Title: Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2018
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2018
This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a grant program for increasing the resiliency or adaptability of water systems (e.g., groundwater storage systems or wastewater treatment systems) to changes to the quality, quantity, or reliability of water resources.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5596 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5596

 To authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 
  to establish a program of awarding grants to owners or operators of 
water systems to increase resiliency or adaptability of the systems to 
  any ongoing or forecasted changes to the hydrologic conditions of a 
                      region of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 24, 2018

Mr. Carbajal (for himself and Mr. Reed) 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 Natural Resources, 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 establish a program of awarding grants to owners or operators of 
water systems to increase resiliency or adaptability of the systems to 
  any ongoing or forecasted changes to the hydrologic conditions of a 
                      region of the United States.

    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 Infrastructure Resiliency and 
Sustainability Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. WATER INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Hydrologic conditions.--The term ``hydrologic 
        conditions'' means the quality, quantity, or reliability of the 
        water resources of a region of the United States.
            (3) Owner or operator of a water system.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``owner or operator of a 
                water system'' means an entity (including a regional, 
                State, interstate, Tribal, local, municipal, 
                intermunicipal, or private entity) that owns or 
                operates a water system.
                    (B) Inclusion.--The term ``owner or operator of a 
                water system'' includes--
                            (i) a non-Federal entity that has 
                        operational responsibilities for a federally, 
                        tribally, or State-owned water system; and
                            (ii) an entity established by an agreement 
                        between--
                                    (I) an entity that owns or operates 
                                a water system; and
                                    (II) at least one other entity.
            (4) Water system.--The term ``water system'' means--
                    (A) a community water system (as defined in section 
                1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f));
                    (B) a treatment works (as defined in section 212 of 
                the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
                1292)), including a municipal separate storm sewer 
                system (as such term is used in the Federal Water 
                Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.));
                    (C) a decentralized wastewater treatment system for 
                domestic sewage;
                    (D) a groundwater storage and replenishment system;
                    (E) a system for conservation of water or for 
                transport and delivery of water for irrigation; or
                    (F) a natural or engineered system that manages 
                floodwaters.
    (b) Program.--The Administrator shall establish and implement a 
program, to be known as the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and 
Sustainability Program, under which the Administrator awards grants in 
each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022 to owners or operators of water 
systems for the purpose of increasing the resiliency or adaptability of 
the systems to any ongoing or forecasted changes (based on the best 
available research and data) to the hydrologic conditions of a region 
of the United States.
    (c) Use of Funds.--As a condition on receipt of a grant under this 
section, an owner or operator of a water system shall agree to use the 
grant funds exclusively to assist in the planning, design, 
construction, implementation, operation, or maintenance of a program or 
project that meets the purpose described in subsection (b) by--
            (1) conserving water or enhancing water use efficiency, 
        including through the use of water metering and electronic 
        sensing and control systems to measure the effectiveness of a 
        water efficiency program;
            (2) modifying or relocating existing water system 
        infrastructure made or projected to be significantly impaired 
        by changing hydrologic conditions;
            (3) preserving or improving water quality, including 
        through measures to manage, reduce, treat, or reuse municipal 
        stormwater, wastewater, or drinking water;
            (4) investigating, designing, or constructing groundwater 
        remediation, recycled water, or desalination facilities or 
        systems to serve existing communities;
            (5) enhancing water management by increasing watershed 
        preservation and protection, including through the use of 
        natural or engineered green infrastructure in the management, 
        conveyance, or treatment of water, wastewater, or stormwater;
            (6) enhancing energy efficiency or the use and generation 
        of renewable energy in the management, conveyance, or treatment 
        of water, wastewater, or stormwater;
            (7) supporting the adoption and use of advanced water 
        treatment, water supply management (such as reservoir 
        reoperation and water banking), or water demand management 
        technologies, projects, or processes (such as water reuse and 
        recycling, adaptive conservation pricing, and groundwater 
        banking) that maintain or increase water supply or improve 
        water quality;
            (8) modifying or replacing existing systems or constructing 
