I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3490 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the Safe Drinking 
Water Act to authorize grants for smart water infrastructure technology, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 18, 2023 
Mr. GALLEGO (for himself and Mr. DUARTE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and 
the Safe Drinking Water Act to authorize grants for 
smart water infrastructure technology, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2023’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
growing strain that population growth and climate 
change will have on over-allocated water supplies. 
TITLE I—WASTEWATER 
INFRASTRUCTURE 
SEC. 101. SMART WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECH-
NOLOGY FOR TREATMENT WORKS. 
Title II of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 
(33 U.S.C. 1281 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘SEC. 228. SMART WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECH-
NOLOGY. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—Subject to the availability of appro-
priations, the Administrator shall make direct grants to 
owners and operators of publicly owned treatment works 
for planning, design, construction, implementation, train-
ing, and operations relating to— 
‘‘(1) intelligent wastewater treatment and col-
lection systems and stormwater management oper-
ations, including technologies that rely on— 
‘‘(A) the use of real-time monitoring, man-
agement, analytics, and data collection tools, 
embedded intelligence, and predictive mainte-
nance capabilities that improve the energy effi-
ciency, cost efficiency, reliability, and resiliency 
of wastewater treatment systems; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(B) real-time remote sensors that provide 
continuous monitoring of water quality in 
stormwater and wastewater treatment and col-
lection systems to support the optimization of 
those stormwater and wastewater treatment 
and collection systems; and 
‘‘(C) the use of artificial intelligence and 
other intelligent optimization tools that— 
‘‘(i) reduce operational costs, includ-
ing operational costs relating to energy 
consumption and chemical treatment; and 
‘‘(ii) improve decisionmaking; 
‘‘(2) innovative and alternative combined sewer 
and stormwater control projects, including ground-
water banking, that rely on real-time data acquisi-
tion to support predictive aquifer recharge through 
water reuse and stormwater management capabili-
ties; and 
‘‘(3) advanced digital design and construction 
management tools relating to stormwater and waste-
water treatment and collection systems, including 
advanced digital models. 
‘‘(b) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— 
‘‘(1) SELECTION.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—The owner or oper-
ator of a publicly owned treatment works seek-
ing a grant under subsection (a) shall submit to 
the Administrator an application at such time, 
in such manner, and containing such informa-
tion as the Administrator may require. 
‘‘(B) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the 
Administrator shall issue guidance to owners 
and operators of publicly owned treatment 
works on how to submit an application under 
subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) SELECTION.—Not later than 30 days 
after the date on which the owner or operator 
of a publicly owned treatment works seeking a 
grant under subsection (a) submits an applica-
tion under subparagraph (A), the Administrator 
shall determine whether to approve or deny the 
application. 
‘‘(D) DEFICIENT
APPLICATIONS.—If the 
Administrator determines that an application 
submitted under subparagraph (A) is deficient, 
the Administrator shall— 
‘‘(i) advise the applicant of the defi-
ciency; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(ii) provide an opportunity for the 
applicant to resubmit the application. 
‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENT.—If the Administrator 
approves an application under paragraph (1)(C), the 
Administrator shall disburse grant funds not later 
than 60 days after the date of the determination. 
‘‘(c) COST-SHARE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the non-Federal share of an activity car-
ried out using a grant under subsection (a) shall be 
25 percent. 
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive 
the cost-share requirement under paragraph (1) if 
the Administrator determines that the cost-share re-
quirement would be financially unreasonable due to 
the inability of a community being served by the 
publicly owned treatment works for which the grant 
is sought to comply with the cost-share requirement. 
‘‘(d) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICA.—Section 
608 shall apply to grant funds under this section. 
