II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 689 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a program to provide 

assistance to small communities for use in carrying out projects and 

activities necessary to achieve or maintain compliance with drinking 

water standards. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 4, 2005 

Mr. DOMENICI (for himself, Mr. BINGAMAN, and Mr. HAGEL) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to establish a program to provide assistance to small communities for use 

in carrying out projects and activities necessary to 

achieve or maintain compliance with drinking water 

standards. 

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 ‘‘Community Drinking 

5 Water Assistance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 
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1 (1) drinking water standards proposed and in 

2 effect as of the date of enactment of this Act will 

3 place a large financial burden on many public water 

4 systems, especially those public water systems in 

5 rural communities serving small populations; 

6 (2) the limited scientific, technical, and profes7 sional resources available in small communities com8 plicate the implementation of regulatory require9 ments; 

10 (3) small communities often cannot afford to 

11 meet water quality standards because of the ex12 penses associated with upgrading public water sys13 tems and training personnel to operate and maintain 

14 the public water systems; 

15 (4) small communities do not have a tax base 

16 for dealing with the costs of upgrading their public 

17 water systems; 

18 (5) small communities face high per capita 

19 costs in improving drinking water quality; 

20 (6) small communities would greatly benefit 

21 from a grant program designed to provide funding 

22 for water quality projects; 

23 (7) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 

24 there is no Federal program in effect that ade25 quately meets the needs of small, primarily rural 
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1 communities with respect to public water systems; 

2 and 

3 (8) since new, more protective arsenic drinking 

4 water standards proposed by the Clinton and Bush 

5 administrations, respectively, are expected to be im6 plemented in 2006, the grant program established 

7 by the amendment made by this Act should be im8 plemented in a manner that ensures that the imple9 mentation of those new standards is not delayed. 

10 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS. 

11 (a) DEFINITION OF INDIAN TRIBE.—Section 

12 1401(14) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 300f(14)) is amended in the second sentence by striking 

14 ‘‘1452,’’ and inserting ‘‘1452 and part G,’’. 

15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Safe 

16 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.) is amended 

17 by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘PART G—ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL PUBLIC 

19 WATER SYSTEMS 

20 ‘‘SEC. 1471. DEFINITIONS. 

21 ‘‘In this part: 

22 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible ac24 tivity’ means a project or activity concerning a 

25 small public water system that is carried out by 
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1 an eligible entity to comply with drinking water 

2 standards. 

3 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible ac4 tivity’ includes— 

5 ‘‘(i) obtaining technical assistance; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) training and certifying operators 

8 of small public water systems. 

9 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘eligible ac10 tivity’ does not include any project or activity to 

11 increase the population served by a small public 

12 water system, except to the extent that the Ad13 ministrator determines such a project or activ14 ity to be necessary to— 

15 ‘‘(i) achieve compliance with a na16 tional primary drinking water regulation; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) provide a water supply to a pop19 ulation that, as of the date of enactment of 

20 this part, is not served by a safe public 

21 water system. 

22 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en23 tity’ means a small public water system that— 

24 ‘‘(A) is located in a State or an area gov25 erned by an Indian Tribe; and 
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1 ‘‘(B)(i) if located in a State, serves a com2 munity that, under affordability criteria estab3 lished by the State under section 1452(d)(3), is 

4 determined by the State to be— 

5 ‘‘(I) a disadvantaged community; or 

6 ‘‘(II) a community that may become a 

7 disadvantaged community as a result of 

8 carrying out an eligible activity; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) if located in an area governed by an 

10 Indian Tribe, serves a community that is deter11 mined by the Administrator, under affordability 

12 criteria published by the Administrator under 

13 section 1452(d)(3) and in consultation with the 

14 Secretary, to be— 

15 ‘‘(I) a disadvantaged community; or 

16 ‘‘(II) a community that the Adminis17 trator expects to become a disadvantaged 

18 community as a result of carrying out an 

19 eligible activity. 

20 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Program’ means 

21 the small public water assistance program estab22 lished under section 1472(a). 

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

24 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 

25 through the Director of the Indian Health Service. 
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1 ‘‘(5) SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM.—The 

2 term ‘small public water system’ means a public 

3 water system (including a community water system 

4 and a noncommunity water system) that serves— 

5 ‘‘(A) a community with a population of not 

6 more than 200,000 individuals; or 

7 ‘‘(B) a public water system located in— 

8 ‘‘(i) Bernalillo or Sandoval County, 

9 New Mexico; 

10 ‘‘(ii) Scottsdale, Arizona; 

11 ‘‘(iii) Mesquite or Washoe County, 

12 Nevada; or 

13 ‘‘(iv) El Paso County, Texas. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 1472. SMALL PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM ASSISTANCE 

15 PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date of enactment of this part, the Adminis19 trator shall establish a program to provide grants to 

20 eligible entities for use in carrying out projects and 

21 activities to comply with drinking water standards. 

