I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1417 

To establish a trust fund to provide for adequate funding for water and 

sewer infrastructure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Mrs. LAWRENCE (for herself, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 

CARTWRIGHT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. MOORE, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 

Mr. WELCH, Ms. NORTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. RASKIN, 

Ms. HAALAND, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. LEVIN of 

Michigan, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. 

ROUDA, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 

DELGADO, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. DEAN, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. SEAN

PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. NADLER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. MENG, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, and Ms. 

PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Agriculture, 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 establish a trust fund to provide for adequate funding 

for water and sewer 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reli4 ability Act of 2019’’. 

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

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund. 

Sec. 3. Report on affordability, discrimination and civil rights violations, public 

participation in regionalization, and data collection. 

Sec. 4. Technical assistance to rural and small municipalities and tribal governments. 

Sec. 5. Residential onsite sewage disposal system improvement. 

Sec. 6. Household water well systems. 

Sec. 7. State water pollution control revolving funds. 

Sec. 8. Use of State revolving loan funds under the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

Sec. 9. Drinking water grant programs. 

Sec. 10. Requirement for the use of American materials in drinking water. 

Sec. 11. Labor provisions. 

7 SEC. 2. WATER AFFORDABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EQUITY, 

8 AND RELIABILITY TRUST FUND. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 

11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 9512. WATER AFFORDABILITY, TRANSPARENCY, EQ14 UITY, AND RELIABILITY TRUST FUND. 

15 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab16 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund 

17 to be known as the ‘Water Affordability, Transparency, 

18 Equity, and Reliability Trust Fund’ (referred to in this 

19 section as the ‘Trust Fund’), consisting of such amounts 


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1 as may be appropriated or credited to such Trust Fund 

2 as provided in this section or section 9602(b). 

3 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO FUND.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are hereby appro5 priated to the Trust Fund such amounts as the Sec6 retary from time to time estimates are equal to the 

7 increase in Federal revenues attributable to the 

8 amendment made by section 2(b) of the Water Af9 fordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability 

10 Act of 2019. 

11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The sum of the amounts 

12 appropriated under paragraph (1) during any fiscal 

13 year shall not exceed $34,850,000,000. 

14 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the Trust Fund 

15 are available, without further appropriation and without 

16 fiscal year limitation, for the purposes described in section 

17 2(c) of the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, 

18 and Reliability Act of 2019.’’. 

19 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

20 parts for subchapter A of chapter 98 of such Code 

21 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

22 section 9511 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 9512. Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust 

Fund.’’. 

23 (b) IMPOSITION OF TAX.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 11(b) of the Internal 

2 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘21’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘24.5’’. 

4 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

5 by this Act shall apply to taxable years beginning 

6 after December 31, 2018. 

7 (c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Administrator of 

8 the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary 

9 of Agriculture shall allocate, for a fiscal year, the funds 

10 available, at the beginning of such fiscal year, in the Water 

11 Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Trust 

12 Fund, established by section 9512 of the Internal Revenue 

13 Code of 1986, as follows: 

14 (1) CLEAN WATER PROGRAMS.—Of such 

15 amount, the Administrator shall make available— 

16 (A) 0.5 percent for making grants under 

17 section 104(b)(8) of the Federal Water Pollu18 tion Control Act; 

19 (B) 1.5 percent for making grants under 

20 section 106 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1256); 

21 (C) 2.5 percent for making grants under 

22 section 222 of such Act; 

23 (D) 2.5 percent for making grants under 

24 section 319 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 1329); and 


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1 (E) 45 percent for making capitalization 

2 grants under section 601 of such Act (33 

3 U.S.C. 1381). 

4 (2) SAFE DRINKING WATER FUNDING.—Of such 

5 amount, the Administrator shall make available— 

6 (A) 0.5 percent for providing technical as7 sistance under section 1442(e) of the Safe 

8 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–1(e)); 

9 (B) 43.5 percent for making capitalization 

10 grants under section 1452 of such Act (42 

11 U.S.C. 300j–12); and 

12 (C) 3 percent for making grants under sec13 tion 1465 of such Act. 

14 (3) HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS.—Of 

15 such amount, the Secretary shall make available 1 

16 percent for making grants under section 306E of the 

17 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 

18 U.S.C. 1926e). 

19 SEC. 3. REPORT ON AFFORDABILITY, DISCRIMINATION AND 

20 CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, PUBLIC PARTICI21 PATION IN REGIONALIZATION, AND DATA 

22 COLLECTION. 

23 (a) STUDY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

25 Environmental Protection Agency shall conduct a 


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1 study on water and sewer services, in accordance 

2 with this subsection. 

3 (2) AFFORDABILITY.—In conducting the study 

4 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall study 

5 water affordability nationwide, including— 

6 (A) rates for water and sewer services, in7 creases in such rates during the ten-year period 

8 preceding such study, and water service dis9 connections due to unpaid water service 

10 charges; and 

11 (B) the effectiveness of funding under sec12 tion 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act and 

13 under section 601 of the Federal Water Pollu14 tion Control Act for promoting affordable, equi15 table, transparent, and reliable water and sewer 

16 service. 

