II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4279 

To increase efficiency and conservation in public water systems, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19 (legislative day, MAY 17), 2022 

Mr. PADILLA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To increase efficiency and conservation in 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Water Efficiency, Con5 servation, and Sustainability Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ10 mental Protection Agency. 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means any of the following: 

3 (A) A State, local, or Tribal government, 

4 or any special-purpose unit of such a govern5 ment (including a municipal water authority). 

6 (B) A public water system. 

7 (C) A nonprofit organization. 

8 (3) ENERGY STAR PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘En9 ergy Star program’’ means the Energy Star program 

10 established by section 324A of the Energy Policy 

11 and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6294a). 

12 (4) LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD.—The term 

13 ‘‘low-income household’’ includes a household that 

14 is— 

15 (A) eligible to receive payments under— 

16 (i) section 2605(b)(2) of the Low-In17 come Home Energy Assistance Act of 

18 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8624(b)(2)); or 

19 (ii) the Low-Income Household Drink20 ing Water and Wastewater Emergency As21 sistance Program authorized by section 

22 533 of division H of the Consolidated Ap23 propriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116– 

24 260; 134 Stat. 1627); or 


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1 (B) within a disadvantaged community (as 

2 defined in section 1452(d)(3) of the Safe 

3 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j– 

4 12(d)(3))). 

5 (5) PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘public 

6 water system’’ has the meaning given the term in 

7 section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 300f). 

9 (6) WATER EFFICIENCY INCENTIVE PRO10 GRAM.—The term ‘‘water efficiency incentive pro11 gram’’ means a program for providing incentives, in12 cluding direct installation services, to residential, 

13 commercial, or industrial customers of a public 

14 water system for the purchase, lease, installation, 

15 use, or implementation, as applicable, of water-effi16 cient upgrades. 

17 (7) WATER-EFFICIENT UPGRADE.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘water-effi19 cient upgrade’’ means a product, landscape, 

20 label, process, or service for a residential, com21 mercial, or industrial building, or the landscape 

22 of such a building, that is— 

23 (i) rated for water efficiency and per24 formance under the WaterSense program, 

25 the Energy Star program, or such other 


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1 methodology as determined to be appro2 priate by the Administrator; or 

3 (ii) otherwise determined by the Ad4 ministrator to improve water-use efficiency. 

5 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘water-effi6 cient upgrade’’ includes— 

7 (i) a faucet; 

8 (ii) a showerhead; 

9 (iii) a dishwasher; 

10 (iv) a toilet; 

11 (v) a clothes washer; 

12 (vi) an irrigation product or service; 

13 (vii) advanced metering infrastruc14 ture; 

15 (viii) a flow monitoring device; 

16 (ix) a landscaping or gardening prod17 uct, including moisture control or water18 enhancing technology; 

19 (x) xeriscaping, turf removal, or an20 other landscape conversion that reduces 

21 water use (except for the installation of ar22 tificial turf); and 

23 (xi) any other product, landscape, 

24 process, or service— 


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1 (I) certified pursuant to the 

2 WaterSense program; or 

3 (II) otherwise determined by the 

4 Administrator to reduce water use or 

5 water loss, including products rated 

6 for water efficiency and performance 

7 under the Energy Star program. 

8 (8) WATER LOSS CONTROL PROGRAM.—The 

9 term ‘‘water loss control program’’ means a program 

10 to identify and quantify water uses and losses, im11 plement controls to reduce or eliminate losses and 

12 leaks, and evaluate the effectiveness of such controls. 

13 (9) WATERSENSE PROGRAM.—The term 

14 ‘‘WaterSense program’’ means the program estab15 lished by section 324B of the Energy Policy and 

16 Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6294b). 

17 SEC. 3. WATER EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION GRANT 

18 PROGRAM. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

20 a program to award grants to eligible entities that have 

21 established water efficiency incentive programs to carry 

22 out those water efficiency incentive programs (referred to 

23 in this section as the ‘‘grant program’’). 

24 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—In carrying out the grant pro25 gram, the Administrator shall award not less than 50 perVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:45 May 31, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4279.IS S4279

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1 cent of the amounts made available to carry out this sec2 tion in each fiscal year to eligible entities that service an 

3 area that— 

4 (1) has been designated as D2 (severe drought) 

5 or greater according to the United States Drought 

6 Monitor for a minimum of 4 weeks during any of the 

7 3 years preceding the date of the grant award; or 

8 (2) is within a county for which a drought 

9 emergency has been declared by the applicable Gov10 ernor at any time during the 3-year period preceding 

11 the date of the grant award. 

12 (c) GRANT AMOUNT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

14 grant awarded under the grant program shall be in 

15 an amount that is not less than $250,000. 

16 (2) SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS.—The Ad17 ministrator may award a grant in an amount that 

18 is less than $250,000 if the grant is awarded to, or 

19 for the benefit of, a public water system that serves 

20 fewer than 10,000 customers. 

21 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

22 grant under the grant program shall— 

23 (1) use grant funds to carry out a water effi24 ciency incentive program for customers of a public 

25 water system; or 


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1 (2) provide grant funds to another eligible enti2 ty to carry out a water efficiency incentive program 

3 described in paragraph (1). 

4 (e) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—An eligible entity re5 ceiving a grant under the grant program shall use not less 

6 than 40 percent of the amount of the grant to provide 

7 water-efficient upgrades to low-income households. 

