<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><BillSummaries>
<item congress="116" measure-type="s" measure-number="2466" measure-id="id116s2466" originChamber="SENATE" orig-publish-date="2019-09-11" update-date="2020-08-15">
<title>Water Justice Act</title>
<summary summary-id="id116s2466v00" currentChamber="SENATE" update-date="2020-08-15">
<action-date>2019-09-11</action-date>
<action-desc>Introduced in Senate</action-desc>
<summary-text><![CDATA[<p><b>Water Justice Act</b></p> <p>This bill addresses affordable access to clean water by establishing, expanding, or extending various programs or requirements related to drinking water infrastructure, water pollution control, water supply, water recycling, water efficiency, or conservation programs.</p> <p>Specifically, the bill provides $50 billion in FY2020 supplemental appropriations to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for programs that reduce contaminants of concern in drinking water, such as grant programs for lead testing or remediation efforts in schools, child care programs, or high-risk communities. The funds are designated as an emergency requirement, which exempts the funds from discretionary spending limits and other budget enforcement rules. </p> <p>Each year, the EPA must obligate specified amounts of funding for several water infrastructure programs, including state revolving fund programs and grant programs for managing or controlling water pollution. </p> <p>The EPA must also establish a grant program to help communities that serve environmentally at-risk households and low-income households afford the costs for remediating contaminated drinking water. Further, the Department of Health and Human Services may make grants to states to assist low-income households in meeting their needs for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services.</p> <p>In addition, the EPA must promulgate an interim national primary drinking water regulation for perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS, which may have adverse human health effects.</p> <p>Finally, the bill establishes or reauthorizes a variety of programs that provide financial support for water supply projects, water recycling or reuse projects, rural water systems, water efficiency improvements, or conservation programs.</p>]]></summary-text>
</summary>
</item>
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<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>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.</dc:rights>
<dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
<dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
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</BillSummaries>
