I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 626
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize
the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to nonprofit organizations
to finance the construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individually-
owned household water well systems in rural areas for individuals with
low or moderate incomes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
Mr. BOEHNER (for himself and Mr. MCHUGH) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development
Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make
grants to nonprofit organizations to finance the construc-
tion, refurbishing, and servicing of individually-owned
household water well systems in rural areas for individ-
uals with low or moderate incomes.
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 of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) affordable access to safe, reliable drinking
water is in the public interest;
(2) approximately 10,000,000 households in the
United States receive drinking water from household
water well systems;
(3) according to a national survey, more than
80 percent of those well owners express a preference
for water from their household water well system
over water from a community drinking water system
or bottled water;
(4) many consumers and farms in the United
States receive drinking water from older household
water well systems that are not constructed to cur-
rent standards;
(5) those systems should be upgraded to ensure
consumer and farm access to the safest and most re-
liable sources of drinking water;
(6) the Department of Agriculture, including
the Rural Utilities Service, has no program focused
on funding the construction, refurbishment, or serv-
icing of individually-owned household water well sys-
tems; 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 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO FI-
NANCE THE CONSTRUCTION, REFURBISHING,
AND SERVICING OF INDIVIDUALLY-OWNED
HOUSEHOLD 
WATER 
WELL 
SYSTEMS 
IN
RURAL AREAS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH LOW
OR MODERATE INCOMES.
(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 (7 U.S.C.
1926d) the following:
‘‘SEC. 306E. GRANTS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO FI-
NANCE THE CONSTRUCTION, REFURBISHING,
AND SERVICING OF INDIVIDUALLY-OWNED
HOUSEHOLD 
WATER 
WELL 
SYSTEMS 
IN
RURAL AREAS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH LOW
OR MODERATE INCOMES.
‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—In this
section, 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 the 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,
according to the most recent decennial census of the
United States.
‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants to
private nonprofit organizations for the purpose of assist-
ing eligible individuals in obtaining financing for the con-
struction, refurbishing, and servicing of individual house-
hold water well systems in rural areas that are owned (or
to be owned) by the eligible individuals.
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant made under this sec-
tion may be—
‘‘(1) used, or invested to provide income to be
used, to carry out subsection (b); and
‘‘(2) used to pay administrative expenses associ-
ated with providing the assistance described in sub-
section (b).
‘‘(d) PRIORITY IN AWARDING GRANTS.—In awarding
grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority
to an applicant that has substantial expertise and experi-
ence in promoting the safe and productive use of individ-
ually-owned household water well systems and ground
water.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by
this section takes effect on October 1, 2001.
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