22 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—Subject to paragraph (3), the 

23 Administrator shall award grants under the Pro24 gram to eligible entities based on— 
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1 ‘‘(A) first, the financial need of the com2 munity for the grant assistance, as determined 

3 by the Administrator; and 

4 ‘‘(B) second, with respect to the commu5 nity in which the eligible entity is located, the 

6 per capita cost of complying with drinking 

7 water standards, as determined by the Adminis8 trator. 

9 ‘‘(3) SMALL COMMUNITIES.—In making grants 

10 under this section, the Administrator shall ensure 

11 that not less than 20 percent of grant funds pro12 vided for each fiscal year are used to carry out eligi13 ble activities in communities with a population of 

14 less than 50,000 individuals. 

15 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that 

17 seeks to receive a grant under the Program shall 

18 submit to the Administrator, on such form as the 

19 Administrator shall prescribe (not to exceed 3 pages 

20 in length), an application to receive the grant. 

21 ‘‘(2) COMPONENTS.—The application shall in22 clude— 

23 ‘‘(A) a description of the eligible activities 

24 for which the grant is needed; 
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1 ‘‘(B) a description of the efforts made by 

2 the eligible entity, as of the date of submission 

3 of the application, to comply with drinking 

4 water standards; and 

5 ‘‘(C) any other information required to be 

6 included by the Administrator. 

7 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF APPLICA8 TIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of an ap10 plication under paragraph (1), the Adminis11 trator shall forward the application to the 

12 Council. 

13 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.—Not 

14 later than 90 days after receiving the rec15 ommendations of the Council under subsection 

16 (e) concerning an application, after taking into 

17 consideration the recommendations, the Admin18 istrator shall— 

19 ‘‘(i) approve the application and 

20 award a grant to the applicant; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) disapprove the application. 

22 ‘‘(C) RESUBMISSION.—If the Adminis23 trator disapproves an application under sub24 paragraph (B)(ii), the Administrator shall— 
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1 ‘‘(i) inform the applicant in writing of 

2 the disapproval (including the reasons for 

3 the disapproval); and 

4 ‘‘(ii) provide to the applicant a dead5 line by which the applicant may revise and 

6 resubmit the application. 

7 ‘‘(c) COST SHARING.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of carrying 

10 out an eligible activity using funds from a grant pro11 vided under the Program shall not exceed 90 per12 cent. 

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

14 the requirement to pay the non-Federal share of the 

15 cost of carrying out an eligible activity using funds 

16 from a grant provided under the Program if the Ad17 ministrator determines that an eligible entity is un18 able to pay, or would experience significant financial 

19 hardship if required to pay, the non-Federal share. 

20 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF

21 STANDARDS.— 

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

23 the Administrator shall not enforce any standard for 

24 drinking water under this Act (including a regula25 tion promulgated under this Act) against an eligible 
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1 entity during the period beginning on the date on 

2 which the eligible entity submits an application for 

3 a grant under the Program and ending, as applica4 ble, on— 

5 ‘‘(A) the deadline specified in subsection 

6 (b)(3)(C)(ii), if the application is disapproved 

7 and not resubmitted; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the date that is 3 years after the date 

9 on which the eligible entity receives a grant 

10 under this part, if the application is approved. 

11 ‘‘(2) ARSENIC STANDARDS.—No standard for 

12 arsenic in drinking water promulgated under this 

13 Act (including a standard in any regulation promul14 gated before the date of enactment of this part) 

15 shall be implemented or enforced by the Adminis16 trator in any State until the earlier of January 1, 

17 2006 or such date as the Administrator certifies to 

18 Congress that— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Program has been implemented 

20 in the State; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the State has made substantial 

22 progress, as determined by the Administrator in 

23 consultation with the Governor of the State, in 

24 complying with drinking water standards under 

25 this Act. 
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1 ‘‘(e) ROLE OF COUNCIL.—The Council shall— 

2 ‘‘(1) review applications for grants from eligible 

3 entities received by the Administrator under sub4 section (b); 

5 ‘‘(2) for each application, recommend to the 

6 Administrator whether the application should be ap7 proved or disapproved; and 

8 ‘‘(3) take into consideration priority lists devel9 oped by States for the use of drinking water treat10 ment revolving loan funds under section 1452. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 1473. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 ‘‘There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

13 this part $1,900,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 

14 through 2011.’’. 

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