Water Quality and Environmental Innovation Act

Subjects: Environmental Protection


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 873 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 873

 To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
     to award grants and contracts for projects that use emerging 
    technologies to address threats to water quality, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 8, 2023

 Mr. Donalds (for himself and Mr. Gottheimer) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
    Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and 
   Commerce, and Science, Space, and Technology, 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 authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
     to award grants and contracts for projects that use emerging 
    technologies to address threats to water quality, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This Act may be cited as the ``Water Quality and Environmental 
Innovation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Science, technology, and innovation are major 
        cornerstones of the economy of the United States.
            (2) Throughout the United States, there is a growing 
        momentum to address traditional and emerging threats to the 
        Nation's water resources through innovative technological 
        approaches.
            (3) Water quality continues to negatively impact 
        communities in the United States in a variety of ways.
            (4) Water quality improvement and protection efforts pose a 
        unique opportunity for private and public innovators to develop 
        lasting market-based solutions.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Federal Government should support innovative 
        solutions to address water quality in the United States;
            (2) forward-thinking applications of new and existing 
        technologies will be vital for the ability of communities in 
        the United States to treat and monitor vital aquatic and 
        environmental resources;
            (3) supporting an innovative approach to addressing or 
        avoiding water quality degradation will ultimately result in 
        positive changes pertaining to water quality and environmental 
        well-being;
            (4) utilizing emerging technologies will spur market-based 
        innovation and will further amplify the ongoing efforts to 
        resolve water quality degradation; and
            (5) the Environmental Protection Agency and State 
        environmental agencies should prioritize the use of emerging 
        technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum 
        information science, distributed ledger technology, mechanical 
        harvesting, aquatic muck dredging, living shorelines, living 
        seawalls, robotics, nanotechnology, environmental DNA (eDNA), 
        and cultivation of aquatic species, such as seaweed, seagrass, 
        kelp, clams, oysters, and mussels, when creating programs and 
        solutions to address water quality.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WATER QUALITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION 
              FUND.

    (a) In General.--There is established a fund, to be known as the 
Water Quality and Environmental Innovation Fund.
    (b) Transfers to the Fund.--On October 1 of each of fiscal years 
2024 through 2028, there shall be transferred from the special account 
described in section 6501(e) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act 
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 4370c(e)) to the Water Quality and Environmental 
Innovation Fund, an amount that is equal to the amount that the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines will be 
collected in such fiscal year from fees and charges under the Motor 
Vehicle and Engine Compliance Program of the Environmental Protection 
Agency.
    (c) Expenditures.--Amounts in the Water Quality and Environmental 
Innovation Fund--
            (1) shall be available, as provided in appropriations Acts, 
        for awarding grants and contracts, and for other expenses 
        associated with administering such awards, under section 5; and
            (2) shall remain available until September 30, 2028.

SEC. 5. AWARDS FOR PROJECTS THAT USE EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES TO ADDRESS 
              THREATS TO WATER QUALITY.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator may award grants and contracts 
to eligible entities in accordance with this section.
    (b) Use of Funds.--
            (1) In general.--An eligible entity may use a grant or 
        contract awarded under this section to carry out a project--
                    (A) that uses an emerging technology, including 
                artificial intelligence, quantum information science, 
                distributed ledger technology, mechanical harvesting, 
                aquatic muck dredging, living shorelines, living 
                seawalls, robotics, nanotechnology, environmental DNA 
                (eDNA), and cultivation of aquatic species, such as 
                seaweed, seagrass, kelp, clams, oysters, and mussels, 
                to address threats to water quality; or
                    (B) for the research, development, or design of 
                such an emerging technology to be used to address 
                threats to water quality.
            (2) Water quality threats.--Threats to water quality that 
        may be addressed under a project carried out using a grant or 
        contract awarded under this section include--
                    (A) acidification;
                    (B) the accumulation of plastics, trash, and 
                microplastics;
                    (C) hydrologic alterations, such as restricting 
                tidal flow;
                    (D) nutrient release and eutrophication, including 
                harmful algal blooms;
                    (E) sea-level rise;
                    (F) waste carbon dioxide accumulations;
                    (G) adverse soil health conditions;
                    (H) erosion and sedimentation; and
                    (I) karst, sinkholes, and land subsidence.
    (c) Eligible Entities.--The Administrator may--
            (1) award grants under this section to any institution of 
        higher education, nonprofit organization, or any other entity 
        located or headquartered in the United States that the 
        Administrator determines appropriate; and
            (2) award contracts under this section to individuals or 
        private for-profit companies that the Administrator determines 
        appropriate.
    (d) Requirement.--Any results, including data and statistics, from 
a project carried out using a grant or contract awarded under this 
section shall be freely accessible and useable by the public, including 
local, State, and Federal government entities.

SEC. 6. REPORT.

    Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, the Committee 
on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, 
and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives a report describing--
            (1) additional benefits that may result from the use of 
        emerging technologies, including emerging technologies 
        described in section 5(b)(1)(A), to address threats to water 
        quality, compared to use of existing technologies to address 
        threats to water quality;
            (2) the recipients of the grants and contracts awarded 
        under this Act;
            (3) the types and goals of projects carried out using the 
        grants and contracts awarded under this Act;
            (4) the effectiveness of such projects in achieving such 
        goals; and
            (5) any other information that the Administrator determines 
        necessary.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial 
        intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in section 5002 
        of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 
        (15 U.S.C. 9401).
            (3) Distributed ledger technology.--The term ``distributed 
        ledger technology'' means technology that enables the operation 
        and use of distributed ledgers that--
                    (A) are shared across a set of distributed nodes, 
                including devices or processes, that participate in a 
                network and store a complete or partial replica of the 
                ledger;
                    (B) are synchronized between the nodes;
                    (C) have data appended to it by following the 
                ledger's specified consensus mechanism;
                    (D) may be accessible to anyone (public) or 
                restricted to a subset of participants (private); and
                    (E) may require participants to have authorization 
                to perform certain actions (permissioned) or require no 
                authorization (permissionless).
            (4) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an 
        entity described in section 5(c).
            (5) Quantum information science.--The term ``quantum 
        information science'' has the meaning given such term in 
        section 2 of the National Quantum Initiative Act (15 U.S.C. 
        8801).
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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