II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3282 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Safe Drinking 

Water Act to authorize grants for smart water infrastructure technology, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2021 

Mr. KELLY (for himself and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and 

the Safe Drinking Water Act to authorize grants for 

smart water infrastructure technology, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 


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Sec. 2. Purposes. 

TITLE I—WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE 

Sec. 101. Smart wastewater infrastructure technology for treatment works. 

TITLE II—DRINKING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE 

Sec. 201. Smart water infrastructure technology for drinking water. 

1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are— 

3 (1) to upgrade and modernize the drinking 

4 water, wastewater, and stormwater systems of the 

5 United States, tackle new contaminants, and sup6 port drinking water infrastructure across the United 

7 States; 

8 (2) to support the modernization of the publicly 

9 owned treatment works of the United States to 

10 maintain reliable and affordable water quality infra11 structure that addresses demand impacts, including 

12 resiliency, to improve public health and natural re13 sources; 

14 (3) to support the modernization of the drink15 ing water infrastructure and management systems of 

16 the United States to maintain reliable, resilient, and 

17 affordable drinking water infrastructure and ensure 

18 the protection of public health; and 

19 (4) to encourage the use of water-efficient tech20 nologies to address drought and prepare for the 


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1 growing strain that population growth and climate 

2 change will have on over-allocated water supplies. 

3 TITLE I—WASTEWATER 

4 INFRASTRUCTURE 

5 SEC. 101. SMART WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECH6 NOLOGY FOR TREATMENT WORKS. 

7 Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

8 (33 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 228. SMART WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECH11 NOLOGY. 

12 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—Subject to the availability of appro13 priations, the Administrator shall make direct grants to 

14 owners and operators of publicly owned treatment works 

15 for planning, design, construction, implementation, and 

16 operations training relating to— 

17 ‘‘(1) intelligent wastewater collection systems 

18 and stormwater management operations, including 

19 technologies that rely on— 

20 ‘‘(A) real-time monitoring, embedded intel21 ligence, and predictive maintenance capabilities 

22 that improve the energy efficiency, reliability, 

23 and resiliency of wastewater pumping systems; 

24 ‘‘(B) real-time sensors that provide contin25 uous monitoring of water quality in stormwater 


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1 and wastewater collection systems to support 

2 the optimization of those stormwater and 

3 wastewater collection systems; and 

4 ‘‘(C) the use of artificial intelligence and 

5 other intelligent optimization tools that reduce 

6 operational costs, including operational costs re7 lating to energy consumption and chemical 

8 treatment; and 

9 ‘‘(2) innovative and alternative combined sewer 

10 and stormwater control projects, including ground11 water banking, that rely on real-time data acquisi12 tion to support predictive aquifer recharge through 

13 water reuse and stormwater management capabili14 ties. 

15 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SELECTION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—The owner or oper18 ator of a publicly owned treatment works seek19 ing a grant under subsection (a) shall submit to 

20 the Administrator an application at such time, 

21 in such manner, and containing such informa22 tion as the Administrator may require. 

23 ‘‘(B) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

25 Administrator shall issue guidance to owners 


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1 and operators of publicly owned treatment 

2 works on how to submit an application under 

3 subparagraph (A). 

4 ‘‘(C) SELECTION.—Not later than 30 days 

5 after the date on which the owner or operator 

6 of a publicly owned treatment works seeking a 

7 grant under subsection (a) submits an applica8 tion under subparagraph (A), the Administrator 

9 shall determine whether to approve or deny the 

10 application. 

11 ‘‘(D) DEFICIENT APPLICATIONS.—If the 

12 Administrator determines that an application 

13 submitted under subparagraph (A) is deficient, 

14 the Administrator shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) advise the applicant of the defi16 ciency; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) provide an opportunity for the 

18 applicant to resubmit the application. 

19 ‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENT.—If the Administrator 

20 approves an application under paragraph (1)(C), the 

21 Administrator shall disburse grant funds not later 

22 than 60 days after the date of the determination. 

23 ‘‘(c) COST-SHARE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para25 graph (2), the non-Federal share of an activity carVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Dec 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3282.IS S3282

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1 ried out using a grant under subsection (a) shall be 

2 25 percent. 

