[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1708 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1708

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the volume 
cap for private activity bonds shall not apply to bonds for facilities 
           for the furnishing of water and sewage facilities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 19, 2005

      Mr. Shaw (for himself, Mr. Davis of Florida, Mr. English of 
 Pennsylvania, Mr. Thompson of California, and Mr. Turner) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 
                                 Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the volume 
cap for private activity bonds shall not apply to bonds for facilities 
           for the furnishing of water and sewage facilities.

    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 ``Clean Water Investment and 
Infrastructure Security Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Our Nation's water and wastewater systems are among the 
        best in the world, providing safe drinking water and sanitation 
        to our citizens.
            (2) In addition to protecting the health of our citizens, 
        community water systems are essential to our local economies, 
        enabling industries to achieve growth and productivity that 
        makes America strong and prosperous.
            (3) Regulated under title XIV of the Public Health Service 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.; commonly known as the ``Safe 
        Drinking Water Act'') and the Federal Water Pollution Control 
        Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), community drinking water systems 
        and wastewater collection and treatment facilities are critical 
        elements in the Nation's infrastructure.
            (4) Water and wastewater infrastructure is comprised of a 
        mixture of old and new technology. The old infrastructure is 
        deteriorating and is costly to replace. Recent government 
        studies have estimated costs of $500-$800 billion over the next 
        20 years for maintaining and improving the existing inventory, 
        building new infrastructure, and meeting new water quality 
        standards.
            (5) Many local communities have neither the resources for 
        water infrastructure rehabilitation, nor post-9/11 security 
        upgrades, and need to find creative solutions to this funding 
        crisis.
            (6) The historical approach of funding infrastructure is 
        insufficient to meet the investment needs of the future. 
        Federal financial assistance programs have been dramatically 
        reduced since the 1970s, and currently are not sufficient to 
        address the infrastructure funding crisis.
            (7) The Federal partnership with State and local 
        communities has played a pivotal role in improving the Nation's 
        water quality and drinking water supplies. Federal assistance 
        under this partnership has been the linchpin of these 
        improvements.
            (8) In light of constrained Federal budgets, the 
        availability of tax-exempt financing represents an important 
        financing tool to help close the gap between available Federal 
        assistance and water infrastructure needs while preserving the 
        Federal partnership.
            (9) Providing alternative financing solutions, such as tax-
        exempt securities, encourages investment in water and 
        wastewater infrastructure that in turn creates local jobs and 
        protects the health of our citizens.
            (10) Federally mandated State volume cap restrictions in 
        conjunction with other priorities have limited the use of tax-
        exempt securities on water and wastewater infrastructure 
        investment.
            (11) Removal of State volume caps for water and wastewater 
        infrastructure will make lower interest capital available and 
        enable municipalities, water districts, investor owned 
        utilities, public-private partnerships, rural water 
        corporations, and river authorities to upgrade the Nation's 
        critical water and wastewater infrastructure at the lowest 
        possible cost and comply with Federal mandates.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide alternative 
financing for long-term infrastructure capital investment that is 
currently not being met by existing investment programs, and to restore 
the Nation's safe drinking water and wastewater infrastructure 
capability and protect the health of our citizens.

SEC. 3. TAX-EXEMPT BONDS FOR SEWAGE AND WATER SUPPLY FACILITIES.

    (a) Bonds for Water and Sewage Facilities Exempt From Volume Cap on 
Private Activity Bonds.--Paragraph (3) of section 146(g) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exception for certain bonds) 
is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(4), (5), '' after ``(2),'', and
            (2) by inserting ``facilities for the furnishing of water, 
        sewage facilities,'' after ``docks and wharves,''.
    (b) Conforming Change.--Paragraph (2) and paragraph (3)(B) of 
section 146(k) of such Code are both amended by striking ``(4), (5), 
(6),'' and inserting ``(6)''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to obligations issued after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
                                 <all>