I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1544

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the State

water pollution control revolving loan program, to provide assistance

to economically distressed rural communities in the construction of

wastewater treatment works and public water systems, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 30, 1993

Mr. RAHALL (for himself, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. PETERSON of

Minnesota, Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. MURPHY, Mr.

MCHUGH, Mr. BARCIA, Ms. DANNER, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FIELDS of Louisiana, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MCCLOSKEY,

Mr. EVANS, and Mr. TOWNS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the State water pollution control revolving loan

program, to provide assistance to economically distressed

rural communities in the construction of wastewater

treatment works and public water systems, 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.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Community

3 Environmental Assistance Act of 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) rural communities face special problems in

7 providing for infrastructure facilities to protect the

8 environment and human health, including

9 wastewater treatment works and public water sys10 tems;

11 (2) rural communities often lack the economies

12 of scale which are necessary to provide an adequate

13 financial base for the construction and operation of

14 wastewater treatment works and public water sys15 tems;

16 (3) rural communities often have limited access

17 to financial markets due to limited management ca18 pabilities and limited access to financial and tech19 nical services;

20 (4) the Environmental Protection Agency has

21 estimated that between 21 percent and 30 percent of

22 rural communities will have difficulty using revenue

23 bonds for wastewater treatment works and public

24 water systems because of limited financial resources;

25 (5) many rural communities have not benefited

26 from existing financing and assistance programs of
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1 the Federal Government for wastewater treatment

2 works and public water systems because such assist3 ance programs are often focused on the largest envi4 ronmental problems caused by larger municipalities;

5 (6) Federal grant assistance programs for

6 wastewater treatment have been phased out in favor

7 of State loan funds;

8 (7) some rural communities will have limited

9 access to such State loan funds and some economi10 cally distressed rural communities may be unable to

11 comply with pollution control requirements without

12 grant assistance;

13 (8) residents of rural communities often spend

14 a larger portion of their household income for envi15 ronmental services than residents of large commu16 nities;

17 (9) recent amendments to Federal environ18 mental laws will require additional efforts by rural

19 communities to address environmental problems and

20 will require rural communities to devote a larger

21 percentage of their resources to these efforts;

22 (10) many public water systems serving rural

23 communities are inadequate or insufficient to pro24 vide for existing and future needs and have deterio25 rated to the degree that a reliable supply of water
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1 is in jeopardy and large quantities of water are

2 being wasted or may be wasted;

3 (11) the National Council on Public Works Im4 provement recently concluded that a ‘‘national prob5 lem does exist for small water systems . . . and . . .

6 these small water systems operate on a marginal

7 basis, with inadequate financial resources to correct

8 existing deficiencies . . .’’;

9 (12) the Environmental Protection Agency has

10 reported that small water systems serve 8 percent of

11 the United States population, but account for more

12 than 90 percent of the violations of the Safe Drink13 ing Water Act;

14 (13) the Environmental Protection Agency has

15 reported that 80 percent of the communities in vio16 lation of sewage treatment requirements are rural

17 communities and that rural community sewage

18 treatment needs exceed $28,000,000,000;

19 (14) it is essential that the Federal Government

20 play a more active role in providing financial assist21 ance to rural communities for the construction of

22 wastewater treatment works and public water sys23 tems;

24 (15) it is essential that the Federal Government

25 make a special effort to provide financial assistance,
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1 including grant assistance, to rural communities

2 which are economically disadvantaged; and

3 (16) it is essential that the Federal Government

4 expand and strengthen technical assistance and out5 reach programs to assist rural communities in com6 plying with environmental requirements and the con7 struction, operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation

8 of wastewater treatment works and public water sys9 tems.

10 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

11 The purposes of this Act are—

12 (1) to assist economically distressed rural com13 munities in financing the planning and construction

14 of wastewater treatment works and public water sys15 tems; and

16 (2) to expand and strengthen programs for pro17 viding technical assistance to economically distressed

18 rural communities on issues relating to operation,

19 management, and maintenance of wastewater treat20 ment works and public water systems.

