H. R. 2901 

One Hundred Thirteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and fourteen 

An Act 

To strengthen implementation of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act 

of 2005 by improving the capacity of the United States Government to implement, 

leverage, and monitor and evaluate programs to provide first-time or improved 

access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene to the world’s poorest 

on an equitable and sustainable basis, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senator Paul Simon Water 

for the World Act of 2014’’. 

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

It is the sense of Congress that— 

(1) water and sanitation are critically important resources 

that impact many other aspects of human life; and 

(2) the United States should be a global leader in helping 

provide sustainable access to clean water and sanitation for 

the world’s most vulnerable populations. 

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE SAFE WATER 

AND SANITATION TO INCLUDE HYGIENE. 

Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

is amended— 

(1) by redesignating section 135 (22 U.S.C. 2152h), as added 

by section 5(a) of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor 

Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–121; 22 U.S.C. 2152h note), as 

section 136; and 

(2) in section 136, as redesignated— 

(A) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AND SANITATION’’ and inserting ‘‘, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE’’; and 

(B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘and sanitation’’ and 

inserting ‘‘, sanitation, and hygiene’’. 

SEC. 4. IMPROVING COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT OF SAFE WATER, 

SANITATION AND HYGIENE PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES. 

Section 136 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as redesignated and amended by this Act, is further amended by adding 

at the end the following: 

‘‘(e) COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.— 

‘‘(1) USAID GLOBAL WATER COORDINATOR.— 

‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The Administrator of the United 

States Agency for International Development (referred to 

in this paragraph as ‘USAID’) or the Administrator’s designee, who shall be a current USAID employee serving 
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in a career or non-career position in the Senior Executive 

Service or at the level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator 

or higher, shall serve concurrently as the USAID Global 

Water Coordinator (referred to in this subsection as the 

‘Coordinator’). 

‘‘(B) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The Coordinator shall— 

‘‘(i) provide direction and guidance to, coordinate, 

and oversee the projects and programs of USAID 

authorized under this section; 

‘‘(ii) lead the implementation and revision, not less 

frequently than once every 5 years, of USAID’s portion 

of the Global Water Strategy required under subsection 

(j); 

‘‘(iii) seek— 

‘‘(I) to expand the capacity of USAID, subject 

to the availability of appropriations, including 

through the designation of a lead subject matter 

expert selected from among USAID staff in each 

high priority country designated pursuant to subsection (h); 

‘‘(II) to implement such programs and activities; 

‘‘(III) to take advantage of economies of scale; 

and 

‘‘(IV) to conduct more efficient and effective 

projects and programs; 

‘‘(iv) coordinate with the Department of State and 

USAID staff in each high priority country designated 

pursuant to subsection (h) to ensure that USAID activities and projects, USAID program planning and budgeting documents, and USAID country development 

strategies reflect and seek to implement— 

‘‘(I) the safe water, sanitation, and hygiene 

objectives established in the strategy required 

under subsection (j), including objectives relating 

to the management of water resources; and 

‘‘(II) international best practices relating to— 

‘‘(aa) increasing access to safe water and 

sanitation; 

‘‘(bb) conducting hygiene-related activities; 

and 

‘‘(cc) ensuring appropriate management of 

water resources; and 

‘‘(v) develop appropriate benchmarks, measurable 

goals, performance metrics, and monitoring and 

evaluation plans for USAID projects and programs 

authorized under this section. 

‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR

WATER RESOURCES.— ‘‘(A) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of State or the Secretary’s designee, who shall be a current employee of the 

Department of State serving in a career or non-career 

position in the Senior Executive Service or at the level 

of a Deputy Assistant Secretary or higher, shall serve 

concurrently as the Department of State Special Advisor 

for Water Resources (referred to in this paragraph as the 

‘Special Advisor’). 
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‘‘(B) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The Special Advisor shall— 

‘‘(i) provide direction and guidance to, coordinate, 

and oversee the projects and programs of the Department of State authorized under this section; 

‘‘(ii) lead the implementation and revision, not less 

than every 5 years, of the Department of State’s portion 

of the Global Water Strategy required under subsection 

(j); 

‘‘(iii) prioritize and coordinate the Department of 

State’s international engagement on the allocation, distribution, and access to global fresh water resources 

and policies related to such matters; 

