I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1980

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide additional

assistance to economically distressed rural communities under the State

water pollution control revolving loan fund program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 5, 1993

Ms. LONG (for herself, Mr. EWING, Mr. LANCASTER, Mr. BAESLER, Mr.

KINGSTON, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. EMERSON, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. MYERS

of Indiana, Mr. MINGE, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. PETERSON of

Florida, Mr. CLINGER, Mr. PARKER, Mr. MCHUGH, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr.

BEREUTER, Mr. VOLKMER, and Mr. GILLMOR) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide additional assistance to economically distressed rural

communities under the State water pollution control revolving loan fund program.

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 ‘‘Rural Community

5 Water Pollution Control Assistance Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.

2 (a) LOAN PROGRAM.—Section 603(d)(1) of the Fed3 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(d)(1))

4 is amended—

5 (1) in subparagraph (A) by inserting after ‘‘20

6 years’’ the following: ‘‘and at terms not to exceed 40

7 years in the case of loans to economically distressed

8 rural communities’’;

9 (2) in subparagraph (B) by inserting after ‘‘1

10 year’’ the following: ‘‘and not later than 3 years in

11 the case of loans to economically distressed rural

12 communities’’;

13 (3) in subparagraph (B) by inserting after ‘‘20

14 years’’ the following: ‘‘and at terms not to exceed 40

15 years in the case of loans to economically distressed

16 rural communities’’; and

17 (4) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and

18 (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively, and

19 inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:

20 ‘‘(C) not less than 15 percent of amounts

21 deposited in the fund after the date of the en22 actment of this subparagraph will be used to

23 make loans to economically distressed rural

24 communities;’’.

25 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 603(d) of

26 such Act is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

2 (6);

3 (2) by striking the period at the end of para4 graph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (3) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(8) for providing technical assistance to eco7 nomically distressed rural communities in the oper8 ation, management, and maintenance of waste water

9 treatment works, including—

10 ‘‘(A) the provision of information and

11 guidance with respect to financial management,

12 user fee analysis, budgeting, capital improve13 ment planning, and development of funding

14 applications;

15 ‘‘(B) the provision of information and

16 guidance with respect to facility operation and

17 maintenance requirements, repair schedules,

18 and other activities necessary to improve treat19 ment plant operations;

20 ‘‘(C) the provision of information and

21 guidance on management restructuring, includ22 ing physical consolidation, shared use of equip23 ment, and staff functions; and

24 ‘‘(D) the provision of assistance in identi25 fying and evaluating appropriate technologies,
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1 associated management and maintenance costs,

2 and least cost options;

3 except that amounts available for providing such

4 technical assistance shall not exceed 1.5 percent of

5 all grant awards made after the date of the enact6 ment of this paragraph to such fund under this

7 title.’’.

8 (c) DEFINITION.—Section 603 of such Act is further

9 amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 section:

11 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this title, the

12 following definitions apply:

13 ‘‘(1) ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED RURAL COM14 MUNITY.—The term ‘economically distressed rural

15 community’ means a rural community—

16 ‘‘(A) in which the median household in17 come of the residents of such community is less

18 than 75 percent of the median statewide

19 nonmetropolitan household income, as deter20 mined by the latest decennial census of the

21 United States; or

22 ‘‘(B) in which the rate of poverty for the

23 residents of such community is greater than the

24 national poverty rate, as determined annually

25 by the Office of Management and Budget.
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1 ‘‘(2) RURAL COMMUNITY.—The term ‘rural

2 community’ means a community which is located in

3 a nonmetropolitan county and which has a popu4 lation of 3,500 individuals or less, as determined by

5 the latest decennial census of the United States.’’.

6 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.

7 Section 603(d)(7) of the Federal Water Pollution

8 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1382(d)(7)) is amended by strik9 ing ‘‘4 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘4.5 percent’’.

10 SEC. 4. INTENDED USE PLAN.

11 Section 606(c) of the Federal Water Pollution Con12 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1386(c)) is amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

14 (4);

15 (2) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

17 (3) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘(6) the criteria used to evaluate loan repay19 ment affordability and to determine loan interest

20 rates.’’.

Æ