I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5609 

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

sewer infrastructure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 25, 2018 

Mr. ELLISON (for himself, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. CAPUANO, 

Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MOORE, 

Mr. POCAN, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Ms. 

GABBARD, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. KILDEE, 

Mr. WELCH, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. YARMUTH, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. NADLER, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, 

Mr. RASKIN, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. BEN

RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, and Mr. CARSON of Indiana) 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 2018’’. 

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 2018. 

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 2018.’’. 

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 take apply to taxable years begin6 ning 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 23:47 Apr 27, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5609.IH H5609

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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(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Con21 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1254(b)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

23 end; 

24 (2) in paragraph (7), by striking the period at 

25 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(8) make grants to nonprofit organizations 

3 to— 

4 ‘‘(A) provide technical assistance to rural 

5 and small municipalities and tribal governments 

6 for the purpose of assisting, in consultation 

7 with the State in which the assistance is pro8 vided, such municipalities and governments in 

9 the planning, development, and acquisition of fi10 nancing for projects and activities eligible for 

11 assistance under section 603(c); 

12 ‘‘(B) provide technical assistance and 

13 training to rural and small municipalities and 

14 tribal governments responsible for publicly 

15 owned treatment works and decentralized 

16 wastewater treatment systems for the purpose 

17 of enabling such works and systems to protect 

18 water quality and achieve and maintain compli19 ance with the requirements of this Act; and 

20 ‘‘(C) disseminate information to rural and 

21 small municipalities, tribal governments, and 

22 municipalities that meet the affordability cri23 teria established under section 603(i)(2) by the 

24 State in which the municipality is located, that 

25 pertains to the planning, design, construction, 


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1 and operation of publicly owned treatment 

2 works and decentralized wastewater treatment 

3 systems.’’. 

4 SEC. 5. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM 

5 IMPROVEMENT. 

6 Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

7 (33 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 222. RESIDENTIAL ONSITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYS10 TEMS. 

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

12 of the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 

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

14 septic tank and drainage field for costs associated with 

15 repairing, replacing, or upgrading such tank and such 

16 field.’’. 

17 SEC. 6. HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS. 

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

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

20 striking ‘‘$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 

21 2018’’ and inserting ‘‘$348,500,000 for each fiscal year’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. STATE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL REVOLVING 

2 FUNDS. 

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

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

5 1382(b)) is amended— 

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

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

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

9 available for fiscal year 2016’’; 

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

11 end; 

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

13 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

15 ‘‘(15) the State will not provide financial assist16 ance using amounts from the fund for any project 

17 that will provide substantial direct benefits to new 

18 communities, lots, or subdivisions, other than a 

19 project to construct an advanced decentralized 

20 wastewater system; and’’. 

21 (b) PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE FOR AS22 SISTANCE.—Section 603(c) of the Federal Water Pollution 

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

24 (1) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

25 end; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking the period 

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

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

4 ‘‘(12) to any municipality or intermunicipal, 

5 interstate, or State agency for— 

6 ‘‘(A) purchasing from a willing or unwill7 ing seller a privately owned treatment works; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) expenses related to canceling a con10 tract for the operation or management of a 

11 publicly owned treatment works.’’. 

12 (c) INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL SUB13 SIDIZATION BY THE STATE.—Section 603(i)(3)(B) of the 

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

15 1383(i)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

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

17 may use not less than 50 percent of the total 

18 amount received by the State in capitalization 

19 grants under this title for a fiscal year for pro20 viding additional subsidization under this sub21 section.’’. 

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

23 THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT. 

24 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

25 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

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

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

5 before ‘‘community water systems’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘The funds under this section shall not be 

8 used for the acquisition of real property or 

9 interests therein, unless the acquisition is 

10 integral to a project authorized by this 

11 paragraph and the purchase is from a will12 ing seller.’’ and inserting ‘‘The funds may 

13 also be used for purchasing from a willing 

14 or unwilling seller a privately owned com15 munity water system, or for the expenses 

16 related to canceling a contract for the op17 eration or management of a community 

18 water system.’’; and 

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

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(5) EXCEPTION TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP, OPER22 ATION, AND MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENT.—Not23 withstanding paragraph (2)(A), public water systems 

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

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


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1 person who owns, operates, or manages any other 

2 public water system, may receive assistance under 

3 this section.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘exceed 30 

5 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘be less than 50 percent’’; 

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

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

8 State in fiscal year 2016’’; 

9 (4) in subsection (g)(3)— 

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

11 the end; 

12 (B) in paragraph (C), by striking the pe13 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(D) guidance to ensure affordable, equi17 table, transparent and reliable water service 

18 provision, to provide protections for households 

19 facing service disconnection due to unpaid 

20 water service charges, and to promote universal 

21 equal access to water services.’’; and 

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

23 the following: 

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

25 grant to owners of private property on which a 


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

2 is or may be located, for the purpose of replac3 ing the lead service line with a service line that 

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

5 SEC. 9. DRINKING WATER GRANT PROGRAMS. 

6 (a) SCHOOL DRINKING WATER IMPROVEMENT.— 

7 Part F of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j– 

8 21 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 1465. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE. 

10 ‘‘Not later than the date that is one year after the 

11 date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall 

12 establish a grant program to make grants to local edu13 cational agencies for costs associated with— 

14 ‘‘(1) installing, repairing, or replacing the infra15 structure necessary to ensure that drinking water 

16 coolers, drinking water fountains, or bottle filling 

17 stations at schools under the jurisdiction of the local 

18 educational agency are lead free; and 

19 ‘‘(2) testing drinking water at schools under the 

20 jurisdiction of the local educational agency for the 

21 presence of lead.’’. 

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) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 300j–12(a)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘During 

8 fiscal year 2017, funds’’ and inserting ‘‘Funds’’. 

9 SEC. 11. LABOR PROVISIONS. 

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

11 Act shall affect the applicability of the requirements relat12 ing to labor standards of sections 513 and 602(b)(6) of 

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

14 1382(b)(6)) and section 1450(e) of the Safe Drinking 

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

16 under those Acts. 

17 (b) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.— 

18 (1) CLEAN WATER REVOLVING FUNDS.—Sec19 tion 602(b) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

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

21 is further amended by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(16) the State will— 

24 ‘‘(A) permit recipients of assistance under 

25 this title to enter into agreements authorized 


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1 under section 8(f) of the National Labor Rela2 tions Act (commonly known as ‘project labor 

3 agreements’) with respect to projects for build4 ing or construction carried out with such assist5 ance; and 

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

7 practicable, recipients of assistance under this 

8 title carry out such projects through the use of 

9 such agreements.’’. 

10 (2) DRINKING WATER REVOLVING FUNDS.— 

11 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 

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

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(5) PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS.—Each 

16 agreement under this subsection shall require that 

17 the State permit recipients of assistance under this 

18 section to enter into agreements authorized under 

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

20 (commonly known as ‘project labor agreements’) 

21 with respect to projects for building or construction 

22 carried out with such assistance.’’; and 

23 (B) in subsection (b)(3)(A)— 

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

25 and inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (ii) in clause (iii), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (iii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(iv) with respect to projects for 

6 building or construction, will be carried out 

7 through the use of agreements authorized 

8 under section 8(f) of the National Labor 

9 Relations Act.’’. 

Æ 


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