Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Drinking Water Affordability Act”.
Drinking Water Affordability Act
A BILL
To amend certain provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Amendments to Safe Drinking Water Act
National drinking water regulations— Section 1412(b)(9) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–1(b)(9)) is amended by striking the last sentence and inserting “Any revision of a national primary drinking water regulation shall be promulgated in accordance with this section, including paragraphs (3) through (6) of this subsection.”
Enforcement of drinking water regulations— Section 1414(h)(1)(C) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–3(h)(1)(C)) is amended by inserting “or management” after “the transfer of ownership”.
State revolving loan funds—
Assistance for disadvantaged communities— Section 1452(d)(2) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(d)(2)) is amended by striking “30” and inserting “35”.
Types of assistance— Section 1452(f)(1) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(f)(1)) is amended—
by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively;
by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following new subparagraph:
“(C) each loan will be fully amortized not later than 30 years after the completion of the project, except that in the case of a disadvantaged community (as defined in subsection (d)(3)) a State may provide an extended term for a loan, if the extended term—
“(i) terminates not later than the date that is 40 years after the date of project completion; and
“(ii) does not exceed the expected design life of the project;”
in subparagraph (B), by striking “1 year after completion of the project for which the loan was made” and all that follows through “design life of the project;” and inserting “18 months after completion of the project for which the loan was made;”.
Other authorized activities— Section 1452(k)(1)(C) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(k)(1)(C)) is amended by striking “for fiscal years 1996 and 1997” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting “for fiscal years 2018 through 2024 to delineate, assess, update assessments, and undertake implementation activities with respect to source water protection areas in accordance with the requirements of a program approved under section 1453, excluding any activity required to be conducted under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).”.
Exemption from Federal cross-Cutting requirements— Part E of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“1459C. Exemption from Federal cross-cutting requirements
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Administrator shall exempt a public water system that receives financial assistance pursuant to section 1452 from a Federal cross-cutting requirement if the Administrator determines that the State in which the public water system is located has in effect a requirement which is not less stringent than the Federal cross-cutting requirement.”
Definition of Federal cross-Cutting requirement— Section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(17) Federal cross-cutting requirement—The term Federal cross-cutting requirement means a requirement of a Federal law or regulation, compliance with which is a condition on receipt of a loan or grant under this title, that, if applied to projects and activities receiving such financial assistance, would be redundant with a requirement of an applicable State or local law.”
Sec. 3 Reports
State loan fund administration and application process—
Review— The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall conduct a review on best practices for—
streamlining the application process for public water systems to receive loans or loan guarantees from a State drinking water treatment revolving loan fund; and
efficient administration of State drinking water treatment revolving loan funds.
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, and make available to States, a report on the review conducted under paragraph (1), including any recommendations.
GAO Report— Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare and submit to Congress a report containing—
the results of a study of cost-effective and economically feasible rehabilitation or replacement of drinking water infrastructure to meet the goals of the Safe Drinking Water Act; and
an assessment of barriers that preclude communities from using materials and technologies studied pursuant to paragraph (1).