Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Amendments of 2023

Bill: 118-hr-5664
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8]
Introduced: 2023-09-21
Policy area: Water Resources Development
Subjects: Congressional oversight

Government lending and loan guarantees

Government studies and investigations

Public-private cooperation

Rural conditions and development

Water resources funding

Water use and supply
Latest action: action_date: 2023-09-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5664 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 21, 2023 Ms. Schrier (for herself, Mr. Newhouse , Mr. Garamendi , Mr. LaMalfa , Mr. Costa , Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer , and Ms. Davids of Kansas ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure , and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce , 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 reauthorize the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Amendments of 2023 . 2. Clarifications regarding small communities and rural water projects (a) Definitions Section 5022 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3901 ) is amended— (1) by redesignating paragraphs (11) through (15) as paragraphs (13) through (17), respectively; (2) by redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11); (3) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following: (10) Rural water project The term rural water project includes— (A) a rural water supply project authorized under the Reclamation Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 ( 43 U.S.C. 2401 ); (B) any project authorized under part III of subtitle A of title X of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 ( Public Law 111–11 ), for a federally recognized Indian Tribe; and (C) any rural water project or rural water supply project authorized under— (i) section 1110 of title XI of division FF of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 ( Public Law 116–260 ); or (ii) any other Federal law. ; and (4) by inserting after paragraph (11), as so redesignated, the following: (12) Small community The term small community means a city, town, or unincorporated area that has a population of not more than 25,000 inhabitants. . (b) Eligible project costs Section 5028(a)(2)(B) of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3907(a)(2)(B) ) is amended by striking $5,000,000 and inserting $1,000,000 . (c) Authority To provide assistance for project development Section 5023 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3902 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (c) Technical assistance to small communities (1) In general The Administrator may provide technical assistance to small communities to aid such communities in developing a proposal for an eligible project and seeking assistance under this subtitle to carry out such project. (2) Types of assistance Assistance under paragraph (1) may be in the form of engineering and financial planning assistance. . (d) Conforming amendments (1) Eligible project costs Section 5028(a)(2)(B) of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3907(a)(2)(B) ) is further amended by striking a community of not more than 25,000 individuals and inserting a small community . (2) Funding Section 5033 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3912 ) is amended— (A) in subsection (b)(2) by inserting (other than technical assistance under section 5023(c)) after technical assistance ; and (B) in subsection (c)(1) by inserting and for technical assistance to small communities under section 5023(c) before the period at the end. (3) Outreach plans Section 5036 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3915 ) is amended to read as follows: 5036. Outreach plan to small communities Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Amendments of 2023, the Administrator, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies, shall develop and begin implementation of an outreach plan to promote financial assistance available under this subtitle to small communities. . 3. Clarifying eligibility for certain projects The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3901 et seq. ) is amended— (1) in section 5023(b)(3) ( 33 U.S.C. 3902(b)(3) ), by striking under paragraph (8) or (10) and inserting under paragraphs (8), (10), (11), (12), or (13) ; and (2) in section 5026 ( 33 U.S.C. 3905 )— (A) in paragraph (10), by striking or (8) and inserting (8), (11), (12), or (13) ; and (B) by adding at the end the following: (11) A State-led storage project (as such term is defined in section 4007(a) of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act ( 43 U.S.C. 390b note)). (12) Transferred works (as such term is defined in section 9601 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 ( 43 U.S.C. 510 )). (13) A congressionally authorized water resources development project that is owned or operated by a non-Federal entity. . 4. Collaborative project delivery methods (a) In general Section 5028 of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3907 ) is amended— (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following: (c) Collaborative project delivery methods (1) Authorization The Secretary or the Administrator, as applicable, may select, in accordance with this section, a project to be carried out using a collaborative project delivery method (consistent with any applicable State or local law), including a construction management at-risk method and a design-build method. (2) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Collaborative project delivery method The term collaborative project delivery method means a method for carrying out a capital project that involves close collaboration among the eligible entity, the owner of the project (if different from the eligible entity), the designer of the project, and the contractor for the project, from