‘‘(iv) coordinate with United States Agency for 

International Development and Department of State 

staff in each high priority country designated pursuant 

to subsection (h) to ensure that United States diplomatic efforts related to safe water, sanitation, and 

hygiene, including efforts related to management of 

water resources and watersheds and the resolution 

of intra- and trans-boundary conflicts over water 

resources, are consistent with United States national 

interests; and 

‘‘(v) represent the views of the United States 

Government on the allocation, distribution, and access 

to global fresh water resources and policies related 

to such matters in key international fora, including 

key diplomatic, development-related, and scientific 

organizations. 

‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL NATURE OF DUTIES AND RESTRICTION ON

ADDITIONAL OR SUPPLEMENTAL COMPENSATION.—The responsibilities and specific duties of the Administrator of the United 

States Agency for International Development (or the Administrator’s designee) and the Secretary of State (or the Secretary’s 

designee) under paragraph (2) or (3), respectively, shall be 

in addition to any other responsibilities or specific duties 

assigned to such individuals. Such individuals shall receive 

no additional or supplemental compensation as a result of 

carrying out such responsibilities and specific duties under 

such paragraphs.’’. 

SEC. 5. PROMOTING THE MAXIMUM IMPACT AND LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF USAID SAFE WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENERELATED PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS. 

Section 136 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as redesignated and amended by this Act, is further amended by adding 

at the end the following: 

‘‘(f) PRIORITIES AND CRITERIA FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT AND LONGTERM SUSTAINABILITY.—The Administrator of the United States 

Agency for International Development shall ensure that the Agency 

for International Development’s projects and programs authorized 

under this section are designed to achieve maximum impact and 

long-term sustainability by— 

‘‘(1) prioritizing countries on the basis of the following 

clearly defined criteria and indicators, to the extent sufficient 

empirical data are available— 

‘‘(A) the proportion of the population using an unimproved drinking water source; 
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‘‘(B) the total population using an unimproved drinking 

water source; 

‘‘(C) the proportion of the population without piped 

water access; 

‘‘(D) the proportion of the population using shared or 

other unimproved sanitation facilities; 

‘‘(E) the total population using shared or other unimproved sanitation facilities; 

‘‘(F) the proportion of the population practicing open 

defecation; 

‘‘(G) the total number of children younger than 5 years 

of age who died from diarrheal disease; 

‘‘(H) the proportion of all deaths of children younger 

than 5 years of age resulting from diarrheal disease; 

‘‘(I) the national government’s capacity, capability, and 

commitment to work with the United States to improve 

access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, including— 

‘‘(i) the government’s capacity and commitment to 

developing the indigenous capacity to provide safe 

water and sanitation without the assistance of outside 

donors; and 

‘‘(ii) the degree to which such government— 

‘‘(I) identifies such efforts as a priority; and 

‘‘(II) allocates resources to such efforts; 

‘‘(J) the availability of opportunities to leverage existing 

public, private, or other donor investments in the water, 

sanitation, and hygiene sectors, including investments in 

the management of water resources; and 

‘‘(K) the likelihood of making significant improvements 

on a per capita basis on the health and educational 

opportunities available to women as a result of increased 

access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene, including 

access to appropriate facilities at primary and secondary 

educational institutions seeking to ensure that communities 

benefitting from such projects and activities develop the 

indigenous capacity to provide safe water and sanitation 

without the assistance of outside donors; 

‘‘(2) prioritizing and measuring, including through rigorous 

monitoring and evaluating mechanisms, the extent to which 

such project or program— 

‘‘(A) furthers significant improvements in— 

‘‘(i) the criteria set forth in subparagraphs (A) 

through (H) of paragraph (1); 

‘‘(ii) the health and educational opportunities available to women as a result of increased access to safe 

water, sanitation, and hygiene, including access to 

appropriate facilities at primary and secondary educational institutions; and 

‘‘(iii) the indigenous capacity of the host nation 

or community to provide safe water and sanitation 

without the assistance of outside donors; 

‘‘(B) is designed, as part of the provision of safe water 

and sanitation to the local community— 

‘‘(i) to be financially independent over the long 

term, focusing on local ownership and sustainability; 

‘‘(ii) to be undertaken in conjunction with relevant 

public institutions or private enterprises; 
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‘‘(iii) to identify and empower local individuals or 

institutions to be responsible for the effective management and maintenance of such project or program; 

and 

‘‘(iv) to provide safe water or expertise or capacity 

building to those identified parties or institutions for 

the purposes of developing a plan and clear responsibilities for the effective management and maintenance 

of such project or program; 

‘‘(C) leverages existing public, private, or other donor 

investments in the water, sanitation, and hygiene sectors, 

including investments in the management of water 

resources; 

‘‘(D) avoids duplication of efforts with other United 

States Government agencies or departments or those of 

other nations or nongovernmental organizations; 

‘‘(E) coordinates such efforts with the efforts of other 

United States Government agencies or departments or 

those of other nations or nongovernmental organizations 

directed at assisting refugees and other displaced individuals; and 

‘‘(F) involves consultation with appropriate stakeholders, including communities directly affected by the lack 

of access to clean water, sanitation or hygiene, and other 

appropriate nongovernmental organizations; and 

‘‘(3) seeking to further the strategy required under subsection (j) after 2018. 

‘‘(g) USE OF CURRENT AND IMPROVED EMPIRICAL DATA COLLECTION AND REVIEW OF NEW STANDARDIZED INDICATORS.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the United States 

Agency for International Development is authorized to use current and improved empirical data collection— 

‘‘(A) to meet the health-based prioritization criteria 

established pursuant to subsection (f)(1); and 

‘‘(B) to review new standardized indicators in evaluating progress towards meeting such criteria. 

‘‘(2) CONSULTATION AND NOTICE.—The Administrator 

shall— 

‘‘(A) regularly consult with the appropriate congressional committees; and 

‘‘(B) notify such committees not later than 30 days 

before using current or improved empirical data collection 

for the review of any new standardized indicators under 

paragraph (1) for the purposes of carrying out this section. 

‘‘(h) DESIGNATION OF HIGH PRIORITY COUNTRIES.— 

‘‘(1) INITIAL DESIGNATION.—Not later than October 1, 2015, 

the President shall— 

‘‘(A) designate, on the basis of the criteria set forth 

in subsection (f)(1) not fewer than 10 countries as high 

priority countries to be the primary recipients of United 

States Government assistance authorized under this section during fiscal year 2016; and 

‘‘(B) notify the appropriate congressional committees 

of such designations. 

‘‘(2) ANNUAL DESIGNATIONS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph 

(B), the President shall annually make new designations 

pursuant to the criteria set forth in paragraph (1). 

‘‘(B) DESIGNATIONS AFTER FISCAL YEAR 2018.—Beginning with fiscal year 2019, designations under paragraph 

(1) shall be made— 

‘‘(i) based upon the criteria set forth in subsection 

(f)(1); and 

‘‘(ii) in furtherance of the strategy required under 

subsection (j). 

‘‘(i) TARGETING OF PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS TO AREAS OF

GREATEST NEED.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 days before the obligation of any funds for water, sanitation, or hygiene projects 

or programs pursuant to this section in countries that are 

not ranked in the top 50 countries based upon the WASH 

Needs Index, the Administrator of the United States Agency 

for International Development shall notify the appropriate 

congressional committees of the planned obligation of such 

funds. 

‘‘(2) DEFINED TERM.—In this subsection and in subsection 

(j), the term ‘WASH Needs Index’ means the needs index for 

water, sanitation, or hygiene projects or programs authorized 

under this section that has been developed using the criteria 

and indicators described in subparagraphs (A) through (H) of 

subsection (f)(1).’’. 

SEC. 6. UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO INCREASE APPROPRIATE LONGTERM SUSTAINABILITY AND ACCESS TO SAFE WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 136 of the Foreign Assistance Act 

of 1961, as redesignated and amended by this Act, is further 

amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(j) GLOBAL WATER STRATEGY.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1, 2017, October 

1, 2022, and October 1, 2027, the President, acting through 

the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States 

Agency for International Development, and the heads of other 

Federal departments and agencies, as appropriate, shall submit 

a single government-wide Global Water Strategy to the appropriate congressional committees that provides a detailed 

description of how the United States intends— 

‘‘(A) to increase access to safe water, sanitation, and 

hygiene in high priority countries designated pursuant to 

subsection (h), including a summary of the WASH Needs 

Index and the specific weighting of empirical data and 

other definitions used to develop and rank countries on 

the WASH Needs Index; 

‘‘(B) to improve the management of water resources 

and watersheds in such countries; and 

‘‘(C) to work to prevent and resolve, to the greatest 

degree possible, both intra- and trans-boundary conflicts 

over water resources in such countries. 

