I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6088 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to authorize grants for smart water 

infrastructure technology, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2021 

Mr. GALLEGO (for himself and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Water Infrastructure 

5 Modernization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to upgrade and modernize drinking water 

9 systems in the United States, tackle new contamiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:24 Dec 09, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6088.IH H6088

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1 nants, and support drinking water infrastructure 

2 across America; 

3 (2) to support the modernization of drinking 

4 water infrastructure and management systems to 

5 maintain reliable, resilient, and affordable drinking 

6 water infrastructure and ensure the protection of 

7 public health; and 

8 (3) to encourage utilization of water efficient 

9 technologies to address drought and prepare for the 

10 growing strain population growth and climate 

11 change will have on already over-allocated water sup12 plies. 

13 SEC. 3. SMART WATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY 

14 FOR DRINKING WATER. 

15 Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (m)(1), by striking ‘‘sub18 sections (a)(2)(G) and (t)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub19 sections (a)(2)(G), (t), and (u)’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘(u) SMART WATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECH22 NOLOGY.— 

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

24 appropriations, the Administrator shall make direct 

25 grants to the owners or operators of community 


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1 water systems for purposes of the planning, design, 

2 construction of, and operations training relating 

3 to— 

4 ‘‘(A) smart water network technologies 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(i) can identify water losses from 

7 conveyance facilities in a nondestructive or 

8 nondisruptive manner, including acoustic 

9 data collection; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) provide— 

11 ‘‘(I) comprehensive data on pipe12 line integrity that document the pres13 ence of leaks or gas pockets; and 

14 ‘‘(II) information on the extent 

15 of such leaks or gas pockets, with an 

16 emphasis on detecting weakness of, 

17 vulnerability of, or damage to pipe 

18 barrels, pipe joints, or other pipe fea19 tures; 

20 ‘‘(B) real-time sensing technologies, includ21 ing the use of advanced analytics, that detect 

22 and alert operators to leakages and pipeline 

23 bursts on a real-time basis, including persistent 

24 sensor networks capable of measuring— 

25 ‘‘(i) acoustic signals; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) pressure transient; or 

2 ‘‘(iii) water quality; 

3 ‘‘(C) real-time decision support that inte4 grates sources of data about water distribution 

5 networks to deliver common operations informa6 tion relying on data analytics that can improve 

7 operational decisionmaking, including nonrev8 enue water loss, energy optimization, and water 

9 quality improvement; 

10 ‘‘(D) advanced metering infrastructure, in11 cluding meter data analytics and ratepayer 

12 technology— 

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

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) in support of disadvantaged com16 munities; 

17 ‘‘(E) resilient water supply projects that 

18 may provide real-time monitoring of weather 

19 patterns and impacts on water supply and flood 

20 protection reservoirs and dams that enhance op21 erations, including— 

22 ‘‘(i) improved water supply reliability 

23 and management; 

24 ‘‘(ii) protection of natural resources, 

25 including fisheries; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) temperature control; and 

2 ‘‘(F) innovative and alternative water sup3 ply projects, including groundwater banking, 

4 that rely on real-time data acquisition to sup5 port predictive aquifer recharge through water 

6 reuse and stormwater management capabilities. 

7 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) SELECTION.— 

9 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—The owner or op10 erator of a community water system seek11 ing a grant under paragraph (1) shall sub12 mit to the Administrator an application at 

13 such time, in such manner, and containing 

14 such information as the Administrator may 

15 require. 

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

17 days after the date of enactment of this 

18 subsection, the Administrator shall issue 

19 guidance to owners and operators of com20 munity water systems on how to submit an 

21 application under clause (i). 

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

23 days after the date on which the owner or 

24 operator of a community water system 

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1 mits an application under clause (i), the 

2 Administrator shall determine whether to 

3 approve or deny the application. 

4 ‘‘(iv) DEFICIENT APPLICATIONS.—If 

5 the Administrator determines that an ap6 plication submitted under clause (i) is defi7 cient, the Administrator shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) advise the applicant of the 

9 deficiency; and 

10 ‘‘(II) provide an opportunity for 

11 the applicant to resubmit the applica12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(B) DISBURSEMENT.—If the Adminis14 trator approves an application under subpara15 graph (A)(iii), the Administrator shall disburse 

16 grant funds not later than 60 days after the 

17 date of the determination. 

18 ‘‘(3) COST-SHARE.— 

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

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

21 activity carried out using a grant under para22 graph (1) shall be 25 percent. 

23 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator 

24 may waive the cost-share requirement under 

25 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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