        new systems for existing communities or land currently in 
        agricultural production to improve water supply, reliability, 
        storage, or conveyance;
            (9) supporting practices and projects, such as improved 
        irrigation systems, water banking and other forms of water 
        transactions, groundwater recharge, stormwater capture, 
        groundwater conjunctive use, and reuse or recycling of drainage 
        water, to improve water quality or promote more efficient water 
        use on land currently in agricultural production;
            (10) reducing flood damage, risk, and vulnerability by--
                    (A) restoring floodplains, wetlands, and uplands 
                integral to flood management, protection, prevention, 
                and response;
                    (B) modifying levees, floodwalls, and other 
                structures to reduce risks associated with rising sea 
                levels or to facilitate reconnection of rivers to 
                floodplains, reduce flood stage height, and reduce 
                damage to properties and populations;
                    (C) providing for acquisition and easement of 
                flood-prone lands and properties in order to reduce 
                damage to property and risk to populations; or
                    (D) promoting land use planning that prevents 
                future floodplain development;
            (11) carrying out studies or assessments to project how 
        changing hydrologic conditions may impact the future operations 
        and sustainability of water systems; or
            (12) developing and implementing measures to increase the 
        resilience of water systems and regional and hydrological 
        basins to rapid hydrologic change or a natural disaster.
    (d) Application.--To seek a grant under this section, the owner or 
operator of a water system shall submit to the Administrator an 
application that--
            (1) includes a proposal of the program or project to be 
        planned, designed, constructed, implemented, operated, or 
        maintained by the water system;
            (2) cites the best available research or data that 
        demonstrate--
                    (A) the risk to the water resources or 
                infrastructure of the water system as a result of 
                ongoing or forecasted changes to the hydrological 
                system of a region, including rising sea levels and 
                changes in precipitation patterns; and
                    (B) how the proposed program or project would 
                perform under the anticipated hydrologic conditions; 
                and
            (3) explains how the proposed program or project is 
        expected--
                    (A) to enhance the resiliency of the water system 
                to the anticipated hydrologic conditions; or
                    (B) to increase efficiency in the use of energy or 
                water of the water system.
    (e) Public Sponsorship of Private Entities.--
            (1) In general.--If an applicant for a grant under this 
        section is not a State or local government, an agency or 
        instrumentality of a State or local government, or a Tribal 
        government or consortium of Tribal governments, the program or 
        project to be planned, designed, constructed, implemented, 
        operated, or maintained through the grant shall be publicly 
        sponsored.
            (2) Public sponsorship.--For purposes of this subsection, a 
        program or project shall be considered to be publicly sponsored 
        if the grantee demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the 
        Administrator, that--
                    (A) the grantee has consulted with the affected 
                State, local, or tribal government in which the program 
                or project is located, or that is otherwise affected by 
                the program or project; and
                    (B) such government supports the program or 
                project.
    (f) Priority; Diversity of Project Types.--In selecting grantees 
under this section, the Administrator shall--
            (1) give priority to owners or operators of water systems--
                    (A) that are, based on the best available research 
                and data, at the greatest and most immediate risk of 
                facing significant negative impacts due to changing 
                hydrologic conditions; and
                    (B) whose proposed projects would most effectively 
                deliver long-term solutions to those risks; and
            (2) ensure that grants are awarded each fiscal year for a 
        diverse range of programs and projects described in paragraphs 
        (1) through (12) of subsection (c).
    (g) Cost-Sharing.--
            (1) Federal share.--The share of the cost of any program or 
        project that is the subject of a grant awarded by the 
        Administrator to the owner or operator of a water system under 
        subsection (b) paid through funds distributed under this 
        section shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost of the program 
        or project.
            (2) Calculation of non-federal share.--In calculating the 
        non-Federal share of the cost of a program or project proposed 
        by a water system in an application submitted under subsection 
        (d), the Administrator shall--
                    (A) include the value of any in-kind services that 
                are integral to the completion of the program or 
                project, including reasonable administrative and 
                overhead costs; and
                    (B) not include any other amount that the water 
                system involved receives from the Federal Government.
    (h) Report to Congress.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the 
Administrator shall submit to the Congress a report on progress in 
implementing this section, including information on project 
applications received and funded annually.
    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2018 through 2022.
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