113 S864 RS: Grassroots Rural and Small Community Water Systems Assistance Act
U.S. Senate
2013-05-06
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as
the Grassroots Rural and Small
Community Water Systems Assistance Act
.2.Congress finds that—(1)the Safe Drinking
Water Act Amendments of 1996 (Public Law 104–182) authorized technical
assistance for small and rural communities to assist those communities in
complying with regulations promulgated pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water
Act
(42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.);(2)technical
assistance and compliance training—(A)ensures that
Federal regulations do not overwhelm the resources of small and rural
communities; and(B)provides small
and rural communities lacking technical resources with the necessary
skills to
improve and protect water resources;(3)across the United
States, more than 90 percent of the community water systems serve a
population
of less than 10,000 individuals;(4)small and rural
communities have the greatest difficulty providing safe, affordable public
drinking water and wastewater services due to limited economies of scale
and
lack of technical expertise; and(5)in addition to
being the main source of compliance assistance, small and rural water
technical
assistance has been the main source of emergency response assistance in
small
and rural communities.3.It is the sense of
Congress that—(1)to most
effectively assist small and rural communities, the Environmental
Protection
Agency should prioritize the types of technical assistance that are most
beneficial to those communities, based on input from those communities;
and(2)local support is
the key to making Federal assistance initiatives work in small and rural
communities to the maximum benefit.4.Section 1442(e) of
the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–1(e)) is amended—(1)by designating
the first through seventh sentences as paragraphs (1) through (7),
respectively;(2)in paragraph (5)
(as so designated), by striking 1997 through 2003
and inserting
2014 through 2019
; and(3)by adding at the
end the following:(8)(A)The Administrator may use amounts made available to carry
out this section to provide technical assistance to nonprofit
organizations
that provide to small public water systems onsite technical
assistance,
circuit-rider technical assistance programs, onsite and regional
training,
assistance with implementing source water protection plans, and
assistance with
implementation monitoring plans, rules, regulations, and water
security
enhancements.(B)To
ensure that technical assistance funding is used in a manner that
is most
beneficial to the small and rural communities of a State, the
Administrator
shall give preference under this paragraph to nonprofit
organizations that, as
determined by the Administrator, are the most qualified and
experienced and
that the small community water systems in that State find to be the
most
beneficial and
effective..1.This Act may be cited as
the Grassroots Rural and Small
Community Water Systems Assistance Act
.2.Congress finds that—(1)the Safe Drinking
Water Act Amendments of 1996 (Public Law 104–182) authorized technical
assistance for small and rural communities to assist those communities in
complying with regulations promulgated pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water
Act
(42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.);(2)technical
assistance and compliance training—(A)ensures that
Federal regulations do not overwhelm the resources of small and rural
communities; and(B)provides small
and rural communities lacking technical resources with the necessary
skills to
improve and protect water resources;(3)across the United
States, more than 90 percent of the community water systems serve a
population
of less than 10,000 individuals;(4)small and rural
communities have the greatest difficulty providing safe, affordable public
drinking water and wastewater services due to limited economies of scale
and
lack of technical expertise; and(5)in addition to
being the main source of compliance assistance, small and rural water
technical
assistance has been the main source of emergency response assistance in
small
and rural communities.3.It is the sense of
Congress that—(1)to most
effectively assist small and rural communities, the Environmental
Protection
Agency should prioritize the types of technical assistance that are most
beneficial to those communities, based on input from those communities;
and(2)local support is
the key to making Federal assistance initiatives work in small and rural
communities to the maximum benefit.4.Section 1442(e) of
the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–1(e)) is amended—(1)by designating
the first through seventh sentences as paragraphs (1) through (7),
respectively;(2)in paragraph (5)
(as so designated), by striking 1997 through 2003
and inserting
2014 through 2019
; and(3)by adding at the
end the following:(8)(A)The Administrator may use amounts made available to carry
out this section to provide grants or cooperative agreements to
nonprofit
organizations
that provide to small public water systems onsite technical
assistance,
circuit-rider technical assistance programs, multistate, regional
technical assistance programs, onsite and regional
training,
assistance with implementing source water protection plans, and
assistance with
implementing monitoring plans, rules, regulations, and water
security
enhancements.(B)To
ensure that technical assistance funding is used in a manner that
is most
beneficial to the small and rural communities of a State, the
Administrator
shall give preference under this paragraph to nonprofit
organizations that, as
determined by the Administrator, are the most qualified and
experienced in providing training and technical assistance to small public
water systems and
that the small community water systems in that State find to be the
most
beneficial and
effective.(C)No grant or cooperative agreement provided or otherwise made available under this section may be
used for litigation pursuant to section 1449..April 1, 2014Reported with an amendment