8 (f) COST SHARE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

10 the Federal share of the cost of carrying out a water 

11 efficiency incentive program using a grant awarded 

12 under the grant program shall not exceed 80 per13 cent. 

14 (2) WAIVER.—The Administrator may increase 

15 the Federal share under paragraph (1) to 100 per16 cent if the Administrator determines that an eligible 

17 entity is unable to pay, or would experience signifi18 cant financial hardship if required to pay, the non19 Federal share. 

20 (g) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts pro21 vided under a grant under the grant program shall be used 

22 to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, 

23 local, or Tribal funds made available to carry out water 

24 efficiency incentive programs. 

25 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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

2 appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 

3 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028. 

4 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the amounts 

5 made available under paragraph (1) for grants 

6 under the grant program each fiscal year, the Ad7 ministrator may use not more than 4 percent to pay 

8 the administrative costs of the Administrator. 

9 SEC. 4. SUSTAINABLE WATER LOSS CONTROL PROGRAM. 

10 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND GRANT PRO11 GRAM.—The Administrator shall establish and carry out 

12 a program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘pro13 gram’’)— 

14 (1) to make grants and provide technical assist15 ance to eligible entities to perform annual audits of 

16 public water systems that are— 

17 (A) conducted in accordance with the pro18 cedures contained in the manual published by 

19 the American Water Works Association entitled 

20 ‘‘M36 Water Audits and Loss Control Pro21 grams, Fourth Edition’’ (or any successor man22 ual determined appropriate by the Adminis23 trator); and 

24 (B) validated under such criteria as may 

25 be specified by the Administrator; and 


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1 (2) to make grants and provide technical assist2 ance to eligible entities— 

3 (A) to implement controls to address real 

4 losses, apparent losses, or a combination of real 

5 and apparent losses that are identified in an 

6 audit conducted and validated in accordance 

7 with the procedures and criteria described in 

8 paragraph (1); and 

9 (B) to help public water systems that have 

10 conducted and validated such an audit establish 

11 water loss control programs. 

12 (b) CRITERIA.—In selecting eligible entities to receive 

13 grants and technical assistance under the program, the 

14 Administrator shall consider— 

15 (1) the percentage of customers of the public 

16 water system that would be served by the grants or 

17 technical assistance that are low-income households; 

18 and 

19 (2) the ability of the public water system that 

20 would be served by the grants or technical assist21 ance, on completion of an audit conducted and vali22 dated in accordance with the procedures and criteria 

23 described in subsection (a)(1)— 

24 (A) to successfully sustain a water loss 

25 control program; and 


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1 (B) to demonstrate that the water loss 

2 control program will reduce real losses, appar3 ent losses, or a combination of real and appar4 ent losses in the public water system. 

5 (c) ANNUAL WATER SAVINGS.—The Administrator 

6 shall— 

7 (1) annually compile, by Environmental Protec8 tion Agency region, information on the amount of 

9 water savings achieved pursuant to this section; and 

10 (2) publish on the website of the Administrator 

11 the information compiled under paragraph (1). 

12 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

14 appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000 

15 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028, of 

16 which— 

17 (A) $20,000,000 each fiscal year shall be 

18 used to carry out subsection (a)(1); and 

19 (B) $20,000,000 each fiscal year shall be 

20 used to carry out subsection (a)(2). 

21 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the amounts 

22 made available under paragraph (1) for grants 

23 under the program each fiscal year, the Adminis24 trator may use not more than 4 percent to pay the 

25 administrative costs of the Administrator. 


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1 SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE FOR WATER EFFICIENT PLUMBING 

2 CODE ADOPTION. 

3 (a) WATER EFFICIENT PLUMBING CODES.—The Ad4 ministrator shall establish a program to make grants to 

5 States, Tribal governments, and units of local government 

6 that have authority to adopt plumbing codes— 

7 (1) to adopt plumbing codes that meet or ex8 ceed— 

9 (A) the latest American National Standard 

10 published as the ‘‘Water Efficiency and Sanita11 tion Standard for the Built Environment’’ or 

12 ‘‘WE–Stand’’ (or any successor American Na13 tional Standard); or 

14 (B) the requirements described in Chapter 

15 6 (Water Use Efficiency) of the code published 

16 by the International Code Council entitled 

17 ‘‘2018 International Green Construction Code 

18 (IGCC)’’ (or any successor requirements de19 scribed in a code published by the International 

20 Code Council); and 

21 (2) to implement a plan for the jurisdiction to 

22 achieve, within 5 years of the date on which the ju23 risdiction receives the grant, compliance with a 

24 plumbing code described in paragraph (1) in at least 

25 90 percent of new and renovated residential, comVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:45 May 31, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4279.IS S4279

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1 mercial, and industrial buildings, as applicable, 

2 which shall include— 

3 (A) workforce training; 

4 (B) an enforcement program; and 

5 (C) a compliance measurement program. 

6 (b) SUBGRANT AUTHORITY.—A State that has adopt7 ed a plumbing code described in subsection (a)(1) may use 

8 funds from a grant under this section to make subgrants 

9 to relevant Tribal or local agencies to implement the 

10 plumbing code through 1 or more of the following: 

11 (1) Workforce training. 

12 (2) An enforcement program. 

13 (3) A compliance measurement program. 

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

16 appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 

17 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028. 

18 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the amounts 

19 made available under paragraph (1) for grants 

20 under this section each fiscal year, the Adminis21 trator may use not more than 4 percent to pay the 

22 administrative costs of the Administrator. 

Æ 


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