‘‘(e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, and not 
less frequently than annually thereafter, the Admin-
istrator shall submit to Congress a report that— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(A) describes— 
‘‘(i) the projects awarded grants 
under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(ii) the improvements in the resil-
iency of publicly owned treatment works 
that resulted from the grants awarded 
under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(B) includes any recommendations of the 
Administrator to improve the ability of grants 
under subsection (a) to achieve the purposes de-
scribed in section 2 of the Water Infrastructure 
Modernization Act of 2023. 
‘‘(2) INITIAL REPORT.—The initial report re-
quired under paragraph (1) shall include a descrip-
tion of the implementation of this section, including 
a description of— 
‘‘(A) the projects approved for a grant 
under subsection (a); 
‘‘(B) the projects denied a grant under 
subsection (a); and 
‘‘(C) for the projects described in subpara-
graph (B), a description of the reasons for 
which each project was denied a grant. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 
for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, to 
remain available until expended. 
‘‘(2) SET-ASIDES.— 
‘‘(A) 
RURAL
COMMUNITIES.—Of 
the 
amounts made available under paragraph (1), 
the Administrator shall use not more than 25 
percent to make grants to owners and operators 
of publicly owned treatment works that serve 
communities with a population of not more 
than 10,000 individuals. 
‘‘(B) 
TRIBAL
COMMUNITIES.—Of 
the 
amounts made available under subparagraph 
(A), the Administrator shall use not less than 
10 percent to make grants to owners and oper-
ators of publicly owned treatment works that 
serve Indian Tribes.’’. 
TITLE II—DRINKING WATER 
INFRASTRUCTURE 
SEC. 201. SMART WATER INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY 
FOR DRINKING WATER. 
Section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 
U.S.C. 300j–12) is amended— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
(1) in subsection (m)(1), by striking ‘‘sub-
sections (a)(2)(G) and (t)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub-
sections (a)(2)(G), (t), and (u)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(u) SMART
WATER
INFRASTRUCTURE
TECH-
NOLOGY.— 
‘‘(1) GRANTS.—Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Administrator shall make direct 
grants to the owners or operators of community 
water systems for purposes of planning, design, con-
struction, implementation, training, and operations 
relating to— 
‘‘(A) smart water network technologies 
that— 
‘‘(i) can identify or reduce water 
losses in a nondestructive or nondisruptive 
manner, including through analytical soft-
ware, flow and pressure monitoring, or 
acoustic data collection; and 
‘‘(ii) provide— 
‘‘(I) predictive and diagnostic in-
formation 
for 
informed 
decision-
making; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(II) 
comprehensive 
data 
on 
pipeline integrity that document the 
presence of leaks or gas pockets; and 
‘‘(III) information on the extent 
of such leaks or gas pockets, with an 
emphasis on detecting weakness of, 
vulnerability of, or damage to pipe 
barrels, pipe joints, or other pipe fea-
tures; 
‘‘(B) real-time remote sensing technologies, 
including the use of advanced data management 
and analytics, that detect and alert operators to 
water quality events, leakages, and pipeline 
bursts on a real-time basis, including persistent 
sensor networks capable of measuring— 
‘‘(i) acoustic signals; 
‘‘(ii) pressure transient; 
‘‘(iii) water quality; or 
‘‘(iv) water flow; 
‘‘(C) real-time decision support tech-
nologies that integrate sources of data about 
water treatment systems and distribution net-
works to deliver common operations information 
relying on data analytics that can improve oper-
ational decisionmaking, including nonrevenue 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
water loss, energy optimization, cost efficiency, 
asset maintenance management, and water 
quality improvement; 
‘‘(D) advanced metering infrastructure, in-
cluding meter data analytics and ratepayer 
technology— 
‘‘(i) to improve end user conservation; 
and 
‘‘(ii) in support of disadvantaged com-
munities; 
‘‘(E) resilient water supply projects that 
may provide real-time monitoring of weather 
patterns and impacts on water supply and flood 
protection reservoirs and dams that enhance op-
erations, including— 
‘‘(i) improved water supply reliability 
and management; 
‘‘(ii) protection of natural resources, 
including fisheries; and 
‘‘(iii) temperature control; 
‘‘(F) innovative and alternative water sup-
ply projects, including groundwater banking, 
that rely on real-time data acquisition to sup-
port predictive aquifer recharge through water 
reuse and stormwater management capabilities; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(G) artificial intelligence and other intel-
ligent optimization tools that— 
‘‘(i) reduce operational costs, includ-
ing operational costs relating to energy 
consumption and chemical treatment; and 
‘‘(ii) improve decisionmaking; and 
‘‘(H) advanced digital design and construc-
tion management tools relating to water treat-
ment systems and distribution networks, includ-
ing the development of advanced digital models. 
