[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3910 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3910

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to assist low 
     and moderate income individuals to finance the construction, 
refurbishing, and servicing of individual household water well systems 
                            in rural areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2000

 Mr. Boehner introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to assist low 
     and moderate income individuals to finance the construction, 
refurbishing, and servicing of individual household water well systems 
                            in rural areas.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Affordable Drinking Water Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) affordable access to safe, reliable drinking water is 
        in the public interest;
            (2) approximately 15,000,000 American households receive 
        drinking water from household water well systems;
            (3) according to a national survey, more than 80 percent of 
        these well owners say they prefer their household well system 
        to community drinking water systems or bottled water;
            (4) many consumers and American farms receive drinking 
        water from older household water well systems not constructed 
        to current standards;
            (5) these systems should be upgraded to ensure consumer and 
        farm access to the safest and most reliable sources of drinking 
        water;
            (6) the United States Department of Agriculture and the 
        Rural Utilities Service have no program focused on funding the 
        construction, upgrade, or refurbishment of household water well 
        systems; and
            (7) centralized water systems are not always the most cost-
        efficient way to deliver safe, reliable drinking water to rural 
        customers.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO LOW AND MODERATE INCOME INDIVIDUALS TO FINANCE THE 
              CONSTRUCTION AND REFURBISHING OF INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLD 
              WATER WELL SYSTEMS IN RURAL AREAS.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 
Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 306D the following:

``SEC. 306E. GRANTS TO LOW AND MODERATE INCOME INDIVIDUALS TO FINANCE 
              THE CONSTRUCTION, REFURBISHING, AND SERVICING OF 
              INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLD WATER WELL SYSTEMS IN RURAL AREAS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary may make grants in accordance with 
this section to private nonprofit organizations for the purpose of 
assisting eligible individuals to obtain financing for the 
construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individual household water 
well systems owned (or to be owned) by such individuals in rural areas.
    ``(b) Eligible Individuals.--In subsection (a), the term `eligible 
individual' means an individual who is a member of a household the 
combined income of whose members for the most recent 12-month period 
for which such information is available is not more than 100 percent of 
the median nonmetropolitan household income for the State or territory 
in which the individual resides, according to the most recent decennial 
census of the United States.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--A grant made under this section may be used 
for the purpose described in subsection (a), may be used to pay 
administrative expenses associated with providing the assistance 
described in subsection (a), and may be invested to provide income to 
be used to carry out such purpose.
    ``(d) Priority in Awarding Grants.--In awarding grants under this 
section, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that have 
substantial expertise and experience in promoting the safe and 
productive use of household water well and ground water.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect on October 1, 2001.
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