Water Infrastructure for Rural and Impoverished Communities Act

Bill: 117-hr-5907
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Vela, Filemon [D-TX-34]
Introduced: 2021-11-05
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Latest action: action_date: 2021-11-30
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy, and Credit.

Summaries:
action_date: 2021-11-05
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>Water Infrastructure for Rural and Impoverished Communities Act</strong></p> <p>This bill makes rural communities with up to 30,000 residents eligible to apply, under certain conditions, for grants and loans for water and waste disposal infrastructure. (Current law limits eligibility to communities with 10,000 or fewer residents.)</p> <p> In making the grants and loans, the Department of Agriculture must prioritize communities in counties where at least 20% of the population has persistently lived in poverty.</p>

tv_txt: I 117th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5907 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 5, 2021 Mr. Vela introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To authorize the provision of water and waste facility direct loans and grants to communities with greater populations under certain circumstances.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Water Infrastructure for Rural and Impoverished Communities Act . 2. Authorization to provide water and waste facility direct loans and grants to communities with greater populations under certain circumstances (a) List of persistent poverty counties (1) In general Within 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall generate a list of all counties in the United States that are persistent poverty counties. (2) Persistent poverty county In subsection (a), the term persistent poverty county means a county that has had 20 percent or more of its population living in poverty over the past 30 years, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses, and the 2007–2011 American Community Survey 5-year average, or any territory or possession of the United States. (b) Authorization Section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act ( 7 U.S.C. 1926(a) ) is amended by inserting after paragraph (6) the following: (7) (A) In the making of direct loans and grants for community waste disposal and water facilities under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, using any funds made available to the State in which the communities are located for the direct loans or grants for the fiscal year that remain available after June 30 of the fiscal year— (i) section 343(a)(13)(B) shall be applied by substituting not less than 10,000 and not more than 30,000 inhabitants for no more than 10,000 inhabitants ; and (ii) the Secretary shall prioritize the making of the direct loans and grants to communities in persistent poverty counties. (B) In subparagraph (A), the term persistent poverty county means a county that has had 20 percent or more of its population living in poverty over the past 30 years, as measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses, and the 2007–2011 American Community Survey 5-year average, or any territory or possession of the United States. .