21 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 Section 607 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

23 Act (33 U.S.C. 1387) is amended—

24 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

25 (4); and
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1 (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the

2 following new paragraphs:

3 ‘‘(5) $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 1994;

4 ‘‘(6) $2,300,000,000 for fiscal year 1995;

5 ‘‘(7) $2,700,000,000 for fiscal year 1996;

6 ‘‘(8) $3,000,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;

7 ‘‘(9) $3,500,000,000 for fiscal year 1998; and

8 ‘‘(10) $4,000,000,000 per fiscal year for each

9 of fiscal years 1999 and 2000.’’.

10 SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE FOR ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED

11 RURAL COMMUNITIES.

12 (a) CAPITALIZATION GRANT AGREEMENTS.—Section

13 602(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33

14 U.S.C. 1382(b)) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

16 (9);

17 (2) by striking the period at the end of para18 graph (10) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

19 (3) by adding after paragraph (10) the follow20 ing new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(11) the State will comply with the require22 ments of part B of this title.’’.

23 (b) RURAL COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL ASSIST24 ANCE ACCOUNT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of such Act (33

2 U.S.C. 1382–1387) is amended by adding at the end

3 the following:

4 ‘‘PART B—ASSISTANCE FOR ECONOMICALLY

5 DISTRESSED RURAL COMMUNITIES

6 ‘‘SEC. 651. ESTABLISHMENT OF RURAL COMMUNITY ENVI7 RONMENTAL ASSISTANCE ACCOUNTS.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish a

9 rural community environmental assistance account in the

10 water pollution control revolving loan fund established by

11 the State pursuant to this title.

12 ‘‘(b) DEPOSITS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The rural community envi14 ronmental assistance account of a State under this

15 part shall consist of amounts deposited into the ac16 count in accordance with this subsection, repayments

17 of principal and interest from loans made with such

18 amounts, and any interest or other proceeds derived

19 from such amounts.

20 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS FROM GRANT PAYMENTS.—A

21 State shall deposit into the rural community envi22 ronmental assistance account of the State under this

23 part not less than 25 percent of the amount of each

24 grant payment received by the State under section

25 601 after the date of the enactment of this part.
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1 ‘‘(3) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—A State shall

2 deposit into the rural community environmental as3 sistance account of the State under this part from

4 State monies an amount equal to at least 5 percent

5 of the amount deposited into such account under

6 paragraph (2). Amounts subject to the matching re7 quirement of this paragraph shall not be subject to

8 any matching requirement under a capitalization

9 grant agreement entered into under section 602.

10 ‘‘(4) UNOBLIGATED BALANCE.—A State may

11 deposit into the rural community environmental as12 sistance account of the State under this part any

13 portion of the unobligated balance, on the date of

14 the enactment of this part, of the State’s water pol15 lution control revolving loan fund.

16 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—Amounts in the rural commu17 nity environmental assistance account of a State under

18 this part shall be subject to the requirements of this part

19 and, except as otherwise provided by this part, shall not

20 be subject to the requirements of part (A) of this title.

21 ‘‘SEC. 652. RURAL COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL ASSIST22 ANCE ACCOUNT FUNDS.

23 ‘‘(a) PROJECTS ELIGIBLE FOR ASSISTANCE.—Except

24 as otherwise provided by this part, amounts in the rural

25 community environmental assistance account of a State
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1 under this part may be used only for projects, which are

2 included in an intended use plan approved by the Adminis3 trator pursuant to section 653, for the construction of

4 wastewater treatment works and public water systems in

5 economically distressed rural communities.

