I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 616 

To prohibit water shutoffs during the COVID–19 emergency period, provide 

drinking and waste water assistance to households, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2021 

Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. BASS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. BUSH, Mrs. BUSTOS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. 

DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI ́A of 

Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, 

Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Ms. LEE of 

California, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. NEWMAN, 

Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. 

PRESSLEY, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SPEIER, 

Ms. STEVENS, Mr. SUOZZI, Mrs. TRAHAN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MOORE of 

Wisconsin, Mr. SIRES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. JONES, Mr. 

GOMEZ, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. SOTO, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. MENG, Ms. 

BROWNLEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Mr. 

RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 

Education and Labor, 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 prohibit water shutoffs during the COVID–19 emergency 


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•HR 616 IH

period, provide drinking and waste water assistance to 

households, 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 ‘‘Emergency Water is 

5 a Human Right Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HOME ENERGY AND WATER SERVICE CONTINUITY. 

7 Any entity receiving financial assistance pursuant to 

8 this Act shall, to the maximum extent practicable, estab9 lish or maintain in effect policies to ensure that no home 

10 energy service or public water system service to an indi11 vidual or household, which is provided or regulated by 

12 such entity, is or remains disconnected or interrupted dur13 ing the emergency period described in section 

14 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act. For purposes 

15 of this Act, the term ‘‘home energy service’’ means a serv16 ice to provide home energy, as such term is defined in sec17 tion 2603 of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 

18 Act of 1981, and electric service, as that term is used in 

19 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, and 

20 the term ‘‘public water system’’ has the meaning given 

21 that term in section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

22 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require forgive23 ness of outstanding debt owed to an entity or to absolve 

24 an individual of any obligation to an entity for service. 


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1 SEC. 3. LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD DRINKING WATER AND 

2 WASTEWATER ASSISTANCE. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated $1,500,000,000 to the Sec5 retary to carry out this section. Such sums shall remain 

6 available until expended. 

7 (b) LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD DRINKING WATER

8 AND WASTEWATER ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

9 make grants to States and Indian Tribes to assist low10 income households, particularly those with the lowest in11 comes, that pay a high proportion of household income 

12 for drinking water and wastewater services. 

13 (c) USE OF LIHEAP RESOURCES.—In carrying out 

14 this section, the Secretary, States, and Indian Tribes, as 

15 applicable, shall use the existing processes, procedures, 

16 policies, and systems in place to carry out the Low-Income 

17 Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981, as the Secretary 

18 determines appropriate, including by using the application 

19 and approval process under such Act to the maximum ex20 tent practicable. 

21 (d) ALLOTMENT.— 

22 (1) FACTORS.—The Secretary shall allot 

23 amounts appropriated pursuant to this section to a 

24 State or Indian Tribe taking into account— 

25 (A) the percentage of households in the 

26 State, or under the jurisdiction of the Indian 


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1 Tribe, that are low-income, as determined by 

2 the Secretary; 

3 (B) the average State or Tribal drinking 

4 water and wastewater service rates; and 

5 (C) the extent to which the State or Indian 

6 Tribe has been impacted by the public health 

7 emergency. 

8 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

9 than 15 days after determining an amount to allot 

10 to each State or Indian Tribe pursuant to paragraph 

11 (1), and prior to making grants under this section, 

12 the Secretary shall notify Congress of such allotment 

13 amounts. 

14 (e) DETERMINATION OF LOW-INCOME HOUSE15 HOLDS.— 

16 (1) MINIMUM DEFINITION OF LOW-INCOME.—In 

17 determining whether a household is considered low18 income for the purposes of this section, a State or 

19 Indian Tribe shall— 

20 (A) ensure that, at a minimum, all house21 holds within 150 percent of the Federal poverty 

22 line are included as low-income households; and 

23 (B) consider households that have not pre24 viously received assistance under the Low-In25 come Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 in 


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1 the same manner as households that have pre2 viously received such assistance. 

3 (2) HOUSEHOLD DOCUMENTATION REQUIRE4 MENTS.—States and Indian Tribes shall— 

5 (A) to the maximum extent practicable, 

6 seek to limit the income history documentation 

7 requirements for determining whether a house8 hold is considered low-income for the purposes 

9 of this section; and 

10 (B) for the purposes of income eligibility, 

11 accept proof of job loss or severe income loss 

12 dated after February 29, 2020, such as a layoff 

13 or furlough notice or verification of application 

14 of unemployment benefits, as sufficient to dem15 onstrate lack of income for an individual or 

16 household. 

17 (f) APPLICATIONS.—Each State or Indian Tribe de18 siring to receive a grant under this section shall submit 

19 an application to the Secretary, in such form as the Sec20 retary shall require. 

21 (g) STATE AGREEMENTS WITH DRINKING WATER

22 AND WASTEWATER PROVIDERS.—To the maximum extent 

23 practicable, a State that receives a grant under this sec24 tion shall enter into agreements with public water systems, 

25 municipalities, nonprofit organizations associated with 


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1 providing drinking water and wastewater services to rural 

2 and small communities, and Indian Tribes, to assist in 

3 identifying low-income households and to carry out this 

4 section. 

5 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State or Indian 

6 Tribe that receives a grant under this section may use up 

7 to 15 percent of the granted amounts for administrative 

8 costs. 

9 (i) FEDERAL AGENCY COORDINATION.—In carrying 

10 out this section, the Secretary shall coordinate with the 

11 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

12 and consult with other Federal agencies with authority 

13 over the provision of drinking water and wastewater serv14 ices. 

15 (j) AUDITS.—The Secretary shall require each State 

16 and Indian Tribe receiving a grant under this section to 

17 undertake periodic audits and evaluations of expenditures 

18 made by such State or Indian Tribe pursuant to this sec19 tion. 

20 (k) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

21 submit to Congress a report on the results of activities 

22 carried out pursuant to this section— 

23 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of en24 actment of this section; and 


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1 (2) upon disbursement of all funds appropriated 

2 pursuant to this section. 

3 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

5 means any Indian Tribe, band, group, or community 

6 recognized by the Secretary of the Interior and exer7 cising governmental authority over a Federal Indian 

8 reservation. 

9 (2) MUNICIPALITY.—The term ‘‘municipality’’ 

10 has the meaning given such term in section 502 of 

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

12 1362). 

13 (3) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.—The term 

14 ‘‘public health emergency’’ means the public health 

15 emergency described in section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the 

16 Social Security Act. 

17 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

19 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 

20 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

21 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, 

22 Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 

23 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Æ 


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