17 (3) DISCRIMINATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS.—In 

18 conducting the study under paragraph (1), the Ad19 ministrator, in collaboration with the Civil Rights 

20 Division of the United States Department of Justice, 

21 shall study— 

22 (A) discriminatory practices of water and 

23 sewer service providers; and 

24 (B) violations by such service providers 

25 that receive Federal assistance of civil rights 


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1 under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

2 with regard to equal access to water and sewer 

3 services. 

4 (4) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN REGIONALIZA5 TION.—In conducting the study under paragraph 

6 (1), the Administrator shall evaluate efforts to re7 gionalize public water systems, as defined in section 

8 1401 of the Safe Water Drinking Act, and sewer 

9 services with respect to public participation in— 

10 (A) the decision to undergo such regional11 ization; and 

12 (B) decisionmaking by the board of direc13 tors (or other governing body) of the entity that 

14 provides, or oversees or coordinates the provi15 sion of, water by the public water systems sub16 ject to such regionalization. 

17 (5) DATA COLLECTION.—In conducting the 

18 study under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall 

19 collect information, assess the availability of infor20 mation, and evaluate the methodologies used to col21 lect information, related to— 

22 (A) people living without water or sewer 

23 services; 

24 (B) water service disconnections due to un25 paid water service charges, including disconnecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417

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1 tions experienced by households containing chil2 dren, elderly persons, disabled persons, chron3 ically ill persons, or other vulnerable popu4 lations; and 

5 (C) disparate effects, on the basis of race, 

6 gender, or socioeconomic status, of water serv7 ice disconnections and the lack of public water 

8 service. 

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the En11 vironmental Protection Agency shall submit to Congress 

12 a report that contains— 

13 (1) the results of the study conducted under 

14 subsection (a)(1); and 

15 (2) recommendations for utility companies, 

16 Federal agencies, and States relating to such results. 

17 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO RURAL AND SMALL 

18 MUNICIPALITIES AND TRIBAL GOVERN19 MENTS. 

20 Section 104(u) of the Federal Water Pollution Con21 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(u)) is amended by striking ‘‘not 

22 to exceed $25,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$175,000,000’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM 

2 IMPROVEMENT. 

3 Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

4 (33 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 222. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYS7 TEMS. 

8 ‘‘Not later than the date that is 1 year after the date 

9 of the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 

10 establish a grant program to make grants to users of a 

11 septic tank and drainage field for costs associated with 

12 repairing, replacing, or upgrading such tank and such 

13 field.’’. 

14 SEC. 6. HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS. 

15 Section 306E(d) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

16 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926e(d)) is amended by 

17 striking ‘‘$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 

18 through 2023’’ and inserting ‘‘$348,500,000 for each fis19 cal year’’. 

20 SEC. 7. STATE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING 

21 FUNDS. 

22 (a) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—Section 602(b) of 

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

24 1382(b)) is amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘will be made 

26 to the State with funds to be made available’’ and 


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1 inserting ‘‘were made to the State with funds made 

2 available for fiscal year 2019’’; 

3 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

4 end; 

5 (3) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 

6 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

7 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(15) the State will not provide financial assist9 ance using amounts from the fund for any project 

10 that will provide substantial direct benefits to new 

11 communities, lots, or subdivisions, other than a 

12 project to construct an advanced decentralized 

13 wastewater system; and’’. 

14 (b) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR AS15 SISTANCE.—Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution 

16 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(c)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (2) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the period 

20 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(13) to any municipality or intermunicipal, 

23 interstate, or State agency for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) purchasing from a willing or unwill2 ing seller a privately owned treatment works; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) expenses related to canceling a con5 tract for the operation or management of a 

6 publicly owned treatment works.’’. 

7 (c) INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL SUB8 SIDIZATION BY THE STATE.—Section 603(i)(3)(B) of the 

9 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

10 1383(i)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL LIMITATION.—A State 

12 may use not less than 50 percent of the total 

13 amount received by the State in capitalization 

14 grants under this title for a fiscal year for pro15 viding additional subsidization under this sub16 section.’’. 

17 SEC. 8. USE OF STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS UNDER 

18 THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. 

19 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

23 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

24 ‘‘publicly owned, operated, and managed’’ 

25 before ‘‘community water systems’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

2 ‘‘The funds under this section shall not be 

3 used for the acquisition of real property or 

4 interests therein, unless the acquisition is 

5 integral to a project authorized by this 

6 paragraph and the purchase is from a will7 ing seller.’’ and inserting ‘‘The funds may 

8 also be used for purchasing from a willing 

9 or unwilling seller a privately owned com10 munity water system, or for the expenses 

11 related to canceling a contract for the op12 eration or management of a community 

13 water system.’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(6) EXCEPTION TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP, OPER17 ATION, AND MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT.—Not18 withstanding paragraph (2)(A), public water systems 

19 that regularly serve fewer than 10,000 persons, and 

20 which are not owned, operated, or managed by any 

21 person who owns, operates, or manages any other 

22 public water system, may receive assistance under 

23 this section.’’; 