6 ‘‘(b) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Except as otherwise

7 limited by State law, amounts in the rural community en8 vironmental assistance account of a State under this part

9 may be used only—

10 ‘‘(1) to make loans to economically distressed

11 rural communities on the condition that—

12 ‘‘(A) such loans are made at or below mar13 ket interest rates, including interest free loans,

14 at terms not to exceed 30 years;

15 ‘‘(B) annual principal and interest pay16 ments will commence not later than 3 years

17 after completion of a project and all loans will

18 be fully amortized not later than 30 years after

19 completion of a project;

20 ‘‘(C) the recipient of a loan will establish

21 a dedicated source of revenue for repayment of

22 loans; and

23 ‘‘(D) the recipient of a loan agrees to

24 repay the loan and the account will be credited
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1 with all payments of principal and interest on

2 the loan;

3 ‘‘(2) to make grants to economically distressed

4 rural communities on the condition that such grants

5 do not exceed 75 percent of the costs of eligible

6 projects or 85 percent of the costs of eligible innova7 tive projects (as such term is used in section

8 201(g)(5) of this Act);

9 ‘‘(3) as a source of revenue or security for the

10 payment of principal and interest on revenue or gen11 eral obligation bonds issued by the State if the pro12 ceeds of the sale of such bonds will be deposited in

13 the account;

14 ‘‘(4) to earn interest on amounts in the ac15 count; and

16 ‘‘(5) to pay the reasonable costs of (A) admin17 istering the account, (B) conducting activities under

18 this part, and (C) establishing a Rural Environ19 mental Infrastructure Advisory Panel under section

20 654; except that total of such costs may not exceed

21 6 percent of the balance of the account.

22 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—Amounts in the rural com23 munity environmental assistance account of a State under

24 this part shall be administered by the same instrumental-
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1 ity which administers other amounts in the State’s water

2 pollution control revolving loan fund.

3 ‘‘(d) INTEREST RATES.—Subject to subsection

4 (b)(1)(A), each State shall establish criteria for determin5 ing the rate of interest to be charged on a loan made with

6 amounts in the rural community environmental assistance

7 account of a State under this part. Such criteria shall pro8 vide that a lower rate of interest will be charged on loans

9 for eligible projects in communities which have lower pop10 ulation levels and lower income levels.

11 ‘‘(e) GRANTS.—Subject to subsection (b)(2), each

12 State shall establish criteria for determining the amount

13 of assistance to be provided under this section in the form

14 of grants for an eligible project. Such criteria shall provide

15 that a higher percentage of the total cost of the project

16 will be provided in the form of grants for eligible projects

17 in communities which have lower population levels and

18 lower income levels.

19 ‘‘(f) CONSISTENCY WITH PLANNING REQUIRE20 MENTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS.—A

22 State may provide financial assistance with amounts

23 from the rural community environmental assistance

24 account of the State under this part only with re25 spect to a wastewater treatment works which is con-
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1 sistent with plans, if any, developed under sections

2 205(j), 208, 303(e), 319, and 320 of this Act.

3 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS.—A State may

4 provide financial assistance with amounts from the

5 rural community environmental assistance account

6 of the State under this part only with respect to a

7 public water system which is approved by the chief

8 executive officer of the State agency with primary

9 enforcement authority pursuant to section 1413 of

10 the Safe Drinking Water Act.

11 ‘‘(g) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance with

12 amounts from the rural community environmental assist13 ance account of the State under this part, the State shall

14 give priority to an economically distressed rural commu15 nity in which—

16 ‘‘(1) there is a documented need for collector

17 sewers and interceptors in order to improve access

18 to wastewater treatment facilities;

19 ‘‘(2) residents rely on inadequate individual

20 wastewater treatment facilities such as outhouses,

21 failing septic systems, or cesspools that are deter22 mined by public health officials to be a hazard to the

23 community;
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1 ‘‘(3) residents rely on public water systems

2 which do not meet the requirements of the Safe

3 Drinking Water Act; or

4 ‘‘(4) residents rely on inadequate individual

5 drinking water systems such as contaminated wells

6 that are determined by local public health to be a

7 hazard to the community.