3 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive 

4 the cost-share requirement under paragraph (1) if 

5 the Administrator determines that the cost-share re6 quirement would be financially unreasonable due to 

7 the inability of a community being served by the 

8 publicly owned treatment works for which the grant 

9 is sought to comply with the cost-share requirement. 

10 ‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICA.—Section 

11 608 shall apply to grant funds under this section. 

12 ‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of enactment of this section, and not 

15 less frequently than annually thereafter, the Admin16 istrator shall submit to Congress a report that— 

17 ‘‘(A) describes— 

18 ‘‘(i) the projects awarded grants 

19 under subsection (a); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the improvements in the resil21 iency of publicly owned treatment works 

22 that resulted from the grants awarded 

23 under subsection (a); and 

24 ‘‘(B) includes any recommendations of the 

25 Administrator to improve the ability of grants 


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1 under subsection (a) to achieve the purposes de2 scribed in section 2 of the Water Infrastructure 

3 Modernization Act of 2021. 

4 ‘‘(2) INITIAL REPORT.—The initial report re5 quired under paragraph (1) shall include a descrip6 tion of the implementation of this section, including 

7 a description of— 

8 ‘‘(A) the projects approved for a grant 

9 under subsection (a); 

10 ‘‘(B) the projects denied a grant under 

11 subsection (a); and 

12 ‘‘(C) for the projects described in subpara13 graph (B), a description of the reasons for 

14 which each project was denied a grant. 

15 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

17 appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 

18 for the period of fiscal years 2023 through 2027, to 

19 remain available until expended. 

20 ‘‘(2) SET-ASIDES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) RURAL COMMUNITIES.—Of the 

22 amounts made available under paragraph (1), 

23 the Administrator shall use not more than 20 

24 percent to make grants to owners and operators 

25 of publicly owned treatment works that serve 


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1 communities with a population of not more 

2 than 10,000 individuals. 

3 ‘‘(B) TRIBAL COMMUNITIES.—Of the 

4 amounts made available under subparagraph 

5 (A), the Administrator shall use not less than 

6 10 percent to make grants to owners and oper7 ators of publicly owned treatment works that 

8 serve Indian Tribes.’’. 

9 TITLE II—DRINKING WATER 

10 INFRASTRUCTURE 

11 SEC. 201. SMART WATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY 

12 FOR DRINKING WATER. 

13 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 

15 (1) in subsection (m)(1), by striking ‘‘sub16 sections (a)(2)(G) and (t)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub17 sections (a)(2)(G), (t), and (u)’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(u) SMART WATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECH20 NOLOGY.— 

21 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—Subject to the availability of 

22 appropriations, the Administrator shall make direct 

23 grants to the owners or operators of community 

24 water systems for purposes of the planning of, deVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:30 Dec 07, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3282.IS S3282

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1 sign of, construction of, implementation of, and op2 erations training relating to— 

3 ‘‘(A) smart water network technologies 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(i) can identify water losses from 

6 conveyance facilities in a nondestructive or 

7 nondisruptive manner, including acoustic 

8 data collection; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) provide— 

10 ‘‘(I) comprehensive data on pipe11 line integrity that document the pres12 ence of leaks or gas pockets; and 

13 ‘‘(II) information on the extent 

14 of such leaks or gas pockets, with an 

15 emphasis on detecting weakness of, 

16 vulnerability of, or damage to pipe 

17 barrels, pipe joints, or other pipe fea18 tures; 

19 ‘‘(B) real-time sensing technologies, includ20 ing the use of advanced analytics, that detect 

21 and alert operators to leakages and pipeline 

22 bursts on a real-time basis, including persistent 

23 sensor networks capable of measuring— 

24 ‘‘(i) acoustic signals; 

25 ‘‘(ii) pressure transient; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) water quality; 

2 ‘‘(C) real-time decision support that inte3 grates sources of data about water distribution 

4 networks to deliver common operations informa5 tion relying on data analytics that can improve 

6 operational decisionmaking, including nonrev7 enue water loss, energy optimization, and water 

8 quality improvement; 

9 ‘‘(D) advanced metering infrastructure, in10 cluding meter data analytics and ratepayer 