design through completion of construction. (B) Construction management at-risk method The term construction management at-risk method means a collaborative project delivery method in which an engineering firm and a construction management at-risk firm are retained under 2 separate contracts for design and construction, respectively. (C) Design-build method The term design-build method means a collaborative project delivery method under which a single lead contract is entered into with a design-builder for design and construction. . (b) Study on the use of collaborative project delivery methods Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with the Regional Administrators, and the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall carry out, and make public the results of, a study that— (1) evaluates the use of collaborative project delivery methods in projects carried out using assistance received under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3901 et seq. ); (2) determines barriers to increased use of collaborative project delivery methods in such projects; (3) assesses the potential benefits of using collaborative project delivery methods in such projects; and (4) identifies areas of need to educate agency staff in collaborative project delivery method implementation and best practices. 5. Maturity date Section 5029(b)(5) of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3908(b)(5) ) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking The final maturity date and inserting Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), the final maturity date ; (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); and (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following: (B) Projects with a useful life of more than 35 years Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for a project with a useful life of more than 35 years (as determined by the Secretary or the Administrator, as applicable), the final maturity date of a secured loan under this section shall be not later than the earlier of— (i) the date that is 55 years after the date of substantial completion of the relevant project (as determined by the Secretary or the Administrator, as applicable); and (ii) if the useful life of the project is less than 55 years, the useful life of the project. . 6. Reauthorization of Corps of Engineers water infrastructure financing funding Section 5033 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3912 ) is further amended— (1) by amending subsection (a)(3) to read as follows: (3) Fiscal years 2023 through 2027 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subtitle, to remain available until expended— (A) $68,000,000 to the Administrator for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027; and (B) $15,000,000 to the Secretary for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. ; and (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking the Administrator and inserting the Secretary or the Administrator, as applicable, . 7. Budgetary treatment of certain amounts of financial assistance The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3901 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 5037. Budgetary treatment of certain amounts of financial assistance If the recipient of financial assistance for a project under this subtitle is an eligible entity other than a Federal entity, agency, or instrumentality, and the dedicated sources of repayment of that financial assistance are non-Federal revenue sources, such financial assistance shall, for purposes of budgetary treatment under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 ( 2 U.S.C. 661 et seq. )— (1) be deemed to be non-Federal; and (2) be treated as a direct loan or loan guarantee (as such terms are defined, respectively, in such Act). . 8. Reports to Congress (a) EPA report Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of— (1) section 4301 of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 ( 33 U.S.C. 3909 note); and (2) any agreement entered into under section 5030(g) of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3909(g) ) pursuant to such section 4301. (b) Corps of Engineers report Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of the Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program carried out pursuant to the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3901 et seq. ), including issues pertaining to such implementation with respect to levees and congressionally authorized projects described in section 5026(1) of such Act. (c) GAO report Section 5034(b) of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 3913(b) ) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by striking Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the Water Resources Development Act of 2018 and inserting Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Amendments of 2023 ; and (2) in paragraph (2)— (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively, and inserting after subparagraph (A) the following: (B) an evaluation of the implementation of this subtitle by the Secretary; ; and (B) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesignated)— (i) by inserting evaluations and before recommendations ; and (ii) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) . 9. Technical and conforming amendments The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 ( 33 U.S.C. 2201 et seq. ) is amended— (1) in section 1(b)— (A) in the item relating to the heading for subtitle C of title V, by striking Pilot ; (B) in the item relating to section 5034, by striking pilot ; and (C) by inserting after the item relating to section 5035 the following: 5036. Outreach plan to small communities. 5037. Budgetary treatment of certain amounts of financial assistance. ; (2) in the heading for subtitle C of title V, by striking Pilot ; and (3) in section 5022(12), by striking et. and inserting et .