8 ‘‘(h) INNOVATIVE PROJECTS.—A State may provide

9 assistance with amounts from the rural community envi10 ronmental assistance account of the State under this part

11 for eligible innovative projects (as such term is used in

12 section 201(g)(5) of this Act) only after conducting a cost13 benefit analysis of such project. Such analysis shall in14 clude an evaluation of the long-term operation and mainte15 nance costs associated with the project.

16 ‘‘SEC. 653. INTENDED USE PLAN.

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

18 ‘‘(1) CONTENTS.—Prior to the beginning of

19 each fiscal year, each State shall prepare and submit

20 to the Administrator a plan, approved by the State’s

21 Rural Environmental Infrastructure Advisory Panel

22 under section 654, identifying the intended uses of

23 the amounts available to the rural community envi24 ronmental assistance account of the State under this
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1 part. Such intended use plan shall include, but not

2 be limited to—

3 ‘‘(A) a list of those projects for construc4 tion of wastewater treatment works and public

5 water systems which are pending;

6 ‘‘(B) a description of the short- and long7 term goals and objectives of the account;

8 ‘‘(C) information on the activities to be

9 supported, including a description of project

10 categories, terms of financial assistance, and

11 economically distressed rural communities

12 served;

13 ‘‘(D) assurances and specific proposals to

14 ensure that all funds in the account will be ex15 pended in an expeditious and timely manner;

16 ‘‘(E) the criteria and method established

17 for the allocation of funds to proposed projects;

18 ‘‘(F) the criteria established for determin19 ing the interest rate on loans made with

20 amounts from the account; and

21 ‘‘(G) the criteria established for determin22 ing the amount of assistance to be provided

23 under this section in the form of grants for an

24 eligible project.
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1 ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall review

2 each plan developed pursuant to this subsection for

3 a fiscal year and shall approve or disapprove such

4 plan.

5 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT.—The

6 State shall provide for public review and comment

7 on the plan developed pursuant to this section.

8 ‘‘(b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR PLANNING.—

9 Each State shall reserve each fiscal year 1 percent of the

10 sums in the rural community environmental assistance ac11 count of the State under this part to carry out planning

12 and related activities pursuant to this section.

13 ‘‘SEC. 654. RURAL ENVIRONMENTAL INFRASTRUCTURE AD14 VISORY PANEL.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State may submit an intended

16 use plan to the Administrator under section 653 only if

17 such plan has been approved by a Rural Environmental

18 Infrastructure Advisory Panel which has been established

19 by the State in accordance with this section.

20 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—It shall be the duty of a panel estab21 lished under this section in a fiscal year—

22 ‘‘(1) to develop goals and guidance to assist the

23 State in the preparation of the State’s intended use

24 plan under section 653 for such fiscal year; and
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1 ‘‘(2) to review the State’s intended use plan

2 under section 653 for such fiscal year and to ap3 prove or disapprove such plan.

4 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.—A panel established by a State

5 under this section shall consist of 10 members appointed

6 by the Governor of the State as follows:

7 ‘‘(1) One individual who is a representative of

8 the instrumentality which administers the State’s

9 water pollution control revolving loan fund.

10 ‘‘(2) One individual who is a representative of

11 the State agency which is primarily responsible for

12 carrying out the State’s responsibilities under the

13 Safe Drinking Water Act.

14 ‘‘(3) One individual who is a representative of

15 an entity in the State which receives funds to assist

16 nonentitlement areas under the Community Develop17 ment Block Grant Program established under the

18 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.

19 ‘‘(4) One individual who is a representative of

20 an entity in the State which receives funds under the

21 water and waste facility loan and grant program es22 tablished by section 306 of the Consolidated Farm

23 and Rural Development Act.
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1 ‘‘(5) One individual who is a representative of

2 the State agency which is primarily responsible for

3 regulating private utilities.

4 ‘‘(6) One individual who is a representative of

5 a regional planning agency.

6 ‘‘(7) On individual who is a representative of

7 the Rural Community Assistance Program.

8 ‘‘(8) One individual who is a representative of

9 the State’s Rural Water Association.