24 (2) by amending subsection (d)(2) to read as 

25 follows: 


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1 ‘‘(2) TOTAL AMOUNT OF SUBSIDIES.—To the 

2 extent that there are sufficient applications for loans 

3 to communities described in paragraph (1), of the 

4 amount of the capitalization grant received by a 

5 State in a fiscal year, the total amount of loan sub6 sidies made by the State in the fiscal year pursuant 

7 to paragraph (1) may not be less than 50 percent.’’; 

8 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘to be made 

9 to the State’’ and inserting ‘‘that was made to the 

10 State in fiscal year 2019’’; 

11 (4) in subsection (g)(3)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

13 the end; 

14 (B) in paragraph (C), by striking the pe15 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(D) guidance to ensure affordable, equi19 table, transparent and reliable water service 

20 provision, to provide protections for households 

21 facing service disconnection due to unpaid 

22 water service charges, and to promote universal 

23 equal access to water services.’’; and 

24 (5) in subsection (k)(1), by adding at the end 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(E) Provide assistance in the form of a 

2 grant to owners of private property on which a 

3 lead service line (as defined in section 1459B) 

4 is or may be located, for the purpose of replac5 ing the lead service line with a service line that 

6 is lead-free (as defined in section 1417(d)). 

7 ‘‘(F) Provide assistance to a publicly 

8 owned, operated, and managed community 

9 water system for the purpose of updating treat10 ment plants or switching water sources due to 

11 contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl 

12 substances (PFAS) (as defined by the State in 

13 which the community water system is located). 

14 ‘‘(G) Provide assistance in the form of a 

15 grant to owners of a household water well that 

16 has been contaminated by per- and 

17 polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (as defined 

18 by the State in which the household well is lo19 cated), for the purpose of purchasing and in20 stalling a household filtration system.’’. 

21 SEC. 9. DRINKING WATER GRANT PROGRAMS. 

22 (a) SCHOOL DRINKING WATER IMPROVEMENT.— 

23 Section 1465 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 300j–25) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section header, by striking ‘‘FOUN2 TAIN’’ and inserting ‘‘INFRASTRUCTURE’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘fountains 

4 manufactured prior to 1988’’ and inserting ‘‘infra5 structure’’; 

6 (3) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under the 

9 grant program may be used to pay costs associated with— 

10 ‘‘(1) installing, repairing, or replacing the infra11 structure necessary to ensure that drinking water 

12 fountains, drinking water coolers, and bottle filling 

13 stations at schools are lead free; and 

14 ‘‘(2) monitoring and reporting of lead levels in 

15 the drinking water of schools, as determined appro16 priate by the Administrator.’’; and 

17 (4) in subsection (d)— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘$5,000,000’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘$1,050,000,000’’; and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘2021’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘2022’’. 

22 (b) TRIBAL DRINKING WATER.—Section 1452(i)(1) 

23 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(i)(1)) 

24 is amended, in the first sentence— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘1 1/2’’ and inserting ‘‘Three’’; 

2 and 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 

4 SEC. 10. REQUIREMENT FOR THE USE OF AMERICAN MATE5 RIALS IN DRINKING WATER. 

6 Section 1452(a)(4) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(a)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘Dur8 ing fiscal years 2019 through 2023, funds’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘Funds’’. 

10 SEC. 11. LABOR PROVISIONS. 

11 (a) PREVAILING RATE OF WAGE.—Nothing in this 

12 Act shall affect the applicability of the requirements relat13 ing to labor standards of sections 513 and 602(b)(6) of 

14 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1372, 

15 1382(b)(6)) and section 1450(e) of the Safe Drinking 

16 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–9(e)) to projects carried out 

17 under those Acts. 

18 (b) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.— 

19 (1) CLEAN WATER REVOLVING FUNDS.—Sec20 tion 602(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

21 Act (33 U.S.C. 1382(b)), as amended by section 7, 

22 is further amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(16) the State will— 


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1 ‘‘(A) permit recipients of assistance under 

2 this title to enter into agreements authorized 

3 under section 8(f) of the National Labor Rela4 tions Act (commonly known as ‘project labor 

5 agreements’) with respect to projects for build6 ing or construction carried out with such assist7 ance; and 

8 ‘‘(B) ensure that, to the maximum extent 

9 practicable, recipients of assistance under this 

10 title carry out such projects through the use of 

11 such agreements.’’. 

12 (2) DRINKING WATER REVOLVING FUNDS.— 

13 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 

15 (A) in subsection (a), by adding at the end 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(7) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.—Each 

18 agreement under this subsection shall require that 

19 the State permit recipients of assistance under this 

20 section to enter into agreements authorized under 

21 section 8(f) of the National Labor Relations Act 

22 (commonly known as ‘project labor agreements’) 

23 with respect to projects for building or construction 

24 carried out with such assistance.’’; and 

25 (B) in subsection (b)(3)(A)— 


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1 (i) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

2 and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking the pe4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (iii) by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(iv) with respect to projects for 

8 building or construction, will be carried out 

9 through the use of agreements authorized 

10 under section 8(f) of the National Labor 

11 Relations Act.’’. 

Æ 


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