11 technology— 

12 ‘‘(i) to improve end user conservation; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) in support of disadvantaged com15 munities; 

16 ‘‘(E) resilient water supply projects that 

17 may provide real-time monitoring of weather 

18 patterns and impacts on water supply and flood 

19 protection reservoirs and dams that enhance op20 erations, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) improved water supply reliability 

22 and management; 

23 ‘‘(ii) protection of natural resources, 

24 including fisheries; and 

25 ‘‘(iii) temperature control; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) innovative and alternative water sup2 ply projects, including groundwater banking, 

3 that rely on real-time data acquisition to sup4 port predictive aquifer recharge through water 

5 reuse and stormwater management capabilities. 

6 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) SELECTION.— 

8 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—The owner or op9 erator of a community water system seek10 ing a grant under paragraph (1) shall sub11 mit to the Administrator an application at 

12 such time, in such manner, and containing 

13 such information as the Administrator may 

14 require. 

15 ‘‘(ii) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 

16 days after the date of enactment of this 

17 subsection, the Administrator shall issue 

18 guidance to owners and operators of com19 munity water systems on how to submit an 

20 application under clause (i). 

21 ‘‘(iii) SELECTION.—Not later than 30 

22 days after the date on which the owner or 

23 operator of a community water system 

24 seeking a grant under paragraph (1) sub25 mits an application under clause (i), the 


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1 Administrator shall determine whether to 

2 approve or deny the application. 

3 ‘‘(iv) DEFICIENT APPLICATIONS.—If 

4 the Administrator determines that an ap5 plication submitted under clause (i) is defi6 cient, the Administrator shall— 

7 ‘‘(I) advise the applicant of the 

8 deficiency; and 

9 ‘‘(II) provide an opportunity for 

10 the applicant to resubmit the applica11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(B) DISBURSEMENT.—If the Adminis13 trator approves an application under subpara14 graph (A)(iii), the Administrator shall disburse 

15 grant funds not later than 60 days after the 

16 date of the determination. 

17 ‘‘(3) COST-SHARE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

19 subparagraph (B), the non-Federal share of an 

20 activity carried out using a grant under para21 graph (1) shall be 25 percent. 

22 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator 

23 may waive the cost-share requirement under 

24 subparagraph (A) if the grant recipient is or 


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1 serves a disadvantaged community (as defined 

2 in subsection (d)(3)). 

3 ‘‘(4) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICA.—Sub4 section (a)(4) shall apply to grant funds under this 

5 subsection, without regard to the fiscal year limita6 tion in subparagraph (A) of that subsection. 

7 ‘‘(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

9 days after the date of enactment of this sub10 section, and not less frequently than annually 

11 thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to 

12 Congress a report that— 

13 ‘‘(i) describes the projects awarded 

14 grants under paragraph (1) during the ap15 plicable reporting period; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) includes any recommendations of 

17 the Administrator to improve the ability of 

18 grants under paragraph (1) to achieve the 

19 purposes described in section 2 of the 

20 Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 

21 2021. 

22 ‘‘(B) INITIAL REPORT.—The initial report 

23 required under subparagraph (A) shall include 

24 a description of the implementation of this sub25 section, including a description of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the projects approved for a grant 

2 under paragraph (1); 

3 ‘‘(ii) the projects denied a grant under 

4 paragraph (1); and 

5 ‘‘(iii) for the projects described in 

6 clause (ii), a description of the reasons for 

7 which each project was denied a grant. 

8 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 

10 be appropriated to carry out this subsection 

11 $25,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2023 

12 through 2027, to remain available until ex13 pended. 

14 ‘‘(B) SET-ASIDES.— 

15 ‘‘(i) RURAL COMMUNITIES.—Of the 

16 amounts made available under subpara17 graph (A), the Administrator shall use not 

18 more than 20 percent to make grants to 

19 owners and operators of community water 

20 systems that serve a population of not 

21 more than 10,000 individuals. 

22 ‘‘(ii) TRIBAL COMMUNITIES.—Of the 

23 amounts made available under subpara24 graph (A), the Administrator shall use not 

25 less than 10 percent to make grants to 


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1 owners and operators of community water 

2 systems that serve Indian Tribes.’’. 

Æ 


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