‘‘(2) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— 
‘‘(A) SELECTION.— 
‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—The owner or op-
erator of a community water system seek-
ing a grant under paragraph (1) shall sub-
mit to the Administrator an application at 
such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Administrator may 
require. 
‘‘(ii) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 30 
days after the date of enactment of this 
subsection, the Administrator shall issue 
guidance to owners and operators of com-
munity water systems on how to submit an 
application under clause (i). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(iii) SELECTION.—Not later than 30 
days after the date on which the owner or 
operator of a community water system 
seeking a grant under paragraph (1) sub-
mits an application under clause (i), the 
Administrator shall determine whether to 
approve or deny the application. 
‘‘(iv) DEFICIENT
APPLICATIONS.—If 
the Administrator determines that an ap-
plication submitted under clause (i) is defi-
cient, the Administrator shall— 
‘‘(I) advise the applicant of the 
deficiency; and 
‘‘(II) provide an opportunity for 
the applicant to resubmit the applica-
tion. 
‘‘(B) DISBURSEMENT.—If the Adminis-
trator approves an application under subpara-
graph (A)(iii), the Administrator shall disburse 
grant funds not later than 60 days after the 
date of the determination. 
‘‘(3) COST-SHARE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the non-Federal share of an 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
activity carried out using a grant under para-
graph (1) shall be 25 percent. 
‘‘(B) 
EXCEPTION.—The 
Administrator 
may waive the cost-share requirement under 
subparagraph (A) if the grant recipient is or 
serves a disadvantaged community (as defined 
in subsection (d)(3)). 
‘‘(4) COMPLIANCE WITH BUY AMERICA.—Sub-
section (a)(4) shall apply to grant funds under this 
subsection, without regard to the fiscal year limita-
tion in subparagraph (A) of that subsection. 
‘‘(5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this sub-
section, and not less frequently than annually 
thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to 
Congress a report that— 
‘‘(i) describes the projects awarded 
grants under paragraph (1) during the ap-
plicable reporting period; and 
‘‘(ii) includes any recommendations of 
the Administrator to improve the ability of 
grants under paragraph (1) to achieve the 
purposes described in section 2 of the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 
2023. 
‘‘(B) INITIAL REPORT.—The initial report 
required under subparagraph (A) shall include 
a description of the implementation of this sub-
section, including a description of— 
‘‘(i) the projects approved for a grant 
under paragraph (1); 
‘‘(ii) the projects denied a grant under 
paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(iii) for the projects described in 
clause (ii), a description of the reasons for 
which each project was denied a grant. 
‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 
be appropriated to carry out this subsection 
$25,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2024 
through 2028, to remain available until ex-
pended. 
‘‘(B) SET-ASIDES.— 
‘‘(i) RURAL
COMMUNITIES.—Of the 
amounts made available under subpara-
graph (A), the Administrator shall use not 
more than 25 percent to make grants to 
owners and operators of community water 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
systems that serve a population of not 
more than 10,000 individuals. 
‘‘(ii) TRIBAL COMMUNITIES.—Of the 
amounts made available under subpara-
graph (A), the Administrator shall use not 
less than 10 percent to make grants to 
owners and operators of community water 
systems that serve Indian Tribes.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:56 Jun 06, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H3490.IH
H3490
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB