I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3910
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to assist low
and moderate income individuals to finance the construction, refur-
bishing, and servicing of individual household water well systems in
rural areas.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 14, 2000
Mr. BOEHNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants
to assist low and moderate income individuals to finance
the construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individual
household water well systems in rural areas.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Affordable Drinking
Water Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) affordable access to safe, reliable drinking
water is in the public interest;
(2) approximately 15,000,000 American house-
holds receive drinking water from household water
well systems;
(3) according to a national survey, more than
80 percent of these well owners say they prefer their
household well system to community drinking water
systems or bottled water;
(4) many consumers and American farms re-
ceive drinking water from older household water well
systems not constructed to current standards;
(5) these systems should be upgraded to ensure
consumer and farm access to the safest and most re-
liable sources of drinking water;
(6) the United States Department of Agri-
culture and the Rural Utilities Service have no pro-
gram focused on funding the construction, upgrade,
or refurbishment of household water well systems;
and
(7) centralized water systems are not always
the most cost-efficient way to deliver safe, reliable
drinking water to rural customers.
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO LOW AND MODERATE INCOME INDIVID-
UALS TO FINANCE THE CONSTRUCTION AND
REFURBISHING OF INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLD
WATER WELL SYSTEMS IN RURAL AREAS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Consolidated
Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.)
is amended by inserting after section 306D the following:
‘‘SEC. 306E. GRANTS TO LOW AND MODERATE INCOME INDI-
VIDUALS TO FINANCE THE CONSTRUCTION,
REFURBISHING, AND SERVICING OF INDI-
VIDUAL HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS
IN RURAL AREAS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants
in accordance with this section to private nonprofit organi-
zations for the purpose of assisting eligible individuals to
obtain financing for the construction, refurbishing, and
servicing of individual household water well systems owned
(or to be owned) by such individuals in rural areas.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—In subsection (a), the
term ‘eligible individual’ means an individual who is a
member of a household the combined income of whose
members for the most recent 12-month period for which
such information is available is not more than 100 percent
of the median nonmetropolitan household income for the
State or territory in which the individual resides, accord-
ing to the most recent decennial census of the United
States.
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant made under this sec-
tion may be used for the purpose described in subsection
(a), may be used to pay administrative expenses associated
with providing the assistance described in subsection (a),
and may be invested to provide income to be used to carry
out such purpose.
‘‘(d) PRIORITY IN AWARDING GRANTS.—In awarding
grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority
to applicants that have substantial expertise and experi-
ence in promoting the safe and productive use of house-
hold water well and ground water.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
this section shall take effect on October 1, 2001.
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