10 ‘‘(9) One individual who is a representative of

11 a local government.

12 ‘‘(10) One individual who is a representative of

13 local or county health department or agency.

14 ‘‘(d) TERM.—Each member shall be appointed for a

15 term of 2 years.

16 ‘‘(e) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on a panel established

17 under this section shall be filled in the manner in which

18 the original appointment was made.

19 ‘‘(f) PAY.—Members shall serve without pay but may

20 receive travel expenses.

21 ‘‘(g) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of a panel es22 tablished under this section shall be elected by the mem23 bers.
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1 ‘‘(h) MEETINGS.—A panel established under this sec2 tion shall conduct at least 3 meetings during each fiscal

3 year.

4 ‘‘SEC. 655. AUDITS, REPORTS, AND FISCAL CONTROLS.

5 ‘‘(a) FISCAL CONTROL AND AUDITING PROCE6 DURES.—Each State shall establish fiscal controls and ac7 counting procedures sufficient to ensure proper accounting

8 during appropriate accounting periods for—

9 ‘‘(1) deposits made into the rural community

10 environmental assistance account of the State under

11 this part;

12 ‘‘(2) disbursements made from the account; and

13 ‘‘(3) account balances at the beginning and end

14 of the accounting period.

15 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL FEDERAL AUDITS.—The Adminis16 trator shall, at least on an annual basis, conduct or require

17 each State to have independently conducted such reviews

18 and audits as may be deemed necessary or appropriate

19 by the Administrator to carry out the objectives of this

20 section. Audits of the use of funds deposited in the rural

21 community environmental assistance account of the State

22 shall be conducted in accordance with the auditing proce23 dures of the General Accounting Office, including chapter

24 75 of title 31, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Beginning 60 days after the

2 end of the first fiscal year beginning after the date of the

3 enactment of this part, the State shall submit an annual

4 report to the Administrator describing how the State has

5 met the goals and objectives for the previous fiscal year

6 as identified in the plan prepared for such year pursuant

7 to section 653(a), including identification of loan and

8 grant recipients, loan and grant amounts, and terms and

9 similar details on other forms of financial assistance pro10 vided from the rural community environmental assistance

11 account of the State under this part.

12 ‘‘(d) NONCOMPLIANCE.—

13 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION.—If the Administrator de14 termines that a State has not complied with the re15 quirements of this part, the Administrator shall no16 tify the State of such noncompliance and the nec17 essary corrective action.

18 ‘‘(2) WITHHOLDING OF PAYMENTS.—If a State

19 does not take corrective action within 60 days after

20 the date a State receives notification of noncompli21 ance under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall

22 withhold the minimum amounts to be deposited in

23 the rural community environmental assistance ac24 count of the State under this part until the Adminis-
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1 trator is satisfied that the State has taken the nec2 essary corrective action.

3 ‘‘(3) REALLOTMENT.—If the Administrator is

4 not satisfied that adequate correction actions have

5 been taken by the State on or before the date which

6 is 12 months after the date on which the State is

7 notified of noncompliance, the payments withheld

8 from the State by the Administrator under section

9 (2) shall be made available for reallotment in accord10 ance with the formula for allotment of funds under

11 this Act.

12 ‘‘SEC. 656. DEFINITIONS.

13 ‘‘For the purposes of this part, the following defini14 tions apply:

15 ‘‘(1) CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘construction’

16 shall have the same meaning as such term has under

17 section 212(1) of this Act; except that such term

18 shall be construed to apply to public water systems

19 as well as wastewater treatment works and such

20 term shall include acquisition of lands, easements,

21 and rights-of-way for use as a site on which to locate

22 a public water system or wastewater treatment

23 works.
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1 ‘‘(2) ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED RURAL COM2 MUNITY.—The term ‘economically distressed rural

3 community’ means a rural community in which—

4 ‘‘(A) the median household income of the

5 residents of such community is less than 75

6 percent of the statewide non-metropolitan

7 household income, as determined by the latest

8 decennial census of the United States; or

9 ‘‘(B) the rate of poverty for the residents

10 of such community is greater than the national

11 poverty rate, as determined annually by the Of12 fice of Management and Budget.

