Ensuring Water Investments Benefit Communities Act
Bill: H.R.3668 | Sponsor: Rep. Moore, Gwen (D-WI)
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Ensuring Water Investments Benefit Communities Act
This bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency to require recipients of assistance for water infrastructure projects under state drinking water state revolving fund (SRF) programs, clean water SRF programs, or the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 to provide certain job training and employment opportunities for low-income persons and very low-income persons.

To require recipients of assistance for certain water infrastructure 
projects to provide job training, apprenticeships, and other employment 
 opportunities for low-income persons and very low-income persons, 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 ``Ensuring Water Investments Benefit 
Communities Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) Federal water infrastructure investments provide State 
        and local governments and other recipients of Federal financial 
        assistance with substantial support for activities that produce 
        significant employment and other economic opportunities;
            (2) low-income persons and very low-income persons, who 
        live in the areas in most need of such investments, often have 
        restricted access to employment and other economic 
        opportunities;
            (3) the employment and other economic opportunities 
        generated by projects and activities that receive Federal water 
        infrastructure investments offer an effective means of 
        empowering low-income persons and very low-income persons, 
        particularly those who live in the areas where these funds are 
        being used to improve water infrastructure; and
            (4) Federal efforts to invest in water infrastructure 
        should also help create employment and other economic 
        opportunities for low-income persons and very low-income 
        persons in areas where these projects are taking place.

SEC. 3. EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT WATER INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency shall require a covered entity, to the greatest extent feasible, 
and consistent with existing Federal, State, and local laws and 
regulations, to provide job training, apprenticeships, and other 
employment opportunities on a covered project for low-income persons 
and very low-income persons in the area in which the covered project is 
located, and to business concerns that provide employment opportunities 
to low-income persons and very low-income persons.
    (b) Priority.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Administrator 
shall require a covered entity to provide job training, 
apprenticeships, and other employment opportunities in the following 
order of priority:
            (1) To low-income persons and very low-income persons 
        residing within the service area of the covered project or the 
        neighborhood in which the covered project is located.
            (2) To low-income persons and very low-income persons 
        residing within the metropolitan area (or nonmetropolitan 
        county) in which the covered assistance is expended.
            (3) To residents of an area described in paragraph (1) or 
        (2) who are provided any assistance under a means-tested 
        program administered by a Federal agency, including housing, 
        supplemental nutrition, and temporary needy family assistance.
            (4) To participants in YouthBuild programs under section 
        171 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 
        3226) or the Job Corps program under subtitle C of title I of 
        such Act (29 U.S.C. 3191 et seq.).
    (c) State Plans and Reports.--With respect to a covered entity that 
is a State, the Administrator shall require the State to--
            (1) submit to the Administrator for approval a plan for 
        carrying out the requirements of this section; and
            (2) annually submit to the Administrator a report 
        containing data on job training, apprenticeship, employment, 
        and contract opportunities created in the State pursuant to 
        this section, including, for each covered project carried out 
        by the State or for which covered assistance is provided by the 
        State--
                    (A) how many jobs and other opportunities were 
                created to comply with this section;
                    (B) the total of amount of covered assistance used 
                on the covered project; and
                    (C) the amount of covered assistance used to hire 
                low-income persons and very low-income persons to 
                comply with this section.
    (d) Regulations.--
            (1) Deadline.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue 
        regulations to implement this section.
            (2) Application date.--The regulations issued under 
        paragraph (1) shall apply to covered assistance made available 
        beginning in the first full fiscal year following the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
            (3) Complaint process.--The Administrator shall include in 
        the regulations issued under paragraph (1) a process by which 
        affected persons or entities may file a complaint alleging a 
        violation of this section.
    (e) Consultation.--In carrying out this section, the Administrator 
shall consult with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development, the Secretary of Transportation, the Administrator 
of the Small Business Administration, and such other Federal agencies 
as the Administrator determines are necessary.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Apprenticeship.--The term ``apprenticeship'' means an 
        apprenticeship registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 
        (commonly known as the ``National Apprenticeship Act''; 50 
        Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.).
            (3) Business concern that provides economic 
        opportunities.--The term ``business concern that provides 
        economic opportunities'' has the meaning given such term in 
        section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 
        U.S.C. 1701u).
            (4) Covered assistance.--The term ``covered assistance'' 
        means financial assistance provided under or pursuant to 
        section 1452 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j-
        12), title VI of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
        U.S.C. 1381 et seq.), or the Water Infrastructure Finance and 
        Innovation Act of 2014 (33 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.).
            (5) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means--
                    (A) an entity that receives covered assistance; and
                    (B) a contractor or subcontractor of such entity 
                with respect to a covered project.
            (6) Covered project.--The term ``covered project'' means a 
        project for which an entity receives covered assistance.
            (7) Low-income person; very low-income person.--The terms 
        ``low-income person'' and ``very low-income person'' have the 
        same meanings given the terms ``low-income families'' and 
        ``very low-income families'', respectively, in section 3(b) of 
        the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
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