re6 sponse plans, communication protocols, or 

7 hazard recognition and evaluation skills 

8 with respect to water and wastewater sys9 tems; 

10 ‘‘(vii) to conduct preliminary damage 

11 assessments of critical infrastructure in the 

12 event of a disaster; 

13 ‘‘(viii) to provide emergency services 

14 with respect to water and wastewater sys15 tems to restore service in the event of a 

16 disaster, including— 

17 ‘‘(I) pump and motor evaluation 

18 and repair; 

19 ‘‘(II) water disinfection and 

20 flushing; 

21 ‘‘(III) leak detection; 

22 ‘‘(IV) line repair; 

23 ‘‘(V) water main and valve loca24 tion; 


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1 ‘‘(VI) emergency power genera2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(VII) bypass pumping; 

4 ‘‘(VIII) water treatment; and 

5 ‘‘(IX) maintaining safety meas6 ures; 

7 ‘‘(ix) to address outstanding defi8 ciencies focused on resolving health-based 

9 regulatory, operational, financial, and man10 agerial deficiencies that impact the sus11 tainability of water and wastewater sys12 tems; 

13 ‘‘(x) to assist with application and re14 porting requirements for Federal and State 

15 agencies, including the Federal Emergency 

16 Management Agency and insurance recov17 ery claims, with respect to water and 

18 wastewater systems; and 

19 ‘‘(xi) to provide for disaster prepara20 tion, support, and response activities tar21 geted to disadvantaged communities that 

22 lack the financial resources and human 

23 capital necessary to adequately address 

24 significant health, safety, or sanitary conVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Sep 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2917.IS S2917

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1 cerns with respect to the water and waste2 water systems of those communities. 

3 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity 

5 that receives a grant under subparagraph 

6 (A) may use the grant for salaries, sup7 plies, and expenses relating to the activities 

8 described in subparagraph (C). 

9 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—Not more than 25 

10 percent of the amount of a grant under 

11 subparagraph (A) may be used to purchase 

12 or reimburse the rental costs of appro13 priate emergency equipment, as determined 

14 by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(E) RESTRICTION.—An eligible entity 

16 that receives a grant under subparagraph (A) 

17 may not use the grant funds to pay for eligible 

18 activities for which the eligible entity receives 

19 other Federal funds. 

20 ‘‘(F) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA21 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

22 to carry out this paragraph $20,000,000 for 

23 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’. 

Æ 


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