13 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘pub14 lic water system’ shall have the same meaning as

15 such term has under section 1401(4) of the Safe

16 Drinking Water Act.

17 ‘‘(4) RURAL COMMUNITY.—The term ‘rural

18 community’ means a municipality—

19 ‘‘(A) which is located in a non-metropoli20 tan county and which has a population of 5,000

21 individuals or less, as determined by the latest

22 decennial census of the United States; or

23 ‘‘(B) the wastewater treatment works or

24 drinking water facility for which assistance is
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1 sought has fewer then 1,000 service connec2 tions.

3 ‘‘(5) WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS.—The

4 term ‘wastewater treatment works’ shall have the

5 same meaning as the term ‘treatment works’ has

6 under section 212(2) of this Act.’’.

7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Title VI of

8 such Act is further amended by inserting after the

9 heading for such title the following:

10 ‘‘PART A—GENERAL FUNDS’’.

11 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR ECONOMICALLY DIS12 TRESSED RURAL COMMUNITIES.

13 (a) GRANTS.—The Administrator of the Environ14 mental Protection Agency shall make grants to appro15 priate regional, State, and local agencies and not-for-profit

16 organizations to assist economically distressed rural com17 munities (as defined in part B of the Federal Water Pollu18 tion Control Act) by providing technical assistance for the

19 financing, operation, management, and maintenance of

20 wastewater treatment works and public water systems.

21 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Administrator shall make

22 grants under subsection (a) only to those regional, State,

23 and local agencies and not-for-profit organizations which

24 have an established record for providing technical assist25 ance to economically distressed rural communities.
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1 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Technical assistance

2 provided to economically distressed rural communities

3 with amounts from grants made available under this sec4 tion shall include 1 or more of the following:

5 (1) providing information and guidance con6 cerning compliance with requirements of the Federal

7 Water Pollution Control Act and the Safe Drinking

8 Water Act;

9 (2) providing information and guidance on the

10 operation and management of wastewater treatment

11 works and public water systems, including budget12 ing, user charge structures, operator training, and

13 maintenance schedules to ensure compliance with

14 the requirements referred to in paragraph (1);

15 (3) providing assistance to areas which are not

16 served by wastewater treatment works or public

17 water systems in order to develop the operations and

18 management capacity necessary to develop and

19 maintain such facilities in compliance with Federal

20 standards;

21 (4) providing assistance to facilitate the consoli22 dation or restructuring of wastewater treatment

23 works and public drinking water systems in order to

24 improve the capacity of such facilities; and
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1 (5) providing assistance to develop long-term fi2 nancial strategies to address overall water quality

3 needs.

4 (d) FUNDING.—The Administrator shall set aside for

5 fiscal year 1994, and each fiscal year thereafter, for mak6 ing grants under this section not to exceed 1.5 percent

7 of the amounts appropriated in such fiscal year pursuant

8 to section 607 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

9 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section

11 516(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act is

12 amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘; and (D)’’ and inserting ‘‘;

14 (D)’’; and

15 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the

16 following: ‘‘; (E) an estimate of the costs of rehabili17 tating, replacing, and upgrading public water sys18 tems nationally and by State; (F) an estimate of the

19 costs of construction of expanded or new publicly

20 owned treatment works and public water systems

21 nationally and by State, including an estimate of the

22 portion of such costs associated with meeting the re23 quirements of this Act; (G) an estimate of the per24 centage of the costs described in subparagraphs (B),

25 (C), (D), (E), and (F) associated with publicly
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1 owned treatment works and public water systems

2 serving economically distressed rural communities as

3 defined under section 656 of this Act.’’.

4 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub5 section (a) shall only apply to reports required under sec6 tion 516(b)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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