‘‘(2) AGENCY-SPECIFIC PLANS.—The Global Water Strategy 

shall include an agency-specific plan— 
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‘‘(A) from the United States Agency for International 

Development that describes specifically how the Agency 

for International Development will— 

‘‘(i) carry out the duties and responsibilities 

assigned to the Global Water Coordinator under subsection (e)(1); 

‘‘(ii) ensure that the Agency for International 

Development’s projects and programs authorized under 

this section are designed to achieve maximum impact 

and long-term sustainability, including by implementing the requirements described in subsection (f); 

and 

‘‘(iii) increase access to safe water, sanitation, and 

hygiene in high priority countries designated pursuant 

to subsection (h); 

‘‘(B) from the Department of State that describes 

specifically how the Department of State will— 

‘‘(i) carry out the duties and responsibilities 

assigned to the Special Coordinator for Water 

Resources under subsection (e)(2); and 

‘‘(ii) ensure that the Department’s activities 

authorized under this section are designed— 

‘‘(I) to improve management of water resources 

and watersheds in countries designated pursuant 

to subsection (h); and 

‘‘(II) to prevent and resolve, to the greatest 

degree possible, both intra- and trans-boundary 

conflicts over water resources in such countries; 

and 

‘‘(C) from other Federal departments and agencies, as 

appropriate, that describes the contributions of the departments and agencies to implementing the Global Water 

Strategy. 

‘‘(3) INDIVIDUALIZED PLANS FOR HIGH PRIORITY COUNTRIES.— 

For each high priority country designated pursuant to subsection (h), the Administrator of the United States Agency 

for International Development shall— 

‘‘(A) develop a costed, evidence-based, and results-oriented plan that— 

‘‘(i) seeks to achieve the purposes of this section; 

and 

‘‘(ii) meets the requirements under subsection (f); 

and 

‘‘(B) include such plan in an appendix to the Global 

Water Strategy required under paragraph (1). 

‘‘(4) FIRST TIME ACCESS REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The 

Global Water Strategy shall specifically describe the target 

percentage of funding for each fiscal year covered by such 

strategy to be directed toward projects aimed at providing 

first-time access to safe water and sanitation. 

‘‘(5) PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.—The Global Water 

Strategy shall include specific and measurable goals, benchmarks, performance metrics, timetables, and monitoring and 

evaluation plans required to be developed by the Administrator 

of the United States Agency for International Development 

pursuant to subsection (e)(1)(B)(v). 
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‘‘(6) CONSULTATION AND BEST PRACTICES.—The Global 

Water Strategy shall— 

‘‘(A) be developed in consultation with the heads of 

other appropriate Federal departments and agencies; and 

‘‘(B) incorporate best practices from the international 

development community. 

‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

‘‘(1) the term ‘appropriate congressional committees’ 

means— 

‘‘(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; 

‘‘(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

‘‘(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

of Representatives; and 

‘‘(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

of Representatives; and 

‘‘(2) the term ‘long-term sustainability’ refers to the ability 

of a service delivery system, community, partner, or beneficiary 

to maintain, over time, any water, sanitation, or hygiene project 

that receives funding pursuant to the amendments made by 

the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2014.’’. 

(b) DEPARTMENT OF STATE AGENCY-SPECIFIC PLAN.—Not later 

than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

of State shall submit an agency-specific plan to the appropriate 

congressional committees (as defined in section 136(k) of the Foreign 

Assistance Act of 1961, as added by subsection (a)) that meets 

the requirements of section 136(j)(2)(B) of such Act, as added by 

subsection (a). 

(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 6 of the Senator Paul 

Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–121; 22 

U.S.C. 2152h note) is repealed. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.